ONSIGNOR CHARLES POPE has published a heartfelt plea. He wants the bishops of the world to respond to the words of Pope Francis, who said on 26 September 2021: “The Holy Spirit does not want closedness; He wants openness, and welcoming communities where there is a place for everyone.” Pope Francis also said: “We are called to build an increasingly inclusive world that excludes no one.”
An excerpt from his article:
As a pastor of souls, I cannot find words to express the hurt and anger (righteous, I pray) I experience over the treatment of Catholics who are attached to the older forms of the liturgy and the sacraments. I have not seen such language or harshness directed against any other group, in or out of the Church. The tone is singular and shocking. Those who love the Traditional Latin Mass are my brothers and sisters in the Lord and I have long admired their tenacity and orthodoxy. Many of them have large families and take the faith very seriously. For them, Catholicism is not only a faith, but also a culture both ancient and new. They are up for the battle of living the faith in an increasingly secular world. They are not a particularly large segment of the Church in the United States, but they are one of the few segments of the Church that is growing and flourishing. They love the faith and the Mass, and I grieve that they are being treated so brusquely and harshly.
The article Monsignor Pope echoes a recent article by the president of Corpus Christi Watershed. Consider the following words of Monsignor Pope:
[Archbishop Roche] in effect says, “We really prefer you to be in isolated places, but if you must use one of our parish churches, it must be made clear: you are not really ‘us.’ You cannot appear on our schedule, you cannot celebrate your TLM at a time when any of us might be around, and, while we consent to have you here now, as soon as ‘another venue’ is found you will be asked to leave forthwith.”
Read the full article by Monsignor Pope at the National Catholic Register:
* Article • “A Plea to the Bishops”
—From the Peripheries of ‘Traditionis Custodes,’ a Plea to the Bishops.
The existence of the Missale Vetustum is no longer a secret—even secular outlets are talking about it:
Father Robert Sirico recently published an article in a major secular newspaper—and here’s an excerpt:
Pope Francis told bishops from the Czech Republic in 2014 that he “cannot understand the younger generation” who flock to the old Mass. […] Stereotypes may often be shortcuts to the truth, but not always. And certainly not in this case. In my experience, it is not just the elderly who like the smells and bells of the Church’s old rituals—a great many young people love traditional worship. I joke that my old parish’s Latin Mass is the “teen Mass.”
Some older people have great difficulty understanding why so many serious young Catholics prefer the Missale Vetustum.
