Hundreds take part in final Latin mass at Melbourne’s St Patrick’s Cathedral

Worshippers in business suits, strollers and tradie fluoro gear packed into Melbourne’s St Patrick’s Cathedral to hear Latin mass for the final time on Wednesday night.

Parishoners attend the final Latin mass at St Patrick’s.

“We shall return,” a buoyant Father Glen Tattersall said after the final traditional Latin mass at St Patrick’s Cathedral in Melbourne on Wednesday evening.

The cathedral was packed with a crowd of 850 people, every pew from the front the back and across the cathedral transepts were taken. They came in business suits, in strollers, on trams, and in fluoro tradie gear. Most were rugged up in heavy coats against the Melbourne winter, which did not dim the spirit of the cathedral lit with candlelight and optimism.

The crowd of all ages left no doubt that demand for this mass will remain strong

Archbishop Peter Comensoli sat in the Sanctuary, but did not address the crowd.

Acting on an edict from the Vatican, Archbishop Comensoli has been forced to stop the popular mass which has been held weekly since 2011.

Parishoners at the final Latin mass.

Despite the people’s disappointment, there was a sense of optimism that Cardinal George Pell’s prediction that Pope Francis’s edict against the traditional mass, Traditionis Custodes, would not extend past the current pontificate.

Many of the people said they sometimes went to the new mass in English, but preferred the traditional mass for the greater transcendence it offered.

In his sermon, Fr Tattersall recalled the words of the then-Bishop Pell, who was the auxiliary bishop of Melbourne, when he celebrated the traditional Latin mass in St Patrick’s in June 1992.

Priests and their attendants who took part in the final Lartin mass.

“Tonight my mind goes back to Saturday, 13th June, 1992.

“It was the first traditional mass celebrated by a Bishop in an Australian Cathedral since 1970.

“From 1970 to 1985, the old mass had been under a putative ban, until the more enlightened and tolerant approach of John Paul II began to reverse this,” Fr Tattersalll said.

In that memorable sermon, he said, Bishop Pell acknowledged the widespread interest in the Mass.

The final Latin mass takes place.

“Bishop Pell said: ‘This is a precious inheritance; it is not ours to improve or to prune. It is the source of faith and repentance, the source of everlasting renewal. To the extent that we depart from this central tradition of worship and conversion, that we damage or pollute this core, we are weakened and enfeebled.’”

The then-Bishop Pell also said: “I cannot promise you a second spring. I can only promise you a hard slog. The external pressures on us will remain formidable. I hope and pray that this mass strengthens you for this long struggle.”

Communion is given at the final Latin mass.

In a feisty touch, Fr Tattersall reminded the congregation that persecutions of Christians were nothing new. In their first three centuries (under the Roman Empire), Christians persevered through ten distinct persecutions, often underground, until the time of hard won freedom.

“Under the most adverse conditions, the foundations of Catholic civilisation were forged, and a beautiful and complex union between faith and culture then blossomed through centuries of development,” Fr Tattersall said.

“The essence of this is bequeathed to us in the priceless pearl of the historical form of the mass.”