Pope calls on French bishops to find solution to divisive liturgy debates

Pope Leo XIV lamented the divisions surrounding the celebration of the Latin Mass and called on the French bishops’ conference to find solutions that include those attached to the old form of Mass.

In a letter sent on the pontiff’s behalf March 24 to the French bishops gathered for their spring plenary assembly, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican secretary of state, said the pope was attentive to the “delicate issue of the liturgy,” particularly regarding the growing number of communities “attached to the ‘Vetus Ordo,'” or “Old Rite.”

“It is troubling that a painful wound continues to open within the Church concerning the celebration of the Mass, the very sacrament of unity,” Cardinal Parolin wrote. “To heal it, a new way of looking at one another — marked by greater understanding of each other’s sensitivities — is certainly necessary.”

The French bishops were expected to address several prominent issues during their March 24-27 assembly, including education, clergy sexual abuse, current global conflicts and the liturgy.

Debates surrounding the celebration of the traditional Latin, or Tridentine, Mass were heightened during the pontificate of Pope Francis following the release of his 2021 “motu proprio” “Traditionis Custodes” (“Guardians of the Tradition”).

While concessions to those who preferred celebrating the old form of the Mass were granted by St. John Paul II and Pope Benedict XIV, “Traditionis Custodes” required priests to have their bishop’s permission to celebrate Mass in the “extraordinary form.”

The document drew criticism from supporters of the traditional Latin Mass, including American Cardinal Raymond Burke, who said those who celebrate the old form of the Mass were deeply disheartened” by the decree’s severity and “offended by the language it employs to describe them, their attitudes and their conduct.”

Pope Francis defended the document, saying it was meant “to stop the automatism of the ancient rite” so that “we can return to the true intentions of Benedict XVI and John Paul II.”

In a meeting with the Jesuit community during his 2021 apostolic visit to Slovakia, the late pope was critical of young priests who “after a month of ordination go to the bishop to ask” to celebrate the Latin Mass, saying that it “indicates that we are going backward.”

While the letter to the French bishops is the first time Pope Leo has specifically addressed the divisions surrounding the celebration of the liturgy, he had shown a conciliatory approach to those who celebrate the traditional Latin Mass.

In September, the International Una Voce Federation, known as FIUV, a lay federation of Catholics supportive of the traditional Roman rite, announced that Pope Leo had granted their request for Cardinal Burke to celebrate the Latin Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica for the group’s annual pilgrimage to Rome.

The group expressed its gratitude to the pope for allowing them to celebrate the old form of the Mass, “which for the last two years has been denied permission to have a Mass in St. Peter’s,” following the release of “Traditionis Custodes.”

“This celebration symbolizes the unity with the Holy Father so desired by Catholics attached to the ancient rite of Mass,” said Joseph Shaw, president of FIUV.

Pope Leo, Cardinal Parolin wrote, is hopeful that a mutual understanding will allow all Catholics, “enriched by their diversity, to welcome one another in charity and in the unity of faith.”

“May the Holy Spirit inspire you with concrete solutions enabling the generous inclusion of those sincerely attached to the Vetus Ordo, while respecting the orientations desired by the Second Vatican Council regarding the liturgy,” he wrote.

In his opening address March 24 at the plenary assembly, Cardinal Jean-Marc Aveline of Marseille, president of the French bishops’ conference, cited Cardinal Parolin’s letter and said the subject of the liturgy “was important enough” for the bishops to discuss “in connection with the work of the Consistory next June.”

“We all know how urgent it is to listen to the spiritual thirst of all the baptized, however it may be expressed, while firmly maintaining the necessary bond with the great Tradition of the Church, which unfolds in communion with all the councils, including the Second Vatican Council,” Cardinal Aveline said.

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