The press is obviously enjoying this and trying to focus on conflicts on the mistaken impression that Pope Francis is a liberal. He’s not; his liturgical style is different from Benedict’s, but otherwise his message is exactly the same. He just has a different way of communicating it.
That said, some of the self-proclaimed “traditionalists” (who weren’t happy with Benedict, either, because he didn’t go far enough, in their opinion) are just plain ugly and are revealing themselves to be people who don’t care at all about Our Lord or the Faith, but only about ritual practices and appearances. They have a narrow, hostile view of the world, and are the very embodiment of the modern Pharisee. I have been disgusted at some of the things I have read on “traditionalist” blogs.
And believe me, the press is loving it.
I think Pope Francis is wonderful; he’s not particularly interested in liturgy, but so what? I was in Rome for Palm Sunday and I actually saw him celebrate Mass in St Peter’s Square. He does it very correctly and you can tell he loves God and wants everybody else to love Him too. His homily was wonderful and then after the Mass he was driven around the square, getting out to walk every so often, and you could really sense the love and joy.
The other thing, of course, was that by the end of his time, poor Pope Benedict was so worn out and frail after years of dealing with the hostility of the world and even people inside the Church that he wasn’t even capable physically of doing the kind of things Pope Francis is doing. I think some of the traditionalists had gotten used to having a Pope who wasn’t going to challenge their view of the world. Francis is challenging them to get back to the basics of Faith and evangelization, and they don’t like it one bit. None of us like to have our assumptions challenged. But in reading the blogs, I have seen a lot of people who are actually hearing this as a kind of wake up call and are reexamining their own priorities and hearing the message in a whole new way. Which is exactly what Pope Francis wants...
I think some of the traditionalists had gotten used to having a Pope who wasn’t going to challenge their view of the world. Francis is challenging them to get back to the basics of Faith and evangelization, and they don’t like it one bit. None of us like to have our assumptions challenged.
You seem to posit the pope's challenge versus tradition, and I can't imagine what that means. How is the Gospel message and evangelizing somehow anti-tradition? Traditional liturgy is every bit as much a part of "the basics of Faith" as any other actions are. I don't think traditionalists are upset at having such assumptions challenged, since they don't reject such things in the first place, but rather are likely just nervous given the conditions which they have existed under for many years.
We really must try to at least consider how life has been for these people and why they feel as they do now. Charity compels us in this. We must consider that the Mass they love was the Mass of the Church and the saints for hundreds and hundreds of years, and much of it for even longer. It is not an evil thing, but a beautiful one. And yet they saw it suppressed for decades by unsympathetic bishops and cardinals without any real explanation or regard for the history of the Mass itself. And then, after all those years, they were allowed to celebrate it again, but often hundreds of miles from their homes and only once or twice a month. And now, after inching ahead under the last pope they see a pope elected from among that hostile unsympathetic group of cardinals. Can you really blame them for being jumpy? I don't. I understand very well why they are watching every move of the pope and looking for hints about what is coming. His actions likely don't bode anything in regard to how you worship, but they might in the case of people like traditionalists. Their situation is very different from mine and likely yours, and we all do well to remember that.
I like your comment, here. I go to a traditional church that practises the Novus Ordo as well as the Tidentine Latin form and I regularly go to the Latin Mass. Having the Latin Mass is wonderful and comforting, but going to the Latin Mass doesn’t make us “more Catholic” than any other Catholic person or Catholic parish. I love my parish. We have very holy Priests, but some parishioners have said to me “we don’t want to be welcoming”. Yes, we don’t welcome gay marriage, but we should welcome the stranger and the troubled.