Providence, R.I., Oct 20, 2005 / 12:00 am (CNA).- A three-day conference next month will discuss issues related to the traditional Latin Mass under the papacy of Benedict XVI.

The conference is organized by Una Voce America, an international organization dedicated to promoting the return of the traditional Latin mass in parishes worldwide. There are 70 chapters of Una Voce in the United States.

The conference, entitled Tradition in the 21st Century: The Mission of Una Voce in the Papacy of Benedict XVI, will be held in Providence, R.I., Nov. 18-20, and will feature Bishop Fernando Rifan of Campos, Brazil, as the guest of honor.

Other speakers include Fr. Joseph Wilson, contributor to Cruxnews.com, Fr. Thomas Kocik, writer, and Fra Fredrik Crichton-Stuart, newly-elected FIUV president.

The weekend will include lectures and presentations, liturgies, Holy Hours, an array of devotions, a high mass and a Communion breakfast. Mass on Saturday morning will be celebrated according to the Rite of Braga, one of the liturgical forms protected under the Council of Trent in the 16th century. Confessions will also be available throughout the weekend.

According to the organizers, an increasing number of Catholics worldwide have become devoted to the traditional Latin mass, which was celebrated universally by the western Church prior to the Second Vatican Council, after which the vernacular came in use.

In 1988, Pope John Paul II confirmed that the traditional Latin mass is permitted throughout the Church, with the approval of the local bishop. Since then, Una Voce says, over half the dioceses of the United States have established weekly Latin masses.

The organization noted that, prior to his election as Pope, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger promoted a “wide and generous application” of the traditional Latin mass. At a 1998 lecture in Rome before 3,000 Catholics, then-Cardinal Ratzinger noted that the many Latin mass communities which have emerged since 1988 “have given the Church a great number of priestly and religious vocations … through them, many of the faithful have been confirmed in the joy of being able to live the liturgy, and confirmed in their love for the Church, or perhaps they have rediscovered both.”

For more information, go to: http://uvaconference.blogspot.com

03:07 pm | Spouse of Costa Rican presidential candidate 'pockets' Eucharist

02:15 pm | Vatican responds to widely divergent reports on Boffo resignation

12:56 pm | Venezuelan cardinal calls for new evangelization of country's capital

11:11 am | International congress to focus on priestly identity and celibacy

07:10 am | Former Saints star says Super Bowl victory revealed a ‘team with destiny’

Vatican seminar to explore Liturgy and pursuit of peace

Liturgy is ‘a school for holiness’: Cardinal Sodano

Cardinal Arinze reassures validity of Vatican II’s liturgical reform

Vatican to present book on Liturgical Reform