His Eminence Roger Card. Mahony had an online chat session recently from the Religious Education Congress in Anaheim, Calif (which some call "The Three Days of Darkness").
His Eminence responded to a question about the "Tridentine" Mass:
James: I’ve read that Pope Benedict is concerned about the liturgy and is about to issue a decree that encourages a more generous use of Latin in the liturgy including the use of the Tridentine rite. Do you support this and will you encourage the use of more traditional forms of worship in the archdiocese if he issues the decree?
CardinalMahony: James: of our 5 million Catholics, only a handful are interested in the Latin Mass. I must focus upon the 99% who need a vibrant Mass that includes them in its celebration.
I don’t even want to get too far into the weird concept of "vibrant" Mass and why the "Tridentine" Mass isn’t considered "vibrant". I guess there aren’t enough liturgical dancers. And apparently His Eminence thinks the Mass doesn’t include people who need a vibrant Mass. On my planet people choose to include and be included, choose to participate in a way that is interiorly vibrant or not. Let’s move on.
You all know how many big shots often dodge questions? I am not sure, but I think His Eminence in fact answered the question put to him. The answer sounded to me very much like "No, I won’t pay any attention to what Rome does because I consider these people to be a minority not worthy of my time. The only people who deserve full status in Los Angeles are those who want a the sort of Mass which I think is ‘vibrant’. In Los Angeles we give attention only to those who like what I like."
I don’t know. Am I misreading His Eminence? Maybe I am being to hard on him.
I find his use of the number "99" rather interesting. I think maybe it was used once in the Bible. Yah… I am sure I remember something about that now. Wasn’t there a guy who had to leave the 99 and go look for the minority?
But in the case of Los Angeles, you apparently leave the minority and run after the 99. Thus, the minority group is even more deeply marginalized than before.
I am getting some bad vibes from this. I need a hug.
Perhaps the Social Justice Office of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles should start defending this little minority.
This is a Social Justice issue!
It’s not just vibrant.
It’s a justice issue.
