Monday, November 13, 2006

Arinze encourages wider use of Latin

Something I have been hopeful of for some time, Cardinal Arinze has said Latin should be more widely used in the Novus Ordo Mass.
Latin "suits a Church that is universal. It has a stability modern languages don't have," he said.  The Cardinal also said it’s no small matter for priests or bishops from around the world to be able to speak to each other in a universal language and lauded the possibility that "a million students" gathered for World Youth Day every few years could "say parts of the Mass in Latin."

He suggested that larger parishes offer Mass in Latin at least once a week and that smaller, rural parishes offer it at least once a month.  Homilies, he said, should always be in the vernacular.

Any priest can celebrate the Vatican II “Novus Ordo” Mass in Latin,...
Of course, we shouldn't hold our breath because it is hard to pray without exhaling.

No comments: