Hitting the wall

1992 was a very trying time to be a Catholic in Ireland.  In February, the X-Case broke which brought about the possibility of legalised abortion.  In May, Bishop Éamonn Casey resigned as Bishop of Galway and Kilmacduagh due to the now well-known scandal.  In July, the Brandsma Review was launched.

One of the initiatives of the Latin Mass Society of Ireland was to write to every Irish bishop asking if permission for the traditional Mass was forthcoming.  Ironically, Bishop Éamonn Casey was the only one who gave a favourable reply.  Most bishops did not acknowledge the correspondence.  Two who did were Bishop Michael Harty of Killaloe and Bishop Diarmuid Ó Súilleabháin of Kerry.  Both had questions about the title "Latin Mass Society of Ireland", which they believed to be misleading as there was the possibility of the Latin Mass in the New Order, what we would now call the Ordinary Form. 

One could have asked their Lordships where these were.  St Mary's Pro-Cathedral in Dublin has one every Sunday at 11 am.  St Brigid's in Belfast had one at 8.30 am on Sunday mornings - I am not sure what the status of this is now.  There was also a Sunday OF Latin Mass in Dublin's Haddington Road, which has since been discontinued.  I am told that a priest of the Elphin diocese said the OF Latin Mass in St Mary's Cathedral in Sligo, but this was already a thing of the past at this time (Bishop Conway told the petitioners if it was just a Latin Mass they wanted, there would be no problem).

In this, Ireland is very exceptional.  The OF Latin Mass is more common in other areas.  Westminister Cathedral, for example, has one on a daily basis.  There are several venues in Vienna where one can attend an OF Latin Mass every Sunday.  The absence of Latin in Ireland is probably a relic of the hyper ultra montanism practiced in Ireland until that time.

The reaction that the LMSI made was to change their name, choosing Ecclesia Dei Ireland which reflected Pope John Paul's apostolic letter.  This is well and good, but most people would need this explained to him.  Another possibility, Una Voce Ireland, was ruled out as the Irish people remember Mussolini's dictum "Uno Duce, una voce".  Well, actually they don't; they were just reminded of it by the then recent Taoiseach's press advisor PJ Mara during one of the heaves against Charles Haughey when he was in office. 

Charles Haughey, Taoiseach 1979-81; 82; 87-92

Senator PJ Mara

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So the LMSI opted for Ecclesia Dei Ireland.  Meanwhile, reports suggested that there were no new permissions being granted and there was immense curiosity as to why.