The slippery slope began with Vatican 2. John Paul 2 was a good Pope and I believe Benedict was also. Before that it was my Pope. From my birth to his death. Pius XII.
I truly disliked the mass after it was in English instead of Latin. And the guitar mass was truly awful. Give me a Gregorian Chant or Christmas carols in Latin The whole feel of the mass and the church changed after Pius.
I agree with everything you’re saying...The handshakes and guitar were the end of mass for me.....
I’m not Catholic, but how does liturgy in a language you can understand, ruin it for you? If all you’re interested in is the syntax, cadence, and melodiousness of the service, you’re missing the point of the words themselves. Most of them are SCRIPTURE. Unless you understand the Latin, what’s the point? It would be like me listening to someone read the Bible in French. It may sound beautiful, but other than an appreciation of the beauty of the sound of the language, it would not benefit me in the least, Blasphemy in French would sound just as melodious to the ear.
I recall visiting the Basilica of San Domenico in the most wonderful city of Bologna, Italy, on a Sunday evening and listening to the Dominican Friars perform their Gregorian Chant, not for us and the handful of outsiders visiting the Basilica that night, but for themselves, God, and our Holy Savior. I still get chills.