8.99. Isn’t going to a Latin Mass just going backwards? Doesn’t God want us to move forward? The Church should adapt and stay relevant in today’s modern world, right?
This is one of the defining errors of the Vatican II revolution: the belief that the Church must “update” herself to keep pace with the world. But the true Catholic Church is timeless, not trendy. Her mission is to convert the world—not be conformed to it (cf. Rom. 12:2).
The Traditional Latin Mass is not a relic—it is the immemorial, canonized expression of the Catholic Faith, offered by countless saints, codified forever by Pope St. Pius V in 1570 (with apostolic authority), and never abrogated. It expresses the unchanging doctrine of the Church: the Mass is a sacrifice, not a performance; it is about adoring God, not entertaining man.
By contrast, the Novus Ordo Missae, created in 1969 with Protestant input, was explicitly designed to be “modern,” “accessible,” and “ecumenical”—which led not to revival, but to confusion, irreverence, and apostasy.
Below is a comparison between the Catholic view of tradition and liturgy, and the Vatican II mindset of modernization and “relevance.”
| Category | Traditional Catholic View | Vatican II / Modern View | Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|
| Liturgy | Timeless sacrifice, sacred, God-centered | Modernized “celebration,” man-centered | The Mass must reflect eternal truth, not modern trends |
| Latin Mass | Canonized by St. Pius V; used by saints for centuries | Dismissed as outdated, rigid, or too “distant” | “What was sacred then is sacred now” (Benedict XVI) |
| Relevance | Souls are saved by truth, not trendiness | Faith must be “updated” to match culture | The Gospel contradicts the world—not conforms to it |
| Truth | Unchanging, objective, eternal | Evolving, pastoral, “dialogical” | Truth doesn’t change because God doesn’t change |
| Worship | Focused on God’s majesty, silence, mystery | Focused on community, talking, activity | Lex orandi, lex credendi—how we worship shapes what we believe |
| Saints and History | Unified by the same rite and doctrine for 19+ centuries | Post-1969 rupture with the past and the saints | A Church cut off from tradition is no longer Catholic |
| Fruits | Vocational boom, conversions, reverence, doctrinal clarity | Mass exodus, confusion, irreverence, scandal | “By their fruits you shall know them” (Matt. 7:16) |
Summary:
The Latin Mass is not “going backward”—it is returning to what the Church has always done. It is the Mass of Aquinas, Augustine, Padre Pio, and Countless Saints. What changed was not the Mass—but the modernist revolution unleashed by Vatican II, which sought to be “relevant” and became irreverent instead.
As Pope Pius X taught:
“The Church does not innovate. She is not subject to the spirit of the age.”
God is not impressed by guitars, slogans, or community circle prayers. He desires sacrifice, obedience, and truth. The Latin Mass offers all three—and unchanged Catholic doctrine, not modern substitutes.