8.165. Pope John XXIII said at Vatican II’s opening, “We wish to draw aside the veil of the sacred liturgy.” What did he mean—and why is this statement scandalous?
At the Opening of the Second Vatican Council on October 11, 1962, “Pope” John XXIII said:
“We wish to draw aside the veil of the sacred liturgy.”
To many modern ears, this might sound like a poetic way of saying, “We want to help people understand the Mass better.” But from a pre-Vatican II Catholic perspective, this was a chilling and scandalous statement. It marked the beginning of a deliberate movement to desacralize the Holy Mass—a movement that would culminate in the fabrication of the Novus Ordo Missae in 1969.
Why is this scandalous? Because for centuries, the Church had deliberately preserved the veil over the liturgy—not to exclude the faithful, but to guard the awe, mystery, and reverence due to the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. The use of sacred Latin, silent prayers, ad orientem worship, and the separation of sanctuary from nave all testified to the heavenly character of the Mass. These “veils” were not barriers—they were safeguards against familiarity, profanation, and irreverence.
By announcing a desire to “draw aside the veil,” John XXIII was effectively declaring the intent to strip away the mystery, reconstruct the liturgy in modern, rationalist terms, and replace divine worship with human-centered experience. And that is exactly what followed:
The Mass was re-written, reducing sacrificial language.
Latin was replaced with vernacular.
Sacred silence gave way to dialogue and noise.
The altar became a table, and the priest became a “presider.”
Veils were removed—literally and figuratively.
What John XXIII framed as “opening up” the liturgy was in fact a dismantling of what was sacred, and the beginning of a false liturgical theology that treats the Mass as a community meal, rather than the unbloody re-presentation of Calvary.
| Aspect | Traditional Sacred Liturgy | Post-Vatican II “Unveiled” Liturgy | Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|
| Language | Latin: universal, sacred, veils the mystery | Vernacular: common, casual, explanatory | Latin preserved reverence; vernacular promotes banality |
| Orientation | Ad orientem (toward God) | Versus populum (toward people) | Focus shifted from God to the congregation |
| Architecture | Veiled tabernacle, altar rails, sacred silence | Open plans, no rails, microphones and guitars | Sanctuary boundaries erased; sacredness lost |
| Prayers | Whispered, silent, mystical; priest faces God | Audible, explained, horizontal; priest faces people | Interior participation replaced by outward dialogue |
| Theology | Mass is a propitiatory sacrifice offered to God | Mass is a communal meal and celebration | Protestant theology smuggled in under the veil of reform |
| Fruits | Reverence, vocations, conversions, holiness | Irreverence, disbelief in the Real Presence, decline | “By their fruits you shall know them” (Matt. 7:16) |
Summary:
When John XXIII declared his intent to “draw aside the veil of the sacred liturgy,” he signaled more than a pastoral adjustment—he launched a liturgical revolution. The veils of mystery, reverence, and awe—carefully preserved for centuries—were systematically removed, and the result was profanation.
This “unveiling” did not bring the faithful closer to God—it brought God down to the level of man, and ushered in a man-made liturgy that obscures the true nature of the Mass. It is no coincidence that belief in the Real Presence, Mass attendance, vocations, and reverence all collapsed shortly after.
As Pope Pius XII warned:
“The sacred liturgy is not a field for experimentation or personal expression... The mysteries are veiled, not hidden, for our reverence and sanctification.”
Let us reject the “unveiled liturgy” of Vatican II and return to the Holy Mass of all time, which veils the sacred because it reveals the divine.
Further reading:
Mediator Dei (On the Sacred Liturgy) by Pope Pius XII (1947)