Organizers of an international pilgrimage devoted to the Church’s traditional Roman liturgy are still awaiting word on whether Pope Leo XIV will meet with participants when they gather in Rome next month.
The annual Summorum Pontificum pilgrimage is scheduled for Oct. 23–25 in Rome, bringing together Catholics from around the world who are attached to the Traditional Latin Mass and the Church’s liturgical heritage.
According to LifeSiteNews, organizers requested a private audience with Pope Leo in a letter delivered to him by Bishop Athanasius Schneider at the Vatican in December 2025. The request was made roughly nine months ago, but organizers say they have not yet received a response concerning the proposed papal meeting.
The request is particularly noteworthy in light of comments Pope Leo made about Catholics devoted to the older Roman rite during his 2025 interviews with Vatican journalist Elise Ann Allen.
Speaking about liturgical questions, Pope Leo said he had not yet had an opportunity “to really sit down with a group of people who are advocating for the Tridentine rite,” according to Crux. He added, “There’s an opportunity coming up soon, and I’m sure there will be occasions for that.”
The Pope also suggested such conversations could take place within the Church’s broader emphasis on dialogue.
“That is an issue that I think also, maybe with synodality, we have to sit down and talk about,” Pope Leo said.
Those remarks fit within Leo’s broader description of synodality as involving listening, encounter and the participation of Catholics throughout the Church. In the same series of interviews, the Pope described synodality as “an attitude, an openness, a willingness to understand.”
The pilgrimage organizers had also sought permission for Bishop Schneider to celebrate a traditional Pontifical Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica.
According to LifeSiteNews, a source close to the pilgrimage said organizers initially received no response concerning either the Mass or the requested papal audience.
“After we renewed the request, we received a negative reply from the administrative offices of St. Peter’s Basilica, but only regarding permission for the Mass,” the source told LifeSiteNews.
Organizers subsequently submitted another request and copied the Vatican Secretariat of State. According to the source, they received confirmation that permission for the Mass in St. Peter’s had been denied “for this year.”
“As for the audience, however, we have received no response whatsoever,” the source said.
The Pontifical Mass is instead scheduled to be celebrated by Bishop Schneider at the Basilica of Saint Mary Major. According to LifeSiteNews, permission was granted by Cardinal Rolandas Makrickas, archpriest of the basilica.
Pilgrims also hope to make their customary devotional visit to St. Peter’s Basilica and pray at the tomb of St. Peter. However, LifeSiteNews reported that organizers were informed that the visit would require approval from the Secretariat of State, and that authorization had not been granted as of the report’s publication.
Despite the unresolved requests, organizers say the pilgrimage will proceed.
“Despite these significant and deeply disappointing setbacks, the pilgrimage will still be attended by Catholics attached to the Church’s Tradition from around the world,” a source close to the organizers told LifeSiteNews.
Whether Pope Leo will ultimately meet with the pilgrims remains uncertain. No audience connected to the October pilgrimage has yet been publicly announced, according to the report.
For Catholics devoted to the traditional liturgy, a meeting would provide the kind of direct encounter Pope Leo himself previously indicated he hoped to have — an opportunity for the Pope and faithful attached to the older Roman rite to listen and speak with one another about a question that has remained a significant point of discussion within the Church.
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