Luca Fumagalli

Although the Fathers of the Second Vatican Council decreed that Latin had to be retained and both John XXIII and Paul VI were great advocates of it, in the sixties a systematic dismantling of the traditional liturgy began which did not only affect the language. The so-called Novus Ordo, in fact, was a significant departure from the Catholic mass as it had always been celebrated, a result of distortions and misreadings of the Council’s mandates for reform. The consequence was doctrinal and pastoral, which caused numerous controversies, not least because a change in the liturgy was something that did not seem to interest the majority of the faithful.

In those difficult years, an organization of lay people from different countries was born, the Foederatio Internationalis Una Voce (FIUV), whose main aim was to defend, with the filial instinct of its member’s sensus fidei, the immortal beauty of the liturgy of the Church (the name derives from the preface of the Roman canon which at the end reads «qui non cessant clamare quotidie una voce dicentes: Sanctus, Sanctus, Sanctus»). The Federation came into existence in France and similar groups immediately sprang up in many countries. It was decided that the battle to preserve Latin and Gregorian chant, as well as sacred polyphony, in the liturgy should be conducted in accordance with the conciliar constitution Sacrosantum Concilium.

The starting point of Una Voce was the initiative of some Norwegian Catholics under the leadership of the psychologist Borghild Krane. Catholics living in Protestant countries were the first to grasp the dangers of a vernacularization of the liturgical language that eliminated one of the traits that distinguished the Roman faithful from other Christian churches. Furthermore, Latin was a testimony to the universality of the Catholic Church. In the meantime, a group was born, also in France, called Una Voce – a name that Kreane also adopted for her association – and in the following months similar organizations were founded around the world, such as the Latin Mass Society in England and Wales (today there are around forty associations present in thirty countries).

To coordinate the work of the different groups, it was decided in 1967 to create an international federation and the lawyer Eric de Saventhem was elected president. Even today, each national group is autonomous, but the FIUV is best placed to represent the common concerns of Catholics around the world at the highest level of ecclesiastical government.

The Federation has always published its own bulletin with the aim of educating and enlightening members on what was happening in the Church, within which changes were taking place at a frenetic pace. After all, watching and advising was de Saventhem’s motto and despite the limited funds available and some difficulties related to the different ideas of its members, FIUV still continues in its mission today, dependent on the Pontifical Commission “Ecclesia Dei”.

If since the “English” Indult of 1971 many steps forward have been made to provide a guarantee for the faithful who wish to attend the traditional mass, there is certainly no shortage of problems, made even more serious by a liturgical reform, which, apparently, rather than bringing benefits to the faith, has only caused damage. The drastic drop in the number of people who attend mass on Sundays and in the number of vocations is only one aspect of an increasingly profound crisis. So much time has passed since the promulgation of the Novus Ordo – with the Latin Mass, although formally still an option, being in fact prohibited in many parts of the world – during which the theological changes that it brought about have reduced Catholicism to rubble in which one sees the triumph of ignorance and the most foolish permissiveness.

The history of the FIUV and its crusade for the Catholic faith – in particular the period including the presidencies of de Saventhem and Michael Davies, i.e. from 1967 to 2004 – is told in full by former president Leo Darroch in an interesting volume, entitled simply Una Voce: The History of the Foederatio Universalis Una Voce published in 2017 by Gracewing. The author is very skilled in reconstructing, step by step, the main events but also the secondary ones which, starting from the Second Vatican Council, characterized the action of those who wanted to save the traditional liturgy. For example, the chapters that deal with the relationships between the FIUV and the various prefects of the Congregation for Divine Worship are very absorbing, as are those whose protagonist is Msgr. Lefebvre. Furthermore, a final appendix collects many of the documents cited in the book, otherwise unobtainable, and the preface by Bishop Athanasius Schneider helps to show how Benedict XVI’s motu proprio Summorum Pontificum is the final outcome, from a chronological point of view, of the efforts of FIUV. It is therefore a valuable work, excellent for those who have only recently approached the so-called traditionalist environment, but also for veterans of the Latin Mass, offering a precious opportunity to rediscover the reasons for a commitment that is increasingly important.

All that remains is to consider the developments of the Bergoglio era which, from many points of view, have represented a step backwards from the complete liberty of the Latin Mass. What is certain is that FIUV will never give up.

The book: Leo Darroch, Una Voce: The History of the Foederatio Universalis Una Voce, Gracewing, Leomnister, 2017, 504 pages, £25.

Buy the book: https://www.gracewing.co.uk/page96.html

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