(LifeSiteNews) — Vulgar thinking assures us that tradition is constituted by the chain of traditions led by the old, and that the young are attracted by novelties, by the invention of new artifices.
But the reality of the life of the Church and of the breach that has opened up in her belies this presumed truth. Since Vatican II, progressivism has reigned as the imposition of ecclesial reality; that would be the authentic ecclesial presence. Realistic knowledge of what is happening shows that progressivism is sterile, incapable of a novelty that opens to the future. The data are incontrovertible: empty diocesan seminaries and religious novitiates, communities on the verge of exhaustion, illusions all disproved by an undeniable truth. This is especially true in Europe, where there has been a mistrust of authentic Tradition, which is incessantly renewed according to a law that expresses the Will of the Lord, the heavenly Spouse of the Church, who is Mother and Teacher, and therefore abounds in sons and disciples
The panorama of decadence and death that is the consequence of the arbitrary persecution of what is truly new is now altered by an undeniable phenomenon in which Hope shines forth: in the old and worn-out corners where the post-conciliar syndrome has reigned, multitudes of young people are joyfully discovering the Tradition of always and are embracing it as the authentic reality of a Church that is flourishing to bear fruit in contemporary society.
A new Christian cycle is thus beginning. This is especially evident in the United States, where a Eucharistic rebirth is beginning to take place, which had clear and encouraging expressions in the recent National Eucharistic Congress and the multitudinous pilgrimages that preceded it. There are also similar situations, for example, in countries like Argentina and Spain, with some parishes and groups overflowing with fervent young people, seriously committed to seeking the glory of God and their own holiness. And who attend, in ever greater numbers, the pilgrimages of Our Lady of Christianity; and other public manifestations of the Faith, in which a clear Catholicism is shown, with heroism and without fear of witness.
A surprising case is that of France, a country in which the ecclesiastical officialdom has had enough of persecuting Lefebvrism; now the young people are recreating the joyful traditions that have centuries-old roots. The Traditional Mass predates the invention of a new rite, the work of a Freemason who had seized the presumed inheritance of Vatican II. Does the name of Bishop Bugnini mean anything to them? Young people are dazzled by Latin, the language proper to Catholicism. The phenomenon to which I have alluded peacefully imposes its reality: seminaries and novitiates that return to life, large families in which Humanae Vitae reigns with its vindication of evangelical chastity; a society that recovers the Christian sense enshrined in the encyclicals of Leo XIII. In short, the future of the Church that looks towards the Coming of the Lord, always present.
What I have written about the taste of young people for Latin is very significant. The Mass of Always – of which Benedict XVI has said was never abolished – is characterized by its theological depth and its literary beauty, which have their roots in the 6th century. The theology assumes the Creed of the Church, and as for the language, one must think that it was not recited but simply sung; in this the Latin rite is identified with the various Eastern rites. An original advantage is the Gregorian chant, with its free rhythm and its complex and, at the same time, very clear passages, suitable for choral singing. The tragedy is that ecclesiastical officialdom has abandoned it to replace it with guitar music. In Argentina there were valuable discoveries for the “New Mass” in Spanish, such as the collection of Psalms composed by Father Osvaldo Catena. But, unfortunately, what has been disseminated in general lacks an appreciable musical value.
I speak with full authority. Since my ordination as a priest, I have only celebrated the Mass of Paul VI; with the greatest devotion and love that I could. I have never celebrated the Traditional Mass.
The new phenomenon of the influx of young people in the Catholic Church has manifested itself emphatically against the blasphemy that disrupted the opening of the Olympic Games. The attack was a parody with transvestites and drag queens of the Last Supper of Jesus with his disciples, a scene historically cultivated by great painters such as Leonardo. How scandalous the version must have been, that the French Episcopal Conference, always so reticent, deeply regretted the mockery and derision made of Christianity, pointing out that it was the work of the prejudice of some artists. It was a sequence entitled “Festivity,” in which the Lord and the Apostles were made up of perverted characters, “a trans model” and the singer Philippe Katerine, almost naked, and with some attributes of Dionysus, the Greek god of wine and feasting. The political left celebrated the event, arguing that the ceremony has served to enhance the values of liberty, equality and fraternity. On the other hand, Marine Le Pen’s right censured the blasphemy, which was also joined by images humiliating the glorious history of France.
Young people throughout the world represented the Church’s reaction to that overflow of anti-Christian culture. In the youth who react against the mockery inflicted on the Christian tradition of Europe and the Truth of the Catholic Faith, the youth of the Church is manifested. In the ambiguous phenomenon of the digital world and the wild development of networks, it is also the youth who express the presence of Christianity; it is they who give current visibility to the Tradition of the Church as witnesses. How can this phenomenon be explained if not in the Mystery of Providence and of the permanent and fulfilled presence of the Lord: “I will be with you always, even to the end of the age” (Mt 28:20). Our serene Hope is based on this word.
A conclusion: the youthfulness of the Church, a gift of the Risen Christ, is the perennial relevance of her Tradition.
+ Héctor Aguer
Archbishop Emeritus of La Plata.
Buenos Aires, Thursday, August 15, 2024.
Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary.