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[Catholic Caucus] The Lepers: Letter from the Secretariat of State blocking entry of Traditional Pilgrims to Saint Peter’s Basilica Three weeks before the Summorum Pontificum pilgrimage, which is in its 15th year and has always ended on the last Sunday in October, Father Claude Barthe, chaplain of the pilgrimage, received the denial.Diane Montagna reports (main excerpt):A letter from the Vatican Secretariat of State to the organizers of the annual Ad Petri Sedem pilgrimage, obtained by this journalist, confirms reports that the pilgrims were barred from entering St. Peter’s Basilica in procession to pray at the tomb of the Apostle.The letter,...

[Catholic Caucus] Vatican bars Traditionalists from St. Peter’s, no prayer allowed Since 2007, grateful hearts have traveled to Rome on the anniversary of Benedict XVI's Summorum Pontificum motu proprio, which liberated the Latin rite liturgy after it was supposedly abrogated by Paul VI. Each October, faithful Catholics have participated in a pilgrimage through the streets of Rome which culminates inside St. Peter's Basilica. Even when the Mass they was denied to them, they held a prayer service over the bones of St. Peter, singing the Credo and overing thanksgiving. But this year? In an unprecedented move, and only days before...