These days everything is retro - the clothes, the wars and, once again, the Catholic Church. Pope Benedict XVI decided Sunday to ease restrictions on celebrating a type of Mass that has been out of use since the 1960s, when the Catholic Church began to renew itself while improving relations with other religions, particularly Judaism. The pope declared that the Latin Tridentine Mass could now be used by "stable group[s] of faithful," should they request it. The Mass, however, contains statements long ago deemed anti-Semitic, such as a prayer that says Jews must "be delivered from their darkness" and a Good Friday prayer that calls for Jews to convert. Jewish groups, and even several European bishops, openly opposed the move. The Anti-Defamation League, a Jewish advocacy group, told the press and public this would be a "body blow to Catholic-Jewish relations."

It's no secret that the new pope is one of the most conservative in recent history. Citing a growing secularization of the Catholic faith, mainly in developed countries, Benedict XVI routinely expresses his desire to return to traditional Catholicism. He also follows in his predecessor John Paul II's footsteps with positions against birth control, abortion and homosexuality. This in mind, it isn't surprising the pope eased restrictions that caused the late, ultraconservative Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre to split with the Vatican over its reforms.

The restrictions Benedict XVI reversed came about in 1965, when the Second Vatican Council, commonly known as Vatican II, updated the church for the first time in nearly 100 years. The council shifted the church's congregations from the traditional Latin Mass to the new Mass, which is celebrated in the language of the country where it takes place.

Vatican II also released four constitutions, nine decrees and three declarations, including the Nostra Aetate, Latin for "in our time." The Nostra Aetate was meant to dramatically repair relations between Catholics and Jews after the church's perceived complicity with the Nazi Holocaust. The document states: "In her rejection of every persecution against any man, the Church, mindful of the patrimony she shares with the Jews and moved not by political reasons but by the Gospel's spiritual love, decries hatred, persecutions, displays of anti-Semitism, directed against Jews at any time and by anyone."

The Tridentine Mass represents a return to Catholic traditions in a modern world - it was widely used from 1570 to 1962 - but it harkens back to a time period that is far off from society today. By promoting an outdated Mass, the pope is also promoting the discriminatory attitudes of that era.

What is surprising then about Benedict XVI's decision is that he was a part of Vatican II, where he defended the Nostra Aetate and served as a theological consultant for Josef Cardinal Frings, a virulent opponent of the Nazis. If the pope was such a staunch defender of Jewish relations then, one has to be skeptical of him advocating an anti-Semitic Mass today. The move is likely an irresponsible strategy on behalf of the pope to shift the church back to traditional ways. In doing so, Benedict XVI will only hurt some of the ones he sought to help more than 40 years ago.

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