A difficult question to answer briefly! Many of the most common arguments against it given by Catholics today are essentially Protestant: ad orientem and reception kneeling on the tongue are "elitist"; the use of Latin hinders participation; etc. They also stem more generally from the anthropomorphism which began in the Renaissance and continues to this day, leading to the desire to demystify and rationalize the liturgy and thus making elements of the EF, like a sacred language and repetitive gestures, seem outdated and superfluous. Others will also follow antiquarianism, again like Protestants, claiming that Tradition is only what the early Church did while later developments are corruptions of it. From this, people will claim that ad orientem, Latin, etc. were late "accretions," while facing the people, receiving standing in the hand, using the vernacular, etc. are all more historical - just as the reformers said. Another factor is localism, the desire to make the Church distinct to each region and culture instead of universal.
On the other hand, much of the restriction of the EF today comes, as Pope Benedict and others have explained, from a hyperpapalism which subordinates Tradition to the whims of the current pope, as though he were an absolute monarch and only the consecration of the Eucharist were "essential." This minimalism and desire to accommodate contemporary fashions, as well as the traditionalism of EF adherents which sometimes degenerates into sedevacantism and other errors, largely motivates the resistance you mention.
I hope this was brief enough! I actually have an article coming out this month in Adoremus Bulletin which addresses some of these issues, based on Prosper Gueranger's concept of the "anti-liturgical heresy."
Ha, sorry if I got a bit too technical! The -isms and terms can make it seem too complicated, but really it boils down to Catholics wanting to fit in to current trends instead of preserving tradition, whether the fashion be Protestant, Enlightenment, feminist, etc. Unfortunately, the OF was designed and shaped largely for this purpose.
Many thanks Kaleb. Can you please briefly explain why there is resistance to the EF?
A difficult question to answer briefly! Many of the most common arguments against it given by Catholics today are essentially Protestant: ad orientem and reception kneeling on the tongue are "elitist"; the use of Latin hinders participation; etc. They also stem more generally from the anthropomorphism which began in the Renaissance and continues to this day, leading to the desire to demystify and rationalize the liturgy and thus making elements of the EF, like a sacred language and repetitive gestures, seem outdated and superfluous. Others will also follow antiquarianism, again like Protestants, claiming that Tradition is only what the early Church did while later developments are corruptions of it. From this, people will claim that ad orientem, Latin, etc. were late "accretions," while facing the people, receiving standing in the hand, using the vernacular, etc. are all more historical - just as the reformers said. Another factor is localism, the desire to make the Church distinct to each region and culture instead of universal.
On the other hand, much of the restriction of the EF today comes, as Pope Benedict and others have explained, from a hyperpapalism which subordinates Tradition to the whims of the current pope, as though he were an absolute monarch and only the consecration of the Eucharist were "essential." This minimalism and desire to accommodate contemporary fashions, as well as the traditionalism of EF adherents which sometimes degenerates into sedevacantism and other errors, largely motivates the resistance you mention.
I hope this was brief enough! I actually have an article coming out this month in Adoremus Bulletin which addresses some of these issues, based on Prosper Gueranger's concept of the "anti-liturgical heresy."
Kaleb, thank you for explaining, but I am now in over my head. It appears that you have given me a homework assignment, and so I accept!
Ha, sorry if I got a bit too technical! The -isms and terms can make it seem too complicated, but really it boils down to Catholics wanting to fit in to current trends instead of preserving tradition, whether the fashion be Protestant, Enlightenment, feminist, etc. Unfortunately, the OF was designed and shaped largely for this purpose.