Vatican City, May 13, 2011 / 08:55 am
Local dioceses should give a “generous welcome” to any laity who wish to attend Mass in the “extraordinary form” and to priests who wish to say it.
That’s the key message of new Vatican guidelines regarding the extraordinary form of the Mass – often popularly referred to as the “Tridentine Mass” or “old Latin Mass.”
The “extraordinary form” is the rite of Mass contained within the Roman Missal which was universally used from 1570 to 1962. It was almost always celebrated in Latin.
The “ordinary form”, on the other hand, is the newer rite of the Mass approved for use by Pope Paul VI in 1969. This Mass is most often said in parishes around the world.