As the post Vatican II Church has become enmeshed in unchecked scandal and heresy, more and more Catholics are returning to the Latin Mass

Thanks to the power of the Internet and http://www.ydr.com, we are still receiving mail from readers all over the world. Some of the mail found its way to our Letters to the Editor pages Feb. 5.

Now that I am writing about the church again, I expect - and welcome - more mail.

The church of about 70 to 100 people had just celebrated Mass in their first building at 129 S. Beaver St. in York. The South Beaver Street building with graceful domes in York's historic district had never been home to a Catholic church, although a variety of Christian and Jewish groups have worshipped there in the last century.

But that is only part of the story and not necessarily the reason for the high interest, as York has long had a strong Catholic presence. St. Patrick's Church is only a few blocks from the mission. St. Rose of Lima Church on West Market Street and the bilingual St. Mary's Church on South George Street are close neighbors, too.

And in the county, Roman Catholics nearly tied with Lutherans for first in number of adherents - 37,745 Catholics and 38,924 Lutherans - according to a 2000 survey of religious membership by the Glenmary Research Center in Tennessee.

No, the story is the mission's struggle for acceptance by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Harrisburg and the diocese's refusal to recognize the mission as a Catholic church. The diocese says the mission is in schism - out of communion - from the Roman Catholic Church and has attempted to dissuade Roman Catholics from attending.

The diocese's judicial vicar and secretary for canonical services sent a letter last month warning Catholics that if they willingly embraced the teachings of this group that is calling itself Catholic, they would be subject to excommunication. The letter was published in January church bulletins around the diocese of 15 counties, including York. The letter was published in church bulletins again a few weeks later, at the bishop's urging, local priests say.

At the mission, the priest - not one ordained in the Harrisburg diocese - celebrates the Tridentine Mass. This traditional Mass, celebrated almost completely in Latin, was celebrated worldwide until the mid-1960s. During Vatican II, the Church underwent changes, such as new liturgy that would be translated into the languages of the people. Traditionalists reject all the changes that came about as a result of Vatican II, saying that ecumenism and modernization have led to the downfall of the Church.

Bishop Nicholas Dattilo of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Harrisburg has allowed for one Tridentine Mass a month at a high school in Camp Hill. The mission says that isn't enough and that the pope and many bishops approve.

Here are some excerpts from letters from readers:

· James Hoffman of Etters, a mission member: ". . . In 1993, Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, ruled in the case of an independent chapel in the diocese of Honolulu that persons merely attending an independent Mass are not in schism. . . . Bishop Dattilo and his employees may not overrule the Vatican. . . . Certainly there is controversy over schism and disobedience in the diocese of Harrisburg. But the disobedience and schism is all on the part of diocesan officials, including Bishop Dattilo himself . . . (and his) refusal of Pope John Paul II's clear instruction . . . to make 'wide and generous application' of the Holy Father's permission for use of the old Latin Mass . . ."

· Caroline Pitman, Harrisburg: "For a diocesan spokesman to claim we are not in union with the Roman Catholic Church is ludicrous. We are being persecuted precisely because of our fidelity to the Church . . ."

· Timothy Clint, Erie: "Did not our Lord say, 'Take up your cross and follow me?' These people at Saints Peter and Paul are only trying to live a truly Catholic life."

· Frank McWilliams, via e-mail: "The traditional movement is only going to grow stronger. The diocese should see the signs, or face a slow extinction. That applies to the whole Church."

· Beverly Coscarelli, Chicago, Ill.: "Sadly our Church today includes many wolves in shepherd's clothing misleading the sheep. Some of our bishops are sadly misinformed about the true Mass."

· Brian M. McCall, a London attorney: "If we say that the Latin Mass is a crime, we condemn all our ancestors (who knew no other Mass) as criminals. Like the recusants of England, those Catholics today holding to the Tradition of the Church suffer persecution at the hands of those occupying the offices of bishop and priest in the new order of things."

· John Leritz, Clearwater, Fla.: "Ask your bishop how you could possibly be in schism when the current New Order Church preaches that all religions are equal in the eyes of God."