The Liturgy in the Church Today

The Vatican Is Trying to Suppress the Traditional Latin Mass. What Are Catholics in the Pew Experiencing?

In this special “Liturgy” section of Inside the Vatican, we continue our ongoing coverage of the state of the Catholic Liturgy, including for the first time data gathered from around the U.S. and the world on the real-world liturgical experience of the Catholic faithful.

• BY ROBERT MOYNIHAN

There have been various rumors, in and away from Rome, that Pope Francis intends to issue further restrictive decrees against the use of the old rite of the Mass in the near future. But Pope Francis had two meetings in February which suggest such rumors may be false.

The second of two of these meetings was, strikingly, with the head of the Society of St. Pius X, Fr. Davide Pagliarani, on February 8 — the first time the two have met.

A few days earlier, Pope Francis met with two leading priests of the Fraternity of St. Peter, on February 4, Fr. Benoît Paul-Joseph, Superior of the District of France, and Fr. Vincent Ribeton, Rector of St. Peter’s Seminary in Wigratzbad. The Pope assured them that the decree Traditionis custodes (“Of tradition the custodians,” July 16, 2021), which places restrictions on the celebration of the old Latin Mass, does not and would not apply to the Fraternity of St. Peter, which celebrates its Masses in the old rite.

Fr. Paul-Joseph subsequently gave a February 21 interview to journalist Ann Le Pape, in which she asked, “So you were immediately reassured?”

He answered, “Yes, indeed. The Pope pointed out to us that in the motu proprio, where it speaks of the ex-Ecclesia Dei institutes, it indicates that they will henceforth be under the jurisdiction of a new dicastery, that for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, and that it was by design that we were not mentioned directly in this document, since we were going to be under a new jurisdiction. ‘You are not affected by these restrictions,’ he told us, ‘but you retain your proper right, granted at your foundation in 1988.’

These two meetings have left many observers puzzled about the precise intentions of Pope Francis with regard to the old liturgy. The articles published below are intended to provide you with some further context, but the true reason for these meetings remains for the moment unclear.

Decree of Pope Francis Confirming the Use of the 1962 Liturgical Books

The Holy Father Francis, grants to each and every member of the Society of Apostolic Life “Fraternity of Saint Peter”, founded on July 18, 1988 and declared of “Pontifical Right” by the Holy See, the faculty to celebrate the sacrifice of the Mass, and to carry out the sacraments and other sacred rites, as well as to fulfill the Divine Office, according to the typical editions of the liturgical books, namely the Missal, the Ritual, the Pontifical and the Roman Breviary, in force in the year 1962.

They may use this faculty in their own churches or oratories; otherwise it may only be used with the consent of the Ordinary of the place, except for the celebration of private Masses.

Without prejudice to what has been said above, the Holy Father suggests that, as far as possible, the provisions of the motu proprio Traditionis Custodes be taken into account as well. Given in Rome, near St. Peter’s, on February 11, 2022, the Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes.

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Pope Meets With SSPX Head

Then, on Tuesday, February 8, Pope Francis received Fr. Davide Pagliarani, elected head of SSPX in 2018, for the first time.

Previously, Bishop Fellay had met Pope Benedict XVI (August 29, 2005) and Pope Francis (April 1, 2016). Similarly, Archbishop Lefebvre had met Paul VI and John Paul II.

This visit underlines the maintenance of relations between the Holy See and the Society of Saint Pius X. Those relations have never been interrupted even if they went through a period of frost between 1988 and 2000. The Argentine pontiff has granted to the members of the Society of Saint Pius X powers to confess, to marry, to ordain, to judge in first instance, etc. An Italian priest, Fr. Pagliarani was, for six years, superior of the SSPX seminary in Argentina. Then-Cardinal Bergoglio had met confreres of Fr. Pagliarani several times in Buenos Aires.

At press time, the SSPX had not issued a full statement on the February exchange between the Pope and Fr. Pagliarani.