Roman Catholic Mass

The Mass or Eucharistic Celebration is the central act of divine worship in the Catholic Church, which describes it as "the source and summit of the Christian life".

Many of the Catholic Church's other sacraments are celebrated in the framework of the Eucharist. The term "Mass" is generally used only of Latin Church celebrations of the Eucharist, while the Eastern Orthodox Church, Oriental Orthodox Church, and the various Eastern Catholic Churches use terms such as "Divine Liturgy", "Holy Qurbana", and "Badarak", in accordance with each one's tradition.

The term "Mass" is derived from the Late Latin word missa (dismissal), a word used in the concluding formula of Mass in Latin: "Ite, missa est" ("Go; it is the dismissal"). In antiquity, missa simply meant "dismissal". In Christian usage, however, it gradually took on a deeper meaning. The word "dismissal" has come to imply a mission.

For information on the theology of the Eucharist and on the Eucharistic liturgy of other Christian denominations, see "Mass (liturgy)", "Eucharist" and "Eucharistic theology". For information on the history and of development of the Mass see Eucharist and Origin of the Eucharist.

With an historical perspective that was not possible for the bishops at the Council of Trent (1545-1563), the bishops at the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965) called for the renewal of the Roman Rite, based on historical and Biblical studies carried out over the previous century.

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