Latin Mass Will Survive Attempts to End

Catholics who prefer what is called the Traditional Latin Mass (TLM) have been praying and fretting about mere rumors for decades. Twenty years ago, I remember rumors of an imminent reconciliation between the pope and the breakaway traditionalist group the Society of St. Pius X (SSPX), which would have brought 500 Latin Mass priests into the universal Church. Months later, there were rumors in the opposite direction, of some terrible withdrawal of permission — a permission then called “the indult” — for saying the traditional Mass at all.

And so, I’ve learned to ignore most of the rumors as most of them go nowhere.

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Michael Brendan Dougherty

Michael Brendan Dougherty is a senior writer at National Review Online.

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Catholics who prefer what is called the Traditional Latin Mass (TLM) have been praying and fretting about mere rumors for decades. Twenty years ago, I remember rumors of an imminent reconciliation between the pope and the breakaway traditionalist group the Society of St. Pius X (SSPX), which would have brought 500 Latin Mass priests into the universal Church. Months later, there were rumors in the opposite direction, of some terrible withdrawal of permission — a permission then called “the indult” — for saying the traditional Mass at all.

And so, I’ve learned to ignore most of the rumors as most of them go nowhere.