Why I hate the old Latin Mass: A confession

(RNS) —  Penitent: Bless me Father for I have sinned. It has been a week since my last column, I mean my last confession. Since that time, I have expressed hatred toward the old Latin Mass, aka the Traditional Latin Mass (TLM), aka the Tridentine Mass, aka …

Priest: Yes, yes, I know what you are talking about. The Mass that was celebrated in the Catholic Church before the Second Vatican Council.

Penitent: The old Latin Mass is like a zombie. When we went from Latin into English in 1964, we thought it was dead, but it keeps coming back. We thought it would fade away or people would be satisfied with going to a Latin version of the new liturgy. Not so.

Priest: Hatred is a sin. Jesus told us to love one another as he has loved us.

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Penitent: I know. Actually, I don’t hate the people who go to the old Latin Mass. Many of them are nice, pious people. They find spiritual nourishment in their Mass. With better catechesis, I think they would appreciate the new liturgy.

On the other hand, I do hate the ideologues who say the new Mass is blasphemous and who reject the teachings of the Second Vatican Council on things like…