\n<\/p>\n
ST. PAUL, Minn. — <\/span>With incense wafting to an elevated pulpit and 13 altar boys looking on, the priest at the Church of Saint Agnes preached about merging old Catholic customs with fidelity to the Vatican this week \u2014 as Pope Leo XIV<\/a> tackled a major challenge<\/a> from a traditionalist breakaway group.<\/p>\n \u201cOur Catholic faith is a living tradition, and there is a difference between being rooted and being stuck,\u201d the Rev. John Ubel said in homilies Sunday at English-language and Latin Masses.<\/p>\n Since the Second Vatican Council modernized the liturgy more than 60 years ago, celebrating Mass in the traditional Latin Rite that preceded those reforms has become a lightning rod of the theological, cultural and increasingly partisan divides<\/a> among Catholics.<\/p>\n The conflict made global headlines when Leo declared Thursday that one traditionalist group \u2014 the Society of St. Pius X,<\/a> founded to reject the Council\u2019s reforms and celebrate exclusively the old Latin Mass \u2014 had formally broken with the Catholic Church.<\/p>\n The Vatican excommunicated the SSPX bishops and priests<\/a> and warned its thousands of faithful after the society consecrated four men as bishops in defiance of Leo.<\/p>\n While the Latin Rite was not the cause of the rift, the acrimony and the lingering suspicion that all those who like it are ultraconservative rebels is an open wound at Saint Agnes, which isn\u2019t affiliated with SSPX and has the church’s permission to celebrate Mass in Latin.<\/p>\n \u201cFor all who are attached to Tradition, I pray that they seek to maintain full ecclesial communion with our Holy Father, Pope Leo XIV,\u201d Ubel said Thursday.<\/p>\n Saint Agnes, a historic church founded for German-speaking immigrants in what\u2019s now a diverse, central neighborhood in Minnesota\u2019s capital, offers one traditional Latin Mass per weekend, with the archbishop\u2019s permission. It also has a modern version of the Mass in Latin and four in English.<\/p>\n \u201cI believe that Saint Agnes is an example where the different forms of Latin Mass, and English, peacefully coexist, and, in many ways, I think it\u2019s a model for how the church can respect various liturgical traditions and do so in full charity,\u201d Ubel said in Sunday\u2019s homilies. <\/p>\n Peter Draganowski, a 15-year-old incoming sophomore at Saint Agnes\u2019 school, has been an altar boy at both English and Latin services for years. He prefers the latter despite the extra preparations and rituals.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s really not hard, it just has a lot more moving parts,\u201d he said in the parish hall as hot dogs and doughnuts were served after Sunday\u2019s first English Mass. \u201cThe sacred mysteries deserve that beauty.\u201d <\/p>\n The archbishop of St. Paul and Minneapolis, Bernard Hebda, expressed hope that local Catholics who had been attending SSPX chapels would now turn to approved services. <\/p>\n \u201cWe are blessed that the same traditional Eucharistic liturgy beloved by those who have worshiped with the SSPX in the past continues to be celebrated in six locations throughout the Archdiocese,\u201d Hebda said in a statement. \u201cI am confident that those who prefer the Traditional Latin Mass could find a home here.\u201d <\/p>\n In addition to being celebrated in Latin, the old rite Mass diverges from standard services in other ways: The prayers are different and longer, the priest celebrates at the altar with his back to the congregation, and Communion is given out only on the recipient\u2019s tongue, instead of in the hand, while kneeling at the altar rail. The priests also wear shorter \u201cRoman-style\u201d vestments and a black biretta hat.<\/p>\n Very few U.S. Catholics regularly attend Sunday Mass in the \u201cextraordinary form\u201d that predates the Vatican II reforms of the 1960s, according to Stephen Cranney, a lecturer at Catholic University of America in Washington, and co-author of an upcoming book on the Latin Mass in the United States.<\/p>\n He estimates that 510 such Masses are celebrated on Sundays in the United States, where there are more than 16,000 active parishes. The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and Georgetown University\u2019s Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate said they don\u2019t track the data.<\/p>\n Most American Catholics he surveyed who like this Mass say they do so because of the elaborate esthetics, the deeper sense of reverence, and the continuity with centuries of tradition, Cranney said. Only a small percentage said they oppose the Vatican II reforms, let alone support defying the pope, he added.<\/p>\n But the challenge has remained over the decades for popes that the threat of schism, or a rupture within the church, might lurk behind a preference for a more solemn liturgy.<\/p>\n \u201cHow do you \u2026 try to be accommodating to the people who might prefer the traditional Latin Mass while not giving fuel to the fire of people that want to split off?\u201d Cranney said.<\/p>\n Leo\u2019s two predecessors tried different approaches. In 2007, Pope Benedict XVI upheld the validity of the Latin Rite and urged priests to offer such a Mass if their parishioners demanded it.<\/p>\n But Pope Francis cracked down on the practice<\/a> in 2021-23, requiring individual bishops to give their approval for celebrating the traditional Mass and to determine if the faithful who wanted it had accepted the Vatican II reforms. He also restricted the use of parish churches for these services.<\/p>\n Francis said he acted because the old Mass had become a source of division in the church \u2014 although Vatican documents leaked last year<\/a> after his death suggested most bishops actually had expressed general satisfaction with the practice. <\/p>\n Last fall, Leo allowed<\/a> a U.S. cardinal to celebrate the old Latin Mass in St. Peter\u2019s Basilica in Vatican City, which many traditionalists saw as an encouraging sign.<\/p>\n In the year since his election, Leo has spoken often of the need for unity. On Tuesday, before the SSPX consecrations, he again pleaded with the society<\/a> not to proceed. Once they did, however, the Vatican warned the faithful to stop going to the society\u2019s Masses, declaring \u201cthose who adhere formally\u201d to the society are considered themselves schismatic and excommunicated.<\/p>\n Parishioners at Saint Agnes said they were saddened by the schism and would continue to pray for a united church.<\/p>\n Nell O\u2019Leary Alt, who grew up in the parish, said her family attends both Latin Masses, as well as English services.<\/p>\n As a mother of five children aged 5 to 16, she joked that she initially found the silent moments of the traditional Latin Mass intimidating, with nothing to cover the fussing and giggling of her growing family in the pews.<\/p>\n But they love the Latin worship: \u201cIt\u2019s the same the saints knew all through the ages.\u201d<\/p>\n Tom Graff, another \u201ccradle Catholic\u201d at the church who chants in the choir, said he’s drawn to the rites\u2019 solemnity. But this week\u2019s events highlight the importance of what he teaches his four children, about not falling into the trap of believing one form of worship is superior to another.<\/p>\n \u201cI can appreciate both the ordinary and the extraordinary forms of Latin Mass, and Schubert\u2019s Tantum Ergo as well as On Eagle\u2019s Wings,\u201d Graff said, referring to a centuries-old and a modern Christian hymn. \u201cIt\u2019s about the holy sacrifice of Mass, regardless of the parish or the type of liturgy.\u201d<\/p>\n Ubel believes having multiple Mass options is about inclusion rather than division.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s not a competition to see who\u2019s more Catholic,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n ___<\/p>\n Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP\u2019s collaboration<\/a> with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n