No long after severely restricting the Traditional Latin Mass’s party, Pope Francis has denounced “arguing” about religious information as being against the Christian faith.
The pope told people of the Syro-Malabar Church, an Eastern Catholic Church based in Kerala, India, that discussing the specifics of how to enjoy the Eucharist, the height of his appearance among us, “is inconsistent with the Christian faith.”
The bishop emphasized the value of maintaining religious traditions in the face of a fast evolving world in his tackle, which may seem ironic and maybe a little cruel to those who enjoy traditional Spanish Masses.
” Your past is unique and beautiful, and it is a unique history for all God’s divine people”, he told his listeners. And I want to point out that Eastern practices are essential parts of the Church’s existence.
In a time like theirs, which cuts the lines between us and the history and measures all based on what is practical and immediate, he continued, adding that this is especially important to remember.
When faced with the traditional liturgy, the pope’s enthusiasm for diversity and inclusion abruptly comes to an end. In 2021, he published his apostolic letter, Traditionis Custodes (” Guardians of Tradition” ), which prohibited the traditional Latin Mass from being celebrated in Catholic parishes and made available accommodations for priests who wish to use the extraordinary form of the Catholic liturgy.
Pope Benedict XVI, who noted that many of the faithful were still devoted to “love and devotion to the earlier religious forms which had profoundly shaped their tradition and spirit,” lifted restrictions on the conventional form in the letter.
A celebrating preacher leads standard Spanish evensong at Rome’s old Dome church in Rome, Italy, on October 29, 2021. ( AP Photo/Luca Bruno, file )
Pope Francis, on the other hand, seems to despise the standard Large with certain vehemence, and, on many occasions, he has referred to those who prefer the traditional religious form as “retrograde”.
Pope John Paul II, according to Pope Benedict, “exhorted bishops to produce large and good use of this university on behalf of all the honest who sought it by granting the university of using the older kind.”
Benedict stated that the older Roman Missal promulgated by Saint Pope Pius V “is still to be regarded as an extraordinary expression of the same , lex orandi , of the Church and duly honored for its venerable and ancient usage” while the older Roman Missal promulgated by Pope Paul VI “is the ordinary expression of the , lex orandi , [rule of prayer ] of the Catholic
Pope Benedict XVI ( SVEN HOPPE/POOL/AFP via Getty Images )
Francis, on the other hand, asserted that the 1970 Roman Missal is not the “ordinary expression” but rather” the , unique , expression of the , lex orandi , of the Roman Rite” (emphasis added ). The new, exclusive ruling seems to eliminate the older form of the Mass as a legitimate expression of the , lex orandi , of the Church despite its venerable tradition.
The Vatican’s own website, however, states that” the Latin language still holds primacy of place as that language which, based on principle, the Church prefers, even though she recognizes that the vernacular can be useful for the faithful”.
The Vatican continues, saying that” Latin should be preserved as a precious inheritance of the Western liturgical tradition.”
The liturgical texts must be approved by the Church, as does the Code of Canon Law, which regulates liturgical practices and practices.
In order to stay connected with its own history and traditions, Saint John Paul II urged the Church to use Latin as a tool of communication.
He wrote that” the Roman Church has special obligations toward Latin, the magnificent language of ancient Rome,” and that” she must manifest them whenever the opportunity arises.”
Pope Francis, in his words, justified the shift away from his predecessors’ more inclusive approach by claiming that their pastoral care was intended to “widden the gaps, reinforce the divergences, and foster disagreements that harm the Church, block her path, and expose her to the peril of division.”
Pope Benedict XVI stated in his 2007 decision to ease restrictions on the use of the older rite that “one of the Second Vatican Council’s crucial decisions, the liturgical reform, is being called into question,” had been “opposed on account of two fears.”
” This fear is unfounded”, Benedict replied.
The second fear, he wrote, was that” the possibility of a wider use of the 1962 Missal would lead to disarray or even divisions within parish communities”.
” This fear also strikes me as quite unfounded”, he stated, noting that” the two Forms of the usage of the Roman Rite can be mutually enriching”.
At that point, Pope Benedict went on to declare pointedly:
What was once regarded as sacred by previous generations is still revered and great for us, and it cannot be suddenly prohibited or even viewed as harmful. It is up to us all to preserve the riches that have been a result of the Church’s prayer and faith and to give them their proper place.
He claimed that the new rite’s total exclusion would not be in line with the recognition of its significance and holiness.
