CWR: Your Excellency, you gave a thought-provoking talk on liturgical tradition and history. It seems now, more so than ever, that young people are thirsting for the riches of the Latin Rite, which often have been fallow for the last half century. What do you think has led to this resurgence in interest regarding the liturgical traditions of the Latin Rite?
Bishop Joseph Perry: I think young people, being healthy people that they are, are interested in mystery. They are troubled by some of the conundrums and the stuff that’s not connecting in our culture. They’re concerned about some of the false messaging that’s out there by way of the culture: the individualism, the secularism, the kind of selfishness, the pleasure-seeking culture that we live in. And they’re wondering what that’s all about. Where’s it all going? Some are not fulfilled in it. We see young people who have resorted to drugs. Some of them have resorted to suicide because they have not come up with any answers or guidance. Some of them live lives that are hard for the Church to grasp and embrace. We try to reach out to them to give them an alternative. I think we have an immense treasure trove of liturgy and worship where all of that begins for young people—ideally, in their earliest formative years.
