Pope Benedict XVI on Saturday formally made the majestic, complex and controversial millennial-old Latin Mass more accessible to Catholics, who have said the Mass in their modern local languages for four decades."What earlier generations held as sacred remains sacred and great for us too, and it cannot be all of a sudden entirely forbidden or even considered harmful," Benedict wrote in a letter.
His letter, citing renewed efforts to "maintain or regain reconciliation and unity" in the church, accompanied a detailed document on how the Latin or Tridentine Mass, beloved by traditionalists, may be offered now that priests no longer need to seek permission from their bishop to do so.
Read More
