Volume > Issue > Note List > Our Churches Will Be Empty -- Part II

Our Churches Will Be Empty — Part II

In our New Oxford Note “Our Churches Will Be Empty” (Nov. 2006), we quoted Archbishop Albert Ranjith, the Secretary of the Congregation for Divine Worship for the Holy See, as saying, “In the end, the people will assist at [attend] the Tridentine Mass and our churches [the New Mass] will empty.” The I Media news agency interviewed Archbishop Ranjith, as was reported in The Remnant (July 31, 2006): “After revealing that the Congregation daily receives letters from the people lamenting liturgical abuses in the New Mass, he [Archbishop Ranjith] said: ‘It is our duty to be vigilant…. Because, in the end, the people will assist at the Tridentine Mass and our churches will empty.'” However, when reporting on the same I Media interview with Archbishop Ranjith, The Catholic World Report (Aug./Sept.) did not include that quote. As we said, “This was the bombshell!”

The October Catholic World Report (CWR) did include that quote (our November issue went to the printer before we received the October CWR). Perhaps someone alerted CWR that this could not be brushed off. We’re glad CWR made the correction.

Enjoyed reading this?

READ MORE! REGISTER TODAY

SUBSCRIBE

You May Also Enjoy

Whither the Roman Rite?

Arguing that the Novus Ordo Missae is substantively different from the old Mass is not easy, even as it is plain that something is very different between the new rite and the old.

Does Good Liturgy Beget Moral Virtue?

Good liturgy involves good taste, and, as Burke said, taste depends on rational judgment, emotional maturity, and education — that is to say, the virtues.

First Impressions Are Often Correct

What was it like for a self-proclaimed "progressive" priest to celebrate his first-ever old Latin Mass? Was it onerous? Was it tedious?