The 11 a.m. Sunday Mass at the Roman Catholic Church of St. Agnes, on East 43rd Street, is a notable exception.
Every pew is filled, with standees spilling out into the aisles.
A hidden choir sings in an unusual language. On the altar, rather than facing the congregation, the priest keeps his back to it. Anyone expecting the latest in trendy theology or modern liturgical music is likely to be disappointed. To clarify the situation, Pope John Paul II in 1988 affirmed the validity of the old Mass and urged the world's bishops to make it available. There is no handshake of peace.