A CNS story looks at a small FSSP parish in Rome.

A fair treatment – the angle is comparing this  Mass with papal liturgies, which is an interesting point, but sort of like apples and oranges – comparing a Mass with 40 people to one with 40,000. The whole experience and the people in attendance are treated fairly, though and the piece is balanced.

Hewett, for example, a 32-year-old from Philadelphia, grew interested in the Tridentine rite when he studied church history. He bought an old missal online and began attending San Gregorio, which also offers daily Tridentine Masses in the morning and evening.

Hewett has an advantage: He knows Latin well. But he said knowledge of Latin is not essential, because many missals have the liturgical texts in both Latin and English.

"And even if not everyone understands the texts on a verbal level, this Mass has a coherence of symbols — including the vestments, candles, bells and singing — which helps people grasp it on a different level," Hewett said.

Father Joseph Kramer, an Australian priest of the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter, coordinates the Masses at San Gregorio. The fraternity was founded with the Vatican’s blessing in 1988 to train priests for traditionalist Catholics.

Father Kramer said it would be a good thing if Pope Benedict, as expected, widens the permission to use the Tridentine Mass. For one thing, he said, traditionalists would appear less of a fringe movement in the church, and average Catholics would be more likely to try attending Tridentine celebrations.

Father Kramer said that to date most requests on the Tridentine rite have come from the faithful — in a sense, from the bottom up. A papal document would give direction from the top down, with much more influence around the world, he said.

Not everyone who goes to San Gregorio is an exclusive devotee of the Tridentine rite. Ben Akers, a 30-year-old Catholic from the Arlington, Va., area, and his wife were attending their third liturgy at the church after a recommendation from friends.

Akers said he liked the rich symbolism of the old rite, along with the beautiful music at San Gregorio. The missal he used explained what the priest was doing liturgically, so it wasn’t confusing, he said.

But Akers said the new Mass — especially papal liturgies in St. Peter’s and other Rome churches — can also be beautiful, especially when done in Latin.

What detracts from the papal liturgies, he said, is the big crowd, the endless picture-taking and the occasional lack of respect. At Communion time at papal Masses, some people have to be told to consume the host, he said.

After attending Tridentine Masses at San Gregorio, Akers said he’s probably not likely to seek out the old rite when he returns to Arlington.

"I’m a firm believer in participating in my local parish," he said.