New York Magazine, August 15, 2021 excerpt——
Pope Francis has done a lot of things to offend so-called “traditionalist” Catholics since he assumed the Chair of St. Peter in 2013. There’s his outspoken activism on climate change and global inequality; his relative tolerance of gay and divorced Catholics formally left outside the gates of the church; and in this country particularly, his interference with efforts by conservative bishops to “discipline” President Biden for being pro-choice.
From a really well written and comprehensive article on this ——
https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2021/08/why-pope-francis-is-cracking-down-on-the-latin-mass.html
But in revoking his predecessor’s permissive rules on some Catholics’ use of the Traditional Latin Mass, which the broader church discarded in the 1960s, Francis seems to have hit a particularly sensitive nerve....
Thanks for the article. A shepherd should work to heal wounds, to spur reconciliation. It weighed on John Paul and Benedict’s heart that a number of good Catholics seemed to be outside or bordering on being outside of communion with the Supreme Pontiff. They worked to heal these wounds. Now it seems they are being reopened. With Mass attendance so low, and reduced further by COVID, why does Francis seem to be driving traditionalist Catholics out of Holy Mother Church?
Latin Mass Catholics are no threat to Novus Ordo Catholics. And they keep some parishes afloat. When I’ve attended the Latin Mass, I haven’t found a bunch of divisive, anti-Vatican II types. If they are, they keep it to themselves.
I wonder why God is permitting this chapter in the Church? The Great Apostasy? The Apocalypse? I’ve tried and continue to try to give Francis the benefit of the doubt but, the embrace of James Martin and Pelosi, the angry contempt for the Latin Mass Catholics, demotions of Burke and Sarah, horrible appointments, the weird Pachamama stuff, the Gnostic-like stuff coming from the Pontifical Academy For Life … What are we supposed to think after a while? And yet I just cannot attend Society of St. Pius V type Masses.