Latin Masses to be allowed after 25 years

Latin Masses to be allowed after 25 years
Michael Clancy
The Arizona Republic
Mar. 17, 2004 12:00 AM

Latin, the ancient language of the Catholic Church, will be allowed in Diocese
of Phoenix churches for the first time in at least 25 years.

Bishop Thomas J. Olmsted, reversing 20 years of diocesan policy, announced the
change to priests at a meeting earlier this month. A committee will report today
on details.

Olmsted said he will institute the Tridentine Mass to promote reconciliation
with individuals who prefer the service, to comply with Pope John Paul II's
wishes to resume the Latin rite, and to invite back those who left the church
after Latin Masses were dropped.

It is likely that the Latin service will be held in a limited number of
churches. The modern English-language Mass would continue to dominate in the
diocese.

"The decision in no way casts doubt upon the validity" of the current service,
instituted during and after the Second Vatican Council in the mid-1960s, Olmsted
said.

A leader of a dissident church praised the decision.

"This is a step in the right direction," said the Rev. Joseph Pfeiffer, pastor
of Our Lady of Sorrows in south Phoenix, which is not recognized by the diocese.
But the church must return completely to the old ways, he said, before his
congregation will feel comfortable with the Catholics.

Mass in Latin was the norm for the church throughout history, and Latin remains
the church's official language. The pope approved the resumption of Latin Mass
in 1984, but former Bishop Thomas J. O'Brien never allowed them.

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