Cardinal Mahony's Revisionism

A question was recently put to Cardinal Mahoney:

Joe: Hello Cardinal. With the growing interest in traditional worship of the Catholic Church are we going to see a more generous use of the Traditional Latin Mass?

Cardinal Mahony responded:

Cardinal Mahony: It is not correct to say "traditional worship" in our Church. For a small slice [SIC] of Church history, Latin was the language of Mass. But the Council moved us beyond that to a new Roman Missal. We must continue forward with the Church. However, it is important to bring with us our Latin hymns and other treasures from the past ages.

Commentary: How the long-standing tradition of the use of Latin the sacred liturgy of the Roman Church, which spans back into the patristic period, can be considered "a small slice" is beyond me. That can only be classed as revisionism. Even if he is including in his considerations the Eastern liturgical rites, it still doesn't justify such an historical inaccuracy. Nor does it change that fact that it is the tradition.

Second, his comment that "the Council moved us beyond [Latin as the language of the Mass]" is also misleading. How does he reconcile this with the statement that Latin is to be retained within the Roman liturgy? How does he reconcile this with all the statements of post-conciliar Popes?

Such statements which do no justice to history, our tradition and to the Conciliar documents do no justice to the faithful and is a disservice to both them and to the Church.