How did Vatican II change the mass? (Glad you asked: q&a on church teaching).

At the Second Vatican Council, the first major document that was debated was the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy (Sacrosanctum Concilium). It had the overwhelming support of the world's bishops--and of the pope himself. It passed on Dec. 4, 1963 in the second session of the council by a vote of 2,147 to 4. New rites were drawn up and implemented within a year. And on the very first day it was permitted, Pope Paul VI himself celebrated Mass in the revised rite.

This document launched a far-reaching reform in the liturgy of the Catholic Church. The Mass had not changed an iota since the Council of Trent in the 16th century. Catholics were accustomed to the chant, incense, and ceremony that took place on Sunday mornings. They were there, in large numbers, praying their rosaries or missals, while the priest and altar boys prayed the Mass. It was, after all, conducted in Latin, and it was everyone's idea that this was "Father's work" and not in the realm of laypeople.

But when the Constitution on the Liturgy was implemented, all that began to change, and change quickly. For Americans, English was heard at Mass in all the rites and prayers. The priest turned to face the people. Gregorian chant was replaced with more modern music. Church buildings themselves were soon remodeled to make room for lay ministers and to reflect a theology in which the community itself helped pray the Mass. Rosaries and missals disappeared like sparks into the night. Catholics were invited to pray and sing aloud, to receive Communion from the cup, and to offer their own Prayers of the Faithful. This form of the Mass had not been seen in the church since the third century.

Of course, the fundamentals--bread and wine, the Word of God, the community, the priests--did not change.

But why change anything at all? The Constitution on the Liturgy makes it clear that the church is the "whole people of God." As such, it says, everyone must be actively engaged with the rites of the Mass, not mere bystanders busy with private devotions. This active role for laypeople is what laid the groundwork for a new understanding of ourselves as church. All the baptized have a right and duty to participate, whether they are ordained or not.

It also makes it clear that all this reform is based in scripture. It called for a wider use of scripture in the liturgy of the Word, for preaching based on scripture, and for scripture courses in seminaries and parishes alike.

From 1 Pet. 2:9, where we are called a "chosen race and a royal priesthood," to 1 Cor. 10:17, where it is said that "we, though many, are one body because we partake of the one bread," the texts of sacred scripture formed the basis of the reform thinking in this document, helping to make the reforms solid, ecumenical, and lasting.

Of course, some of this change was met with resistance and sometimes outright anger. When you change the Mass, you are tinkering with long-held and revered traditions. It goes to the core of people's lives--and, many think, of their eternal salvation. Some church leaders did not adequately introduce or explain the changes. And sometimes, frankly, changes did go too far in the hands of excited local leaders who saw an opening and used it to change more than the council intended. But overall the reforms of the liturgy launched by Vatican II have been embraced by pastors, liturgical leaders, and the faithful in the pews.

By BILL HUEBSCH, author of Vatican II in Plain English (Thomas More).