POPE REIMPOSES RESTRICTIONS ON OLD LATIN MASS

Pope Francis on Friday reimposed restrictions on the old-style Latin Mass, saying earlier reform was being exploited to “encourage disagreements that injure the Church, block her path and expose her to the peril of division.” Some Church conservatives, particularly in the U.S. and Europe, have used the Latin Mass to oppose the reforms of the 1962-1965 Second Vatican Council, which introduced Mass in vernacular languages and had the priest face the congregation. Traditionalists missed the Latin rite's sense of mystery, awe and its Gregorian chant. In 2007 Benedict ruled that any Roman Catholic priest could celebrate the old Latin Mass without express permission from a bishop or the Vatican. Francis' decree restored that obligation and said no new groups or parishes exclusively devoted to the old liturgy could be established.