A one-step solution to the ‘liturgy wars’

By Phil Lawler ( bio - articles - email ) | Mar 26, 2026

When is the last time you were at Mass—in an ordinary parish, not a monastery or retreat center—for a regularly scheduled parish Mass, not connected with any special event—and noticed that the congregation was predominantly male? I don’t think it had ever happened to me before last night.

Whenever I see another seminar devoted to “Women in the Church,” I cannot resist making the prosaic observation that the discussion is unlikely to break any new ground. Open the door to a typical American Catholic church, and what do you see? Women in the church. Attend a meeting of the altar guild, the religious-education teachers, the parish secretaries, the extraordinary ministers. Time and again the women outnumber the men.

But not at this church, where we attended Mass for the feast of the Annunciation because we are traveling. There were more men and boys than women and girls; if you counted the altar boys it wasn’t close.

Moreover these were mostly young men. It’s no longer unusual for me to be one of the older people in a congregation. But last night, if I’d brought along all my children, I think even they would have raised the average age of the congregation a bit.

One more thing: The music at this Mass was beautiful, supplied by an excellent choir. But when the congregation joined in the singing, the sound was robust and—even more remarkable—on pitch. How could this be happening, since we all know that Catholics Can’t Sing?

You already know the answer, don’t you? This was a parish devoted exclusively to the Traditional Latin Mass. The pews were packed, the liturgy was beautiful, the congregation was attentive and reverent. The contrast with many “ordinary” parishes was stark.

This week the American journalist Diane Montagna reproduced an interview with the Dutch Cardinal Willem Eijk, who described his experience celebrating a Pontifical Mass in the traditional form for th first time:

The church was filled with people praying devoutly. Most were young, and there were also many families. There was widespread recourse to the sacrament of penance and reconciliation (confession). The Tridentine Rite is very solemn and offers many moments of silence, thereby providing ample opportunity for personal prayer. The priest celebrates the Eucharist, not as is often claimed ‘with his back to the people’, but facing the altar and thus Christ. This helps those present to consciously turn towards Christ as well.

Shouldn’t that description fit every celebration of the Eucharistic liturgy? But let’s be honest: too often, it does not. The atmosphere of reverence and devotion that Cardinal Eijk describes can be a revelation to an ordinary Catholic—or even to a Prince of the Church. It is, sadly but truly, extraordinary.

This week Pope Leo urged the French bishops to be “particularly attentive” to the faithful who are attached to the traditional liturgy, remarking that the suppression of their growing communities could cause “a painful wound within the Church regarding the celebration of the Mass.” The Pontiff called for “concrete solutions” to the traditionalists’ concerns. Even Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican Secretary of State, who in previous years has shown no sympathy for traditionalists, told the Catholic Herald that “it will be necessary to find the formula… that can meet legitimate needs.”

Pope Leo has apparently recognized two inescapable facts. First, the traditionalist movement within the Church is large, vigorous, and growing; it is not going to go away. Second, the continuation of the “liturgy wars” within the Church is divisive and destructive. The veteran Vatican journalist Sandro Magister believes it “clearly evident” that the Pope “already has a path and goal of pacification in mind.”

What could that path be? Simple: Revive Summorum Pontificum or, what is much the same thing, retract Traditionis Custodes. The solution proposed by Pope Benedict XVI may not have been perfect, but it was workable. It allowed for a sort of détente, a suspension of the “liturgy wars.” The traditionalist movement was flourishing, growing organically bringing new converts and previously inactive Catholics to an active practice of the faith. Many active Catholics, including among the clergy, experienced the ancient liturgy for the first time, and brought some of its spirit of reverence the back to their own parishes, beginning the process of “mutual enrichment” that Pope Benedict had sought. The results of that papal initiative might have been even richer, if diocesan bishops had actively supported the Pope’s message.

With Traditionis Custodes that progress came to a screeching halt, the ceasefire in the liturgy wars was broken, traditionalists began to feel—with ample justification—that they were an endangered species. The statements by Pope Leo and Cardinal Parolin this week are the first clear indications that the laments and protests of faithful traditionalists have reached the ears of the Holy See.

So retract Traditionis Custodes—or, if necessary to save face, “clarify” that document out of existence. Allow, or better encourage all Catholics to become familiar with the Extraordinary Form. See whether the traditionalist movement continues to grow, whether its influence spreads to other parishes, whether “ordinary” Catholics will embrace the “extraordinary” form.

If outspoken traditionalists are right, this will be a path to a great revival within the Catholic Church. If they are wrong—if the traditional liturgy is as unpopular with the Catholic people as its liberal critics contend—the movement will die out naturally. The Rabbi Gamaliel was not entirely wrong. If this is a movement of the Holy Spirit, it is useless to oppose it. And if not? As I have often remarked, the top executives at General Motors are not worried about competition from the Edsel.