EXCLUSIVE: Abp Cordileone – Beauty of Latin Mass draws young people

“What truly evangelizes is the beauty of the Church’s heritage. So we need to live that in a way that is communicable.”

(PerMariam) — In offering the traditional Mass there is “a sense of breathing with the Church throughout the centuries,” Archbishop Cordileone told Per Mariam in a recent exclusive interview.

In recent weeks, San Francisco’s Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone has had cause once more to delve into the debate surrounding the liturgy, specifically the traditional Mass.

The topic has been increasingly under scrutiny of late as new restrictions against the traditional Mass have been levied by certain prelates in the U.S., while devotees of the old rite hope for Pope Leo XIV to overturn his predecessor’s widespread restrictions.

Supporting comments made by Cardinal William Goh in defense of the traditional Mass, Abp. Cordileone wrote: “Let me second the idea that lifting restrictions on the use of the 1962 Missal would be grand, healing, and unifying.” He then expanded in a seperate post, commenting: “The experience in the U.S. is that when the TLM is offered in parishes, people mostly attend their preferred form but occasionally attend either. This is good for unity. Unity. And the TLM.”

The Archbishop is no stranger to the traditional Mass, having celebrated it himself publicly, and is currently championing a cause to promote increased devotion and reverence in the liturgy. Such a stance has led him to become a central figure in endeavors of this kind, including an annual sacred liturgy conference, attended this year by Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith and Cardinal Robert Sarah.

For Abp. Cordileone, the traditional Mass is a way to breathe “with 2000 years of history of the Church in that Mass because of how it’s organically developed over so many centuries.” He has decried how restrictions on the traditional liturgy have re-awakened the “liturgy wars” in recent years.

Speaking in a recent video interview with this correspondent for Per Mariam, the archbishop opined on how to handle the “liturgy wars” currently raging, how best to increase reverence in the liturgy more widely, and spoke about his personal experience offering the old Mass.

The full interview transcript follows, and the video is found directly below.