Pope to authorise Latin Mass soon

Pope Benedict will tell Roman Catholic priests in coming days that they can say Mass in Latin as a concession to traditionalists.

However, the move has raised concern about reviving parts of the old liturgy that Jews consider anti-Semitic.

The Latin liturgy was sidelined by the Second Vatican Council in the 1960s in favour of local languages in an attempt to make worship more accessible to the bulk of churchgoers.

After months of speculation that the old rite, known as the Tridentine Mass, could return, the Vatican said yesterday the Pope had met senior clerics a day earlier to discuss "the content and the spirit" of a papal document on the matter.

"The publication of this document, to be accompanied by a full personal letter from the Holy Father to individual bishops, is foreseen within a few days," a Vatican statement said.