Longtime members of the church have been praying since Johnson’s death for a way to attend the Mass he loved so dearly, said Bette Barilla, who has attended St. Mary’s by the Sea since 1972.
“It was beautiful then, and the beauty is slowly returning,” she said. “When I was in high school, they’d sing in Latin. It is a tradition of the Roman Catholic church.”
Rev. Martin Tran, the church’s current pastor, declined comment for this story. But in a July bulletin to parishioners, he called it “the greatest opportunity for all of us to be united and to move forward together in love, respect, humility, harmony and collaboration, letting go of all divisions and discord.”
Latin Mass was replaced by services in modern languages in the 1960s after the Second Vatican Council, which radically revamped church practices. The modern Mass’ other changes generally involve more active participation by the congregation and more prayers being recited for those in attendance to hear.
The 1962 version of the Mass now allowed by the Catholic Church contains core elements dating back to the sixth century, but it also bears plenty of revisions from the 1950s, said Rev. Arthur Holquin, pastor of Mission San Juan Capistrano. In addition to having a degree in liturgical studies, Holquin presides over what was for decades the only other church in the county allowed to use the old Latin Mass, mostly because of the mission’s historical roots.
