Christianity in Australia is going through a strange transition.
Once relying on the institutional powers of Anglicanism and Catholicism, it now has to compete with a growing secularism borne of its material wealth as well as a large influx of migrants from Asia and elsewhere, many of whom are militantly Islamic.
There are some very interesting subgroups within Catholicism, in particular the vibrant Lebanese Catholic subculture, which has been vocal and prominent on the streets in recent years. There were also large numbers of people who were baptised as adults this past Easter in Sydney.
Nonetheless, Mass attendances are down, churches are closing and the institutional attacks on the faith have come with a venom rarely seen in the open in a Christian country. The show trial of George Pell, created out of thin air by media, police and rogue elements in the Vatican, showed the brazen nature of the rising anti Christian institutionalism.
It is bizarre then that in the midst of this point of crisis, Melbourne Archdiocese has chosen to suppress a popular Latin Mass at their cathedral.
The news has been picked up by mainstream news outlet The Australian which wrote:
Pope bans traditional Mass at Melbourne’s St Patrick’s
By essentially ordering traditional Catholics to get out of their own cathedral, the ban on the traditional Latin Mass is causing tensions and divisions.
It is certainly interesting that this was their perception, while many within the church try to paint the Mass itself as somehow a cause of division (a claim that borders on blasphemy).
The Latin Mass Melbourne page posted the news on Facebook with information on the final Mass to take place this coming Wednesday, encouraging people to attend. Comments were closed on the post but one could see the shares and related comments and they were generally of dismay and hurt.
The recent scenes in Chartres show that the Latin Mass is going nowhere and that it will be the next generation of priests and young people who keep it alive.
