Classical Rite Going "Mainstream"
The widespread rumors of a Vatican document that will be released on the Pope's personal initiative (a so-called Motu Proprio) liberalizing the use of the classical Roman Rite has led to interest in the Tridentine Rite both in the Catholic blogosphere and in the general press. I'll have more to say about the Motu Proprio when it's released, but the growing attention being paid to Catholics attached to the traditional liturgy is interesting in itself.
Shawn Tribe notes that traditional Catholics have typically been considered part of a fringe movement that is too hot to handle when organizing conferences, but that this is changing. The Prior of the Benedictine Monastery of Clear Creek in Oklahoma will be one of two keynote speakers at a Notre Dame conference on Pope Benedict XVI's encyclical Deus Caritas Est.
While I've known about the Clear Creek monks for some time, I hadn't realized that their liturgical life is primarly based on the classical liturgical books. It's very heartening to see the growing presence in the U.S. of traditional, orthodox orders like the Clear Creek monks and the priests of the Institute of Christ the King.