French priest proposes ordinariate for TLM Catholics as ‘constructive way’ forward for church

CHÉMERÉ-LE-ROI, France (OSV News) — As pilgrims gather in Rome for the 13th annual “Summorum Pontificum” pilgrimage for those devoted to the traditional Latin Mass Oct. 25-27, traditionalist Catholics in France are discerning a new idea: a personal ordinariate for Catholics devoted to the older Roman liturgical and sacramental forms that could give them pastoral stability and a bishop who could speak for them and be directly responsive to the Holy Father.

The name of the pilgrimage is the same as Pope Benedict XVI’s 2007 apostolic letter, which made it possible for almost any priest of the Roman rite to celebrate the Mass according to the 1962 Roman Missal, commonly referred to as the traditional Latin Mass.

With his motu proprio “Traditionis Custodes,” however, Pope Francis reversed key points of Pope Benedict’s document and on July 16, 2021, imposed severe restrictions to celebrating the traditional Latin Mass.

French Dominican Father Louis-Marie de Blignières first proposed the idea of the “traditional ordinariate” in September 2023, but continues to develop it today. Age 75, he is the founder and former prior of the Dominican-inspired Fraternity of St. Vincent Ferrer, whose priests celebrate the older form of Roman liturgy. His convent is located in the picturesque village of Chémeré-le-Roi, south of Normandy.

For Father de Blignières, the situation is “very complicated” in France today for those Catholics attached to the old Roman rite used by the Latin Church prior to the Second Vatican Council, commonly referred to as traditionalist Catholics.

“Everything has hardened since the publication of the motu proprio ‘Traditionis Custodes’ in July 2021,” he told OSV News. “The possibilities for celebrating Masses and sacraments in the ancient liturgy have been severely restricted by this text from Pope Francis.”

A face of traditionalist Catholicism in France, Father de Blignières stressed that “the bishops in France are endeavoring to follow the instructions received from Rome” and “places of worship have been closed.”

“The celebration of confirmations and marriages is giving rise to tense negotiations, even arm wrestling,” he said. “Many bishops are annoyed, and the faithful are exasperated.”

Father de Blignières said that “there are misunderstandings on both sides.” On one hand, the bishops “find it hard to understand our attachment to the traditional rite.” For their part — Catholics attached to the old form of the Roman rite — “without idealizing the past, we find in it liturgical riches that we hold dear and that are our charisma. One point of friction concerns concelebration with the bishop at the chrism Mass during Holy Week, which we do not want to take part in. We think it is better for each priest to celebrate Mass personally. That is a point of difference.”

He pointed out however that this “does not imply any disloyalty on our part to the hierarchy, nor any disparaging judgment on the priests who concelebrate.”

Father de Blignières insisted: “We recognize the validity of Masses celebrated according to the Missal of Paul VI, and we acknowledge that Vatican Council II — even if it contains ambiguous passages that need to be clarified — is substantially in continuity with the tradition of the church’s teaching. This clearly distinguishes us from those who followed Archbishop Lefebvre in the schism of 1988. This is why we are surprised and hurt by the severity with which the Vatican authorities have treated us.”

Father de Blignières recalled how St. John Paul II had issued the motu proprio “Ecclesia Dei” in 1988, when French Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre had consecrated bishops without the pope’s approval and against his advice. At the time, the pontiff set up the “Ecclesia Dei” commission, to facilitate matters for communities attached to the old Roman rite.

“The church welcomed us as we were, without obliging us to celebrate according to the new rite,” Father de Blignières said. “And the motu proprio ‘Ecclesia Dei’ asked bishops to grant ‘broad and generous’ permission to practice the pre-conciliar liturgy.”

In 2007, when Pope Benedict’s motu proprio broadened the use of the rite, “it was a period of appeasement, a blessed time,” Father de Blignières commented.

But in 2021, “Traditionis Custodes” strongly insisted that the liturgy resulting from Vatican II is the “unique expression” of the Latin Church’s Roman rite. What is now the Dicastery for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments specified that the old rite was “abrogated” and could only be used in exceptional circumstances.

“Since then, there have been constant fears of a further narrowing of the possibilities for celebrating the traditional Mass,” Father de Blignières said. “The faithful are worried whenever rumors of this kind circulate.”

That’s why, since September 2023, Father de Blignières has been inviting people to reflect on the idea of a personal ordinariate that would offer a stable and peaceful framework for those attached to the old Roman rite. He developed this idea in the magazine “Sedes Sapientiae,” or “Seat of Wisdom,” published by the Fraternity of St. Vincent Ferrer.

“This only concerns France,” he emphasized. “In every country, the situation is different.”

“Such ordinariates already exist elsewhere,” Father de Blignières pointed out. He referred to the personal apostolic administration set up in Brazil in 2002, for the Priestly Union of St. John Mary Vianney, which previously was linked to Archbishop Lefebvre but had moved closer to the Holy See.

In 2011 and 2012, three personal ordinariates were created by Pope Benedict, under his 2009 apostolic constitution “Anglicanorum Coetibus,” to be effectively Catholic dioceses with Anglican traditions, led by their own ordinaries, in order to allow Anglicans wishing to join the Catholic Church keep their own distinctive traditions, including approved liturgical forms, and to use them to evangelize as full Catholics.

These personal ordinariates’ bishops are directly responsible to the pope through the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, and oversee their local churches similar to territorial diocesan bishops, regulating the liturgy and clergy, while attending to the particular pastoral needs of their flock. They also work cooperatively with diocesan bishops and are full members of the nation’s episcopal conference.

For Father de Blignières, a “traditional ordinariate” in France, with a bishop as leader, would enable the faithful to receive all the sacraments in the ancient rite, and to benefit from the related “traditional pedagogies of the faith” — spirituality, discipline, catechism and other teachings.

“It would be a complementary hierarchical structure that would not cut the faithful off from the diocese on which they depend locally,” he insisted. “It would be comparable to the Diocese of the Armed Forces in France, which is a military ordinariate. A soldier can ask to marry within this framework, but he remains dependent on the bishop of the place where he lives.”

In June 2024, Father de Blignières responded in the same magazine to fears that such an ordinariate “would lock traditionalists” into a kind of “ghetto.”

“These fears are unfounded,” he said. “On the contrary, it would create a more favorable climate for traditional liturgy. It could even facilitate more lenient legal measures on the part of ecclesiastical authorities.”

“The bishop who would head it would relieve the bishops of France of concern for these traditional-rite communities,” Father de Blignières added. “And as a member of the bishops’ conference, he would better understand their points of view. In a pragmatic way, both sides could better join forces for evangelization and mission,” he said.

“The possibility of this proposal leading to concrete results, in the short or medium term, is modest,” Father de Blignières concluded. “But it may give rise to other ideas, more judicious, or more practical. The important thing is to respectfully propose something positive, rather than complain or recriminate. We have to move forward in a constructive way.”

Read More Worship & Sacraments

Observation of holy day of obligation for Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception moved to Dec. 9 this year 

Question Corner: Is Dec. 9 a holy day of obligation this year?

An unfailing treasure 60 years later: ‘Lumen Gentium’ and the universal call to holiness

Traditional Latin Mass will no longer be celebrated at cathedral in Tyler, Texas

Pope: Make sure confirmation is not last time parish sees young people

Sacred Heart encyclical hailed as a ‘simple and powerful cure’ to rekindle love

Copyright © 2024 OSV News

 Print