Benedict's re-orientation

The Italian press is making much of Pope Benedict's decision to face the altar while celebrating Mass yesterday in the Sistine Chapel.

It's important to note (as Rocco Palmo does on his blog) that the pope did not celebrate the so-called Old Latin Mass, a rite whose use he liberalized this past summer.

On the other hand, Benedict's conspicuous revival of a custom usually associated with the "extraordinary rite" is surely the latest sign of his unabashed traditionalism in liturgical matters