02 July 2007
A plan by Pope Benedict XVI to reintroduce the controversial Latin Mass into church liturgy has provoked criticism in the Catholic Church and concern from Jewish leaders. The 16thcentury Tridentine Mass – which includes references to “perfidious” Jews – was abandoned in 1969 and replaced with liturgy in local languages, to make worship more accessible to the majority of churchgoers. Last week, however, Pope Benedict announced that a long-awaited document liberalizing the use of the Mass, would be released in the coming days.
Cardinal Cormac Murphy O’Connor, the leader of the Roman Catholic Church in England and Wales, has written to the Pope to say that no changes were needed. Clerics, but also Jewish leaders, are concerned by the text of the “old” Mass, which contains passages, recited on Good Friday, that say Jews live in “blindness” and “darkness”, and pray “the Lord our God may take the veil from their hearts and that they also may acknowledge our Lord Jesus Christ”.
