Is this the start of a battle of the faiths?

SILENCE. Utter silence, broken only by the rustling whispers of the priest and the occasional cough. As the priest stands with his back to the small congregation of three, some of his words are occasionally intelligible: Benedictus. . . Domini nostri Jesu Christi." The rest is a low mumble.

This is the 9 o'clock Saturday mass in the small chapel of St Patrick's Academy in Castlebar, Co Mayo . . . the only church in the country to offer Tridentine, or Latin mass, daily. Here there is no informal welcome from the priest to the congregation, no hand-shaking, hymn-singing or sermons. The priest spends most of his time facing the altar whispering prayers in Latin. He reverts to English only for the readings and the uninitiated are often lost soon after that.

The blessing of the bread and wine is the most important part of the mass and this is when utter silence is maintained. The first three bells, rung by the assisting priest, are familiar landmarks of an English language mass. But when seven bells have been rung and the whispered prayers are continuing, it's hard to know what is going on.

Until now, Latin mass could only be celebrated with the express permission of the local bishop. But since Pope Benedict's announcement last week that he will be relaxing restrictions on celebrations of the Latin mass from next September, it is set to become more widespread in Ireland . . . if the public want it. But do they?

'It is very, very unnerving'

According to Eamon Gaines of the Latin Mass Society of Ireland, a new generation of Irish people are discovering Latin mass, with more and more people in their 20s and 30s attending the monthly Latin service in St Audoen's, Dublin. "I think there is going to be a greater demand for Latin mass following Pope Benedict's announcement, but it will happen gradually over the next 18 months, " he said. "We have a membership of about 500 and are seeing an average of three new members a week, so while it's a small community, the interest is growing."

The rules for celebrating a traditional Latin mass are quite strict, and this is easily seen in St Patrick's. There is no spontaneity, no offertory procession, nor any involvement from the congregation. All the action takes place on the altar as the priest and his assistant move around with precision, genuflecting repeatedly. There is no Our Father before communion and no sign of peace given. Instead, the small congregation remains silently on their knees in prayer.

"I think what gets people so powerfully about a Latin mass is how little there is in terms of physical action, " said Gaines. "Unlike a contemporary mass, where people are gathered in an almost circular group around the altar, here everyone is facing the same direction, looking up and out towards God. It is a time to pray most intensely and a time to take all concerns to one side. It is a time to examine your life and pray to God without interruption."

The Jewish community in Ireland, however, has expressed great concern at the revival of the Latin mass. The Good Friday prayer is derogatory of Judaism and while the term 'perfidious Jews' has been removed from the text, there is still an unmistakable call for Jews to convert to Catholicism.

"It is very, very unnerving, " Chief Rabbi Yaakov Pearlman told the Sunday Tribune. "The pope has said he would come out and explain this, but I haven't seen a reasonable explanation yet. If the prayer that calls for the conversion of Jews is not removed, then we would be very concerned. This is reawakening issues that were there prior to the second Vatican Council in 1962 and we certainly don't want old wounds reopened if there is to be dialogue between the faiths."

Considerable outrage worldwide

However, last week the pope showed little interest in maintaining inter-religious dialogue. First there was the revival of the Latin mass. Then there was the proclamation that the Catholic Church is the "One Church of Christ" and all other Reformed/Protestant churches are not churches "in the proper sense."

Since Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger . . . a staunch defender of traditional Catholic doctrine and values . . . became Pope Benedict XVI two years ago, the world has been feeling the impact of his conservative methods.

While many observers feel the decline of Catholicism in the developed world can only be addressed by a pope who confronts it head-on, others feel Benedict is estranging his followers . . . and other religions . . . with outdated rhetoric.

When Benedict, then Cardinal Ratzinger, brought out Dominus Iesus in 2001, outlining this same position, there was considerable outrage worldwide. In Ireland and Northern Ireland, Catholic bishops moved quickly to extend the hand of friendship to the Church of Ireland in an attempt to prevent increased sectarianism.

'We will not lie down in a corner and worry'

By restating his position in one of the most sensitive weeks of the Irish year . . . that of the contentious Orange Order celebrations . . . Pope Benedict has made it clear that Ireland is far from foremost in his thoughts. But why has he chosen to deliberately offend other religions by reviving Dominus Iesus?

"It really is quite extraordinary that the pope has reaffirmed what he said in 2000, which offended a huge number of people both within and outside the church, " said theologian Gina Menzies. "Even Pope Paul VI was much more open-minded and referred to other churches as our 'sister churches'. You can't have dialogue with other churches if you start out on the offensive and that is what Pope Benedict has done."

The issue at stake here is "apostolic succession" or tracing of bishops back to the apostles. The Catholic Church maintains that it has apostolic succession because St Peter was the first Bishop of Rome. In general, the Protestant Church tends to believe that apostolic succession is simply the succession of apostolic teaching. It is this point on which Pope Benedict based Dominus Iesus.

"According to Catholic doctrine, these communities do not enjoy apostolic succession in the sacrament of the Orders and are, therefore, deprived of a constitutive element of the church, " it says.

"It is a mystery to me why the pope is still dialoguing with us if we are not real churches, " Rev Roy Cooper, head of the Methodist Church of Ireland told the Sunday Tribune. "As leader of the Roman Catholic Church, he has the right to define his own concept of that church, but in an age where the Roman Catholic Church is dialoguing with other churches, it is very strange."

However, Rev Cooper said he is not losing any sleep over the document. "We are a proper church, there is no question about it. We will not lie down in a corner and worry about what we are and aren't. I would agree with Benedict's angelus teachings, you know. But I take exception to what he says about our church."

Unchurching every church in Christendom

A spokesman for the Presbyterian Church in Ireland was more wary of the subject. "There's nothing new in this, " he said. "It's simply restating the Catholic Church's historical position. Our historical position is that the Catholic Church is a church in error. But from our point of view, we say what's the point restarting this traditional and historical position debate? It doesn't help develop better relationships between the churches."

And is there any real reason why these churches, which all sprang from the same source, should have such divisions? The Church of Ireland doesn't seem to think so. Just one week before the pope's latest communications, Roman Catholic priest Fr Enda McDonagh was appointed as a canon to the St Patrick's Cathedral chapter.

At the same time, a former Presbyterian moderator, Dr Ken Newell, was also appointed a canon by the Church of Ireland. Last year, the Dean of St Patrick's suggested using the cathedral for Catholic mass . . . an idea quickly rejected by Cardinal Connell. Why is the Roman Catholic Church so patently resistant to interaction?

"These churches have far more in common than they have differences, " said Menzies. "Vatican II found that there was a whole lot of different words for church and that we are all people of God.

Benedict is flying in the face of thatf It's massively offensive. You need to not see the divisions or else it is an insult to dialogue with that person."

Rev Ian Paisley may have accused Pope Benedict of celebrating the Twelfth of July by "unchurching every church in Christendom, " but it seems unlikely that the pope's inflammatory views will result in a battle of the faiths. As Rev Cooper said: "He can't unchurch us."