Several Catholic leaders are urging renewed consideration of access to the Traditional Latin Mass following the Society of Saint Pius X’s recent episcopal consecrations without a papal mandate, according to reporting by LifeSiteNews.
While each of the bishops and cardinals reaffirmed the importance of communion with the Holy See and criticized the Society’s actions, they also distinguished those events from the spiritual needs of Catholics who remain devoted to the Church’s traditional liturgy.
Archbishop Georg Gänswein, the former personal secretary to Pope Benedict XVI and now Apostolic Nuncio to the Baltic States, told the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera that the Vatican should respond with greater pastoral generosity toward Catholics attached to the Traditional Latin Mass.
According to LifeSiteNews, Gänswein condemned the July 1 episcopal consecrations carried out by the Society of Saint Pius X and lamented that the group did not fully embrace Pope Benedict XVI’s efforts toward reconciliation following the lifting of the 1988 excommunications in 2009.
At the same time, he emphasized that many Catholics who worship according to the older Roman Rite remain fully united with the Church.
“There are faithful in the Church who celebrate using the (traditional) Latin rite—for example, the Fraternity of St. Peter (FSSP)—and they do so ‘cum Petro and sub Petro’: never against the pope,” Gänswein said. “Frankly speaking, I believe that Rome can now open up to the possibility of being more flexible, generous, and fatherly regarding the option of celebrating Mass in Latin.”
Gänswein also praised the fruits of Pope Benedict XVI’s 2007 motu proprio Summorum Pontificum, which greatly expanded access to the Traditional Latin Mass before being substantially restricted by Pope Francis through Traditionis Custodes in 2021.
According to LifeSiteNews, Gänswein said, “Summorum Pontificum had borne fruit, as demonstrated by ten years of positive experiences. There had been abuses, it’s true, but … the fact that there were a few was not a good reason to prohibit the Tridentine Mass for everyone.”
He added that if Traditionis Custodes were eventually revoked, “that liturgical peace, which has been damaged, would be restored.”
Cardinal Kurt Koch, prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity, also suggested that the Church should reconsider how it approaches Catholics devoted to the older liturgy.
Speaking during a podcast for the German edition of the Catholic journal Communio, as translated by Rorate Caeli and reported by LifeSiteNews, Koch warned against treating every supporter of the Traditional Latin Mass as though they shared the positions of the Society of Saint Pius X.
“I think we need to rethink this, especially for those faithful who feel drawn to this form of liturgy without sharing the entire ideological superstructure of the Society,” Koch said. “For these faithful, I think we must look for new ways.”
According to the report, Koch also reflected on Pope Benedict XVI’s efforts to foster unity between the ordinary and extraordinary forms of the Roman Rite, saying that Pope Francis had “curbed it somewhat radically.”
In Norway, Bishop Fredrik Hansen of Oslo similarly condemned the Society’s consecrations while assuring Catholics that the Traditional Latin Mass would remain available within his diocese.
In a diocesan statement cited by LifeSiteNews, Hansen encouraged Catholics to remain united with the Church’s hierarchy.
“As your shepherd, I therefore offer you an exhortation and some words about the future,” he wrote. “The exhortation is simple: Hold fast to unity with Our Holy Father, the Bishop of Rome, and with me as Bishop of Oslo.”
The bishop also indicated he would consider expanding access to the 1962 Missal if pastoral needs warrant it.
“Masses according to the 1962 Missal are celebrated every Sunday at St. Joseph Church in Oslo. This will continue,” Hansen wrote. “If there is a need for it and it will be for the good of the Church and of souls, I will also expand this type of Mass celebration in our local church.”
The statements from Archbishop Gänswein, Cardinal Koch, and Bishop Hansen come as discussion continues within the Church over the pastoral care of Catholics devoted to the Traditional Latin Mass while maintaining full communion with the Holy See.
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