What Mass Do Theologians Attend?

Mass of the Theologians (Part 1)

What is a theologian? The textbook definition of a “theologian” is “an expert in the study of theology”.

So how do we determine who is an expert on theology?

The answer to this question is subjective at best, but today I want to qualify some modern experts in theology and then look at which Mass they attend / celebrate.

The first on our list is Dr. Scott Hahn. One of the most popular Catholic Theologians alive today. At 66 years old, he has written over forty books and given over 800 talks as a guest speaker. He has a preference for the Traditional Latin Mass, but attends both the Novus Ordo and the Traditional Latin Mass.

Ref.

Ref. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scott_Hahn

Second on the list is Dr. Taylor Marshall, who by definition must be considered a theologian. He runs the New Saint Thomas Institute for Catholic Theological studies. He is one of the most popular Catholic Authors today and has written over fifteen books. He almost exclusively attends the Traditional Latin Mass.

Ref. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taylor_Marshall

Ref. https://youtube.com/@drtaylormarshall?feature=shared

Third we will look at Dr. Peter Kwasniewski, who is also a theologian by definition. He is an expert in musical composition and an author of over twenty books related to music and theology. He also has his own Substack (which you all should check out here). He attends the Traditional Latin Mass.

Ref. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Kwasniewski

Fourth, no list can be complete without Bishop Robert Barron, a clear leader in the Catholic Church and most definitely a theologian by his own right. Bishop Barron is famous for his Word on Fire videos and media, including his own Bible series, a simplified monthly Liturgy of the Hours publication and many other books. Although Bishop Barron celebrates the Novus Ordo, he claims that he is entirely open to the Traditional Latin Mass so long as people do not profess that the Novus Ordo is invalid. (See this video)

Ref.

Ref. https://youtube.com/@bishopbarron?feature=shared

Ref. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Barron

Last for this article, we will look at theologian Dr. Peter Kreeft another one of the most famous Catholic Theologians alive today. Dr. Peter Kreeft is listed as the author to more than 150 books and has given numerous talks and interviews over his lifetime. He attends the Traditional Latin Mass (which can be seen in this video) at least once per month, but views all forms of the Mass as valid and primarily attends the Ordinariate Mass (an English version of the Traditional Latin Mass approved during the pontificate of Pope Benedict XVI for Anglicans coming into Communion with the Catholic Church).

Ref.

Ref. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Kreeft

Ref. https://www.peterkreeft.com/books.htm

Of the five theologians we discussed today, three prefer the Traditional Latin Mass, one prefers the Ordinariate Mass, and one prefers (and celebrates) the Novus Ordo Mass. We will continue to track the numbers with future installments in this series. This puts our current percentage of theologians who prefer the Traditional Latin Mass at 60-80% depending on how you classify an Ordinariate Mass.

“Mass of the Theologians” will be an ongoing series covering theologians and their Mass preference because I think this is an important topic as time goes on.

Please feel free to suggest theologians in the comments section for future coverage!

Sincerely,

Your Brother in Spirit, Frater Spiritus

Follow me on Twitter / X: @FraterSpiritus