The New Old Mass: Implications of the for the Jewish Community
Rabbi Michael Signer
July, 2007

On Saturday, July 7, 2007, Pope Benedict XVI issued a letter in the form known as Motu Proprio, (Latin, "of his own accord”) under the Latin title, “Summorum Pontificorum.” . These letters are not issued very often, and they usually pertain to matters affecting the Church and its believers. “Summorum Pontificorum” explains the reasons that Pope Benedict considered it necessary to permit a wider use of the mass recited in Latin. Although this liturgy is often called the Tridentine rite [after the Council of Trent, 1545-1563], it has been available since 1962 in a version published by Pope John XXIII, and since 1970 it has been known as the Roman Missal.

Since 1984 the use of the Latin liturgy required the permission of the local Bishop. The new Motu Proprio allows any priest to recite the mass without asking permission. Groups within a parish can petition their pastor to have the mass. The instruction does not make the mass in English [in the case of America] obsolete, and in fact calls it the “ordinary text” whereas the Latin mass is called “extraordinary.”

Many observers, both within and outside the Catholic Church, have viewed this instruction by the Pope as evidence of a desire on his part to move the Church away from the spirit of the Second Vatican Council, and by extension away from a the cordial approach to Judaism that has been characteristic over the past forty years. Does this new instruction mean that the Pope and his governing body, known as the Curia, understand the use of the Latin mass as a way to “reverse the reforms of council?” Should the Jewish community infer that this instruction is the first step toward restoring those sentiments in the pre-conciliar prayers that urged Catholics to hold Judaism and Jews in low esteem because during Holy Week there were prayers that demeaned Jews as “blind” and “perfidious”?

Many Catholics view Benedict as edging away from open attitudes towards other religious communities—Christian and non-Christian alike. Their opinions are grounded on his insistence that the Catholic Church is the only “true Church” in the document “Dominus Iesus” (2000), and his speech last year at the University of Regensburg where he challenged the Muslim world to demonstrate that their faith was consistent with “reason.”

Pope Benedict has insisted that his commitment to “dialogue” with other religions and the modern world is in the same spirit as that of his predecessor, Pope John Paul II. As part of that commitment, Benedict has insisted that he will continue to work towards better relations with the Jewish people. After his appearance in the synagogue at Cologne in Germany and at Auschwitz—where his speech was not clear, but immediately corrected during his public audience the following Wednesday---there is no reason to doubt the Pope. His intellectual reach is prodigious and his sentiment about the removal of anti-Jewish thinking in the Church and anti-Semitism in European society has been unwavering.

Among the most insightful analysis of the issues raised by the use of the Latin mass had come from the “Jewish Christian Discussion Group” of the Central Committee of German Catholics, a group composed of Catholics and Jews. Their document, sent to Cardinal Kasper and other officials in the Curia this summer, points out that the prayers recited in the Latin Mass during Holy Week, especially from Good Friday to Easter Sunday, contain prayers that refer to the Jews as “blind” and “walking in darkness.” The focus of this prayer is for Jews to recognize Jesus as the messiah of Israel (the Christ). The German group argues that this formulation contradicts the spirit of the II Vatican Council, Nostra Aetate that opens up the possibility of a deeper relationship of dialogue with Jews and the Jewish People. The strong message of reconciliation and respect that prevailed throughout the pontificate of John Paul II also seems to be diminished by permitting this prayer to be recited.

The Discussion Group poses a further, and very important, objection. At these Latin masses, the readings of Scripture do not require that one of the three readings come from the Hebrew Bible. Many theologians in the Catholic Church emphasize that the post- Vatican II scriptural readings that include readings from the Hebrew Scriptures have provided those who attend mass with greater appreciation for the Hebrew Bible, and by extension, for Judaism.

Given the strong sentiments expressed by this German group that has dedicated itself to Catholic-Jewish understanding, it is not surprising that there are concerns that Jews might have with respect to the expansion of the Latin mass into parishes in the United States.

There have also been letters sent to the Vatican Congregation for Religious Relations with the Jews by IJCIC [whatever that means] and agencies that focus on intergroup relations. Their letters focus on an ambiguity in the text of the Motu Proprio that clearly states that a priest who recites the Latin mass by himself may not use that on Good Friday. However, that does not respond to the question whether a priest who recited the Latin mass before at a communal liturgy may use it. In another part of the document [Section 5], the communities who have been utilizing the Latin rite are given permission to continue to do so. Fr. Norbert Hoffman of the Vatican Commission on Religious Relations with the Jews has stated that he, together with Cardinal Kasper [President of the Commission], will continue to clarify this issue. Cardinal Tarciso Bertone, Secretary of State for the Vatican, has also indicated that it is possible to change the texts.

We can see then that the Pope and his advisers have not made Jewish-Christian, or even ecumenical Christian, issues at the center of their concern. The Motu Proprio seems to have been aimed at resolving a problem within the Church that goes back to Pope John Paul II in 1988. At that time Pope John Paul issued a Motu Proprio called “Ecclesia Dei” (Latin: The Church of God) where he excommunicated Monsignor Marcel Lefebvre and others who rejected the leadership of the Pope and the II Vatican Council. However, this document expresses the message that, “ respect must everywhere be shown for the feelings of all those who are attached to the Latin liturgical tradition, by a wide and generous application of the directives already issued some time ago by the Apostolic See for the use of the Roman Missal according to the typical edition of 1962.” I believe that the primary motivation for “Summorum Pontificorum” is to heal this rift in the Church. The matter of Jewish-Christian relations and relationships with other Christians Churches are, more or less, an afterthought.

Stating the question most simply: Is this Motu Proprio a major agenda item for the Jewish community in its relationship to the Catholic Church? I would propose the following approach:

• Permission to use the Latin mass is an internal Catholic issue. Reading about the issue in my local newspaper, it would seem to reflect a discussion about what constitutes appropriate worship that “moves” Catholics in an emotional way. Reform Jews have engaged in similar debates about the “spirituality” and the need for an “inner experience” during the time that they spend in synagogue. Some of our continuing Jewish discussions about choral music and extensive use of Hebrew in the service echo the current arguments among Catholic worshippers. However, we should not think that the use of Latin in the mass and the use of Hebrew in Jewish worship present equivalent alternatives. Hebrew was always the language of Jewish worship. All Jews have been taught to read and pray in Hebrew. Latin was the language of the clergy, not the people. Those who attend the Latin mass want a liturgy where the priest recites the liturgy while the people stand around in prayerful mood but have no substantial role. The post II Vatican liturgy emphasizes the community, and a very different vision of what constitutes the Church and its worship.

• We should support those Catholics who worry about whether or not this new papal instruction is a further step back into a disengagement of Catholics from the modern world—and from the respectful attitude towards non-Catholics expressed in the documents of the Council. They sense that their attitudes and years of activity to promote dialogue are being marginalized by the emphasis on healing the rift with those who have a more hierarchical vision of the Church where the Bishop and priest are the intercessors for the people.

• A return to the Latin mass seems to obscure the more positive prayers recited in the English mass during Holy Week. Some of the prayers that are used in the Latin rite are very hurtful to Protestants. However, those of us in the Jewish community who have been engaged in dialogue with Catholics have come to understand that it is the person who celebrates the Mass, who preaches on the Gospels, who chooses the hymns has far more influence on those who worship than the words in the prayers. It is still possible to use the English version of the Mass, and preach a sermon that demonstrates no respect for Judaism or love for Jews.

• It is highly likely that groups who want the Latin mass are not looking to open their eyes and hearts to Jews and other non-Christians during the hours of prayer. Their search for God and contemplation seems to be their primary concern. The fact that they participate in the Latin mass need not, and hopefully will not, separate them from other activities in their parishes. Therefore, rather than focus exclusively on our concerns about any single liturgy in a parish, we Jews might want to engage the whole parish with opportunities for dialogue, synagogue visits, or other activities.

Rabbi Michael Singer is Co-Chair, Commission on Interreligous Affairs of Reform Judaism; Abrams Professor of Jewish Thought and Culture, Notre Dame University. He is the author and editor of six books on topics that range from Medieval Latin biblical commentaries to contemporary Jewish-Christian relations such as Humanity at the Limit: The Impact of the Holocaust Experience on Jews and Christians; Memory and History in Judaism and Christianity; Jews and Christians in Twelfth-Century Europe, and Coming Together for the Sake of God.  He is one of the four authors of Dabru Emet: A Jewish Statement on Christians and Christianity.  

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