A Worship that Appeals to Both Men and Women

Rorate Caeli: FIUV Position Paper: The Traditional Mass and Men

The claim that prayers and lyrics that are overly sentimental and do not strongly assert the truths of the Faith are repugnant to men is probably right. But one could probably find a trend of declining Mass attendance by men in the Roman rite churches after World War II; this is parallel to other churches (i.e. Byzantine) suffering from low attendance, both here in the US and in Europe, despite their maintaining traditional forms of worship. Why has there been a difficulty in retaining males? This is something those in authority need to address. Male converts are more likely to seek out traditional, more reverent forms, with the exception of charismatics and those who participate in some of the new ecclesial movements? But even those can be said to share with traditional forms a more demanding, robust Christianity, even if the theology of the latter groups may be suspect.