Reflecting on Traditionis Custodes on the 50th Anniversary of the English Indult

This twelfth edition of Greogius Magnus is dominated by two contrasting, indeed dissonant, themes. One is Pope Francis’ Apostolic Letter, given Motu Proprio, Traditionis Custodes: a number of reactions to this have been included here. The other is the 50th Anniversary of the English Indult, which was signed by Pope Paul VI on 30th October 1971.

It would be useless to deny that Traditionis Custodes is a serious blow to our movement. While many bishops around the world have indicated that they will not restrict the celebration of the Traditional Mass, others have restricted it, a few even banning it altogether. Even in the more friendly dioceses, the Apostolic Letter has resulted in the creation of an additional set of bureaucratic procedures to be gone through when Traditional Masses are arranged, and indicates to priests and seminarians contemplating learning how to celebrate the Vetus Ordo that they will be departing from the officially-approved pathway by doing so, even if this is not actually forbidden.

The anniversary of the English Indult, nevertheless, must not be allowed to slip past without notice. Although it only applied to England and Wales, Pope Paul VI was responding to a truly international campaign in favour of preserving the Traditional Mass, a campaign of petitions chronicled in this edition. For reasons which remain obscure (I canvassed some possible explanations in a previous edition of Gregorius Magnus),1 Pope Paul gave his permission for the older The International Federation Una Voce (FIUV), founded in 1965, brings together associations of the lay faithful attached to the Extraordinary Form of the Roman rite (the Traditional Latin Mass).

Persecuted Catholics from England to Japan have lived their faith in secret, not for decades but for centuries, paying for their small successes, sometimes, with their lives. Our burden is a light one by comparison, and it a cause for which we suffer with joy. We have seen in many countries, now, how the ancient Mass can bring the lapsed back to the Faith and inspire conversions; how it can sustain families, and stimulate vocations; and how it can serve as the basis for the revival of local communities, whose flourishing can be seen in all sorts of good works. We are not going to give up on it now.

• In many areas the increased availability of this Mass has favoured the normalisation of relations between the faithful attached to it and their bishops, relations increasingly characterised by mutual understanding and respect.

Nevertheless, we have noticed that, contrary to the previous policy of the Holy See, there are still people within the Church, including some bishops, who would like to see the Extraordinary Form of the Roman rite explicitly suppressed, or subject to further restrictions. For this reason, the FIUV, in view of the faithful who adhere to the Latin Mass, feels the duty to express its opinion, encouraged by Pope Francis’ exhortations to the members of the Church to use parrhesia with the necessary humility.

The growth of interest in the traditional liturgy is not due to nostalgia for a time we do not remember, or a desire for rigidity: it is rather a matter of opening ourselves to the value of something that for most of us is new, and inspires hope. Pope Francis has characterised the ancient liturgy in terms of a “sense of adoration” (Press conference of 28 July 2013), we can also apply his words to it: a “living history that welcomes us and pushes us forward” (Evangelii Gaudium 13).

Today we only wish to be part of that “great orchestra” of “unity in variety” which, as Pope Francis said (General Audience of 9 October 2013), reflects the true catholicity of the Church. The Apostolic Letter Summorum Pontificum continues to transform the conflicts of the past into harmony: long may it to continue to do so.

Felipe Alanis Suarez, President www.fiuv.org

"Unity in variety" - The dictator pope is a lying hypocrite.

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