The Latin Mass Society of England and Wales is a
Catholic
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
society dedicated to making the
Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite
In the Catholic Church, the use of preconciliar rites after the Second Vatican Council has resulted in certain Latin liturgical rites coexisting with older ("preconciliar": "before the Second Vatican Council") versions of those same rites. In the ...
, also known as the
Tridentine Mass
The Tridentine Mass, also known as the Traditional Latin Mass or Traditional Rite, is the liturgy of Mass in the Roman Rite of the Catholic Church that appears in typical editions of the Roman Missal published from 1570 to 1962. Celebrated almo ...
, more widely available in
England and Wales
England and Wales () is one of the three legal jurisdictions of the United Kingdom. It covers the constituent countries England and Wales and was formed by the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542. The substantive law of the jurisdiction is Eng ...
. The group organised a petition for the Latin Mass in England and Wales which the
Archbishop of Westminster
The Archbishop of Westminster heads the Roman Catholic Diocese of Westminster, in England. The incumbent is the metropolitan of the Province of Westminster, chief metropolitan of England and Wales and, as a matter of custom, is elected presid ...
,
Cardinal John Heenan, presented to
Pope Paul VI
Pope Paul VI ( la, Paulus VI; it, Paolo VI; born Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini, ; 26 September 18976 August 1978) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City, Vatican City State from 21 June 1963 to his ...
, who granted a papal
indult in 1971.
The current chairman is the academic
Joseph Shaw.
History
The Latin Mass Society was founded in 1965 to seek the preservation of the rites of worship and the use of Latin, continuing the practice of the church from early times. Following a letter in ''The Catholic Herald'' (22 January 1965) by Hugh Byrne, calling for the establishment of "a national Latin Mass Society ... which will aim at campaigning for at least one Latin Low Mass in every church on Sundays." The founding meeting was on 10 April 1965; the first president of the society was the Catholic apologist and skiing pioneer Sir
Arnold Lunn
Sir Arnold Henry Moore Lunn (18 April 1888 – 2 June 1974) was a skier, mountaineer and writer. He was knighted for "services to British Skiing and Anglo-Swiss relations" in 1952. His father was a lay Methodist minister, but Lunn was an agn ...
. Along with
Evelyn Waugh
Arthur Evelyn St. John Waugh (; 28 October 1903 – 10 April 1966) was an English writer of novels, biographies, and travel books; he was also a prolific journalist and book reviewer. His most famous works include the early satires ''Decli ...
and
Hugh Ross Williamson
Hugh Ross Williamson (1901–1978) was a prolific British popular historian, and a dramatist. Starting from a career in the literary world, and having a Nonconformist background, he became an Anglican priest in 1943.Joseph Pearce, ''Literary Co ...
, Lunn was one of the main figures involved in founding the Latin Mass Society.
In the context of the New Order of Mass being introduced (it was celebrated from the first Sunday of Advent of 1969), the society had to decide whether to campaign for celebrations of the reformed Mass in Latin, or for celebrations using the older liturgical books. The question was debated at the annual general meeting of 1969, with the writer Hugh Ross Williamson speaking against the new rite and other speakers, such as the botanist Richard Hook Ritchens, in its favour. Williamson's arguments carried the day and a group subsequently left the society to set up the Association for Latin Liturgy in 1970, headed by Ritchens.
Alfred Marnau headed the major project of organising a petition signed by 56 international cultural figures to seek permission for the continuing use of the older liturgical books. The then
Archbishop of Westminster
The Archbishop of Westminster heads the Roman Catholic Diocese of Westminster, in England. The incumbent is the metropolitan of the Province of Westminster, chief metropolitan of England and Wales and, as a matter of custom, is elected presid ...
,
Cardinal John Heenan, presented this to
Pope Paul VI
Pope Paul VI ( la, Paulus VI; it, Paolo VI; born Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini, ; 26 September 18976 August 1978) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City, Vatican City State from 21 June 1963 to his ...
who granted this permission, a papal
indult, in 1971, under which any bishop in
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
and
Wales
Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...
could permit celebration of the
Traditional Latin Mass
The Tridentine Mass, also known as the Traditional Latin Mass or Traditional Rite, is the liturgy of Mass in the Roman Rite of the Catholic Church that appears in typical editions of the Roman Missal published from 1570 to 1962. Celebrated alm ...
for the benefit of a group of the faithful.
Archbishop Annibale Bugnini describes the reception of the petition as follows.
At an audience of October 29, 1971, Cardinal Heenan had told the Pope of the discomfort of groups of converts and of elderly people who wanted to be able to celebrate Mass according to the old rite on special occasions. The next day the Pope wrote to Father Bugnini in his own hand: "... I think, in agreement with the Cardinal Archbishop, that a favourable answer, cast in the proper formulas, should be given to the first request, and to the second as well, wherever special circumstances justify the concession. The Cardinal who is making the petition deserves every respect and confidence."
This was the first explicit confirmation that the older books could continue in use, not only by older priests celebrating in private, but for the benefit of the lay faithful; however, it applied only to England and Wales. Under this and later indults the society was the principal body negotiating with bishops for Masses to be celebrated, making practical arrangements for these celebrations, and keeping Catholics attached to the older form of the liturgy informed about them.
In 1984
Pope John Paul II
Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...
granted an indult to every bishop in the world allowing the celebration of the Mass according to the Roman Missal of 1962. He reiterated this permission in 1988 in the motu proprio ''
Ecclesia Dei
''Ecclesia Dei'' is the document Pope John Paul II issued on 2 July 1988 in reaction to the Ecône consecrations, in which four priests of the Society of Saint Pius X were ordained as bishops despite an express prohibition by the Holy See. The ...
''. In 2007
Pope Benedict XVI
Pope Benedict XVI ( la, Benedictus XVI; it, Benedetto XVI; german: link=no, Benedikt XVI.; born Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger, , on 16 April 1927) is a retired prelate of the Catholic church who served as the head of the Church and the sovereign ...
's motu proprio ''
Summorum Pontificum
''Summorum Pontificum'' (English: "Of the Supreme Pontiffs") is an apostolic letter of Pope Benedict XVI, issued in July 2007. This letter specifies the circumstances in which priests of the Latin Church could celebrate mass according to what Ben ...
'' ruled that explicit permission from local bishops was not necessary for a priest's celebration of the 1962 books, and coined the term "the Extraordinary Form" for these celebrations. This decision was reverted by
Pope Francis
Pope Francis ( la, Franciscus; it, Francesco; es, link=, Francisco; born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, 17 December 1936) is the head of the Catholic Church. He has been the bishop of Rome and sovereign of the Vatican City State since 13 March 2013. ...
in 2021 through the motu proprio ''
Traditionis Custodes'', which stated that the celebration of the Tridentine Mass was to be subjected to the permission of the local bishop. These restrictions to the celebration of the Latin Mass caused membership of the Latin Mass Society to increase, since the society was exempted from the motu proprio's new rules.
Activities
Throughout its history, the Latin Mass Society has facilitated and advertised Extraordinary Form Masses all over England and Wales. Additionally, it has also arranged numerous pilgrimages to shrines in England and Wales and furthermore overseas. It usually holds two special Masses a year in
Westminster Cathedral
Westminster Cathedral is the mother church of the Catholic Church in England and Wales. It is the largest Catholic church in the UK and the seat of the Archbishop of Westminster.
The site on which the cathedral stands in the City of ...
: one for its annual general meeting in the spring or summer and another for its annual requiem in November.
In anticipation of the promulgation of Pope Benedict XVI's motu proprio ''
Summorum Pontificum
''Summorum Pontificum'' (English: "Of the Supreme Pontiffs") is an apostolic letter of Pope Benedict XVI, issued in July 2007. This letter specifies the circumstances in which priests of the Latin Church could celebrate mass according to what Ben ...
'' in 2007, the Society organised its first residential training conferences for priests wanting to learn to celebrate the Extraordinary Form; these have continued at least annually since then in a variety of locations.
Since 2012 the society has organised a biennial one-day conference in London with lay and clerical speakers.
The society publishes a quarterly magazine, ''Mass of Ages''.
Structure
The management of the society is in the hands of a committee (trustees), who are elected by the membership, with the help of a small paid staff in its London office and its network of representatives. It has one or more representative in each of the dioceses of England and Wales who are responsible for local events.
See also
*
Indult Catholic
In Catholic canon law, an indult is a permission or privilege, granted by the competent church authority – the Holy See or the diocesan bishop, as the case may be – for an exception from a particular norm of church law in an individual case ...
* International Federation
Una Voce
The ''Fœderatio Internationalis Una Voce'' or simply ''Una Voce'' (Latin for "With One Voice"; from the preface to the Roman Canon) is an international federation of Catholic lay organizations attached to the Tridentine Mass.
History
The ''Foede ...
*
CIEL UK
CIEL UK (Centre International d'Etudes Liturgiques - UK) is the British branch of CIEL, an international Roman Catholic society that is dedicated to scholarly analysis and pastoral familiarity of the traditional liturgy of the Roman Catholic Chur ...
*
Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter (FSSP)
*
Association for Latin Liturgy
The Association for Latin Liturgy is a British lay Catholic organisation which promotes greater use of Latin in the Mass. It was founded in 1969 by Dick Richens who was formerly a member of the Latin Mass Society of England and Wales. Unlike th ...
References
Bibliography
*
External links
Official website of the Latin Mass Society of England and WalesLatin Mass Societyat
YouTube
YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...
{{Traditionalist Catholicism
Ecclesia Dei
Catholic Church in England and Wales
Communities using the Tridentine Mass