VIDEO

A Tridentine High Mass

On Saturday, Pope Benedict XVI issued a decree allowing greater use of the traditional Latin-language rites of the Roman Catholic Church.

Since about 1970, most Catholic parishes in the Philadelphia area and around the world have celebrated Mass and other liturgies in the languages of the people they served. In Berlin Township, Camden County, however, Mater Ecclesiae Church has, since 2000, been offering Sunday and weekday Mass, weddings, funerals, baptisms and other liturgies according to the traditional Latin or Tridentine rite that became standardized in the 16th century. It is one of very few such Catholic congregations in the nation.

JEFFREY A. HAINES / Inquirer Online Producer
DAVID O'REILLY / Inquirer Staff Writer

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Read the official Latin decree

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English translation of Pope Benedict XVI's decree