Pope Leo asks French bishops for ‘generous inclusion’ of TLM
"May the Holy Spirit suggest to you concrete solutions that will allow for the generous inclusion of those sincerely attached to the Vetus Ordo."
In a message to the French bishops’ conference, Pope Leo XIV called for “concrete solutions” to permit the “generous inclusion” of Catholics attached to the Traditional Latin Mass.
A March 18 letter sent by Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin on behalf of Pope Leo encourages the French bishops’ conference to embrace liturgical diversity and find ways to include “those sincerely attached to the Vetus Ordo.”
It has largely been expected that Pope Leo would eventually lift restrictions on the celebration of the preconciliar liturgy, which were imposed by Pope Francis in 2021. Parolin’s letter is a clear indication that Pope Leo wishes local bishops to move quickly to that end.
The letter says that the pope is “particularly attentive” to the bishops’ discussion on the liturgy, “in the context of the growth of communities bound to the Vetus Ordo.”
“It is troubling that a painful wound concerning the celebration of Mass, the very sacrament of unity, continues to open in the Church,” the letter says.
To heal this wound, it continues, a “new perspective” is needed. The letter says a fresh perspective, “with a greater understanding of each other’s sensitivities, is certainly necessary; a perspective that can allow brothers, enriched by their diversity, to welcome one another in charity and the unity of faith.”
“May the Holy Spirit suggest to you concrete solutions that will allow for the generous inclusion of those sincerely attached to the Vetus Ordo, in accordance with the guidelines established by the Second Vatican Council regarding the Liturgy,” the letter concludes.
France has historically been one of the epicenters of communities attached to the preconciliar liturgy, sometimes known as Traditional Latin Mass, Vetus Ordo, or extraordinary form of the Roman Rite.
Pope Francis published Traditiones custodes, limiting access to the preconciliar liturgy, in 2021. In doing so, he attached an explanatory letter referencing a survey sent out to bishops throughout the world on Pope Benedict’s 2007 Summorum Pontificum, which had allowed wider access to the extraordinary form of the Mass.
Francis said that a majority of bishops responded negatively to the survey, saying that it had heightened divisions within the Church.
The French bishops’ response to the survey later leaked. The bishops of France had said that “In most dioceses, the situation seems to have calmed down. Some points of tension remain, often linked to history and long-standing conflicts. Relationships are highly dependent on the personalities of the priests entrusted with the task of ensuring celebrations according to the EF.”
The French bishops also said in their survey response that “in almost two-thirds of the dioceses that responded, the bishop considers that the EF celebration proposal meets a genuine pastoral need.”
“Many bishops stress that the significance of offering this form of celebration is to help the faithful maintain a link with the Catholic Church and thus prevent them from seeking to join communities or places served by priests of the Society of St. Pius X,” the bishops added.
“However, when a place run by the SSPX is nearby, there is no noticeable flow back to the Catholic Church.”
The French bishops mentioned positive aspects associated with the Traditional Latin Mass communities. They said these communities promoted the sense of the sacred during the Mass, were a “balm for those wounded after the Second Vatican Council,” heightened a “more explicit sacrificial dimension of the Mass,” and that “some priests say that the EF helps them to be more attentive to the mysteries celebrated,” while celebrating the Mass ad orientem “can be an antidote to the risk of clericalism.”
They also noted negative aspects associated with these communities, saying they could “wound Church unity” because many are highly critical of the “conciliar Church,” that the celebration of the pre- and post-conciliar liturgies has created “two worlds that have difficulty understanding each other,” and that those who attend the Traditional Latin Mass often refrain from participating in diocesan activities.
They added that specifically FSSP priests refused to concelebrate even at Chrism Mass with the local bishop.
After the publication of Traditiones custodes in July 2021, the French bishops’ conference issued a statement saying that the bishops wished to express “to the faithful who habitually celebrate according to the Missal of St. John XXIII, and to their pastors, their care, the esteem they have for the spiritual zeal of these faithful, and their determination to continue the mission together, in the communion of the Church and according to the norms in force.”
Only about 20% of the French bishops applied restrictions on the celebration of the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite after Traditionis custodes was published. But one French bishop, Bishop Dominique Rey, was forced to resign in early 2025, in part for his support for traditionalist communities in his diocese.
A year after Traditiones custodes was released, Cardinal Parolin wrote a letter to the French bishops on Pope Francis’ behalf. The letter said that “Pope Francis … invites you to the greatest solicitude and paternity for those people — especially young people, priests, and laity — who are disoriented by the motu proprio Traditionis custodes, which you will be working to implement.”
“They are often wounded sheep who need to be accompanied, listened to, and given time,” that letter said.
This is pretty significant. A few things stand out to me (a non-EO goer but aesthetically a slightly traditional-leaning person.)
«Il est préoccupant que continue de s’ouvrir dans l’Église une douloureuse blessure concernant la célébration de la Messe, le sacrement même de l’unité. Pour la guérir, un regard nouveau de chacun porté sur l’autre, dans une plus grande compréhension de sa sensibilité, est certainement nécessaire ; un regard pouvant permettre à des frères riches de leur diversité de s’accueillir mutuellement, dans la charité et l’unité de la foi. Veuille l’Esprit Saint vous suggérer des solutions concrètes permettant d’inclure généreusement les personnes sincèrement attachées au Vetus Ordo, dans le respect des orientations voulues par le Concile Vatican II en matière de Liturgie.»
I am particularly struck by:
1. The characterization of the liturgical divide *itself* as a «douloureuse blessure», a painful wound.
2. «Pour la guérir, un regard nouveau...est certainement necessaire»: "To heal [the wound], a new perspective/look/pass-over is certainly necessary." This is the big one to me. There is in this sentence the sense that "the previous way of handling this is not working to heal the division, so the expectation is a different direction."
3. «des frères riches e leur diversité» "Brothers rich in their diversity", pertaining to liturgical expression. This is similar language used with eastern rite discussions and mutual enrichment there.
4. «d’inclure généreusement les personnes sincèrement attachées au Vetus Ordo». Two things here. "To include generously"--generously is actually carrying a lot of weight here. It's demanding something substantial, rather than lip service. And "Persons sincerely attached to the Vetus Ordo". This is a wording I have primarily seen used by folks sympathetic to the Extraordinary Form, even by those who are Extraordinary Form attenders themselves, specifically because it highlights the earnestness and faith behind the attachment, and abandons the polemic or negative strawman often employed by those hostile to the EO.
5. «dans le respect des orientations voulues par le Concile Vatican II en matière de Liturgie.» Tying the reality of liturgical diversity to the norms of Vatican II, clearly framing the "generous inclusion" as being not opposed to Vatican II but in fact an authentic expression of its guidelines. Massively contradicts the more bullyish interpretations of TC, with regards not only to the EO but to traditional-ish practices like prie-dieux.
It's not splashy, it's not TNTing the last 10 years of handling of this issue. But there is a *lot* of attitudinal and tonal work going on in this language.
And finally, notably, despite how any English translation may or may not sound, this is *not* labyrinthine, bureaucratic, buzzwordy French. The French feels very clear and actually astonishingly direct in its communication of these ideas.
A “new perspective” on the liturgy. Also known as . . . Summorum Pontificum. It seems that the Holy Father wants to nuke a lot of Francis’s major decisions without saying that’s what he’s doing.