Mansfield Fox

Law student. Yankees fan. Massive fraggle. Just living the American dream.

Thursday, April 21, 2005

Will The "Enforcer" Meme Continue?

When the new English translation of the missal (the one that actually tries to stick close to the Latin) comes out, is it going to be painted as Nasty Old Pope Benedict cracking the whip on innocent l'il AmChurch, even though the thing's been in the works for a few years now?

Am I the only one imaging Boston-style sit-ins and other protests as people refuse to give up their beloved old liturgy, with its "We believe"s and "and also with you"s? I mean, it's hard enough to get the congregation to stand when they say, "May the Lord accept these gifts....", and darn near impossible to get people to bow during the "by the power of the Holy Spirit was born of the Virgin Mary and became man" portion of the Creed. Does anyone really think American Catholics are going to learn a bunch of new responses without extreme difficulty? And that, when the hierarchy tries to make sure the new words are actually being used, it'll be seen as harsh Roman tyranny?