Press conference on Saturday

Outside Westminster Cathedral after the Pontifical High Mass on Saturday, I was delighted to meet Damien Thompson, the editor-in-chief of the Catholic Herald and writer of the famed Telegraph blog Holy Smoke.

Damien told me about the press conference earlier in the day and this has now been reported independently on the Reuters Faith World blog by Sebastian Tong (Cf. Latin Mass “power of silence” raises UK Catholic decibels). After the Cardinal had spoke about the power of silence in the usus antiquior and its element of contemplation, Elena Curti, deputy editor of the The Tablet, said that:

[...] many Catholics like herself were confused at the new emphasis on the old rite. It seemed to diminish the role of the laity, she said, and she asked the cardinal if this was a regression from the reforms of the Second Vatican Council

Cardinal Castrillon sensibly responded:

The Holy Father is not returning to the past but taking from the past a treasure to make it present today along side the richness of the new rite.

However, matters were not left there. In a sign that Catholics are no longer content to rest in the platitudes of the 1970s, Damien voiced the reaction that many young Catholics would agree with:

I’d like to very strongly distance myself from what Elena has said and to say that there is tremendous enthusiasm among younger Catholics for the motu proprio, that many Catholics are deeply grateful to the Holy Father for making the change and many younger Catholics regard this as an extremely exciting development

Damien has a more detailed account of the press conference today on his blog (Cf. Traditional Mass for 'all the parishes') This is particularly useful since I would reckon that the various comments were taken down shorthand at the time. The comments of Cardinal Castrillon are well worth reading and savouring. For example:

This celebration, the Gregorian one, was the celebration of the Church during more than a thousand years … Others say one cannot celebrate with the back to the people. This is ridiculous. The Son of God has sacrificed himself to the Father, with his face to the Father. It is not against the people. It is for the people …

and, asked by Anna Arco whether he would like to see the seminaries in England and Wales teach seminarians how to celebrate the "extraordinary form":

I would like it, and it will be necessary. We are writing to the seminaries, we are in accord that we have to make deep preparation not only for the Rite, but for [teaching] the theology, the philosophy, the Latin language

As Tong says, we will have to wait until Friday to see what the Tablet says. I'm sure many Catholics will be ready to pounce.

In the meantime, you can read two articles by Damien:
Latin Mass to return to England and Wales, and,
Victory against the sandalistas of the Catholic church