Liturgical Reforms of Pope Pius XII - Liturgical Use of The Vernacular

Liturgical Use of The Vernacular

Combining continuity and innovation, the reforms made under Pius XII to the sacred Liturgy helped to prepare the way for the more dramatic liturgical reforms that would follow the Second Vatican Council (1962–1965), though it is unclear how far Pope Pius XII himself intended these reforms to go. One goal of the liturgical magisterium of Pius XII was to restore a more reverential atmosphere within Church buildings. The use of vernacular language, cautiously favoured by Pope Pius, was hotly debated at his time. He increased non-Latin services, especially in countries with expanding Catholic mission activities. Though insisting on the primacy of Latin in the liturgy of the Western Church (cf. Mediator Dei, par. 60), the pontiff did nevertheless approve the use of the vernacular in the Ritual for sacraments and other rites outside the Mass. All such permissions, however, were to be granted by the Holy See, and Pius XII strongly condemned the efforts of individual priests and communities to introduce the vernacular on their own authority.

In 1948 the pope erected a Pontifical Commission for the Reform of the Liturgy. Monsignor Annibale Bugnini, who served until the pontificate of Paul VI, under whom he drafted the revision of the Ordinary of the Mass and the whole of the Roman Missal, was appointed secretary of this Commission.