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Trads: Latin Mass Catholics in the United States
Not yet published
Expected 1 Dec 26Who are "Trad" Catholics? And what can they tell us about the future of Catholicism?
They've been called divisive, extreme, and even cult-like. They've also been hailed as the future of Catholicism. From The View to the Vatican, from Vanity Fair to the Vice-President, everyone seems to have an opinion about Catholics who attend the Traditional Latin Mass Catholics--or "Trads"--but who are they really?
In Latin Mass Catholics in the United States, sociologists Stephen Cranney and Stephen Bullivant provide the first full-scale, data-driven portrait of this strikingly resilient movement. Blending ethnographic observation, original survey data, and in-depth interviews, they reveal who attends Mass in Latin--a language that they (for the most part) don't speak--what motivates them, how they differ from other American Catholics, and what their growth means for the Church's future. Are they mostly young, edgy converts? Or are they rigid extremists warned about by church authorities? Do they reject Vatican II and the modern Church, or are they simply seeking beauty, reverence, and tradition in their worship? How have papal reforms affected their communities, and what does the future hold for this movement that seems to generate outsized feeling--both positive and negative--wherever it is discussed?
Trads separates myth from reality, offering crucial insights for anyone seeking to understand one of the most fascinating phenomena in contemporary American religion. The result is a surprising account of a community far more complex than either its champions or critics might expect.
They've been called divisive, extreme, and even cult-like. They've also been hailed as the future of Catholicism. From The View to the Vatican, from Vanity Fair to the Vice-President, everyone seems to have an opinion about Catholics who attend the Traditional Latin Mass Catholics--or "Trads"--but who are they really?
In Latin Mass Catholics in the United States, sociologists Stephen Cranney and Stephen Bullivant provide the first full-scale, data-driven portrait of this strikingly resilient movement. Blending ethnographic observation, original survey data, and in-depth interviews, they reveal who attends Mass in Latin--a language that they (for the most part) don't speak--what motivates them, how they differ from other American Catholics, and what their growth means for the Church's future. Are they mostly young, edgy converts? Or are they rigid extremists warned about by church authorities? Do they reject Vatican II and the modern Church, or are they simply seeking beauty, reverence, and tradition in their worship? How have papal reforms affected their communities, and what does the future hold for this movement that seems to generate outsized feeling--both positive and negative--wherever it is discussed?
Trads separates myth from reality, offering crucial insights for anyone seeking to understand one of the most fascinating phenomena in contemporary American religion. The result is a surprising account of a community far more complex than either its champions or critics might expect.
256 pages, Hardcover
Expected publication December 1, 2026
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Review of advance copy received from Edelweiss+
This surveys U.S. attendees in 2024/5 at traditional Latin Masses, approved by the Vatican. If with an unfortunate caveat, after Pope Francis in 2021 issued Traditionis Custodes, which cracked down on what the authorities perceived as prejudice against Vatican II. This restriction theoretically limited the continuation of TLMs in parishes and dioceses, although as of this book's publication, the situation under Leo appears likely to continue the new regimen. So, the sample sociologists of religion Stephen Cranney (Mormon) and Stephen Bullivant (English, recent convert to Catholicism) analysis may reflect "survivor's bias" as other sympathetic Americans may have had their TLM access curtailed...
They note this, while keeping the study fairly lively; Bullivant in particular I've read in the past and I can attest to his verve. The strengths lie in overturning stereotypes: most TLMers also go to Novus Ordo (standard vernacular services with altars facing the people, communion in the hand, altar girls, lay lectors, varying degrees of reverence, amplified music, casual attire, singalongs etc), as many areas don't feature regular traditional worship every Sunday. It's difficult to count totals, but the ballpark figure is 106k weekly, and maybe half a million at least a few times yearly, as frequency and availability shift under current conditions, and some masses may have moved into the "underground"
For certain bishops express hostility towards "trads." As the authors explain, their episcopal feears of MAGA cults, baby-making hordes of homeschooled separatists, and supremacist reactionaries are belied by facts. TLMers lean more towards conservative values, of course, but not extremists. They tilt more pro-life than most Catholics. They predictably favor a more dignified and reverent atmosphere, but they may also show up at the "average" local parish. Few stick only to the TLM, fewer reject V2.
I wish the writers had taken pains to cover a few issues. Since I was raised the very first year after V2 ended to start parochial school, I witnessed firsthand the changes. The trend is for the media and the academics, the participants and the "reverts," to stress how the congregation skews young. But for those of my generation, who never knew the Latin Mass but only the reformed Novus Ordo, we never had any chance to go to a TLM option, and for two generations, that stayed true until around 2007...
And then the canard was that only the greying bitter clingers or deluded racists were lured into the permitted TLM under Benedict. The gap of forty-odd years before a TLM was made licit on a wider scale meant millions never had a chance. This cohort doesn't get its due in Trads. And I suspect that the reason that "Rome" lashed out in 2021 was due to being goaded and mocked by certain online influencers (one is named in passing) whose attitudes pushed Francis into reversing Benedict's rule.
These aspects aren't treated sufficiently. The writers say they didn't want to go off on tangents here. I understand they prefer data to hearsay. However, this means their accounts with intriguing bits of personal testimony from respondents remain an incomplete representation of the trad scene. And how do today's gay or trans attendees deal with their "liturgically conservative, theologically progressive" mindset, I wonder? Do those of my "mature" peers find the TLM the same or differently compared with youthful families whose own parents might have been raised under John Paul II's direction? And why do conservative converts to the faith often disdain TLMers, instead of finding common cause?
Anyway, just a few of the questions sparked. Which is the sign of a stimulating read. If it's incomplete it still may inform a future social history of this phenomenon. Which let's hope continues, under the current status quo in the present papacy, and the recent news since this e-galley was produced, of the SSPX schism, at last come to pass. From the findings here, few interviewed seem eager to follow them on that path. Despite the difficulty of staying in fidelity, most trads by far pledge allegiance as usual.
They note this, while keeping the study fairly lively; Bullivant in particular I've read in the past and I can attest to his verve. The strengths lie in overturning stereotypes: most TLMers also go to Novus Ordo (standard vernacular services with altars facing the people, communion in the hand, altar girls, lay lectors, varying degrees of reverence, amplified music, casual attire, singalongs etc), as many areas don't feature regular traditional worship every Sunday. It's difficult to count totals, but the ballpark figure is 106k weekly, and maybe half a million at least a few times yearly, as frequency and availability shift under current conditions, and some masses may have moved into the "underground"
For certain bishops express hostility towards "trads." As the authors explain, their episcopal feears of MAGA cults, baby-making hordes of homeschooled separatists, and supremacist reactionaries are belied by facts. TLMers lean more towards conservative values, of course, but not extremists. They tilt more pro-life than most Catholics. They predictably favor a more dignified and reverent atmosphere, but they may also show up at the "average" local parish. Few stick only to the TLM, fewer reject V2.
I wish the writers had taken pains to cover a few issues. Since I was raised the very first year after V2 ended to start parochial school, I witnessed firsthand the changes. The trend is for the media and the academics, the participants and the "reverts," to stress how the congregation skews young. But for those of my generation, who never knew the Latin Mass but only the reformed Novus Ordo, we never had any chance to go to a TLM option, and for two generations, that stayed true until around 2007...
And then the canard was that only the greying bitter clingers or deluded racists were lured into the permitted TLM under Benedict. The gap of forty-odd years before a TLM was made licit on a wider scale meant millions never had a chance. This cohort doesn't get its due in Trads. And I suspect that the reason that "Rome" lashed out in 2021 was due to being goaded and mocked by certain online influencers (one is named in passing) whose attitudes pushed Francis into reversing Benedict's rule.
These aspects aren't treated sufficiently. The writers say they didn't want to go off on tangents here. I understand they prefer data to hearsay. However, this means their accounts with intriguing bits of personal testimony from respondents remain an incomplete representation of the trad scene. And how do today's gay or trans attendees deal with their "liturgically conservative, theologically progressive" mindset, I wonder? Do those of my "mature" peers find the TLM the same or differently compared with youthful families whose own parents might have been raised under John Paul II's direction? And why do conservative converts to the faith often disdain TLMers, instead of finding common cause?
Anyway, just a few of the questions sparked. Which is the sign of a stimulating read. If it's incomplete it still may inform a future social history of this phenomenon. Which let's hope continues, under the current status quo in the present papacy, and the recent news since this e-galley was produced, of the SSPX schism, at last come to pass. From the findings here, few interviewed seem eager to follow them on that path. Despite the difficulty of staying in fidelity, most trads by far pledge allegiance as usual.
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