Karl Keating on the indult

Talk about a lack of "demand" for the old Mass will remain fatuous until a fair test is given.

Thirty years ago, if you had asked around, you would have found almost no American who had an interest in the cappuccinos and espressos so widely found today at coffee houses. But once they had a chance to sample these exotic offerings from Europe, many Americans liked them–a lot.

Likewise, perhaps, with the old Mass, but we won’t know until American Catholics have been given a real chance to compare the Tridentine Mass with the one now celebrated in their parishes.

My guess is that there will be much more of a "demand" than Church bureaucrats expect. Nowadays about 20 million American Catholics attend Mass each Sunday, but not more than one percent of them attend the old Mass. What might that percentage be if the old Mass truly were widely available? I suspect it would be well into the double digits.

So back to Eamonn Duffy. He speculates that Pope Benedict will give universal permission for priests of the Latin rite to celebrate the old Mass. Let’s say that happens. Then what? My guess: not much.

Why? Because most priests will not want to buck the expressed or implied wishes of diocesan bureaucrats.

It’s easy for a priest’s life to become purgatorial if he does something not to the liking of the "liturgical experts." Many priests who might want to provide the old Mass for their parishioners–imagine dedicating one out of five Mass slots to the old liturgy–will shy away from the hassle they would expect to receive from higher ups.

I hope Duffy is correct in his surmise about what the Pope will do, and I hope there would be no foot-dragging if the Pope does issue a universal permission. But …