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Then why bother at all?-seriously

From what I know about the Latin Mass, I would infinitely prefer that it was still the rule rather than the exception. Hell, I'm pretty much up there with Kaiser Franz saying "no innovations of any kind"-period. If it were up to me nothing would ever change.

However, I am at least 100 miles from the nearest Latin Mass, Tridentine or otherwise (having only been around post-V2 I'm not up on that). For me to believe what you believe would be to cease being a Catholic almost as soon as I started.

If the new Mass is heretical, then the Church would be commanding people to commit heresy, the Pope, the Vicar of Christ, would be a heretic, that would mean the Holy Spirit did not guard the election process, it would mean all of the saints created and clergy ordained are invalid, that error has crept into the very fabric of the Church and that the gates of Hell have indeed prevailed against the word of Christ, against His very body. As much as I prefer the style and reverence of the Tridentine Mass, I cannot believe that.

The Church has made many, many mistakes over 2,000 years, but never has it commanded people, and Mass is an obligation, on pain of their eternal soul to engage in heretical activities. If I thought that, the whole idea of the Church's special protection, the authority of the heirarchy, apastolic succession, and the very words of Christ, would all come crashing down.

Although he's too far above my pay grade to judge, I happen to believe John Paul II is a good man, who is doing his best and who has to deal with problems and responsibilities that none of us can scarcely imagine. He was validly elected, he is the Vicar of Christ, and as many early Churchmen before Boniface VIII wrote, I do believe it is essential for salvation that we be subject to him. There have been much, much worse men than John Paul II who gained the Throne of St Peter, and the Holy Spirit always protected them from teaching error, from Vigilius to Alexander VI--none ever commanded the faithful to do something that would condemn them.

I came into the Church because I knew, in my heart, that I would be doomed if I did not. Yet, if you are correct, it would seem my situation has not improved--cause to lapse...

Yes, indeed the very gates of hell has prevailed against the earthly edifice of Catholicism. The perverts and sodomites which infest the clergy, have indeed commanded people to depart from sound biblical doctrine, and the very validity of the matter and form of the sacraments. It is not so much John Paul II himself that is to blame personally, rather it is his failure to do anything about the literally millions complaints from faithful Catholics who have been forced to watch the farcical and Orwellian destruction of the Mass of their baptism, and have been subjected to the false teaching of their heterodox bishops. However, the gates of hell have not prevailed against the Church in the catacombs, that is why the Holy Spirit has raised up the Society of St. Pius X. Pope John Paul II is desperate to "get them back." Where the heck else is he going to get 500 or so excellent priests on such short notice. Afterall the Novus Ordo is not producing vocations any more, nor are the faithful even bothering to show up anymore. If it were not for SSPX there would be no FSSP, and no traditional Benedictines as well. SSPX is the work of the Holy Spirit. Pope John Paul II is too busy clapping for the break dancers in the Vatican to worry about the faithful who are being destroyed by an apostate clergy.