Transcript:
Bishop Athanasius Schneider: The only visible and significant change for the faithful in the Mass immediately following Vatican II was the introduction of the vernacular language. In the 1965 Missal, the entire Mass could be said in the vernacular, except for the portion from the beginning of the Preface until the Our Father, which remained obligatorily in Latin, and was said in a low, silent voice with all the accompanying gestures and reflections unchanged.
This created a very balanced form of liturgical reform, respecting tradition while allowing some pastoral adaptation. Then, two years later, in 1967, something crucial happened.
The first Synod of Bishops after the Council was convened, and Bugnini, the so-called revolutionary architect of the Novus Ordo, and his commission prepared a new form of the Mass, the normative Mass that essentially became the Novus Ordo Missae we know today. This new form was promulgated by Pope Paul VI in 1969.
So, to summarize the timeline: In 1965, the Council Fathers approved a balanced reform, mostly favorable and moderate, allowing vernacular usage but preserving much of the traditional Latin Mass structure.
In 1967, Bugnini proposed this new, revolutionary Novus Ordo at the Synod of Bishops. The assembly, composed mostly of bishops who had participated in the Council just two years before, voted on this proposal, and the majority rejected it.
Thus, the Novus Ordo was basically rejected by the Council Fathers in 1967. Despite this clear rejection, Bugnini, with the approval of Pope Paul VI, imposed this revolutionary Novus Ordo Missae on the entire Church, regardless of the opposition from the Council Fathers themselves. These are the historical facts.