The Mass of Paul VI was also in Latin but approval was given for the use of vernacular languages. There had been other instructions issued by the Pope in 1964, 1967, 1968, 1969 and 1970 which centered on the reform of all liturgies of the Roman Church. These major reforms were not welcomed by all and in all countries. The sudden apparent "outlawing" of the 400-year-old Mass, the last typical edition of which being promulgated only a few years earlier in 1962 by Paul's predecessor, Pope John XXIII, was not always explained well. Further experimentation with the new Mass by liturgists, such as the usage of pop/folk music (as opposed to the Gregorian Chant advocated by Pope Pius X), along with concurrent changes in the order of sanctuaries, was viewed by some as vandalism. In 2007, Pope Benedict XVI clarified that the 1962 Mass of John XXIII and the 1970 Mass of Paul VI are two forms of the same Roman Rite, the first, which had never been "juridically abrogated", now being an "extraordinary form of the Roman Rite", while the other "obviously is and continues to be the normal Form – the Forma ordinaria – of the Eucharistic Liturgy".

What type of language did Paul Vi's reforms approve for use in the Catholic mass?