ROME — Leading British cultural and political figures have penned an open letter petitioning the Vatican not to ban the Traditional Latin Mass (TLM).
Widespread and sustained rumor The letter, which announced the Vatican’s intention to crush the TLM once and for all, was signed by believers and non-believers alike and examined the historical, spiritual and cultural influence of the group, pleading with the Vatican to “reconsider further restricting access to this great spiritual and cultural heritage.”
More than 40 signatories letterPublished in Times Wednesday’s event in London included composer Andrew Lloyd Webber, historian Tom Holland, Downton Abbey Participants included creative director Julian Fellowes, human rights activist Bianca Jagger, opera singer Kiri Te Kanawa, interior designer Nina Campbell, fashion designer Paul Smith, actress Susan Hampshire, philanthropist Mrs Getty, authors Antonia Fraser and AN Wilson, Princess Michael of Kent (a member of the British Royal Family), cellists Steven Isserlis and Julian Lloyd Webber, conductor Jane Glover, sopranos Sophie Bevan and Felicity Lott, pianists Imogen Cooper, Stephen Hough, András Schiff, and Mitsuko Uchida, as well as nearly a dozen Members of the House of Lords.
The letter is presented as a successor to the “Agatha Christie Letter,” a similar appeal to Pope Paul VI in defence of the Latin Mass. Times It was published on July 6, 1971. The original letter was also signed by Catholic and non-Catholic artists and writers, including Agatha Christie, Graham Greene, and Yehudi Menuhin.
The “Agatha Christie Letter,” which prompted the Pope to authorize the celebration of the Latin Mass in England and Wales, argued that the ancient Latin liturgy “has been of incalculable benefit to poets, philosophers, musicians, architects, painters and sculptors of all nations and times; and is therefore a universal culture.”
This appeal, like the previous one, is “fully ecumenical and apolitical”, the document states.
“Alarming reports from Rome” that the Latin Mass will be eliminated from nearly all Catholic churches “are a painful and disruptive prospect, especially for the growing number of young Catholics who have grown in their faith through it,” the letter said.
The letter goes on to describe the traditional liturgy as a “cathedral of text and gesture” that has developed “as did those venerable buildings over the centuries.”
“Not everyone understands its value, and that’s OK,” the article continues, “but destroying it seems an unnecessary and insensitive act in a world where history is so easily forgotten.”
“The power of ancient rituals to encourage silence and meditation is a treasure that is not easily replicated and, once lost, cannot be reconstructed,” it reads.
A priest presides over the traditional Latin Vespers service at the ancient Pantheon Basilica in Rome, Italy, on Oct. 29, 2021. (AP/Luca Bruno, File)
Pope Francis’ love of diversity and inclusion in all things seemed to come to an abrupt halt when faced with the traditional liturgy, and in 2021 he issued an apostolic command. letter, Ironic title Traditionis Custodes (“Guardian of Tradition”), in which he banned the celebration of the traditional Latin Mass in Catholic parishes and eliminated existing accommodations for priests who wished to use the extraordinary forms of the Catholic liturgy.
The letter reverses a move made by Pope Benedict XVI in 2007 to ease restrictions on the use of traditional forms. I got it. Many believers “maintain an attachment and love for earlier liturgical forms that have profoundly shaped their culture and spirituality.”
Pope Francis, meanwhile, seems particularly disdainful of the traditional Mass, repeatedly calling those who favor the traditional liturgical form “backwards.”
Pope Benedict XVI, on the other hand, noted that St. John Paul II had sought to increase the inclusiveness of the liturgy by granting the right to use the older forms, and “encouraged the bishops to use this right broadly and generously for the benefit of all the faithful who ask for it.”
Benedict XVI stated that the Roman Missal promulgated by Pope Paul VI ” Rex Orandi “The Roman Missal is a liturgical book of the Catholic Church in the Latin Rite,” whereas the older Roman Missal promulgated by Saint Pope Pius V “is nevertheless to be considered as a special expression of the same liturgy.” Rex Orandi It is a Church tradition and pays tribute to its ancient and venerable usage.”
Francis, on the other hand, said that the 1970 Roman Missal is not a “normal expression” and that Individual Representation of Rex Orandi This exclusionary ruling seems to exclude the older forms of the Mass as valid expressions of the Roman Rite. Rex Orandi Despite the time-honoured traditions of the Church.
Pope Francis (Stefano Costantino/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
However, the Vatican website states: state “Although the Church recognizes the usefulness of the mother tongue for the faithful, Latin remains in principle the Church’s preferred language.”
The Vatican further stated that “the Latin language must be preserved as a precious patrimony of the Western liturgical tradition.”
Similarly, the Code of Canon Law, which regulates the Church’s activities and liturgy, Regulatory“The sacraments shall be celebrated in Latin or in any other language, so long as the liturgical text is lawfully approved.”
Pope John Paul II strongly encouraged the continued use of Latin within the Church to maintain the connection with its history and traditions.
“The Church of Rome has a special obligation to Latin, the great language of ancient Rome,” he says. I have written“You have to express that whenever you get the opportunity,” he added.
Pope Francis Justified He reversed the more inclusive approach of his predecessors, arguing that their pastoral kindness had been “used to harm the Church, to impede her course, to widen the gaps and foster dissension that put the Church at risk of division.”
But when he lifted restrictions on the use of the old liturgy in 2007, Benedict XVI wrote that his initiative was “opposed due to two concerns,” one of which was “the fear that the document would undermine the authority of the Second Vatican Council. It would call into question one of its key decisions – liturgical reform.”
“This fear is unfounded,” Benedict replied.
A second concern, he wrote, was that “more widespread use of the 1962 Missal could cause confusion and division within parish communities.”
“This fear, too, seems to me completely unfounded,” he said, pointing out that “the two forms of the Roman Rite can be mutually enriching.”
At that point, Pope Benedict made it clear:
What was considered sacred by our predecessors is also sacred and great for us and cannot suddenly be completely forbidden or considered harmful. It is the duty of all of us to protect and give to it the place it deserves the richness that has been nurtured in the faith and prayer of the Church.
“To reject the new rites entirely would actually be inconsistent with recognizing their value and sanctity,” he said.
