Editing Tridentine Mass (section)

===Opposition to the latest revisions of the liturgy===
Some [[Traditionalist Catholic]]s reject to a greater or lesser extent the changes made since 1950. None advocate returning to the original (1570) form of the liturgy, though some may perhaps wish a re-establishment of its form before Pius X's revision of the rubrics in 1911. Some are critical of the 1955 changes in the liturgy of Palm Sunday and the Easter Triduum and in the liturgical calendar (see [[General Roman Calendar of Pope Pius XII]]), and instead use the [[General Roman Calendar as in 1954]]. Others accept the 1955 changes by Pius XII, but not those of Pope John XXIII. Others again, in accordance with the authorization granted by Pope Benedict XVI in ''[[Summorum Pontificum]]'', use the Missal and [[General Roman Calendar of 1960|calendar]] as it was in 1962. They argue that many of the changes made to the liturgy in 1955 and onward were largely the work of liturgist [[Annibale Bugnini]], whom traditionalists say was more interested in innovation than the preservation of the [[Sacred tradition|apostolic traditions]] of the Church.<ref>{{Cite book |last=László |first=Dobszay |url= |title=The Bugnini-liturgy and the reform of the reform |date=2003 |publisher=Catholic Church Music Associates |oclc=909770654}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Davies |first=Michael |url= |title=Liturgical time bombs in Vatican II : the destruction of Catholic faith through changes in Catholic worship |date=2013 |isbn=978-1-61890-433-1 |location=Charlotte, North Carolina |oclc=956997771}}</ref>

Some of them argue that, unlike earlier reforms, the revision of 1969–1970 which replaced the Tridentine Mass with the [[Mass of Paul VI|Mass of Pope Paul VI]] represented a major break with the past. They consider that the content of the revised liturgy is, in Catholic terms, seriously deficient and defective; some hold that it is displeasing to God, and that no Catholic should attend it.{{efn|name=popebenedictxvi}}

When a preliminary text of two of the sections of the revised Missal was published in 1969, Archbishop [[Marcel Lefebvre]] (who later established [[Society of Saint Pius X]]) gathered a group of twelve theologians, who, under his direction,<ref>{{Cite web|title=A Short History of the SSPX|url=http://www.sspx.org/SSPX_FAQs/appendix_iii_history_1.htm|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091015194912/http://www.sspx.org/SSPX_FAQs/appendix_iii_history_1.htm|archive-date=October 15, 2009}}</ref> wrote a study of the text. They stated that it "represents, both as a whole and in its details, a striking departure from the Catholic theology of the Mass as it was formulated in Session 22 of the Council of Trent".<ref>{{Cite web|title=Internet History Sourcebooks|url=https://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/mod/1969ottoviani.asp|url-status=dead|website=sourcebooks.fordham.edu|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090116083713/http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/1969ottoviani.html|archive-date=January 16, 2009}}</ref> Cardinal [[Alfredo Ottaviani]], a former Prefect of the Sacred [[Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith]], supported this study with a letter of 25 September 1969 to Pope Paul VI. Cardinal [[Antonio Bacci]] signed the same letter. The critical study became known as "[[the Ottaviani Intervention]]".<ref name="OttavianiIntervText">{{cite web|last1=Ottaviani|first1=Alfredo|last2=Bacci|first2=Antonio|last3=Group of Roman Theologians|title=The Ottaviani Intervention: A Critical Study of the New Mass|url=http://www.catholictradition.org/Eucharist/ottaviani.htm|website=Catholic Tradition|access-date=21 November 2016}}</ref> Cardinal Ottaviani subsequently stated in writing that he had not intended his letter to be made public, and that Pope Paul VI's doctrinal exposition, on 19 November<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.vatican.va/content/paul-vi/it/audiences/1969/documents/hf_p-vi_aud_19691119.html|title=Udienza generale, 19 novembre 1969 &#124; Paolo VI|website=www.vatican.va}}</ref> and 26 November 1969,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.vatican.va/content/paul-vi/it/audiences/1969/documents/hf_p-vi_aud_19691126.html|title=Udienza generale, 26 novembre 1969 &#124; Paolo VI|website=www.vatican.va}}</ref> of the revised liturgy in its definitive form meant that "no one can be genuinely scandalized any more".<ref>[http://matt1618.freeyellow.com/novusordo.html#III.%20What%20about%20Cardinal%20Ottaviani’s%20Letter? Quotation from ''Documentation Catholique'', 1970]; the full text of the letter in an English translation is given in [http://www.crc-internet.org/ftc31a.htm The New "Ordo Missæ": A battle on two fronts] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071029074757/http://www.crc-internet.org/ftc31a.htm |date=2007-10-29 }}</ref> 

From the 1960s onwards, Western countries have experienced a drop in Mass attendance. For example, in the United States, 75% of Catholics attended church weekly in 1958, declining to 25% attending by 2002;<ref name=Jones2003/> another study suggests a peak weekly attendance of 72% in 1959–60.<ref>{{cite journal|title=The Center Doesn't Hold: Church Attendance in the United States, 1940-1984|first1=Michael|last1=Hout|first2=Andrew M.|last2=Greeley|journal=[[American Sociological Review]]|date=June 1987|jstor=2095353|doi=10.2307/2095353|volume=52|number=3|page=326}}</ref> Western countries also saw a decline in seminary enrollments and in the number of priests (in the United States, from 1,575 ordinations in 1954 to 450 in 2002), and a general erosion of belief in the doctrines of the Catholic faith. Opponents of the revision of the Mass liturgy argue, citing opinion poll evidence in their support, that the revision contributed to this decline.<ref name=Jones2003>Jones, Kenneth C. (January 2003). Index of Leading Catholic Indicators: The Church since Vatican II. Oriens Publishing. {{ISBN|0-9728688-0-1}}</ref> Others, pointing, among other considerations, to the fact that, globally, there are more priests and seminarians now than in previous years (in 1970, there were 72,991 major seminarians worldwide, in 2002, there were 113,199, an increase of 55%, at a time, however, when there was an increase of global population of 64%),<ref>Cf. [[World population]]</ref> suggests that the apparent decline of Catholic practice in the West is due to the general influence of secularism and liberalism on Western societies rather than to developments within the Church. In the United States however, Traditional Catholic parishes have been growing since 2007 even as overall Catholic attendance continues to decline.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2019-11-02|title=Traditional Catholic parishes grow even as US Catholicism declines|url=https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/traditional-catholic-parishes-grow-even-as-us-catholicism-declines|access-date=2021-05-08|website=Washington Examiner}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Pope: troubled by 'rigid' religious orders that attract vocations {{!}} News Headlines|url=https://www.catholicculture.org/news/headlines/index.cfm?storyid=30714|access-date=2021-05-08|website=www.catholicculture.org}}</ref> In 2021, it was estimated that 150,000 Catholics regularly attend the Tridentine Mass in the US, representing less than 1% of the 21 million Catholics regularly attending Mass throughout the US.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last= |date=2021-12-18 |title=Traditional Latin Mass restrictions: Here's what you need to know |url=https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/249927/pope-francis-traditional-latin-mass-restrictions |access-date=2021-12-18 |website=Catholic News Agency |language=en}}</ref>