World News

Paul Waddington reports from around the Globe

In recent months, there have not been many reports of bishops applying further restrictions on provision of the Latin Mass in their dioceses. Indeed, there have been a few cases where bishops have relaxed earlier restrictions. Commentators have generally suggested that, despite cancellations that have severely affected some places, on balance worldwide Latin Mass provision has remained at roughly the same level as prior to Traditionis Custodes.

A small number of bishops have taken a hard line, sometimes cancelling existing Masses, but this has been offset by other bishops who have allowed new Masses to be introduced. For the vast majority of bishops, it is business as usual, allowing existing Masses to continue, while being reticent about introducing new locations.

The impression is that interest in the Latin Mass continues to grow, especially amongst young people, in all parts of the world where it has a foothold. The result being that, whilst the number of locations where the Latin Mass is offered has remained roughly the same, the size of individual congregations has tended to grow. Although there are many places where supporters of the Latin Mass have been deprived of their local opportunity to attend the Mass of their choice, it seems that at least some of them are now travelling across diocesan boundaries for their Sunday Mass.

All the traditional orders of priests have healthy numbers of seminarians, and high levels of enquiries from prospective candidates, which bodes well for the future. This contrasts with the dwindling numbers of young men joining diocesan seminaries in most countries outside Africa and Asia. The inevitable consequence of these trends is that in the long run, certainly in Europe and North America, the proportion of priests favouring or sympathetic to the Latin Mass is going to increase in the coming decades. This is a trend that cannot be ignored, and will surely result in the Latin Mass being more widely available.

The Application of Traditionis Custodes to Ecclesia Dei Communities

One very significant news item has emerged recently. On Friday, 4 February, two members of the Priestly Fraternity of St Peter, Fr Benoît Paul-Joseph, superior of the District of France, and Fr Vincent Ribeton, rector of St Peter’s Seminary in Wigratzbad, were received in private audience by the Holy Father. In the course of the audience, the Pope made it clear that institutes such as the Fraternity of St Peter are not affected by the general provisions of Traditionis Custodes, because the use of the ancient liturgical books was at the origin of their existence and is provided for in their constitutions.

At the request of the two FSSP priests, the Holy Father subsequently issued a decree which he signed on 11 February, (incidentally the day the Fraternity was solemnly consecrated to the Immaculate Heart of Mary) confirming that members of the Fraternity have the right to use the liturgical books in force in 1962, namely: the Missal, the Ritual, the Pontifical and the Roman Breviary. Here is the text of the decree.

‘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 fulfil 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 11th February, the Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes, in the year 2022, the ninth year of my Pontificate.’

Although the decree only refers to the Priestly Fraternity of St Peter, canonists from around the world have opined that it can reasonably be taken to apply to all the societies and institutes that formerly came under the Ecclesia Dei Commission. Indeed, the two priests have said that the Pope made this clear at the audience.

Rosary Gatherings in Chicago

Protesters at Chicago Rosary Gathering

Traditionis Custodes has been applied in a particularly harsh way in the Archdiocese of Chicago, where Archbishop Cupich has banned all celebrations of the Traditional Mass on all first Sundays of the month. In response, supporters of the Latin Mass have been gathering outside the cathedral at 11am on first Sundays to recite the Rosary and sing hymns. Many carried banners with the words: “Cardinal Cupich, why are you persecuting faithful Catholics?”

At the March gathering, cathedral officials asked several participants to remove themselves from the cathedral steps, where they were sheltering from the bitter coldness, but otherwise, the gatherings have produced no reaction from the authorities. The protesters had brought with them a life size statue of Our Lady of Fatima, and hymn tunes were played on bagpipes by a couple of young men.

Meeting with Nuncio in Paris

Since the publication of Traditionis Custodes last July, traditional Catholics have been gathering outside the Apostolic Nunciature in Paris on Saturday mornings to demonstrate their support for the Traditional Latin Mass. In early April, two representatives were received by Mgr Better, the Apostolic Nuncio in a 45-minute meeting that was described as fraternal.

According to a statement issued by the representatives after the meeting, the nuncio asserted that any concessions granted to continue Latin Masses had only been granted as a “temporary tolerance to the faithful tied to this liturgy in order to gradually lead them to the Reformed liturgy”, and “that the only lex orandi would be none other than that of the new liturgy”.

On the other hand, the representatives emphasised the strong attachment of many Catholics to the older liturgy and their determination to defend the Latin Mass and traditional sacraments within parishes and dioceses. They would “not allow themselves to be reduced to a marginal ghetto, to whom only some sacramental rights would be granted”.

La Voie Romaine

At the beginning of March, 45 women set off on a 1000 km walk from Paris to Rome. They were all the mothers of priests, and the purpose of their long pilgrimage, dubbed La Voie Romaine, was to draw attention to the restrictions placed on their sons, and the wider Church, by Pope Francis’ motu proprio, Traditionis Custodes. The mothers had with them 200 letters of support, a number that has steadily increased as the pilgrimage has progressed.

The mothers, who have been visiting monasteries and cathedrals on the way, were recently at the Benedictine Abbey of Sainte Madeleine at Le Barroux, and at the time of writing were in the southwest of France approaching the Italian border. They are expecting to arrive in Rome by the end of April, and intend to seek an audience with the Pope, where they will beg him to review the restrictions on the Latin Mass.

Church of St Anne, Belmont, Australia

Until the outbreak of Covid, a familiar figure on the Latin Mass Society’s walking pilgrimages to Walsingham was Fr Michael Rowe. He is a priest of the Australian Archdiocese of Perth and takes part in many walking pilgrimages around the world. Since 2008, Fr Rowe has been the pastor of the quasi parish of St Anne in Belmont, where he has served a Latin Mass Community. In 2018, the Archdiocese decided to merge the parish of St Anne in Belmont with two other parishes, although Fr Rowe remained there and has continued to offer the Latin Mass for the vibrant Latin Mass community. Subsequently, it has emerged that the Archdiocese intends to close St Anne’s Church and either sell the property or use it for another purpose, leaving the Latin Mass Community without a home.

Fr Rowe and the Latin Mass Community that he serves have protested at their treatment and have taken the matter through the juridical processes of the Church, but without success. Now Fr Rowe intends to seek redress through the civil courts and is appealing for funds to pay for the legal costs.

Sister Adorers Welcome Five Postulants

In January, the Sister Adorers of the Royal Heart of Jesus, the female branch of the Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest had the joy of welcoming five new postulants to their Noviciate in Naples. The new recruits, who hail from the United States, Mexico, Venezuela, Spain, and Germany, received the blue cape from the hands of the Prior General, Monsignor Gilles Wach on the feast of the Holy Innocents.

Founded about twenty years ago, to work alongside the priests of the Institute, the sisters have grown in number very rapidly, and now number more than sixty. They are described as non-cloistered contemplatives, and their work includes teaching, vestment making and acting as sacristans. Above all, they are noted for their singing at the churches served by the priests of the Institute. They have two convents in Italy and one in each of Switzerland, Germany, England, Ireland and the United States.