“The Latin Mass and the Intellectuals”: the story of a long struggle to save the Vetus Ordo



Luca Fumagalli

The writer Julien Green after attending the “New Mass” for the first time, and amazed at having found it astoundingly similar to the Protestant rite, turned to his sister Mary asking: «Why did we convert ?»

The anecdote referring to Green is only one of the several that demonstrate the bewilderment that many felt at the liturgical innovations introduced by the Second Vatican Council. It was above all the countries with a Protestant majority, including England, that saw the first outbreaks of the protest. The small Catholic communities that resided there immediately and more easily than others grasped the dangerous similarity between the Novus Ordo and the Lutheran and Calvinist rites of their compatriots. It is no coincidence that an eminent Norwegian psychologist, Dr. Borghild Krane, was the first to sound the alarm to all Catholics worldwide, with a view to organising a joint action to preserve the centuries-old liturgical heritage of the Tridentine Mass.

The appeal resulted in the birth of numerous associations and in 1965 the delegates of six European states met in Rome to set up an international coordination, commonly known as Una Voce, formalized in Zurich two years later. The British Latin Mass Society immediately occupied a place of great importance among the federated groups.

A first appeal, organised by the Italian poet Cristina Campo, was sent in 1966 to Paul VI in which it was maintained that abandoning the use of the Latin language in the Holy Mass would result in great spiritual deprivation. Montini was then asked for permission at least to continue to attend Masses celebrated in the ancient rite; the plea, however, got no response.

With the official introduction of the new missal, in order to prevent the great traditions of the Church from disappearing forever, the Latin Mass Society, led by the writer and poet Alfred Marnau, decided to take the initiative again. This time it was necessary to break the delay with an incisive and resounding action. Marnau then proposed to forward a petition to Paul VI. Unlike the previous requests, all ignored, this time the document was also to be signed by eminent personalities from culture, art, entertainment and politics, including some who were far from Catholic.

Having drafted the text and approved the action plan, in early 1971 Marnau, driven by urgency, in less than three weeks collected fifty-seven signatures including those of Graham Greene, Herman Grisewood, David Jones, Kathleen Raine, Cecil Day Lewis and, of course, Agatha Christie, whose name was later associated with the Indult that Montini finally granted (the happy outcome of the initiative, however, can be attributed to the diplomatic skills of the then archbishop of Westminister, Cardinal John Carmel Heenan).

The story of these first petitions in defence of the Latin mass and the subsequent ones – 1995, 1998, 2006 and 2007 – is told in full in the splendid volume by Arouca Press The Latin Mass and the Intellectuals, edited by Joseph Shaw, with contributions from Brother Gabriel-Díaz, Erik Tonning, Sebastian Morello, Philip Maxence, Leo Darroch and Matthew Schellhorn. It is a story much more complex, and more interesting, than has until now usually been assumed, and it is no exaggeration to say that they prevented the ancient liturgy of the Western Church from being suppressed all over the world.

In the first part, in addition to presenting the opinion of de Maistre and Proust on Latin and the thousand-year-old liturgy of the Catholic Church, the book focuses on the liturgical reform of Saint Pius V, aimed at safeguarding the traditional doctrine, and which is therefore completely different from that of 1969, born in the doctrinal and liturgical chaos of the 1960s promoted by the Second Vatican Council.

The second part, which opens with harsh criticisms of the novus ordo by Christopher Sykes, Evelyn Waugh and Hugh Ross Williamson, tells in detail the biographical and religious story of some of the most important defenders of the traditional liturgy such as Cristina Campo and Bernard Wall. It continues by dealing at length with the Latin Mass Society, the Feoderatio Internationalis Una Voce and the other traditionalist associations born around the world which have attempted in every way to prevent the Latin mass from being repealed completely.

Finally, some key issues surrounding the fight to save the vetus ordo are discussed. For example, it is explained why several modernist writers turned out to be traditionalists in the theological field, or why even esotericists considered it important to sign the petitions. But it also discusses music, art and the significant role that converts had, at least in England, being among the most combative faithful.

The Latin Mass and the Intellectuals is therefore a book that must be read: not only will the reader have the opportunity to discover the various reasons that led many people of different social and cultural backgrounds to unite to preserve the traditional mass, but it is also a splendid opportunity to realize that there are many, all over the world, who still today are convinced that the new Montini rite, beyond its objective defects, has done more harm than good, and that God, to quote the title of an article that appeared at the time in an Italian newspaper, speaks Latin.

Joseph Shaw (ed.), The Latin Mass and the Intellectuals: The Petitions to Save the Ancient Mass from 1966 to 2007 (Arouca Press, 2023), 410 pages, $23.95.

Buy the book: https://aroucapress.com/the-latin-mass-and-intellectuals