8.157. Didn’t Pope Paul VI say that the New Mass (Novus Ordo) was a great step forward for the Church?
Yes—on November 26, 1969, during a general audience just days before the Novus Ordo Missae was officially implemented, Paul VI proudly declared:
“The introduction of the New Order of the Mass is a great step forward for the Church.”
This statement marked the official unveiling of the most radical liturgical rupture in the history of the Church—a man-made rite that abandoned Catholic theology in favor of Protestant-friendly forms, horizontal symbolism, and deliberate ambiguity. Contrary to Paul VI’s assertion, the Novus Ordo Mass (New Mass) is not a step forward, but a calculated step away from the Catholic Faith.
The Novus Ordo was not an organic development—it was fabricated by a committee led by Archbishop Annibale Bugnini, working with six Protestant ministers to make the liturgy acceptable to non-Catholics. The result was a rite that suppressed key doctrines, especially:
The Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist,
The sacrificial nature of the Mass,
And the role of the priest as an alter Christus.
This was not a renewal, but a Protestantization of Catholic worship. It replaced the vertical, God-centered sacrifice of Calvary with a horizontal, man-centered meal. It obscured the theology of sin, atonement, and propitiation, and introduced irreverent language, postures, and music unworthy of the sacred mysteries.
| Category | Traditional Latin Mass (True Mass) | Novus Ordo “Mass” | Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|
| Theology | Clear emphasis on Sacrifice, Real Presence, and sin | Ambiguous theology: meal, community, inclusivity | Deliberately vague to appeal to Protestants |
| Orientation | Ad orientem (priest and people face God) | Versus populum (priest faces people) | Shifts focus from God to man |
| Language | Sacred Latin, unchanging and precise | Vernacular, subject to constant innovation | Loss of reverence, doctrinal clarity, and unity |
| Role of the Priest | Alter Christus offering sacrifice on behalf of the people | Facilitator or “presider” over a communal celebration | Destroys sacred priesthood and hierarchical structure |
| Altar vs. Table | Stone altar signifying sacrifice | Table signifying meal and fellowship | Replaces Calvary with a banquet |
| Fruit | Reverence, vocations, belief in the Real Presence | Liturgical abuse, disbelief, indifference, collapse | “By their fruits you shall know them” (Matt. 7:16) |
Summary:
Despite Paul VI’s claim that the Novus Ordo was a “great step forward,” the evidence shows the opposite. The New Mass was a disaster for Catholic faith and worship, built not on apostolic tradition but on modernist theory and Protestant influence.
It has led to:
Loss of reverence for the Eucharist,
Collapse of vocations,
Widespread disbelief in transubstantiation,
And a Church that now celebrates man more than it worships God.
The Traditional Latin Mass, codified by Pope St. Pius V in Quo Primum (1570) and organically developed over centuries, reflects the unchanging Catholic Faith. The Novus Ordo, by contrast, reflects a new religion—one that no Catholic is permitted to accept or attend, because it obscures the faith, endangers souls, and offends God.
Let us reject this “great step forward” and return to the great treasure left by the saints: the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, offered in the rite of all ages.
“Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering.”