What Shia LaBeouf Understands and Bishop Barron Does Not, by Darrick Taylor

The New Mass is Inauthentic

If you are attuned to online Catholic discussion, you have probably seen clips at least of Bishop Robert Barron’s interview with Shia LaBeouf, the actor who became Catholic after portraying St. Pio of Pietreclina on film. The most shared one (at least in my corner of the Catholic world) has been his statement that he prefers the old Latin Mass to the newer rite because “it feels like they’re not selling me a car.”

This naturally pleased Trads very much (and ruffled the feathers of some other Catholics) but I think his remarks are worth explicating, since they capture something important about the difference between the old and new rites. I should state up front that I am not interested in proving the superiority of the old rite (though I believe it is) over the new, but only discussing in detail why some find the New Mass off putting. I say this because Latin Mass converts tend to cite their experiences and give subjective answers about why they are attached to it. Their witness is important, but I want to argue that there is something objective behind reactions like LaBeouf’s to the New Mass. …

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