Latin Mass not just for older Catholics
What's driving Miami's newer, younger members?
It's the kind of Catholic Mass your grandparents might remember: The liturgy is spoken in Latin, the choir sings Gregorian chants and women wear chapel veils, or “mantillas.” But, this Traditional Latin Mass isn't full of elderly parishioners.
At Our Lady of Belen Chapel in West Miami, roughly 350 people — young and old — show up weekly for services, an old-style Catholic Mass that had been celebrated for centuries before the Second Vatican Council reformed the Catholic Church in the 1960s. One look around the picturesque Belen chapel and it's clear that this Mass, though grounded in tradition and conducted mostly in Latin, is not just for older Catholics. Amid the sacred chanting and echoing organs, babies fuss and parents distract their toddlers with toys and coloring books.
There is no designated childcare room, but parents of crying babies are never shamed, said Eleonora Cacchione, a mother of four and Latin Mass regular. Cacchione is a lifelong Catholic, but says she did not fully understand what was happening during Mass until she started attending Traditional Latin Mass.
“People wearing their Sunday best, seeing the priest facing the altar rather than the congregation, the solemnity and reverence of the liturgy — including the way people receive Jesus in the Eucharist — reminds one that something special, something supernatural and beyond human explanation is taking place,” Cacchione said in a text message.
Traditional Latin Mass, also called the extraordinary form of the Roman rite, or the Tridentine Mass, has been celebrated in the Archdiocese of Miami for the past 40 years, beginning under former Archbishop Edward McCarthy. In recent years, Miami's community has steadily grown, relocating to five different chapels in the past 10 years to accommodate the growth.
But, the most recent move to the Belen chapel — which is aligned with the Jesuits, and not an Archdiocese of Miami church — was made after Pope Francis restricted where groups can celebrate Latin Mass. He also required priests who wanted to celebrate the Mass to get permission from their bishops, and for bishops to get approval from the Vatican. The pope was concerned the Church was going backward, rather than looking forward.
Miami's Latin Mass community has more than doubled in the past five years — up from an average of 112 congregants in 2017 to 320 in 2023 — according to records taken by Frank Andollo, who's been going to the services for 10 years. People drive from as far north as Palm Beach County and as far south as the Florida Keys to make it to Latin Mass at Belen on Sundays.
Why the growth? “It's bound to attract people because I believe they are attracted to authenticity,” said Jose Ballon, the choir director. “They don't want something watered down or compromised.”
Ballon, 28, was referring to the traditions that are honored during Latin Mass,
compared to the new order of Mass, or Novus ordo, the the religious service most Catholics are familiar with today.
“There's peace, there's quiet, there's moments of silence,” Ballon said. “Whereas maybe in other churches, I'm not trying to presume, but it would be more about `Let's have everyone sing along,' or where everything has to be a big show to keep you awake. They think it's necessary to follow the trends of the moment ... I love pop rock music, but I wouldn't like that at church.”
In Miami, the Archidiocese offers the Tridentine Mass one Saturday a month at Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church, but for the blossoming community, this wasn't frequent enough. As a result, the group has organized a weekly Latin Mass at Belen chapel under the blessing of Miami Archibishop Thomas Wenski, who said he understands
the appeal to Catholic traditionalism during a time of increasing secularism.
“What I think attracts some people to the traditional form of the Mass is the fact that it is an appeal to tradition,” Wenski said. “Today, we're living in a time of rapid change, and sometimes that rapid change can be a bit disconcerting or disorienting. And so tradition seems like a way to anchor oneself.”
For many congregants, a large part of the appeal is connecting to a more traditional Catholic community.
“I was at the point in my life where I was looking for a deeper, more authentic Catholic community. And that's what I found when I started going to the Latin Mass,” Andollo said, adding that he was drawn to that after service, people don't dash to their cars, but stay after to chat, eat pastries and drink cafecito.
“They were having conversations
about their faith and lifting each other up in their spiritual lives and giving each other advice,” he said. “That was very inspiring to me. I love being there for that and seeing that.”
Andollo says he is also learning about Catholic traditions that people may have forgotten after the Vatican II liturgical reforms, such as the Feast of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary and Candlemas, or the Feast of the Presentation of Jesus Christ.
“These are all beautiful traditions that go back to the earliest days of the Church,” Andollo said. “This is a culture that is not solely restricted to the fact that I'm American or a Cuban ... we can all share this as something that unites Catholics around the world.”
Juana Maria Correa, whose daughter sings in the choir, grew up going to the English-language Mass, but prefers Latin Mass