Orange County Priest who Celebrated Latin Mass, Dead at 77

Father Daniel Johnson, a champion of pre-Vatican II Roman Catholic traditions and the centuries-old Tridentine Mass, has died. He was 77.

Johnson died Sunday at a Duarte hospital after a long illness.

"He was a pioneer in reforming liturgical reform," said Michael J. Sundstedt, a longtime parishioner at St. Mary's by the Sea in Huntington Beach, where Johnson served as pastor for 25 years before retiring in 2004.
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Although regarded as stodgy and closed-minded in some quarters, he was a hero to Southern California Catholics who disliked the "peace hugs" and "hootenanny music" of modern services, parishioners said.
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Emphasizing tradition and decorum, Johnson discouraged parishioners from snapping photos at baptisms and weddings — and he resisted Vatican II reforms that allowed people to receive Communion in their hands...
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[By a decision of Bishop Tod Brown] The Diocese of Orange stopped offering Tridentine Masses at St. Mary's by the Sea after Johnson left. But the Latin service will be briefly resurrected there for his funeral Mass, church officials said. The date hasn't been set.

May the soul of Fr. Johnson rest in peace.