Lex orandi, lex credendi

Oakland priest Michael Wiener has been celebrating the Traditional Latin Mass since 1999

David Ian Miller, San Francisco Chronicle
July 30, 2007

Incense, bells, mysterious words intoned in an ancient language, congregation and priest moving gracefully in unison as they perform a 1,500-year-old ritual -- that was the old-style Catholic Mass.

But when the Vatican decided to open up the Mass to improvisation in 1965, guitars replaced Gregorian chants, local languages replaced Latin, the priest faced the congregation rather than the altar and the entire Mass was simplified; a priest no longer made the traditional complicated series of scripted gestures during the Mass, nor did he wear elaborate old-style vestments.

Some appreciated the more down-to-earth feel of the new Mass. Others mourned the loss of the mystical, magical ancient Mass. Priests whose congregations wanted to celebrate the old-style Mass -- also referred to as the Tridentine Mass -- had to receive permission from a bishop to do so, until Pope Benedict XVI removed that restriction earlier this month.

Father Michael Wiener is a priest of the Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest in Oakland who has been celebrating the Traditional Latin Mass since he became a priest in 1999. I spoke with Father Wiener by phone about new- and old-style masses, the media coverage of Pope Benedict's restoration of the Latin Mass and the accompanying outrage over the reinstatement of a prayer asking God to convert the Jewish people.

Some of my Catholic friends who grew up with the traditional-style Latin Mass are quite passionate about it. They say it feels very special and powerful. What about it appeals to you?

It's mystical. It expresses very well the character of our faith, which at its center is a mystery -- the mystery of the incarnation of God.

Some people describe the Latin Mass as "bells and smells." That expression is somewhat belittling, but it's also accurate because the Latin Mass appeals to all of our senses in a powerful way. The Catholic faith is like that; it takes in the whole human being. It's not just something intellectual, something you read about in books.

You are a convert to Catholicism. Did you grow up in a religious family?

My father is Catholic, but not practicing. My mother occasionally took us to Protestant services in Hamburg, Germany, where I was raised. Throughout my youth and childhood I had a feeling that something was missing in my life, but I didn't really know what it was.

We didn't grow up, my sister and I, without any religious context. My parents prayed with us before we went to bed. So there was a notion of God and a notion of religion, but in a very distant and remote way, and I have to admit for a long time I wasn't at all interested in religion.

How did you get from not interested to becoming a priest?

I became interested in religion because I read books. I came to the conclusion that I had to be interested because many other people who are wise, intelligent and who have made great things of their lives talked about this quest to find God, and this was a point which I never really had considered. I became more interested also for personal reasons, because of some sufferings in my private life.

You were an attorney for a brief period before you became a priest. Did you enjoy being a lawyer?

No. As soon as I had studied philosophy and read some books about theology, I knew I was more interested in those subjects. My heart was never with the law.

Why did you become a priest? Was there one defining moment or a series of events?

I met a priest in Munich who is now my superior here in the United States. Over time, he got me thinking about that I might have a vocation as a priest. But I did not know how to pursue it, until I visited our seminary in Florence, Italy, and was finally exposed to Catholicism as I always thought it would and should be.

How so?

It's true, it's beautiful, it's charitable, it's civilized, it's calculated, it's warm. It's not something harsh or something that is nice in theory but not really livable. I loved that immediately, and I decided practically on the spot to enter the seminary and to try to become a priest. So at 33 I started to study there.

Let's talk more about the traditional Latin Mass. For a long time you needed to get permission from a bishop before you could perform the Tridentine Mass. Why?

I believe there was a desire to unify the church's practice to the greatest possible extent by introducing the changed liturgy [new Mass] to the greatest number of faithful. But there have always been large numbers of people who have continued to celebrate [the traditional way].

Do you think the pope's announcement came as a surprise to many people?

No, I don't think so. The pope's predecessor, Pope John Paul II, had published two documents that urge wider practice of the Tridentine Mass. Pope Benedict's announcement was in line with this, it was a natural progression for the pope to end the requirement to get a bishop's permission before celebrating the Mass. It's a very happy progression for the faithful who are attached to the traditional rite.

Do you prefer celebrating the Tridentine Mass?

I do! I'm very much in love with this "Mass of all Ages" because it links us to the history of man, so to say. For many, many centuries, this Mass was celebrated and sanctified people, and it has brought about many saints.

All this has developed slowly and organically over the centuries, and is therefore a joy to celebrate. In German we'd describe it as "Gesamtkunstwerk," which means a piece of art that expresses an idea in a very complete way. In the Latin Mass, the priest, who is representing Jesus Christ, is enacting the mysteries of our salvation. The rite itself is full with history and many significant gestures and prayers. It's not only the language the Mass is said in, it's also what the priest does at the altar. Every gesture has meaning.

What are some of the gestures?

The kissing of the altar, making the signs of the cross many times, bowing your head, putting your hands on the altar or folding them on your breast. There are many, many gestures that in their sequence and in their completeness express the beauty of our religion. These gestures express the reverence, the worship, the respect and the awe of the priest in the moment of celebration. And I think the whole composition is very beautiful.

Pope Benedict said he was authorizing parish priests to celebrate the old Tridentine rite if a "stable group of faithful" requests it. Why does one need a stable group?

Celebrating this Mass requires a great deal of organization. It takes a major effort even to make the celebration possible. To ask a parish priest to do that is excessive if nobody is really interested within the parish. I think for this reason, and for maintaining harmony within the parishes, it's very important that the Mass be conducted in an orderly way.

There's been some concern in posts on Catholic blogs that offering old and new Masses may polarize parishes into two camps. Does that worry you?

Not really. I'm in the happy position to be in a parish which has both rites -- St. Margaret Mary in Oakland has the new Mass, the so-called Reformed Mass of Paul VI, and the traditional Mass. And it's worked out well.

Do you think some priests are intimidated or worried about performing this complex ceremony? Or are most priests trained to do it even though it hasn't been performed widely for 40 years?

I can imagine some priests hesitate to practice this Mass, although many are trained to do it in traditional religious communities. I have had several requests, in the Bay Area, from priests who would like to learn to celebrate the Mass.

Many of the news reports since the Pope's statement have focused on the fact that the Tridentine Mass includes a prayer asking for the conversion of the Jews. How do you feel about that issue, and the way it's been represented in the media?

I don't think there is much to say. That prayer is part of the Good Friday liturgy. And the church doesn't ask for the light of faith only for the Jewish people, there are also other people mentioned. So I don't see any problem with that. I don't think it's bad to ask God for his grace and for help and for assistance.

The prayer mentions other groups?

There is a whole list of people for whom we ask God's help and God's light. First of all, we ask for God's help for the church, for all the priesthood; then for political leaders around the world there is another prayer. We pray for atheists, pagans, heretics and schismatics and all people who are not Christian. So there are all kinds of intentions, because this is the moment when we ask our Lord Jesus Christ to make his blessings available. Because Good Friday is the day when our salvation was effective. We were redeemed by the sacrifice on the cross. So it makes sense to do this on this day.

Nonetheless, Jewish groups and others are not happy about this. They don't like the idea that Catholics would be asked to pray that they be converted from their religion.

Yes. But we believe that the Catholic faith is something universally important. And that's why we may ask for conversion.

I think, in the context of our conversation about the Latin Mass, it's important to point out that even in the new-style Mass we do ask for the conversion of the Jews and other non-Christians. So this is not a new phenomenon. If you went to any normal Good Friday celebration over the past few decades you will hear almost the same prayers. And what is so problematic about that? I don't understand it.

Well, in some people's view, that suggests a certain level of intolerance for other religious views. You don't see that?

Other religions also have this standpoint. They also think that they have truth. Some Protestant religions also say those same prayers on Good Friday. Besides, I don't see it as intolerance. It's a sign of those who care and love for the souls of others.

Pope Benedict also recently said that other Christian traditions are not as valid as Catholicism. It just seems to me that the Pope might be thinking now is the time to bring people of all faiths together, rather than emphasize their differences. How do you feel about that?

This is, I would say, simply a repetition of the teaching of the church expressed in many documents and on many occasions. It's nothing new. It's the teaching of the universal importance of our salvation. I don't have any problems with that. The pope certainly tries everything to integrate all groups and individuals in a discussion and in his pastoral care, as pope. He receives everybody, and everything, and talks about these things, but he is also a teacher.

How do you bring people of all faiths together if you are saying that other faiths aren't as valid as Catholicism?

Well, that's a church policy question. I'm not the person who can really speak to that. But very briefly, it's the old and well-known position of the Catholic Church that the full truth of Jesus Christ is present in the Catholic Church. That does not mean that part of Christ and Christ's teachings are not present in other religious groups. But it means that in the Catholic Church alone there is the complete full truth of Jesus Christ.

I don't mean to badger you about this, but these issues have been widely talked about in the news lately, in the coverage of the Latin Mass. So I wanted to get your side of the story ...

I'm used to explaining to people, if they ask me, that when we say that the Catholic Church has the full truth, that does not mean that nobody can be saved outside of the Catholic Church. It means that Christ is our universal savior, and the Catholic Church is, so to say, the most safe ship with which we can cross the Atlantic or the ocean. The Catholic Church is the best equipped ship to reach eternity.

This is not news. People wake up every 10 years, when the church underlines these things again, but these are not new ideas. And other religions do the same thing. You will never hear from a member of the Islamic community that his faith is only relative. You will never hear from an Orthodox Jew that his faith is only relative. That would not be a faith -- - it would be something that is, perhaps, nice on a personal level, but not universally important. The Catholic Church has the name Catholic Church because it's universal. "Catholic" means concerning everybody and all. So, there is nothing new about this teaching.

(Source)

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I prefer not to pussy-foot around or mince words; to the heretics — extra Ecclesiam nulla salus.