Posted on 05/22/2023 7:21:54 PM PDT by ebb tide
Since Pope Benedict XVI issued Summorum Pontificum in 2007, liberalising celebration of the Traditional Latin Mass, the older form of the Mass has made a significant comeback. Formalised at the Council of Trent in 1570, the Traditional Latin Mass was the dominant liturgy of the Catholic Church until 1970. For centuries, it has been revered for its beauty and holiness by great saints, writers and artists alike. Now, communities attached to the Latin Mass form a small but growing part of the Church, attracting converts, young families and many young Catholics.
With Summorum, Benedict envisioned the Latin Mass coexisting peacefully besides the celebration of the Novus Ordo. He “wanted the ancient use of the Mass to become a normal occurrence in the liturgical life of the Church so that all of Christ’s faithful – young and old – can become familiar with the older rites and draw from their tangible beauty and transcendence.”
In the years after Summorum, Benedict’s vision was increasingly realised throughout the world. Nowhere was the peaceful coexistence, and mutual enrichment, fostered by the two forms more evident than in two American dioceses—Washington, D.C. and Arlington, Virginia, separated by the Potomac River. Between just these two dioceses, the Traditional Latin Mass was celebrated at thirty locations. At a time of declining Mass attendance, scandals in the Church and a global pandemic, these Masses were a source of light and joy during a chaotic time. They attracted growing, joyful groups of large families, young people, older Catholics, and many converts (including myself and my wife).
(The Latin Mass being celebrated at St. Rita of Cascia in Alexandria, VA, a parish church of the diocese)
Then, in July 2021, Pope Francis made a shocking decision. In a document entitled Traditionis Custodes, the “Pope of Mercy” decreed harsh restrictions on the celebration of the Traditional Latin Mass. No longer could the Traditional Latin Mass be celebrated in parish churches, and all priests would have to specially apply for permission to say the Traditional Latin Mass.
In the months after Traditionis Custodes was issued, many priests and families personally pleaded with Cardinal Gregory of the Archdiocese of Washington, D.C. and Bishop Burbidge of the Diocese of Arlington not to restrict the Traditional Latin Mass. Parishioners warned of dire spiritual and financial consequences and destruction of parish communities. I authored an open letter that received over 2500 signatures from Catholics in Arlington Diocese.
Little did we know that, behind the scenes, Rome was applying extraordinary pressure to force reluctant bishops to cancel Traditional Latin Masses. This campaign was directed by Cardinal Arthur Roche, prefect of the Dicastery of Divine Worship. As Bishop of Leeds, Roche had sought to resist Summorum Pontificum and limit celebration of the Latin Mass, drawing multiple rebukes from the Vatican. In December 2021, as prefect of the Dicastery, Roche issued responsa ad dubia that purported to ban weddings, baptisms and confirmations in the Old Rite.
Then, in February 2023, after encountering resistance from bishops who did not want to disrupt thriving Latin Mass communities, Roche had Pope Francis approve a Rescript affirming his own dubia responses. In seeming contradiction to Traditionis’s own command that “[i]t belongs to the diocesan bishop, as moderator, promoter, and guardian of the whole liturgical life of the particular Church entrusted to him, to regulate the liturgical celebrations of his diocese,” the Rescript said that bishops could no longer dispense from the requirement that the Traditional Latin Mass not be celebrated in parish churches.
In Washington, D.C. and Arlington, Roche’s pressure on our bishops succeeded. In July 2022, both Cardinal Gregory and Bishop Burbidge issued exceptionally harsh decrees restricting the number of Traditional Latin Masses from 30 to 11 and moving most of those 11 to offsite locations such as small chapels, school gymnasiums and parish halls.
(The Latin Mass being celebrated at the Renaissance Montessori School in Nokesville, VA, a non-parish location to which the Latin Mass community of Holy Trinity in Gainesville, VA was moved)
In the face of these restrictions, the laity of Washington, D.C. and Arlington have been galvanised into action. Parishioners contributed time, money and hard work to make the new Mass spaces beautiful. As part of the restrictions, parish bulletins could no longer be used to announce the times of Latin Masses—an unpastoral measure seemingly calculated to cause confusion. In response, we formed the Arlington Latin Mass Society and created a website that lists all Latin Masses from Washington, D.C., Arlington and neighbouring dioceses.
We organised weekly Rosary Rallies in front of the Papal Nunciature in Washington, D.C. to demonstrate our continuing commitment and devotion to the Latin Mass, and pray for its restoration throughout the Church. These Rosary Rallies have powerfully raised awareness and built community.
We organised two highly successful National Summorum Pontificum pilgrimages, in which hundreds of local Catholics prayerfully processed from the main cathedral of the Diocese of Arlington to the main cathedral of the Archdiocese of Washington, D.C. a two hour walk. We carried beautiful Catholic banners, flags, and processional crosses, chanted the rosary, and sang Marian hymns. The Arlington Latin Mass Society has set up a Speakers Series, hosting prominent Catholic speakers from across the country to speak on matters pertaining to the liturgy and the faith. In February of this year, the Arlington Latin Mass Society was granted official non-profit status.
With Pope Francis’s approval of the Rescript, more Latin Mass restrictions are coming globally. Now, each bishop must apply directly to Cardinal Roche to continue offering Latin Mass in parish churches. As a condition of allowing the Latin Mass to continue in parish churches, Cardinal Roche has been insisting on limiting the overall number of Latin Mass locations in each diocese. This means that many more diocesan Latin Masses will be cancelled or moved out of parish church locations.
Lay associations of the faithful set up to support the Traditional Latin Mass, such as the Latin Mass Society of England & Wales, the Arlington Latin Mass Society, the Oakland County Latin Mass Association, and the Society of St. Hugh of Cluny, can play a key role in mitigating the harsh impact of these restrictions—by furnishing and maintaining appropriate spaces for celebration of the Traditional Latin Mass, by supporting priests and laity attached to the usus antiquor, by listing Mass times, and by hosting rosaries, pilgrimages, and prayer vigils.
“The spirit of Vatican II” and opposition to “clericalism” are often invoked to justify Latin Mass restrictions. But ironically, Latin Mass restrictions—imposed in a top-down, clericalist manner from Rome—are advancing a key goal of Vatican II: empowering and activating the laity to serve as a source of positive change within the Church.
Noah Peters is an Attorney and President of the Arlington Latin Mass Society.
(Main photo: Latin Mass in the parish church of St. John the Beloved in McLean, VA)
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