(LifeSiteNews) — Archbishop Paul Coakley said that the “last word” on Latin Mass restriction may not yet have been spoken in Pope Leo XIV’s pontificate.
In an interview on Raymond Arroyo’s show The World Over, Archbishop Coakley, the current head of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), was asked about Cardinal Arthur Roche’s recent comments on Traditional Latin Mass (TLM) restrictions. Roche had said that “Pope Leo is not going to change Traditionis Custodes, and he’s not going back to Summorum Pontificum,” meaning that TLM restrictions put in place by Pope Francis would not be abolished by the current pontiff. Roche is the prefect of the Dicastery for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments.
“After the SSPX illicit episcopal consecrations last month, you were among a handful of U.S. bishops who told the faithful in your dioceses not to attend the SSPX Masses; instead, go to the Traditional Latin Mass available in your own diocese,” Arroyo said to Archbishop Coakley.
“With more bishops placing further restrictions on the diocesan Traditional Latin Masses, what are the faithful to do? And wouldn’t this be a great opportunity to heal what many are calling an unnecessary rift?” the journalist asked the archbishop.
“Well, it’s a dilemma that many people who are attached to the Traditional Latin Mass are facing,” the prelate responded. “We have taken the course of trying to encourage people who are so attached (to the TLM) to visit and participate in the Mass at our local Fraternity of St. Peter parish.”
“I think bishops are going to be discussing this among themselves and in their own dioceses,” the archbishop said. “I noticed one of the dioceses in Texas has just this week relaxed some restrictions to make the Traditional Latin Mass more available, at least in that one diocese. So I think those are conversations that are happening internally, and certainly (we) want to be solicitous of the pastoral needs of our Catholics who are attached to the Traditional Latin Mass.”
Arroyo said that the TLM has “an evangelical attraction” that he thinks may be “arbitrarily stifled.”
“It could be,” Archbishop Coakley said. “I’m not sure that we’ve heard the last word from this pontificate on Traditionis Custodes.”
“Cardinal Roche has spoken, but until Pope Leo has spoken, I’m not sure that we know for sure what the way forward will be,” he concluded.