Pastor says it's time to 'let go,' accept new missal as inevitable

Pastor says it's time to 'let go,' accept new missal as inevitable by Tom Roberts

This could go one of two ways. The people may actually like the new translation, especially those of us who are older. Some say it is quite impressive, as the Extraordinary Rite is impressive. Indeed, I see little difference between the new Roman Rite and most of the Extraordinary Rite.

They could have saved a lot of time and trouble by simply translating the Extraordinary Rite at Vatican II, rather than also writing a new Mass. I suspect the new Roman Rite is an attempt at synthesis.

The other option is that people will hate the new Roman Rite and the process by which it was foisted upon us. Given the current Reapproachment with Orthodoxy, this might well be the moment that the American Church demands a more, to use the term of art, Autocephalic Status - our own Patriarch and Rite.

The English speaking Church could also demand the same thing as a whole - although given how the African Church in both the Anglican and Catholic Traditions is growing ever more conservative while the English North is not, perhaps this would be a good time for Africa to link with Alexandria rather than Rome. Indeed, when such things were being worked out originally, the ancient Church of Alexandria was given jurisdiction for all of African Christianity. Perhaps this is the moment to honor that traditional right.