What is the reform of the reform, and what are your thoughts on that? So reforming what we have now, the new Mass, or should we return to the old?
Bishop Athanasius Schneider: I think that it is so obvious that the Novus Ordo, the so-called new Mass, cannot continue as it is. And therefore there is a call from those who deeply believe in the truth of the Mass, which is the sacramental sacrifice of the cross, really the greatest act of adoration and worship of the majesty of God here on Earth, that the shape of the new liturgy is not sufficient. It is defective objectively and has a tendency to anthropocentric characteristics, and also Protestant, protestantizing elements, so that the entire celebration looks more like a meal or a gathering, in this sense, a Protestant-style worship. From the exterior point of view, this form of celebration, and also from the content of the Novus Ordo, especially the offertory prayers, expresses not the sacrifice, the essence of the Mass, but the meal, what we will eat, what we will drink. I mean, what we will receive, the bread, what we will drink, the chalice of Christ. So these prayers essentially express not the essence of the Mass, the sacrifice on Golgotha of the cross, but our meal, our banquet. This is Protestant, and it has to be corrected. These objective defects of the content of the new Mass must be corrected.
Therefore, we hope, and I am convinced that the Church, in its time, by the providence of God, will correct this and give us back a more sure expression of the celebration of the Holy Mass. This I call the reform of the reform. Of course, the reform of the reform is the necessary way to reform. Reform means to give the form again, and the form has to faithfully express the essence of the celebration of the Mass, which is the sacrifice of God, the adoration of Him. This is the Christocentric central element, which must be expressed clearly in the Mass.
This should be done gradually, step by step, by reintroducing the surely proven elements of these beautiful expressions of the Mass, which we have in the traditional Mass. Gradually, over time, we will have again in the Church the traditional liturgy, maybe with some small secondary differences compared to what we know as the Traditional Mass. Maybe there will be two forms, variants of the Mass, which will be almost identical, but with some small elements that are not so important. I hope this will happen, and I am sure it will, because this is the law of the Church, to keep the sacrality, sureness, and beauty of their liturgy, as it has done for almost 2000 years.