A Vatican document released last Saturday imposed further restrictions on the pre-Vatican II liturgy, including a prohibition on listing Latin Masses in parish bulletins. A preference for the old Mass is often associated with political conservatism and with a lack of support for Pope Francis.

In his introduction to the document, Archbishop Arthur Roche, the head of the Vatican’s liturgy office, said clergy “must not lend ourselves to sterile polemics, capable only of creating division, in which the ritual itself is often exploited by ideological viewpoints.” Critics have accused the pope of punitively targeting small groups of devout, traditional Catholics while allowing modernist liturgical irregularities to run rampant. [National Catholic Reporter, Reuters]

My comment: In my humble opinion liturgy is unimportant compared with
personal behaviour. By this I include compassion, kindness, generosity, thoughtfulness, politeness, acceptance of diversity, patience, sense of humor; in fact, all the good characteristics of a person trying to live up to Epicurean ideals. There is no Epicurean “liturgy”; decent behaviour, respect and tolerance of the opinions of others are key.

(And, by the way, if I argued that Epicureans should speak ancient Greek when discussing Epicurus you would giggle hysterically. I have nothing against Latin; I scraped through a Latin exam to be accepted by my college many years ago. But speaking it every Sunday is, well, un- modern and faintly ridiculous. The Pope is right).