What happened on November 22, 1963? Our first Catholic president was assassinated. Coincidentally that day, the bishops in Rome for the Second Vatican Council voted 2,158 to 19 to approve the vernacular Mass. It no longer had to be conducted in Latin.
The bishopsâ goal was to call Catholics to âfull, conscious, and activeâ participation in the liturgy and their faith. Yet, today some Catholics yearn for a return to the Latin Mass and âtraditionalâ rituals. In her national column, Christine Flowers (Roanoke Times, June 12th) asserts that âeliminating Latin segregated Catholics from each otherâ by removing our âunitary language,â as if everyone in the pews understands Latin.