(From my site🙂
The February 9 Catholic Telegraph of Cincinnati runs a letter I submitted last month concerning Latin and the liturgy:
In the Jan. 5 Telegraph, Thomas Busemeyer expresses gratitude to Vatican II for ridding Catholic worship of Latin. The problem for Mr. Busemeyer is that the Council did no such thing. Indeed, its Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy instructed that the Latin language “shall be preserved” and that Gregorian Chant — in Latin — shall be given “pride of place.”
What accounts for the near-disappearance of Latin in the Mass? A very flawed implementation of the Missal of Pope Paul VI that followed the Council. Pope Paul himself stated that the faithful "should be able to sing together, in Latin, at least the parts of the Ordinary of the Mass, especially the Creed and the Our Father.”
So to the extent that Pope Benedict XVI’s forthcoming “reform of the reform” returns some Latin to the liturgy, it will be to right a wrong done during the confusion that followed Vatican II.
