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Posted on 08/03/2026 1:17:08 PM PDT by ebb tide
Cardinal Robert Sarah has said that divisions over the liturgy are “a true and proper sin” and called for co-existence of the Novus Ordo and the Traditional Latin Mass (TLM).
In an interview with Matteo Matzuzzi, editor-in-chief of Il Foglio, Sarah said that the Catholic Church in the West is going through “a time of great difficulty, even of confusion” and called for a liturgical peace like the one achieved under Pope Benedict XVI.
The former prefect of the Dicastery for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments said the greatest challenge in the West is confusion in doctrine, discipline, and morals.
“Certainly the Church, at least in the West, is in a time of great difficulty, even of confusion, both at the doctrinal level and at the moral and disciplinary level,” the African cardinal said. “The interweaving of culture and faith has never been irrelevant; on the contrary, it often conditions the transmission of the faith in a decisive way.”
He argued that the cultural assumptions which previously sustained Christianity in the West were no longer present. He said: “I think it is beyond doubt that one can no longer entrust the transmission of the faith to culture; rather, it can be handed on to the new generations only through significant experiences and testimonies that place at the center prayer, silence, the well-celebrated liturgy, a fundamental fidelity to the Gospel and therefore a renewed humanity, a more human way of living relationships.”
Sarah said the liturgical divisions over the TLM and the Novus Ordo are damaging the Church’s unity.
“It is a drama, indeed a true and proper sin, that on an essential theme such as the liturgy there should be a kind of war,” His Eminence stated. “The liturgy is the source of the Church’s communion, and it is unthinkable that on liturgical themes—indeed I would say ritual ones—there should be such opposition and such fierce confrontations.”
Sarah argued that the Church’s rites belong to Sacred Tradition and can therefore not be abolished.
READ: Bishop attacks Latin Mass, says ‘only’ Novus Ordo is compatible with Synodal Church
“No one has authority over the rites, which are born from the centuries-old history of the Church,” he stated. “The rites cannot be arbitrarily abolished, and no one can say that a rite no longer exists, from one day to the next.”
He called for a return to Pope Benedict XVI’s “balanced, pastoral and theologically well-founded position,” where both forms of the Roman Rite could coexist.
“I think the subject must be taken into serious consideration, recovering the balanced, pastoral and theologically well-founded position of Benedict XVI, who allowed both forms of the Latin rite to live, to enrich each other, and to be known by the holy people of God. Over the decades, they will be able to choose which form best corresponds to their need for faith, silence and spirituality,” Sarah said.
“Some excesses on the part of those attached to the extraordinary form are, in part, justified by the dramatic and widespread abuses of the liturgy of the ordinary form which, to this day, is often not celebrated as the Council would have wished and as the liturgical reform itself suggests,” the cardinal noted.
The prefect-emeritus of the Dicastery for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments also warned churchmen about seeking the approval of the world instead of preaching the gospel.
“On the one hand, as I was saying, the dominant culture has permeated even ecclesial environments, and even preachers are not immune to this influence. On the other hand, there can be the temptation of having to please the audience at all costs, of being acceptable to the listeners, and therefore of yielding to those topics that pay off because they are more fashionable.”
“The consequence is a banal preaching, completely irrelevant, that does not meet the deep desires of man,” he stated. “Man, even contemporary man, has an absolute need of God, of hearing about the Gospel, about eternal life, about spirituality. It is never legitimate to reduce the Gospel to social and horizontal themes, however relevant they may be.”
When asked how these current challenges should be addressed, the cardinal answered: “In part I have already answered. The key is liturgical formation, formation, and again formation. Of bishops, of priests, and of the laity.”
He emphasized that the Church is indefectible and that the challenges she is facing right now will be overcome, since the Church “over the centuries has gone through many storms, but we must never forget that she is divine, and therefore will never fail. Yes, the Church will always be a beacon, because she is the Mystical Body of Christ, and Christ is the Light.”
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Ping
“Yes, the Church will always be a beacon, because she is the Mystical Body of Christ, and Christ is the Light.” Thanks Ebb.
Is he not waist-deep in it?
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