Celebrate it, and they will come.Multitude fills the Pantheon in Rome Friday night for Traditional Vespers.#sumpont2021 pic.twitter.com/nMt8spDRLZ— Rorate Caeli (@RorateCaeli) October 29, 2021
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by Nicole Winfield [Excerpts]
[Rome, October 30, 2021:] Traditionalist Catholics descended on Rome on Friday for their annual pilgrimage, hoping to show the vibrancy of their community after Pope Francis issued a crackdown on the spread of the old Latin Mass that many took as an attack on them and the ancient rite.
An evening vespers service at Rome’s Pantheon basilica, the first event of the three-day pilgrimage, was so full that ushers had to add two rows of chairs to accommodate the faithful. Many young families, couples and priests filled the pews, hailing from the U.S., France, Spain and beyond.
One of the Vatican’s “ceremoniere,” or official priests, Monsignor Marco Agostini, celebrated the evening service, which featured Latin chants, incense and brocaded vestments with the priests facing the altar rather than the pews. Many women wore lace veils, or mantillas. Many priests eschewed face masks.
“We want to demonstrate our attachment to the Successor of St. Peter and that we are in the heart of the church,” said Pedro d’Aquino, who travelled from Brooklyn, New York, for the pilgrimage. “We’re not interested in ideology or polemics.” ...
Joao Silveira, who organized the pilgrimage, said it appeared that the vast majority of bishops were allowing the Latin Mass celebration “to continue as it was.”
“I have found things are not so different,” he said after service. “The bishop has more power to forbid, but the majority are not using the power to forbid.”
Pilgrim Diana Catalan, a 25-year-old nurse from Pamplona, Spain, said her bishop had restricted the celebration of the old rite to one Mass per week, celebrated by one priest. She came alone to the Rome pilgrimage and said she was happy to meet others in the community who were attached to the ancient Mass.
“I think we’re conscious of the circumstances and made a special effort to show that tradition is alive,” she said.
