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VATICAN CITY - It was one of the most radical reforms to emerge from the Second Vatican Council. The Mass, root of Roman Catholic worship, would be celebrated in the vernacular and not in Latin. Now, little more than a generation later, Pope Benedict XVI is poised to revive the 16th-century Tridentine Mass.

*Continually passed over is the perrenial "permission" (cough hack) declared long ago in the 16th century, as noted in the document Quo Primum.

The late Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, who founded ['ultratraditionalist' Society of St. Pius X - SSPX] in 1969 in Switzerland, was opposed to Vatican II's reforms, particularly its liturgical reforms. The Vatican excommunicated Lefebvre in 1988 after he consecrated four bishops without Rome's consent. The bishops were excommunicated as well. Benedict has been keen to reconcile with the group, which has demanded freer use of the old Mass as a precondition for normalizing relations.

*And also the lifting of the declaration of excommunication. The SSPX is part of the Church. Thank you A. Lefbrve for keeping Tradition alive...

But bishops in neighboring France, where Lefebvre's group is strong, have objected publicly to any liberalizing of the old rite, saying its broader use could lead to divisions within the church and could imply a rejection of other Vatican II teachings. "Such a decision risks endangering the unity among priests as well as the faithful,"

*Blah blah blah. The French Bishops have persecuted A. Lefebvre for almost 40 years, Michael Davies' trilogy having damningly documented the first decade of this. "Unity" is Orwellian bullying doublespeak, long since unmasked. Instead, we see a unifying of Traditionalist "approved" and "unapproved" (SSPX) faithful, both largely treated like bastard sons since the Sensitive and Pastoral Council.

In addition to the Latin prayers, which are different from the modern liturgy, the priest faces the altar, so he is leading the faithful in prayer. The rank and file don't actively participate in the service.

*Mannichean disclaimer goes here: We acknowledge that some people do believe in invisible and/or passive things like love, prayer, wind, emotions, thought, elctricity, listening to music, etc; that it's possible to fully particpate sans constant outward actions."

*I participate most fully when I'm not singing High Mass.

In a 1988 document, Pope John Paul II urged bishops to be generous in granting the so-called indults to allow the Tridentine rite to be celebrated. But proponents say bishops have been stingy - either for personal reasons or because they simply don't have enough priests who know how to celebrate it.

*And now it's handwringing time because you were stingy? How did you learn to celebrate this Mass of your ordination? Via some gnostic faculty no longer existent after Vaticall II Council?

Benedict has made clear for years that he greatly admires the Tridentine rite and has incorporated Latin into Masses at St. Peter's.

* Wow, this is almost as bad as letting the ex-communicated SSPX bishop preach in St. Peters.