Kansas City's Bishop Finn Gives Increased Support for the Latin Mass

In 1988, Bishop John Sullivan gave permission for a regular celebration of the Latin Mass using the 1962 pre-Vatican II rite. In 1994, Bishop Raymond gave the Latin Mass community a home in a city parish. By August 2005 the community numbered about 200 members, and Finn announced it would be its own parish with its own church.

He gave the community Old St. Patrick Church, in downtown Kansas City. The parish was suppressed in 1959, but the building, which dates from 1875, was used as an oratory under the care of the nearby cathedral.

Finn appointed a priest of the Institute of Christ the King, a religious community of priests specially trained to preserve the Latin Mass rituals, as rector to see to the community’s day-to-day needs, but he named himself pastor.

According to a story in the Aug. 19, 2005, Catholic Key, Finn told the Latin community, "You will be receiving my support in various ways. It is my intention to see this community prosper." He promised he would celebrate the Sacrament of Confirmation for the parish at Old St. Patrick according to the pre-Vatican II rites.

"I love the Novus Ordo Mass [the post-Vatican II rite] as a priest," The Catholic Key quoted him as saying. "I love the church, and I love the [Second Vatican] Council. But I also have a love and a respect for the Tridentine rite," he said. "This also has a special place."

Source: National Catholic Reporter, 12 May 2006.

Updated 16 May 2006/els