Weigel Wades Into the Debate on the Roman Rite

The Reformed Liturgy, 50 Years Later by George Weigel

While the Pauline reform of the Roman rite itself had some major problems (though not all of the problems listed by Latin traditionalists are as serious as they think -- Bouyer's judgment would probably more reliable in this respect), in the larger historical context the reform was just another consequence of a more serious problem, the centralization of the patriarchate of Rome and an over-reliance on that centralization for solutions to pastoral problems, whether it be the theological formation of its clergy or the lack of a proper liturgical piety among the people. A conception of Rome as the head of a Christendom which was the replacement for the Roman Empire, unified by Latin and a supranational identity may have had a part to play in this, combined with the private opinion of certain popes in the first millenium on the role of the bishop of Rome with respect to the Church Universal.