An Observation On "La Santa Misa," The Usus Antiquior, And Cultural Double Standards

When my wife was fresh in her reversion she was conscripted by an opportunistic priest to teach CCD to the Hispanic children at one of the local parishes in our area. Perhaps it was her Spanish last name (the Philippines was colonized by the Spanish) that led the priest to figure "close enough!" with regards to her credentials. In any case, my wife spent a few years teaching basic catechesis to these 1st generation Mexican-American children. Though most spoke English, their level of their knowledge of the faith was rudimentary and largely cultural. 

One thing my wife noticed was that the Spanish-speaking parishioners were not interested in and did not integrate with the "Anglos," despite the best efforts of the parish to encourage such multi-cultural integration. At our old Novus Ordo parish (different from the one my wife taught CCD at), there were "Spanish Masses" at certain times we would occasionally go to depending on our schedule, replete with Mariachi type music and Spanish spoken as the primary language in the liturgy. I also taught RCIA at a parish that was split between the Hispanics (who had their own Mass) and the "Anglos" so I saw this segregation myself. A lot of the white liberal minded parishoners I imagine had a desire to diversify their cultural pallet and mingle with the Hispanics--but the Hispanics themselves had no interest whatsoever in doing so. I don't think this is an isolated phenomenon. 

I mean, I can't really fault them. When I lived in the city, there were five or so Catholic churches in a mile radius or so that ran along ethnic fault lines--German, Italian, Polish, Eastern European, etc. Of course, that was back in the turn of the century where things were like that; not so much today. Now they are all just mostly dying Novus Ordo parishes struggling to keep the doors open. 

Where we live, mushroom country is a half hour drive, and is almost 50% Hispanic according to census data. The Hispanic Catholics in the area are tight-knit and wanted their own church, which they raised the funds for and had completed a few years ago, which is considered a "National Hispanic Catholic Church." I don't know any "Anglo" Catholics who would attend here; it's pretty clear it was founded "to serve the Hispanic community." 

I grew up going to the Divine Liturgy occasionally which was in Ukrainian. I have always struggled with these "national/ethnic parishes", and never felt at home there despite my nominal Eastern-European cultural heritage. That is one reason why I felt upon discovering the Traditional Latin Mass that it was a "great equalizer" that does not discriminate based on ethnic, nationalistic, or cultural fault-lines. Yes indeed, "All Are Welcome." Yes, the Mass is in Latin which is no one's "native tongue." But it is also the language of the Church, the One Holy Catholic (universal) and Apostolic Church. It is the liturgy, not the vernacular or the cultural appropriations necessarily that bind us together as a community. 

Do those who assist the Tridentine Mass "self-segregate?" Sure, why not. Many (though not all) of those in our community homeschool their children, also. They are intentional in their living out of the faith, catechize their children themselves, and many were drawn to the TLM because it provided fertile ground to live out the "faith of our fathers" among like-minded parishoners. In my mind, the Hispanic congregants wanting their own Masses and own personal parishes are doing the same thing. Fine. Big umbrella and all that. And yet traditionalists are the ones being signaled out and put in place with the papal iron fist. 

Msgr. Charles Pope, who I would consider a priest with a true pastor's heart but who is not necessarily a dyed-in-the-wool traditionalist, has some measured observations on the issuance of Traditionis Custodes as it relates to the sidelining and marginalization of those who wish to worship God according to the usus antiquior.  

"Who is to say that non-parochial settings such as personal parishes is the best location for the Traditional Latin Mass and for the other sacraments? In my own archdiocese we decided decades ago that the best policy was to incorporate the TLM into certain approved parish settings. We did not think it was healthy or wise to seclude traditional Catholics in specialized churches. It was our instinct to keep them close to the heart of the Church and under the care of a pastor who said both forms of the Mass. We do not have personal parishes run by the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter or other groups.

This is also the case in many other dioceses. And, given their size, a non-parochial setting may not be feasible to adequately supply the needed sites to assist the faithful. Hence, in dioceses such as mine, we consider it wise and practical to use the parish setting for the celebration of the TLM."

Priests today are encouraged to learn Spanish and be bi-lingual as a means of, I don't know, what would you say--multiculturalism? Pastoral-ism? And yet, if a seminarian desires to learn Latin, Holy Mother Church native, universal tongue--they are tagged as subversive or anti-conformists or whathaveyou. The Pope himself said the "phenomenon of young priests who after a month of ordination go to the bishop to ask to celebrate in Latin was an indication 'that we are going backward.'"

That being said, the accusations of the Holy Father in terms of those who "deny" Vatican II--I don't know who these people are. Most of us think it was kind of a sloppy and hot mess and a failed experiment in light of the fruits, but our submission to the Holy See is more in line with that of most Catholics than that of the sedevacantists or schismatics they paint us as. We are Catholic, and one with the Church. Like the Hispanics, the Ukrainians, the Ethiopians, etc. Why are we being signaled out and accused of "division," acting against "unity?" and relegated to liturgical Siberia? Why the double standard? At the very least Summa Pontificum gave us a degree of latitude to be Catholic according to the usus antiquior. To the degree we self-segregate, we do so no more than any other ethnic group wanting to worship according to their cultural sensibilities. 

Personally, I would love to see the Tridentine Mass be brought back not as the Extraordinary Form, but the "Ordinary" Form--that is, the default standard for what it means to be Catholic, liturgically speaking. I think it is the great unifier, with the common language of the Church (Latin), though I know this is a tough sell among most New Rite Catholicism in which it seems exotic and foreign and in some cases, threatening (to modernism). Hard to put the genie back in the bottle, I imagine. Truth be told, when I walk into a Novus Ordo parish today, it's hard not to feel the protestantization of the liturgy which, the more one reads and studies, was not unintentional.  I don't want to feel this way, but I do. It feels like another religion, hard to reconcile with what I know after having worshipped by way of the usus antiquior. It would certainly be easier were my eyes not opened to what came before it. 

See: "The Value of a Sacred Language" @ NLM