Cardinal Raymond Burke is encouraging Catholics devoted to the traditional Latin Mass to remain steadfast amid continuing restrictions, telling the faithful that preserving access to the ancient liturgy may require sacrifice and suffering.
In a video message recorded August 6 at the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe in La Crosse, Wisconsin, Cardinal Burke addressed Catholics who have become discouraged by limitations placed on celebrations of the traditional Roman Rite.
According to LifeSiteNews, Burke urged Catholics to “fight for it” even “at the cost of suffering,” describing the traditional liturgy as a “tremendous good in the Church” that should remain “as available as possible to all the faithful who desire it.”
His message reflects a position the cardinal has repeatedly expressed in recent months: that the traditional Latin Mass remains a profound spiritual treasure within the life of the Catholic Church.
Burke also placed his appeal within a broader call for Catholics to strengthen family life and faithfully transmit the Catholic faith to future generations.
“I want to, in a very special way at this time, to encourage a strong family life,” Burke said, according to LifeSiteNews.
The cardinal emphasized that every Catholic, whether married or unmarried, has a role in supporting families and helping them fulfill their essential mission within the Church.
“It’s the first place in which a child is introduced to the truths of the faith, to the life of prayer, and to a good and holy life,” Burke said. “So only with strong families will the church be strong, and in that way be the sign of salvation in the world.”
His remarks follow other recent statements emphasizing the sacrifices Catholics may be called to make in defending the faith.
According to LifeSiteNews, during a July homily for the Feast of St. James the Greater at the same Wisconsin shrine, Burke urged Catholics to prepare themselves for what he described as a “white martyrdom” of Christian witness.
“Let us be ready for martyrdom, if not the red martyrdom of blood, certainly the white martyrdom of faithful witness to Our Lord in the face of indifference, ridicule, and persecution,” he said.
The cardinal has applied a similar theme of perseverance to Catholics attached to the traditional Latin Mass.
In a July interview connected with the Chartres pilgrimage, Burke called the traditional liturgy “an invaluable treasure of the Church that must be preserved and cherished,” according to LifeSiteNews. He said it is “intimately linked to the very identity of the Roman Catholic Church.”
Burke also highlighted what he sees as the traditional liturgy’s ability to draw people toward the Catholic faith, particularly younger Catholics.
“It is evident that this liturgy is missionary … for it attracts through its sense of the sacred and of the transcendent,” Burke said, according to LifeSiteNews. “This is particularly evident with the younger generation.”
The cardinal has also rejected the idea that Catholics who worship according to the liturgical books in use in 1962 should be regarded as somehow less Catholic than those who ordinarily attend the newer form of the Roman Rite. According to LifeSiteNews, Burke called such a suggestion “absolutely unacceptable.”
Restrictions on the celebration of the older Roman liturgy intensified following Pope Francis’ 2021 apostolic letter Traditionis Custodes, which significantly changed the rules established under Pope Benedict XVI for celebrations using the 1962 Roman Missal.
Burke has been an outspoken critic of those restrictions.
In a June interview cited by LifeSiteNews, the cardinal referred to the situation as the “persecution of the Traditional Latin Mass” and described the older liturgy as “an eternal good in the Church, a form of the Roman Rite that was celebrated for more than 15 centuries.”
“It’s simply so beautiful and the faithful are nourished spiritually by this form of the Latin Rite,” Burke said. “This should be allowed freely.”
Despite the difficulties facing Catholics devoted to the traditional liturgy, Burke expressed confidence that it will endure.
According to LifeSiteNews, the cardinal said, “Our Lord will never permit that it be lost.”
His latest appeal therefore goes beyond a debate about liturgical preference. Burke presents the preservation of the traditional Latin Mass as part of a wider responsibility to remain faithful to Catholic doctrine, worship and family life even when that fidelity carries a personal cost.
For Catholics discouraged by continuing restrictions, his message is one of perseverance: cherish the Church’s sacred liturgical inheritance, remain faithful through suffering, and continue working so that Catholics who seek the traditional Latin Mass are able to receive its spiritual benefits.
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