ZAGREB, Croatia (LifeSiteNews) — Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone, the archbishop of San Francisco, California, celebrated Croatia’s first Traditional Pontifical Mass in over half a century last weekend.
The March 7 Mass, celebrated at the Church of St. Blaise was notably the first Pontifical High Mass celebrated in Latin in the central European country in over 50 years. During a lecture prior to the Mass, Cordileone emphasized that returning to the beauty of the ancient liturgical practices found in the Tridentine Mass is the key to evangelization and ultimately restoring Western civilization to Christ.
“The renewal of Western civilization begins, therefore, with the renewal of the Mass…. The Mass is truly the heart and foundation of that civilization. Moreover, it offers us a unique opportunity in the time in which we live,” the archbishop said as part of a speech before the Mass.
“People can argue, ‘You have your truth, and I have mine,’ but when it comes to beauty, the arguments stop. Beauty touches a person in an intuitive way, bypassing logical arguments – or, more often, illogicalities – and thus prepares the soil of the human soul for the seed of truth,” he added. “People can deliberately close their eyes to all the good the Church does for the world, but it is difficult to deny beauty when it is before us.”
Cordileone, citing recent reports showing that young people are increasingly being drawn to Catholicism because of its traditional liturgical, artistic, and spiritual practices, stressed that instead of trying to find a “new language” to reach younger generations, the Church should look no further than her ancient language.
READ: Wall Street Journal highlights Gen Z’s interest in the Latin Mass, reverence
“The beauty of our authentic Catholic liturgical, artistic, and spiritual heritage attracts people – especially young people – to the Church,” His Excellency said. “It is often said that we must find a new language to reach young people who are increasingly distancing themselves from the Church. We already have that language: it is the old one. Or, more precisely, the classical – the timeless language. And it does not just work on an aesthetic level: it also fosters moral conversion.”
The Mass coincided with, but was not part of, the “Christ is King” conference. The brainchild of Ivan Poljaković, this conference featured talks by LifeSiteNews Editor-in-Chief John-Henry Westen and others. During the conference, hundreds of faithful prayed the holy Rosary for the unborn in Zagreb square as pro-abortion protesters tried to drown out their prayers.
Hundreds of men pray the Holy Rosary in the Zagreb square of Croatia. Women pray for them outside while pro-abortion protestors drum to drown out the prayers. But honestly, it only increases the fervour as it makes the spiritual war more evident. pic.twitter.com/DrSX5rqQbn
— John-Henry Westen (@JhWesten) March 7, 2026
The Mass was also the initiative of Ivan Poljaković; responsibility for organizing the liturgy later fell upon others. In a press statement, the Board of Directors for the Blessed Ivan Merz Apologetics Association, praised Archbishop Cordileone for his pastoral care.
Archbishop Cordileone, despite canceling his talk at the conference, celebrated a Pontifical Mass according to the old rite in Zagreb, thanks to us who organized everything and secured all the permits. Also, after everything, Archbishop Cordileone wanted to meet us and invited us to his Pontifical Mass on Saturday. Since we were at a conference at the time and couldn’t attend that Mass, he wrote again on Saturday evening, expressing his desire to meet us. So, on Sunday, we attended his Traditional Latin Mass at the Church of St. Blaise, and after Mass (a few of us from the Blessed Ivan Merz Apologetics Association) spoke with him briefly and received his episcopal blessing.
From one of these correspondences, we quote his words: “Yes, I see that you are devoted sons and daughters of our holy Mother Church, and I hope that one day I will also be able to offer my support to your worthy project of restoring the authentic liturgical tradition of the Church.”
READ: Archbishop Cordileone rallies behind bishop calling for Notre Dame to demote pro-abortion professor
The archbishop of San Francisco has been one of the most outspoken pro-life and conservative voices in the Church in America for decades. He has frequently attended and celebrated Mass for pro-life events such as San Francisco’s Walk for Life West Coast.
Cordileone has repeatedly denounced Nancy Pelosi, who represents the city in Congress, for her pro-abortion stance, and made national headlines in 2022 when he barred her from receiving Holy Communion within his archdiocese.
More recently, Cordileone rallied behind Bishop Kevin Rhoades and several other bishops in their denunciation of the promotion of a vehemently pro-abortion professor, Susan Ostermann, as the director of Asian Studies at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana.
The archbishop has also been a staunch defender of the Latin Mass and reverent liturgical practices, including receiving Holy Communion on the tongue and kneeling. Last Summer, he notably concelebrated a Pontifical High Mass with Cardinal Raymond Burke at the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Wisconsin.
Updated.