VATICAN CITY (LifeSiteNews) — Speaking directly about the traditional Latin Mass, Pope Leo XIV expressed openness to meeting with advocates, adding the topic is “very complicated.”
During the first long-form interview given by the new Pope, Leo XIV conversed with Crux about a wide variety of topics, including the traditional liturgy or Latin Mass, the Sino-Vatican deal, LGBT topics, Synodality, Vatican finances and reforms, and the polarization in the Church. The interview was released in full this week.
The Latin Mass is a “hot-button issue,” Leo said, revealing that he has in these first few months already received “a number of requests and letters” about the topic.
The traditional Mass of the Church came under heavy restrictions in July 2021 thanks to Pope Francis’ Traditionis Custodes, and then after subsequent measures imposed by Cardinal Arthur Roche in his role as the prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship. Such restrictions have been widely condemned by a number of prominent prelates and by high-ranking laity such as U.S. Vice President JD Vance.
Clarifying first that priests can say the Novus Ordo in Latin with “no problem,” Leo then turned more specifically to the question of the traditional Mass:
Obviously, between the Tridentine Mass and the Vatican II Mass, the Mass of Paul VI, I’m not sure where that’s going to go. It’s obviously very complicated.
I do know that part of that issue, unfortunately, has become – again, part of a process of polarization – people have used the liturgy as an excuse for advancing other topics. It’s become a political tool, and that’s very unfortunate.
Pope Francis famously declared in July 2021 that “the instrumental use of Missale Romanum of 1962 is often characterized by a rejection not only of the liturgical reform, but of the Vatican Council II itself, claiming, with unfounded and unsustainable assertions, that it betrayed the Tradition and the ‘true Church.’”
READ: Vatican cardinal says he was told to ‘wait for the Holy Father to decide’ future of Latin Mass
Critics of his restrictions have often been at pains to express loyalty to Vatican II while also advocating for freedom for the traditional liturgy, such as Cardinal Raymond Burke.
Demonstrating more of his prior awareness of liturgical sensibilities, Leo lamented liturgical abuses but also equated the two rites, commenting:
I think sometimes the, say, ‘abuse’ of the liturgy from what we call the Vatican II Mass, was not helpful for people who were looking for a deeper experience of prayer, of contact with the mystery of faith that they seemed to find in the celebration of the Tridentine Mass.
Again, we’ve become polarized, so that instead of being able to say, well, if we celebrate the Vatican II liturgy in a proper way, do you really find that much difference between this experience and that experience?
The sit-down interview was conducted in two parts, both in July. As such, Leo noted that he had “not had the chance to really sit down with a group of people who are advocating for the Tridentine rite. There’s an opportunity coming up soon, and I’m sure there will be occasions for that.”
He likened it to the perceived need for more discussions on synodality and how to perceive and implement it in the Church: “that is an issue that I think also, maybe with synodality, we have to sit down and talk about.”
Some weeks after the interviews, Leo met privately with Cardinal Burke, who is recognized as one of the most prominent clerical advocates for the traditional Mass.
Details of their conversation remain private, as is customary, but after that it was announced that Burke would lead the annual Latin Mass pilgrimage to the Vatican in October and offer Mass there. This marks a poignant reversal in policy, since for the last two years the annual Mass had been banned by the Vatican.
Advocates and pilgrims have welcomed the return of the Mass to the annual pilgrimage, having previously lamented the prohibition.
READ: Cardinal Burke will celebrate Latin Mass inside St. Peter’s Basilica for traditional pilgrimage
Appearing aware of the very active debate surrounding the traditional Mass, Leo called it an “issue that’s so polarized that people aren’t willing to listen to one another, oftentimes.”
But he posited criticism at the doors of traditional Mass devotees also, saying, “I’ve heard bishops talk to me, they’ve talked to me about that, where they say, ‘we invited them to this and that and they just won’t even hear it.’ They don’t even want to talk about it. That’s a problem in itself. It means we’re into ideology now, we’re no longer into the experience of church communion. That’s one of the issues on the agenda.”
Cardinal Burke opined in June that he hoped Leo “will put an end to the persecution of the faithful in the Church who desire to worship God according to more ancient usage of Roman rite, this persecution from within the Church.” At that stage, Burke said he had been able to discuss the issue with Leo.
Many – particular in the U.S. – have been hoping for the Pope to take urgent action on the old rite and rescind or alleviate the restrictions imposed by his predecessor. But Leo’s style so far appears to be averse to such strident actions, and given his July interview commentary, it seems that the future of the traditional Mass will depend much on whose advice he is presented with.