(LifeSiteNews) — The Traditional Latin Mass (TLM) is a “beautiful part of the Church’s tradition,” according to Columbus Bishop Earl Fernandes.
His Excellency made the comments recently in an interview with Catholic World Report. Appointed by Pope Francis in 2022, Fernandes has previously expressed his support for the TLM, having offered it regularly as a pastor.
In the interview, Fernandes shared how the 1970s, the time following the liturgical reforms which followed the Second Vatican Council, “was a strange time growing up in the Catholic Church … liturgically and catechetically.”
“My father taught us religion from the Baltimore Catechism,” the prelate shared.
Fernandes previously said his parents found the revised Novus Ordo Masses in America much different than what they experienced in their home country of India.
He previously told National Catholic Register:
For my parents – immigrants from India whose ancestral home was in Goa (hence our Portuguese last name) – the experience of Catholic parish life in Ohio was a culture shock: guitars, drums, liturgical dancing, and more. The people were wonderful and the community life was real, but sometimes my father still yearned for a more traditional experience. On those days, he would take us to St. Joseph’s in Toledo, where the Latin Mass was offered.
Fernandes made similar comments in his latest interview with Catholic World Report.
“When I grew up in the ’70s, the parishes had guitar Masses and liturgical dance. My father had a fondness for the Latin Mass,” the prelate said. “When I went to medical school, there was a Latin Indult Mass offered nearby. I liked the Gregorian chant, as well as its peace and quiet. I’d go to the English Mass as well, depending on what my schedule was.”
He said Cincinatti Archbishop Daniel Pilarczyk “asked me to study the Latin Mass so I could help with the celebration of it. There was nothing ideological about it; we wanted to offer the Mass to meet the pastoral need of the people. It is a beautiful part of the Church’s tradition.”
The prelate has also placed an emphasis on vocations, noting there were zero ordinations in 2022 when he started leading the diocese.
“We had 17 seminarians three years ago. Today, we have 43. I’ve ordained nine priests since I arrived and incardinated five more,” he shared. “We’ve been able to appoint great vocations directors, and employ younger, dynamic priests in key areas of our diocese.”
He said women have expressed more interest in joining religious orders.
Fernandes also shared that a tough decision he made several years ago has been paying off.
As previously reported by The College Fix, Fernandes began removing the more liberal Paulist Fathers from overseeing campus ministry at The Ohio State University, a huge public university in Columbus.
“I took some heat in 2022 when I had diocesan priests take over the Newman Center at Ohio State University [it had been run by the Paulist Fathers]. But it is bearing fruit,” he said. “We’re seeing young men interested in becoming diocesan priests.”
“With over 60,000 students attending The Ohio State University, the diocese is presented with an incredible opportunity for both the proclamation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the potential for future priests and religious,” the diocese stated at the time.
In the interview Fernandes also encouraged the faithful to pray the Rosary, study the Bible, and “[b]uild a small shrine in your home of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and Immaculate Heart of Mary.”
The prelate also previously worked for Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò when he served as papal nuncio to the United States.
He stated of his time working for him:
He welcomed me. I saw him pray for a half hour before Mass, say Mass devoutly, and pray afterward. I saw none of the strident language against Pope Francis that would later come out. When I knew him, he was a man who had offered great service to the Church. He was meek and mild, not at all fierce in the way he came across later. In my presence, he never spoke ill of the pope. He said his prayers and did his duty. What came later was surprising.
Bishop’s statement on tradition reflects growing trend
The bishop’s comments on the beauty of the Latin Mass reflect a growing interest among Millennial and Gen-Z Catholics in tradition and beautiful liturgies.
While some prelates have sought to suppress both the TLM and reverent practices like ad orientem Novus Ordo Masses and kneeling to receive the Holy Eucharist on the tongue, many young people are embracing the Catholic faith because of tradition.
“The past few years, I have noticed more of an emphasis on and attraction to the liturgy,” Father Patrick Hyde wrote on X in May. He is a campus priest at Indiana University in Bloomington. “We even have students who drive more than an hour each way for Sunday TLM Mass.”
“These young people have spent their entire lives bombarded with noise & images,” Hyde observed. “They want a break that both lets them rest & leads to God.”
San Francisco Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone similarly commented in April: “To me, it is heartening how many young people are drawn to classic Catholic practices that so effectively express transcendent realities.” The cathedral in San Francisco has begun offering Mass ad orientem and has added kneelers to accommodate the increased interest in receiving Communion on the tongue.
