5 Cardinals to Celebrate Traditional Pontifical Liturgies in Rome and the US| National Catholic Register

The Masses are being celebrated at a time when Pope Leo XIV is considering whether to continue restricting such liturgies in accordance with Pope Francis’ 2022 apostolic letter ‘Traditionis Custodes.’

Despite continuing suppression of the traditional liturgy — which appears to be concentrated in some dioceses of the United States — five cardinals are to celebrate five traditional pontifical liturgies in Rome and the U.S. over the next month.

At 3 p.m. this coming Saturday, Cardinal Raymond Burke will celebrate a pontifical Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica as part of the annual “Summorum Pontificum Pilgrimage” attended by traditional Catholics from around the world. The cardinal last celebrated a pontifical Mass for the same event in the basilica in 2014. 

The Mass had become an annual tradition since the pilgrimage began in 2012 but was suspended in 2022 following Pope Francis’ apostolic letter Traditionis Custodes (Guardians of the Tradition), which had led to sweeping restrictions of the traditional Roman Rite in the preceding year. From then on, only the Office of Sext (midday prayer) was allowed to be sung. 

The decision to allow the Mass to go ahead appears to have come from the top. “Clearly, [it was] because the Pope said: ‘Let them do it,’” Msgr. Marco Agostini, a papal master of ceremonies and a leading advocate of the traditional Mass in Rome, told The Washington Post Oct. 19.

As part of the pilgrimage, on Oct. 24, Cardinal Matteo Zuppi of Bologna will celebrate pontifical vespers in the Basilica of San Lorenzo in Lucina, Italy. The cardinal, who is sympathetic to the traditional Roman Rite but does not celebrate it regularly, last celebrated pontifical vespers for the pilgrims in the Pantheon in 2022. 

Now in its 14th year, the Summorum Pontificum Pilgrimage brings people ad Petri Sedem (“to the See of Peter”) to give “testimony of the attachment that binds numerous faithful throughout the whole world to the traditional liturgy.” 

Joseph Shaw, president of Una Voce International, publicly thanked Pope Leo XIV for his “pastoral response” in allowing Cardinal Burke to celebrate a pontifical Mass in the basilica, calling it a “major breakthrough for the pilgrimage.” He added that he hoped it would foster “unity with the Holy Father” among Catholics attached to the missal used before the liturgical reforms of 1970. 

U.S. Pontifical Liturgies

 At noon on Nov. 1, the Solemnity of All Saints, Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone will celebrate a solemn pontifical Mass — the most complete and elaborate form of the traditional Mass — at Star of the Sea Parish in San Francisco. The Mass will be part of a Eucharistic Rosary Congress, an initiative to help parishes begin seven days of adoration and hourly Rosaries before the Blessed Sacrament. 

The following day, at 5 p.m. on the feast of All Souls, the prefect emeritus of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, Cardinal Gerhard Müller, will celebrate a pontifical Mass at Our Lady of Lourdes parish church in Philadelphia. The Mass, sponsored by the International Institute for Culture, a nonprofit inspired by Pope St. John Paul II’s call for the reevangelization of culture, will feature a “special program of sacred music.” 

“This is a rare opportunity to participate in a traditional liturgy of great beauty and to meet one of the Church’s most distinguished theologians and leaders in person,” the institute’s website states, adding that local chivalric orders will also be taking part in the Mass. Faithful wishing to attend are asked to register beforehand due to the expected shortage of seating.

Lastly, on Nov. 21, the prefect emeritus of the Dicastery for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, Cardinal Robert Sarah, will celebrate pontifical vespers at the Cathedral-Basilica of Sts. Peter and Paul in Philadelphia. The liturgy will coincide with the launch of a book on sacred music called The Song of the Lamb — a conversation between Cardinal Sarah and Peter Carter, founder and director of the Catholic Sacred Music Project, an organization aiming to lead a renewal of sacred music. Two book launch events are scheduled: the first on Nov. 21, at 3 p.m., at the University of Pennsylvania; and the second, on Nov. 22, at 2 p.m. at Princeton University.

Time of Tensions 

The pontifical liturgies come at a time when Pope Leo XIV must decide whether to continue restricting some liturgies in the traditional Roman Rite in accordance with Traditionis Custodes or allow the freedom to celebrate them more in accordance with Pope Benedict XVI’s apostolic letter Summorum Pontificum. 

The credibility of Traditionis Custodes was severely undermined over the summer when it emerged that the original justification for implementing its restrictions had been based on misrepresented data about bishops’ opinions. 

How the Pope might decide on the issue remains unclear, although curial figures such as Cardinal Kurt Koch of Switzerland, the president of the Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity, said in August it would “certainly be desirable to open the now-closed door more again.” 

Cardinal Angelo Bagnasco, a former president of the Italian bishops’ conference, also indicated that he favored a relaxation of the restrictions on the traditional Latin Mass, saying he saw “neither risks nor dangers if things are done peacefully and with everyone’s goodwill.”

Currently, national bishops’ conferences and local ordinaries remain the decisive authorities, and some continue to execute new restrictions, especially in the United States. “This seems to be something unique to America,” Shaw told Raymond Arroyo on EWTN’s The World Over program Oct. 16. “I haven’t heard about this coming from Italy; France; or England, where I am. In fact, the bishops in England seem more relaxed than they were six months ago about the traditional Mass, so this is a real puzzle.” 

In recent months, the dioceses of Charlotte, North Carolina; Knoxville, Tennessee; and Detroit have suppressed the traditional liturgy, resulting in considerable backlash from the faithful.