A. No. The Tridentine Mass is so called because it is the form of Mass produced for the Western church after the Council of Trent, a town in northern Italy, whose name in Latin is "Tridentum". The Council lasted, on and off, from 1545 to 1563. In its 22nd session (September 1562) the doctrine of the Mass was defined, as were things to be observed or avoided in its celebration. By a decree of the Council, the actual reform of the Mass rite was left to the Pope, then Pius IV, though it was actually his successor, Pius V who carried out, or at least supervised, the work.

The 'Tridentine Missal' (1570) was the result, and it remained in force for exactly 400 years until Pope Paul VI, when the present Missal came into use. Latin had been the language in use throughout the Western Church almost since its foundation (in the very early days it was Greek), but other languages are used in the Eastern Catholic Churches, for example, in the Coptic rite. So although the Tridentine Mass is always celebrated in Latin, Latin is not an essential aspect of it, and it could, in theory, be celebrated in the vernacular (though it has to be said that the Council of Trent itself rejected the idea of Mass in the vernacular at that time). Nowadays, when we talk about the 'Latin Mass', we mean Mass in any approved rite celebrated in Latin. The Latin Liturgy Association promotes the celebration of the Mass in all approved rites, principally the Tridentine Mass and the Mass of Paul VI (the Novus Ordo) in Latin, with the traditional music associated with the Roman Liturgy.

Q. Since the Second Vatican Council (1962-65) the use of the vernacular has become very widespread in the liturgy of the Catholic Church. Given this, why should it be important to retain a place for Latin in the liturgy of today?

A. There are many reasons why Latin should still play an important part in the liturgy of today's Church. Vatican II itself envisaged the continued use of Latin: "The use of Latin is to be preserved in the Latin rites." (Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, 36) Latin has been used in the rites of the Western Church since at least the fourth century, if not earlier. It is not surprising therefore that the Novus Ordo introduced by Pope Paul VI in 1970 was composed in Latin. Vernacular translations followed, rather than preceded, the Latin original. The use of the Church's traditional language of worship has the following important benefits:

1) It is a sacral language, associated with the single, exalted purpose of the worship of God. The use of Latin in this way should not surprise us for a sacral language is a feature of all the major world religions: classical Arabic in Islam, Sanskrit in Hinduism and, of course, Hebrew in Judaism - the language in which Our Lord would have prayed.

4) The use of Latin enables also the use of the great liturgical music of the Church, particularly plainchant and polyphony. Vatican II said: "The treasury of sacred music is to be preserved and fostered with great care." (Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, 114)

A. The Latin Liturgy Association is the only organization in the United States which seeks to foster greater use of Latin in both the Novus Ordo (Vatican II) Rite and the traditional (Tridentine) Rite of the Mass. Our organization also believes that it is important for us to work from within the Church to help the Church maintain its Latin liturgical tradition and its patrimony of sacred music. We are proud to have 38 American bishops on our Board of Episcopal Advisors and are especially proud that our present Holy Father has seen fit to grant us his papal blessing on the work of our Association! The LLA maintains the most accurate and up-to-date Directory of Latin Masses celebrated in the USA and Canada. We publish a quarterly Newsletter of current developments in the Latin Mass movement, and assist people throughout the USA in their efforts to have more Latin Masses celebrated in their dioceses.