The New Technology Is for Amateurs

The mail brought with it the latest issue of The Latin Mass magazine (Fall 2007) — accompanied by a fundraising letter (“a critical juncture — an urgent request”). The papal motu proprio freeing up the Tridentine Latin Mass (Summorum Pontificum, released July 7) meant that the magazine had now become “more important than ever,” the fundraiser said, but, “at the same time, forces of opposition — both within and without the Church — are already lining up to prevent, in any way they can, a Latin Mass restoration.”

The letter added that Keep the Faith, the parent organization that publishes the magazine, has a $32,000 printing bill for each issue. With five issues a year, that means The Latin Mass costs $160,000 a year just to print. It is sent free to over 1,000 priests, in addition to regular subscribers. Readers were therefore invited to make contributions (as much as $25,000 was suggested) to keep the worthy enterprise afloat.

The new papal document about the Tridentine Latin Mass meant that the magazine really did have some news to report, and the issue that accompanied the fundraising letter duly published the motu proprio itself, and some interesting reflections and analyses by Fr. Kenneth Baker, S.J., the Editor-in-Chief of the excellent Homiletic & Pastoral Review, and by others, including Baylor University’s Michael P. Foley, the author of Why Do Catholics Eat Fish on Friday?

It occurred to me that the magazine might very well consider publishing a continuing feature in every issue, listing those dioceses and parishes where the Tridentine Mass may be heard in the U.S. It would also be interesting to read more about those “forces of opposition,” particularly episcopal, who see fit to resist a “Latin Mass restoration” within their own jurisdiction.