[Catholic Caucus] Latin Mass Persecutor Viola Named to Saint Peter’s - And What Happens Now in Divine Worship

Rorate Caeli ^ | October 10, 2026 | New Catholic

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[Catholic Caucus] Latin Mass Persecutor Viola Named to Saint Peter’s - And What Happens Now in Divine Worship

Liturgical shake-up today at the Vatican:

Appointment of vicar general of His Holiness for Vatican City, archpriest of the Papal Basilica of Saint Peter in the Vatican and president of the Fabric of Saint Peter

The Holy Father has appointed Archbishop Vittorio Francesco Viola, O.F.M., hitherto secretary of the Dicastery for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, as vicar general of His Holiness for Vatican City, archpriest of the Papal Basilica of Saint Peter in the Vatican and president of the Fabric of Saint Peter.

 

Appointment of secretary of the Dicastery for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments

The Holy Father has appointed Monsignor Aurelio García Marcías, under-secretary of the Dicastery for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, as secretary of the same Dicastery. [Source: Bollettino della Santa Sede]

This… is not great news. For years, Viola has been identified  as the éminence grise (no pun intended) behind Cardinal Roche’s maneuvers against the Traditional Latin Rite. Now, he is elevated to a central position in the Vatican, and as a probable future Cardinal.

Some want to say this is better than having him as Roche’s replacement. But it is still bad news. Let’s face it: it’s bad news.

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The other news is not necessarily bad.

Spanish Bishop Macías (not Marcías, as the Bollettino wrongly published) is his replacement, and another son of the Anselmianum liturgical line. (He holds a doctorate in liturgy from Saint Anselm in Rome.) Does this mean he is against the Old Rite? Not necessarily.

Macías served as diocesan liturgy delegate from 1997 and as seminary rector in his native Valladolid, and  it was Pope Benedict XVI (always a good sign) who made him a consultor of Divine Worship in 2010. He joined the dicastery under Cardinal Sarah (also a good sign) in 2015. Pope Francis named him undersecretary in 2021. 

Marcía's dissertation, completed in 2005, is titled "Κατ' ἐκκλησίαν πρεσβύτεροι" (Act 14,23): the theology of the presbyter in the Byzantine-Greek Χειροτονία πρεσβυτέρου and the Prex ordinationis presbyterorum of the Roman rite. It was published in 2011 by Vincential publishing house CLV as a volume of the Pontifical Liturgical Institute’s series. It is not a polemical work and says nothing on current disputes.

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TOPICS: Catholic; Current Events; Theology; Worship
KEYWORDS: dictatorpopes; stpeters; tlm

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Ping

[rarestia]

I talked to my pastor about this turning away from the Latin Rite. He explained that the Latin Rite is one where the priest faces away from the parish throughout the mass paying homage to the font of Christ at the head of the church as a member of Christ’s flock. The traditional modern mass is one where the priest faces the parish as the celebrant, a sort of shepherd for the flock.

Rome’s desire is to transform the mass away from Christo-centric celebration to one where the presbyter is takes the form of the celebrant. I’m torn on the two given that I grew up in the modern church, but I don’t care for forcing parishes away from the Latin Rite. That should be a decision for the parish, IMO.

[Rockingham]

I grew up with the Latin Rite mass. The theological distinctions matter, but the practical one is that the Latin mass is structured and dignified. It also roots Catholic liturgy and prayer to the classic forms of Latin and the ancient origins of Christianity.

A Latin version of an LGBTQ folk mass with the congregation warbling out Dylan's "Blowing in the Wind" would be an impossibility. And that is what the modernists and their Leftist pals cannot stand, that the Latin mass offers no room for innovations that supposedly aim to appeal to marginalized people.

In truth, the Latin mass is not an impediment to such efforts. That requires simply talking to the marginalized and to outcasts with the kindness and charity that Christ offered. What the Latin mass inhibits is the Church, Catholic doctrine, and the Catholic faithful from "blowing in the wind" according to contemporary fashion and Leftist ideology.