Add thelocalreport.in As A Trusted Source
Traditionalist Catholics who later felt abandoned Pope Francis banned old latin Mass There were jubilations Saturday as people prepared to celebrate the traditional liturgy in St. Peter’s Basilica with the express approval of Pope Leo XIV.
Cardinal Raymond Burke, conservative American The figurehead was to celebrate the old Mass for pilgrims on Saturdays during their Holy Year of Pilgrimage RomeAnother cardinal, Italy’s Matteo Zuppi, celebrated a packed Vespers service for him on Friday night.
For many traditionalists, the moment was a concrete sign that Leo may be more sympathetic to their plight, given their rejection by Francis and his action on the old liturgy in 2021.
Francis took action after the spread of the ancient liturgy, particularly in the United States, coincided with the rise of religiously motivated political conservatism and a decline in church attendance in more progressive parishes.
“I’m very optimistic,” said Ruben Pareto Rivas, a professor of medieval philosophy at Argentina’s Universidad Nacional de Cuyo and organizer of the pilgrimage. “The first traits of Pope Leo are to communicate and listen, really listen to everyone.”
The liturgical war has been going on for a long time
The latest round of liturgical wars dates back to the Second Vatican Council, meetings of the 1960s that modernized the church. Reforms included the celebration of the Mass in the vernacular rather than Latin, with the priest facing the faithful in the pews rather than the altar.
In the decades that followed, the Old Latin Mass was still available but not widespread. Also in those years, the Vatican was dealing with the growth of a schismatic group that rejected the Vatican II reforms and celebrated exclusively the Latin Mass, the Society of St. Pius
Pope benedict xviAs Cardinal and later Pope, both of them, fearing the spread of a parallel, pre-Vatican II Church, tried to heal the schism and bring the SSPX group back under the wing of Rome.
In 2007, Benedict relaxed restrictions on celebrating the old Latin Mass as part of his overall outreach to traditionalists.
Benedict wrote at the time, “What earlier generations held sacred is sacred and great for us too.”
Francis’s 2021 action
In one of the most controversial acts of his papacy, Francis in 2021 reversed Benedict’s 2007 reform and reinstated the old ban on celebrating the Mass. Francis said its spread had become a source of division in the church and was exploited by Catholics opposed to Vatican II.
Under Francis’ restrictions, bishops must petition Rome if, say, a newly ordained priest wants to celebrate the ancient rite. If a bishop wants to designate an additional parish church for masses, the Holy See must give its consent, forcing some ceremonies to be held in remote church halls.
However, rather than healing divisions, Francis’ actions seemed to create further rifts.
“We are orphans,” said Christian Marquant, the pilgrimage’s French organizer.
Leo’s election and pledge to bring peace and healing
Leo, the first American Pope in history, was elected by broad consensus among cardinals and has said his aim is unity and reconciliation in the church. Many conservatives and traditionalists urged him to heal the theological divisions that arose, particularly over the Latin Mass.
After Leo’s election, Marquant wrote a letter to Leo on behalf of about 70 traditionalist groups, asking, among other things, for permission to celebrate mass according to the ancient rite in St. Peter’s Basilica during the traditionalists’ annual pilgrimage to Rome.
Burke, who had met Leo on 22 August, gave him the letter. Leo called Cardinal Mauro Gambetti, high priest of St. Peter’s, and gave his permission, Marquant said.
Francis also, shortly after his 2021 action, allowed Latin Mass to be celebrated in basilicas, but only by lower-ranking priests. In 2023 and 2024, traditionalists found no one willing to approach Francis to ask for permission, Marquant said, and no Mass was celebrated.
In July, leaked Vatican documents undermined Francis’ stated reason for imposing the ban: Francis had said he was responding to the “desires” expressed by bishops around the world who responded to a 2020 Vatican survey, as well as the Vatican’s doctrinal office’s own opinion.
But the documents suggested that the majority of Catholic bishops responding to the survey expressed general satisfaction with the old Latin Mass and warned that banning it would “do more harm than good.”
Traditionalist Catholics in the pews are hopeful
James Rodio, a psychiatrist and father of three, has been attending traditional Latin Mass with his family in Cleveland, Ohio, for nearly three decades.
“I was struck by the reverence and beauty and symbolism in the action and gesture, and of course also by the content,” he said in a telephone interview.
Even though Rodeo had always had access to a traditional Mass in Cleveland, he and other parishioners felt “frustrated” at Francis’ action and the restrictions he imposed.
He said, “There was a sadness behind it all” and a feeling that Francis did not understand him. “How could any organization take a view of the 16 or 17 centuries and then say it was no longer valid?”
Rodio said he and his fellow parishioners are optimistic about Leo and hope he will allow more parishes to return to traditional worship. While Rodeo would welcome something obvious, Leo does not need to overturn Francis outright: He could instruct the Vatican liturgical office to generously approve the bishops’ individual requests as they come.
In recent weeks, the Diocese of Cleveland received a two-year extension to continue allowing Latin Mass in two diocesan churches.
Rodeo said, “My guess is that Leo may be trying to do a lot without doing a lot in public.”
,
Associated Press religion coverage is supported by the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from the Lilly Endowment Inc. AP is solely responsible for this content.