The Latin Mass debate is once again stirring intense conversation within the Catholic Church, following the leak of internal Vatican documents that appear to cast doubt on the rationale Pope Francis gave for restricting the Traditional Latin Mass in 2021. According to Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni, the leaked texts are “a very partial and incomplete reconstruction of the decision-making process,” but their content is raising significant questions among both traditionalists and moderate Catholics alike.
The issue centers around a global consultation of bishops that was conducted in 2020, the results of which Pope Francis cited as a key justification for his July 2021 motu proprio, Traditionis Custodes. In that decree, Francis dramatically curtailed the freedoms granted by Pope Benedict XVI in 2007, which had allowed the pre-Vatican II liturgy to flourish more freely under Summorum Pontificum. At the time, Francis explained that the survey responses revealed “a situation that preoccupies and saddens me, and persuades me of the need to intervene” due to how the Latin Mass had allegedly been “exploited to widen the gaps, reinforce the divergences, and encourage disagreements that injure the Church” (Letter accompanying Traditionis Custodes, 2021).
Yet new excerpts, published by Vatican journalist Diane Montagna in a July 1 newsletter on Substack, appear to contradict the Pope’s interpretation of the bishops’ feedback. According to a leaked five-page “overall assessment” of the 2020 consultation—reportedly part of a much longer unpublished Vatican dossier—“the majority of bishops who responded … and who have generously and intelligently implemented the MP Summorum Pontificum, ultimately express satisfaction with it.” The report added that “making legislative changes to the MP Summorum Pontificum would cause more harm than good” (Montagna, The Tradition and the Church, July 1, 2025).
This revelation has fueled the charge that Pope Francis may have based his decision to suppress the Latin Mass on the views of a minority. Joseph Shaw, president of Una Voce International, a federation promoting the Traditional Latin Mass, stated: “The claim that a majority of bishops around the world wanted restrictions on the ancient Mass was always dubious, but this document shows for all to see that it is completely false” (Una Voce newsletter, July 2, 2025). Shaw added, “The new revelations confirm that Pope Francis restricted the Traditional Mass at the request of only a minority of bishops, and against the advice of the dicastery in charge of the subject.”
In response, Bruni told Catholic News Agency on July 3 that the Vatican documents published online “presumably concern part of one of the documents on which the decision is based,” and insisted that “other documentation, other reports, also the result of further consultations” had contributed to the final decision. Nevertheless, Bruni declined to confirm the authenticity of the leaks.
While some bishops responding to the Vatican survey expressed concerns that Summorum Pontificum had failed to foster unity, others suggested that returning to the pre-2007 requirement of diocesan permission might provide “greater control and management of the situation.” Still, the majority reportedly opposed sweeping legislative changes, fearing it would “do more harm than good,” especially among young Catholics drawn to the “sacredness, seriousness and solemnity of the liturgy” (Montagna, July 1, 2025).
The leak has further intensified hopes among traditional Catholics that Pope Leo XIV might take a different course. Pope Leo, early in his pontificate, has emphasized unity and reconciliation as central goals. Many now look to him to heal the wounds left by what they see as an unnecessarily divisive policy.
One possible step in that direction has already emerged. In late June, Fr. Ryan Rojo of the Diocese of San Angelo, Texas, publicly thanked Pope Leo and the Vatican’s liturgy office for extending permission to celebrate the Traditional Latin Mass in diocesan parishes for two more years. “Thank you Pope Leo and the Dicastery for Divine Worship,” Rojo posted on X (formerly Twitter), on June 27.
While the Holy See has not issued any new decree under Pope Leo regarding the Latin Mass, traditionalist groups are calling for a more consistent and transparent policy, one that reflects the full breadth of bishops’ opinions. “One way Leo can do so is by merely instructing the Vatican to more freely grant exemptions to bishops to allow Latin Masses to be celebrated in diocesan parishes,” Shaw suggested in an email to media outlets.
Ultimately, the core issue remains not just about liturgy, but about trust—between the hierarchy and the faithful, and among the bishops themselves. If the leaked documents are authentic, they suggest a serious disconnect between the bishops’ expressed opinions and the policy that followed. As Catholics, we owe loyalty to the magisterium, but loyalty is strengthened—not weakened—by transparency and accountability.
As this debate continues under a new pope, Catholics across the spectrum are praying that the wounds of the past will be healed, not deepened. And that decisions made in Rome will reflect not only prudence and obedience—but truth.
