Traditionis Custodes: Five years of unnecessary ‘persecution’ and chaos
With the fifth anniversary of Traditionis Custodes, the Church continues to suffer from the liturgical war re-ignited by Pope Francis.
VATICAN CITY (PerMariam) — On this day in 2021, Pope Francis reignited the liturgical wars in the Church by issuing Traditionis Custodes (TC), undoing in one fell swoop what many deemed to be one of the most important elements of his predecessor’s papacy.
The motu proprio that easily became a defining point in Francis’ papacy was, like many other controversial texts of his reign, issued on a Marian feast – that of Our Lady of Mount Carmel. It bore the striking and controversial statement that “the liturgical books promulgated by Saint Paul VI and Saint John Paul II, in conformity with the decrees of Vatican Council II, are the unique expression of the lex orandi of the Roman Rite.”
Naturally, the more vocal among the team surrounding Pope Francis supported the document through their actions, and some bishops moved swiftly to cancel celebrations of the old rite in a manner demonstrative of much anticipation. Others were slower to act, but act they did eventually, with Masses still continuing to be regularly and arbitrarily cancelled throughout the Church.
“The clear intent is to condemn the Extraordinary Form to extinction in the long run,” wrote Gerhard Cardinal Müller on July 19, 2021. Müller is no personal lover of the traditional rite, as he attested just this month, but he regularly celebrates it for those desirous of being nourished by it and has repeatedly criticized the restrictions. “Instead of appreciating the smell of the sheep, the shepherd here hits them hard with his crook,” he wrote at the time.
This is a theme reiterated by numerous prelates who have expressed their concerns over the text, and is the the reality for the large numbers of Catholics impacted by the restrictions as they witness their regular Mass summarily curtailed.
As the Society of Saint Pius X wrote at the time: “Everything, or just about everything in Summorum pontificum, is scattered, abandoned, or destroyed.”
Raymond Cardinal Burke – one of the most prominent proponents of the traditional Mass – lamented in July 2021 that the motu proprio was a “severe and revolutionary action” which belied an attempted “ultimate elimination” of the traditional liturgy. Latin Mass attendees were being given the message that “they suffer from an aberration which can be tolerated for a time but must ultimately be eradicated,” commented Burke.
Burke was soon joined by his fellow Dubia cardinal, Walter Brandmüller, who opined that Francis “unleashed a hurricane” with his text. Joseph Cardinal Zen followed suit, saying it hurt the “hearts of many good people.”
Bishop Athanasius Schneider, another internationally recognised name when it comes to defending the traditional Mass, echoed Müller’s depiction of Francis as a shepherd beating his flock. Going further than the cardinal, Schneider argued that the motu prorpio commits “an injustice against all Catholics who adhere to the traditional liturgical form, by accusing them of being divisive and of rejecting the Second Vatican Council.”
He continued:
The traditional Mass is a treasure that belongs to the entire Church, since it has been celebrated and deeply regarded and loved by priests and saints for at least a thousand years. In fact, the traditional form of the Mass was almost identical for centuries before the publication of the Missal of Pope Pius V in 1570. An almost one thousand-year-old valid and highly esteemed liturgical treasure is not the private property of a pope, which he can freely dispose of.
The reactions of these prelates has not wavered in the five years that have since passed. As bishop after bishop has used TC to clamp down on thriving communities in his diocese, the two-class system of which Schneider warned has indeed been put into effect. There remains still in force to this day the order that traditional Masses are not to be publicly advertised in parish newsletters – a situation as farcical as it is draconian.
Such a situation has led to the proliferation of catacomb style Masses, again fulfilling the prediction of many after TC was published. Certainly, the traditional orders exempted from TC have blossomed, as have the SSPX. Young men have flocked to the seminaries in record numbers year upon year, and any hope the Vatican had of stamping out the traditional Mass is certainly now non-existent.
It has been restricted, certainly; censured, curtailed and persecuted – but by no means extinguished.
Pope Francis defended TC throughout his pontificate. When questioned by this correspondent as to the rationale behind it, he replied: “Read the motu proprio; everything is there for you.”
EXCLUSIVE: Pope Francis defends restrictions on Latin Mass
VATICAN CITY (LSN) — Speaking to this reporter, Pope Francis defended his 2021 restrictions on the Church’s traditional liturgy, stating that all the reasons for his enacting such restrictions are found in the motu proprio Traditionis Custodes.
The problem is that – as latter reports have now confirmed what was already widely understood at the time – TC was based on a false premise. The bishops contacted for the Vatican’s now infamous survey did not largely support restricting the Mass, and even warned that to do so would be deleterious for the Church.
Despite this, TC remains technically and firmly in force. In 2022 Bishop Schneider referenced both Traditionis Custodes and Cdl. Roche’s subsequent responsa ad dubia, describing them as “a gross abuse of the papal office.” He likened the “persecution” of the traditional rite to the the “persecution of the integrity of the Catholic faith during the Arian Crisis in the 4th century.”
“Persecution” is a recurring word when it comes to the continued existence of TC. Cdl. Burke is one such figure who has employed the term often.
But beyond even persecution, there are serious canonical arguments which have been made against the validity of TC which, to date, have not received proper public attention. “The document [TC] itself is problematical from the point of view of canon law and also of the theological reality of the sacred liturgy,” Burke told this correspondent last year.
Canonist Fr. Réginald-Marie Rivoire has published a book-length examination of TC, highlighting issues with its legality, but such concerns have not found their way to the mainstream discussion. Most bishops keen to avoid any problems for themselves have cooperated with the diktats emerging from the Congregation for Divine Worship, while those actually opposed to the traditional liturgy have been all to happy to attack it. Canonical irregularities have seemingly not entered into consideration.
It is due to these major, unresolved questions, along with the obvious, immense harm it has caused within the Church, that many Catholics anticipated Leo would tackle TC early on in his pontificate. As yet, he has not done so, and while many hopeful signs have been given of a more favourable disposition towards the old rite on his part, the motu proprio remains in force.
Five years on from its publication, Traditionis Custodes is still described by many as one of the most painful and unnecessary texts to emerge from the Vatican. If Leo XIV wishes to positively deal with the issue of unity in the Church, then delivering the death knoll to TC would be a ready solution.