One of the priests at my parish — skeptical that there is much demand in our neighborhood for the 1962 mass — has taken it upon himself to keep a tally of how many people are requesting it.

As I made my way down the aisle and into the vestibule at the end of our last mass Sunday, he was there, greeting the people as they left. He turned to me and grinned. “Well,” he said, “that’s three.”

In other words: three people out of roughly three thousand parishioners have asked about having a Tridentine mass.

Now, it’s still early, and a lot of the faithful haven’t yet gotten wind of the motu proprio, and all that it entails. But I suspect that this priest’s initial suspicions may be right: the demand isn’t there.

In my diocese, they offer the Tridentine rite at two separate locations every Sunday. The attendance at those masses has been somewhat less-than-spectacular: about 20 at each church. Which means about 40 people in a diocese that numbers over 1.5 million Catholics.

We’ll see what happens in the weeks to come. But I’m not bracing for a stampede.

Neither, for that matter, are the priests in my parish — none of whom knows the rite or even, for that matter, Latin. Which raises an interesting problem. If Rome honestly thinks most American priests will be able to start celebrating this rite in eight weeks (the date the motu proprio takes effect), they need a serious reality check. Most priests I know have neither the time or the inclination to start learning a new language, and the rubrics of the 1962 mass; they’re stretched too thin as it is.

This piece by Reuters sums it up well:

The clergy’s thinning ranks already have their hands full saying the usual masses on Sunday.

Many mainstream clergy are also worried by the tenacity of the traditionalists, who have spent decades bucking the trend and are expected to promote the Latin mass with renewed vigor.

“Where there are groups that want it, it’s going to be a real pain in the neck for the pastor,” said Father Tom Reese S.J. of the Woodstock Theological Center at Washington’s Georgetown University. “He’s going to be pressured to do it.”

Cardinal Jean-Pierre Ricard, head of the French Bishops’ Conference, chose a old baker’s saying to hint the transition to using two very different rites may not be smooth. “There’ll be some lumps in the dough,” he quipped to journalists in Paris.

And let’s not even bring up doing baptisms or weddings according to the rite. It will be difficult enough for priests to master an ordinary (or, um, “extraordinary”) mass. (Another question: what will permanent deacons do?)

But I’m curious: what’s happening in your parish? Are people starting to ask for the Latin mass? Or is it just too soon to say?