RORATE CÆLI: 2025

The Broad Ocean of the Latin Rite: What True Liturgical Diversity Looks Like

Recent years have seen a surge in curiosity about the classic Rome rite, its forms, symbols, and history. Everywhere neophytes can be heard asking cautiously about “the Latin Mass,” while those who are more versed in the traditional Catholic world may be found disputing the merits and shortcomings of the ’62 missal and the Office of St. Pius X, or extolling the glories of the pre-’55 Holy Week.

Weeks after mocking soon to be canonized Carlo Acutis for having faith in the Blessed Sacrament -- a public statement that was so shocking that his own university disowned him -- the Mad Hatter of the liturgical world, Andrea Grillo, is again showing his colors.

He, who was the man behind Francis document Traditionis custodes, establishing a gradual extinction of the Traditional Latin Mass, now does not deny (as many of his liberal friends first try to do) the complete truth that the report by the world's Bishops that preceded Summorum Pontificum is real. In his new piece on this saga of shame (translation below), Grillo now says that, yes, the Bishops' report is all too real, and, yes, it is very positive -- but the bishops were simply wrong.

Let us all recall that Francis put into writing in Traditionis custodes what can only be called a lie: "At this time, having considered the wishes expressed by the episcopate..."; and in the accompanying letter, Francis lied even more shamefully: "With the passage of thirteen years, I instructed the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith to circulate a questionnaire to the Bishops regarding the implementation of the Motu proprio Summorum Pontificum. The responses reveal a situation that preoccupies and saddens me, and persuades me of the need to intervene."

What we now know, in fact, was that the situation revealed by the responses was fantastically positive. Whoever persuaded Francis to write the lies that he put in writing created a moment of immense shame and perpetual regret for the good name of the Apostolic See.

Grillo's latest words are a response to the measured analysis of the situation by the prestigious Vaticanist Sandro Magister, also transcribed below.

First, Grillo:

An Interview with Monsignor Bux: "The Bishops weren't responsible for launching the War Against Tradition."

Right after the explosive news on the actual positive nature of the global bishops' report on Summorum Pontificum was published last week, Monsignor Nicola Bux, one of the great liturgical names of our times and a major advisor under Benedict XVI, released a book with more details on the event. We now know that Vatican insiders close to Francis lied about it, and Francis himself did not tell the truth about it (on paper, in Traditionis custodes, the restrictions document).

Monsignor Bux spoke at length about these matters in an interview granted to Stefano Chiappalone, of Italian news website Bussola Quotidiana, and published today:

Msgr. Bux, so it was not the majority of bishops who were pushing to “do away” with the traditional Mass?

by Kevin Tierney
for Rorate Cæli

Following Diane Montagna’s bombshell revelation of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith's summary of the Bishops opinion on Summorum Pontificum, it was wondered by many how the defenders of Traditionis custodes would respond. While the first 24 hours saw a flurry of defenses call into question her reporting (none of them very compelling), defenders have received their talking points and have settled upon a defense. What they do not realize is this defense puts them into an even more precarious position.

by Felix Naumann

Katholisch.de

July 3, 2025

The leak could be strategic: For years, only the very negative feedback from the French Bishops' Conference on the survey by the then Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith on the “Old Mass” was known - completely in line with Francis. Now that a new pope is in office, who has repeatedly revived traditions abandoned by his predecessor - from the Corpus Christi procession and the handing over of the pallia to new archbishops to the traditional vacation spot - a new picture is being painted.

I’m pleased to share with Rorate readers the themes and schedule for my lecture tour in Spain later this month. Between July 18 and 25, I’ll be speaking on the traditional Roman liturgy in Seville, Cordoba, Toledo, Madrid, Segovia, and Oviedo, then participating in the 3-day pilgrimage to Covadonga. Lectures will be given in English with a Spanish translation provided.

Even the German Conference news website concedes: Francis lied

In a piece on the explosive revelation of the generally positive response of the world's bishops to Summorum Pontificum, the news website of the German Bishops' Conference uses the most diplomatic of languages:

Pope Francis appears to have ignored the advice of the bishops previously consulted worldwide when he restricted the Traditional Latin Mass. According to documents that have now become public, the responses to a survey conducted by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith on the implementation of the rules for the pre-conciliar liturgy put in place by Pope Benedict XVI were significantly more positive than the Pope himself presented. [emphasis added]

Yes: Francis lied. He lied.

American journalist Diane Montagna, who has long covered the Vatican, has obtained an explosive exclusive document: the original summary and report of the Global Assessment of the Application of Summorum Pontificum, the 2007 document by Pope Benedict XVI that freed the Traditional Latin Mass and Liturgy.

Summorum Pontificum itself foresaw a report, in order to adjust any issues with implementation -- and the report now obtained was generally positive. As Montagna reports:

Detroit, Destroyed - July 1st: Detroit's ban on parish Traditional Masses takes effect

Thousands of souls are without home today, after the generous post-Summorum application in the Archdiocese of Detroit is replaced with episcopal Tradition-hating whim.

Just a few dandelions remain standing from what was a flowering garden...

Let us pray for our abandoned brothers and sisters, and that the Church may have good and holy bishops.

Palestrina 500 Years: Tu Es Petrus

Motet for the Feast of the Blessed Apostles Peter and Paul, in a composition published in 1572 by Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina (1525-1594), whose 500th birthday is being celebrated this year.

The hauntingly beautiful 'Tu es Petrus' at the conclusion of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass with Pope Leo XIV on the Feast of Sts. Peter and Paul. May God bless the Holy Father, on this the first time he celebrates the Feast of the Prince of the Apostles as Roman Pontiff. pic.twitter.com/rDIKwmk5UZ
— Catholic Sat (@CatholicSat) June 29, 2025

Tradition and Vocations

My small parish gave birth to a priestly vocation in less than seven years. How did we do it? It’s not rocket science. It’s called Tradition. And this includes the source and summit of Tradition: the holy Mass.

A young man, who was converted away from a worldly and hedonistic lifestyle by exposure to the traditional Latin Mass, quite logically figured out that his continued conversion would more likely than not be best supported by such continued exposure.

by Serre Verweij

for Rorate Cæli

It has been 50 days since Pope Leo XIV was elected, but the world does not have a clear picture of him yet. Some cardinals and professional Vatican analysts seem to be getting a more detailed profile of the Pope (one which is apparently more orthodox than many initially had expected), but the world at large does not view him as a new Pope Benedict XVI to be opposed vigorously (yet).

From the Pew Research extensive statistical study of American Catholics:

13% of Catholics say they have attended a Traditional Latin Mass (TLM) at least once in the last five years, including 2% who say they attend a TLM weekly today.

Now, let's break this down.

Abbot of Fontgombault on the Liturgy: "Unity does not mean Uniformity. Actually, Imposing Uniformity is Detrimental to Unity." "We need to get away from the traditionalist-progressive dispute, which is exhausting for everyone, and bring peace back to the altar!"

Interview granted by the Father Abbot of the most influential Traditional abbey in the world, Our Lady of Fontgombault (France), to French Catholic periodical La Nef -- Lothar Rillinger (for Kath.net) and Christophe Geffroy (for La Nef, for complementary questions) are the interviewers.

La Nef

June 2025

Dom Jean Pateau: “Unity is not uniformity”

Andrea Grillo: has any man done more to rekindle the liturgical wars?

The detestable Italian professor was introduced by some malevolent Vatican spirit to Francis and created the document that would later be signed by the late pope as "Traditionis custodes", whose aim is explicitly to destroy the Traditional Latin Mass in the long term.

But it seems Grillo has at last bitten more than he can chew (or at least at last because it happened during this new pontificate). In an article from early June, the Father of Traditionis Custodes, lambasted Carlo Acutis, the young man beatified by Francis and to be canonized by Leo XIV in October.

by Fabio Fuiano

for Corrispondenza Romana

June 25, 2025

In recent weeks, the world witnessed an unprecedented escalation in the war between Israel and Iran. A war that could assume the proportions of a global conflict, with a not remote probability that nuclear weapons would be employed. Against this terrible backdrop, the modern West is now helpless and incapable of reacting: instead of acknowledging its own errors, starting with the denial of those Christian roots that constituted the essence of its glorious past, it now seems to be in the grip of a mad rush toward moral suicide. Indeed, the British Parliament, after passing laws to impose penalties on those who interfere, even silently praying, with access to “abortion services,” has gone even further by passing an amendment to existing abortion legislation that “women should be excluded from the Offences Against the Person Act 1861 and the Infant Life Preservation Act 1929 in relation to their pregnancies, bringing England and Wales into line with Northern Ireland.” The amendment, tabled by Labour MP Tonia Antoniazzi, passed with 379 votes in favor and 137 against.

Here is to be found one of the deeper aspects of the dogma of the Communion of Saints. The closer one of these privileged souls is to God, the author and source of every good which can adorn and rejoice souls, the greater is her beneficent action on those around. What graces she can demand from the Spouse, wresting them from Him for the whole Church!

Projection from 2014 based on active France-bred vocations from religious orders

The gravest crisis in a great part of the Church is that of vocations -- and France is no exception, of course. In Rorate, we have covered it often, including making clear that, with current trends persisting, a huge proportion of active priests in France in a few decades will be those dedicated exclusively or mostly to the Traditional Latin Mass (cf. here, for instance).

Leo XIV met with the outgoing board of the French Bishops' Conference (CEF) last week, and, as Silere non Possum notes, it is the silence on vocations -- particularly of the traditional communities, completely ignored in the bishops' 2025 dramatic report -- that is noteworthy:

Notably absent: the communities linked to the traditional liturgy

Back on Track

O Salutaris Hostia!

Dear friends, Christ is God’s answer to our human hunger, because his Body is the bread of eternal life: Take this and eat of it, all of you! Jesus’ invitation reflects our daily experience: in order to remain alive, we need to nourish ourselves with life, drawing it from plants and animals. Yet eating something dead reminds us that we too, no matter how much we eat, will one day die. On the other hand, when we partake of Jesus, the living and true Bread, we live for him. By offering himself completely, the crucified and risen Lord delivers himself into our hands, and we realize that we were made to partake of God. Our hungry nature bears the mark of a need that is satisfied by the grace of the Eucharist. As Saint Augustine writes, Christ is truly “panis qui reficit, et non deficit; panis qui sumi potest, consumi non potest” (Serm. 130, 2): he is bread that restores and does not run short; bread that can be eaten but not exhausted. The Eucharist, in fact, is the true, real, and substantial presence of the Saviour (cf. Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1413), who transforms bread into himself in order to transform us into himself. Living and life-giving, the Corpus Domini makes us, the Church herself, the Body of the Lord.

Leo XIV

Corpus Christi 2025

Restore Individualistic Piety

By James Baresel

In the twentieth chapter of Loss and Gain, Saint John Henry Newman gives an extended description of how Catholics attended Mass: “Each in his place, with his own heart, with his own wants, with his own thoughts, with his own intention, with his own prayers, separate but concordant, watching what is going on, watching its progress, uniting in its consummation;—not painfully and hopelessly following a hard form of prayer from beginning to end, but, like a concert of musical instruments, each different, but concurring in a sweet harmony, we take our part with God's priest.”

Sermon for Corpus Christi 2025

Father Richard Cipolla

From the sixth chapter of the Gospel according to St. John: “At this the Jews quarreled among themselves saying:’ How can he give us his flesh to eat’”?

Who are these Jews? These are the co-religionists of Jesus’ time, those who could not bear to hear Jesus’ words about his flesh and blood as real food and real drink. But “the Jews” are also those who at any time and any place cannot bear to hear these words of Jesus. They are those who murmur in opposition, they who ask “What is the point of this feast of Corpus Christi? We have Holy Thursday to celebrate the institution of the Eucharist. That is a logical feast. Why this other feast, what is the point, and what does this tell us, what does this teach us, what difference does this feast make in my life?”

In order to have a shared point of reference in political activity, and not exclude a priori any consideration of the transcendent in decision-making processes, it would be helpful to seek an element that unites everyone. To this end, an essential reference point is the natural law, written not by human hands, but acknowledged as valid in all times and places, and finding its most plausible and convincing argument in nature itself. In the words of Cicero, already an authoritative exponent of this law in antiquity, I quote from De Re Publica: “Natural law is right reason, in accordance with nature, universal, constant and eternal, which with its commands, invites us to do what is right and with its prohibitions deters us from evil... No change may be made to this law, nor may any part of it be removed, nor can it be abolished altogether; neither by the Senate nor by the people, can we free ourselves from it, nor is it necessary to seek its commentator or interpreter. And there shall be no law in Rome, none in Athens, none now, none later; but one eternal and unchanging law shall govern all peoples at all times” (III, 22).

The Summorum Pontificum pilgrimage will take place in Rome for the 14th time, concluding on the Sunday of Christ the King, October 26. This exceptional pilgrimage, in the first year of Pope Leo XIV's pontificate, has the particularity of taking place during the Holy Year and the 100th anniversary of Pope Pius XI's encyclical Quas Primas, on the institutional kingship of Christ.

Two Traditional Pastors Removed in Under Three Years - Is This What Pastoral Care Looks Like?

The following article was submitted by a reader to Rorate. We publish it here without further comment. Since the time of writing, the CBS affiliate in Pittsburgh has picked up the story (see here and here). - PAK

Over the last few years, parish mergers have become the norm here in the Diocese of Pittsburgh. Our parish, Mary, Queen of Saints, is comprised of four churches in four different communities throughout Beaver County. We've been blessed with Benedictine monks from St. Vincent Monastery in Latrobe, PA who have served as pastors and parochial vicars. Our parish has been thriving - packed churches, young families, an increase of converts to the faith, baptisms, and weddings.

Nuclear Thoughts

Morality and the Atom Bomb

by Roberto de Mattei

Corrispondenza Romana

June 18, 2025

The war between Israel and Iran, which overlaps with the war between Russia and Ukraine, makes the international scenario increasingly alarming. Let us leave aside the historical, political, and economic context in which these wars arose and developed and dwell on the moral problem on the horizon. In the Cold War era, the balance between the two superpowers, the United States and the Soviet Union, was ensured by the strategy of “deterrence,” or “mutual assured destruction” (MAD), according to which nuclear weapons, due to their destructive potential, constituted a tool to deter the enemy from an attack that would have a devastating response. Nuclear arsenals had as their sole purpose “to nullify nuclear weapons” (Herman Kahn, Philosophy of Atomic Warfare, tr. it., Il Borghese, Milan 1966, p. 138). In the post-modern era following the collapse of the Berlin Wall, there are no longer any shared international rules. The use of nuclear weapons is evoked, for example, by Vladimir Putin, as a means to rebalance military inferiority in the field of conventional weapons or, in the case of Iran, as a strategic goal to be achieved to destroy the State of Israel. One of the rules of deterrence was not to take the name of the bomb in vain. The verbal escalation we are witnessing could lead to actual war more quickly than we can imagine.

The Sixth Annual Festival of St. Louis has been announced. Its events will run from August 17 to 25, with the majority of events on the vigil (24th) and the feastday (25th). All details are found in the poster below.

"For Truth, Justice, and Peace": Reflections and Proposals from the Association Notre-Dame de Chrétienté

We are grateful to Michael Matt for giving Rorate permission to republish this important statement from the organizers of the Chartres pilgrimage (originally published in English at The Remnant), who have been under severe pressure from the French hierarchy to abandon the traditional Catholic orientation of the pilgrimage, which has just completed its 43rd iteration. As Matt writes: “The razor’s edge that Notre Dame de Chrétienté is talking in defense of the Latin Mass impacts us all, regardless of affiliation.... There are forces at work trying to stop it in the future.”

THE QUESTIONS recently raised about the liturgical use of the Vetus Ordo (or Tridentine liturgy) at the pilgrimage of Christendom are an opportunity to shed light on the history and spirit of our pilgrimage, and more broadly of our spiritual family attached to ‘previous liturgical and disciplinary norms of the Latin tradition’.[1]

Many priests, our spiritual fathers in Christ, both those unknown to us as well as the large and growing number we see faithfully on Sundays in our churches and chapels, continue to persevere heroically in offering the traditional Latin Mass. This despite sustained and incomprehensible persecution on the part of those we should in justice be able always to look to as providential and loving spiritual fathers, our bishops. Thanks to these men we still worship according to the faith of our fathers.

The Worst Possible Sign -- "Apostolic" Persecutions Continue in New Pontificate?

From Italian website Silere non Possum - excerpts:

"Just a few days ago, a letter was sent from Piazza Pio XII to the Cistercian community of Heiligenkreuz, the historic Austrian abbey which today represents one of the few authentic examples of monastic renewal in Europe. The letter announces an Apostolic Visitation by the Dicastery — a strong and clear signal, behind which looms the shadow of Mauro Giuseppe Lepori.

The "Mercy" Hammer Comes Down on Traditional Latin Masses in Detroit -- 10 Parish Masses to be Closed [Update: Ad Orientem posture in Novus Ordo also banned]

[Updated: as the full implementation document at the end makes clear, the ban of ad orientem and other traditional liturgical aspects in the Novus Ordo is not a rumor anymore, but it's fully public.]

Ugliness and cruelty dressed up as goodness and obedience. Disgusting.

A few notes:

1. "Fidelity to the Holy Father's call" - He means Francis; Leo XIV has made no such call yet.

2. The "all other sites" for which permission will end (June 30, 2025) include at least 10 parishes which offer the TLM every Sunday, and often on weekdays.

3. The somewhat soft/passive-aggressive language is repulsive, because it hides the truth: this decision is devastating for the archdiocese that has likely the most TLMs in North America. It also probably indicates as true the rumor of a further document in July banning ad orientem in the Novus Ordo (used at several locations throughout the diocese) [Update: Not a rumor anymore - see end of post]. Detroit was a massive and very public sign of all the good Summorum Pontificum accomplished -- Weisenburger was sent there by Francis to put an end to that.

4. To be truly pastoral, it seems the new archbishop (installed just this past March) could have followed the example of the nearby Diocese of Saginaw and written the Holy See for an extension (allowing the TLM to continue in the meantime). He did no such thing. Because he obviously enjoys being a cruel anti-liturgical enforcer. Remember: for them, the cruelty is the method.

***

Letter from Archbishop Weisenburger regarding the celebration of the traditional Latin Mass in the Archdiocese of Detroit

June 13, 2025

Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Ab ortu enim solis usque ad occasum, magnum est nomen meum in gentibus, et in omni loco sacrificatur : et offertur nomini meo oblatio munda, quia magnum est nomen meum in gentibus, dicit Dominus exercituum. (Mal. 1:11)

From the National Catholic Register:

After 12 Years, a Pope who Applauds, Loves, and Thanks Priests

After 12 years of insults, belittling, mocking of priests by Francis -- a beautiful address by Pope Leo XIV in his meeting with the clergy of the Diocese of Rome:

I want to ask for a big round of applause for all of you who are here, and for all the priests and deacons of Rome!

Dear Priests and Deacons who provide your service in the diocese of Rome, dear seminarians, I greet you all with affection and friendship!

From Saginaw, Michigan: Bishop allows TLM to continue in parish, overturning previous decision to end it

Saginaw Bishop allows TLM to continue in parish, overturning previous decision to end it --

"Bishop Gruss has said the Latin Mass can continue at Holy Family in Saginaw every Sunday at 3pm"

10 Years After its Abolition by Francis, Leo XIV repristinates Imposition of Pallium in Rome

In 2015, Francis abolished the ceremony of the personal imposition of the Pallium on new archbishops by the pope's own hand in Rome.

At the time, this rupture was presented, as usual, as a positive thing:

You are already, as people, an image of the Catholic Church, since a diplomatic Corps as universal as ours does not exist in any other country in the world. However, at the same time, I believe that one may equally say that no other country in the world has a diplomatic Corps as united as you are: because your, our, communion is not merely functional, nor an idea; we are united in Christ and we are united in the Church. It is interesting to reflect on this fact: that the diplomacy of the Holy See constitutes in its very staff a model – certainly not perfect, but very meaningful – of the message it proposes: that of human fraternity and peace among all peoples.

Pentecost Monday

Closing Mass of Pilgrimage - Cathedral of Our Lady of Chartres

Bishop Philippe Christory, Bishop of Chartres

Pope Leo has just written a message to the Catholic Church in France on the anniversary of the canonisation of Saint John Eudes, Saint John-Mary Vianney, and Saint Thérèse of Lisieux. The Pope tells us: “they loved Jesus unreservedly in a simple, strong and authentic way; they experienced His goodness and tenderness in a special daily closeness, and they bore witness to Him with admirable missionary enthusiasm.” That says it all: love, closeness, and proclamation. May Jesus be the source, the centre, the raison d’être of our lives, as He was for these saints.

Pentecost Sunday Homily at Chartres Pilgrimage - Bp. Athanasius Schneider: "What does it mean to be Catholic? It means Christ is the king of my life: that I am never ashamed to confess Christ."

Sunday June 8, 2025

Les Courlis

Bishop Athanasius Schneider

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen

Closing Mass of the Chartres Pilgrimage - Notre-Dame de Chartres Cathedral (Pentecost Monday) - #NDC2025

Live now:

Happy Pentecost! - And a Blessed Whitsuntide!

The third major noticeable difference between the traditional Liturgical Year of the Latin Church and the 1969/1970 novelty -- following the abandonment of Ember Weeks and of Septuagesimatide -- is the week that started yesterday with the Pentecost Vigil and ends in one week with Pentecost Saturday.

It is Pentecost Octave, or Whitsuntide, and we are very happy to keep this Tradition going.

A very happy Whitsuntide to all of you!

Cardinal Eijk: Pope Leo will restore unity to the Church -- Something is happening with the Young People in Europe

2021: The Bishop of Haarlem-Amsterdam, Bp. Hendriks,
confirming 16 young faithful among them 9 converted young adults
at the FSSP Personal Parish of St. Joseph in the St. Agnes Church in Amsterdam

***

“Pope Leo will restore unity to the Church." -- Cardinal Wim Eijk speaks

One month ago took place the Conclave that elected Robert Francis Prevost to the Throne of Peter: “There are many issues in the Church where there is disagreement, and internal discord is not good for us”

Matteo Matzuzzi

Il Foglio

June 7, 2025

[Edited to leave just questions and answers]

Rome.

Cardinal Willem Jacobus Eijk, Archbishop of Utrecht, was at his second Conclave. Today, almost a month after the election of Leo XIV, he tells Il Foglio about his first impressions of the new pope and what the new pontiff's priorities are (or may be).

In his speeches, Prevost often speaks of unity. Unity also of and in the Church. Is that the case?

The Paris-Chartres Pilgrimage started earlier today, with an opening Mass in the massive Church of Saint-Sulpice, in Paris:

The pilgrims are on their way, 20 thousand marching towards Our Lady's shrine in Chartres. Let us keep them in our prayers.

A Life Lived Well - and a Medieval Swedish Church celebrating its First Mass since the Reformation because of it

From reader N.A. in Sweden, in a letter sent to friends and acquaintances of John Bogärde, a pioneer of the revival of the Traditional Latin Mass in Sweden and a father of seven, who recently passed away at 44:

On the occasion of the consecration of the pilgrimage, a traditional mass was celebrated in the prestigious church of the Madeleine (Saint Mary Magdalen), in Paris.

One Month of Leo XIV

by Caminante Wanderer

Argentina, June 5, 2025

Almost a month has passed since the beginning of thge pontificate of Leo XIV. In this blog we said that we would be waiting for the first one hundred days, and there is still more than half of it to go. However, that does not prevent us from gradually getting an idea of his character, based on his words and first decisions.

Wolfe: Farewell, for now

It has been an honor to occasionally write for Rorate, especially on liturgy, sacraments and sacred music. The same goes for the op-eds in newspapers I have been fortunate to have published on the Latin Mass over the last several years.

New Pope - New Methods: Charlotte Bishop Martin Pauses Restrictions on Latin Mass until (at least) October

Thank you to all Catholics who reached out to request a reprieve -- and to all authorities who asked the bishop of Charlotte, Michael Martin, to be reasonable in his struggle against the Traditional Latin Mass. Did he get a phone call about his restrictions? Apparently...

Here's hoping this minor reprieve will be extended indefinitely. (Notice important point near the middle of the article: "In the interim, Bishop Martin said, should the Vatican issue any official changes to Traditionis Custodes, the diocese would abide by those instructions.")

From his diocesan newspaper:

CHARLOTTE — Changes to Traditional Latin Mass offerings in the Diocese of Charlotte will take effect Oct. 2 to align with a deadline mandated by the Vatican – not July 8 as previously planned, Bishop Michael Martin announced Tuesday.

Sol Iustitiæ illustra nos

Chaperoning two friends from abroad at local attractions, one of them remarked that I seemed very optimistic about the new pope, Leo XIV. I tried to correct him: not optimistic, just not jolted by fear all the time anymore.

As soon as we were born, we needed others in order to live; left to ourselves, we would not have survived. Someone else saved us by caring for us in body and spirit. All of us are alive today thanks to a relationship, a free and freeing relationship of human kindness and mutual care.

Europe is assisting its own suicide

H/T Il Nuovo Arengario

and Marco Tosatti

Dear Readers, Professor Bernardino Monejano of Buenos Aires offers us the following reflections on the present state of the European continent.

§§§

Europe is assisting its own suicide

Time Cover, February 28^th 2005

The first steps taken by Pope Leo XIV at the helm of the Church are largely satisfying the expectations of the cardinals who elected him. The eminent prelates were looking for a good shepherd, but even more so they trusted that the new pontiff would be able to restore balance to a form of government that, under Pope Francis, had taken on authoritarian tendencies and destabilized the clergy and the faithful with numerous acts considered overly bold.

Leone has first of all reestablished—with kindness but firmness—the dignity proper to the Supreme Pontiff with small but significant gestures. The new Pope willingly accepts the kissing of his hand as a sign of respect and reverence, but woe betide anyone who asks him for a selfie, a symbol of the pop decadence to which Bergoglio had become so accustomed. Even his outward appearance has returned to that befitting the successor of Peter, with more appropriate and formal attire: the Pope wears the choral vestments (rocchetto and red mozzetta over the cassock) on formal occasions and wears the Fisherman's Ring he received last Sunday on a daily basis.

Furthermore, since the evening of his election, Leone has not slept in Santa Marta, preferring to stay temporarily in the house where he lived as cardinal in the Palazzo Sant'Uffizio.

The Pope broke the seals of the papal apartment on the third floor of the Apostolic Palace, viewing the rooms where all his predecessors lived from 1870 to 2013 and where he intends to settle as soon as the necessary renovation work has been carried out.

During his twelve years in Santa Marta, Francis caused several problems of public order and security, but also economic problems. The famous “fifty square meters” where Bergoglio stayed in the hotel intended for cardinals in conclave gradually became numerous rooms until they occupied the entire second floor. A kitchen, a reception room, a private chapel, and several rooms for his closest collaborators have been set up in recent years, making the spaces in Santa Marta used by the pontiff much larger than the historic papal apartment.

All this has involved a great deal of work and, above all, maintenance, not to mention the doubling of security, which must be guaranteed at the Apostolic Palace, making it necessary to hire new gendarmerie officers and enlist numerous additional Swiss guards compared to the past. The costs of the operation, which are anything but modest, have risen over the years, reaching the hyperbolic figure of almost two hundred thousand euros per month for the management of Santa Marta during the last period of Francis' reign.

Leone has therefore decided to carry out his function with dignity and wisdom: he will live where the popes have always stayed, and Santa Marta will return to its ordinary use.

(Translated from Il Tempo)

Pope Leo XIV's message to the Bishops of France on the 100th Anniversary of the Canonizations of Sts. Therese of Lisieux, John Vianney, and John Eudes

MESSAGE OF POPE LEO XIV

TO THE CONFERENCE OF BISHOPS OF FRANCE

I am happy to be able to address you for the first time, pastors of the Church of France, and through you, all your faithful, as this month of May 2025 marks the one hundredth anniversary of the canonization of three Saints whom, by the grace of God, your country has given to the universal Church: Saint John Eudes (1601-1680), Saint John Mary Vianney (1786-1859) and Saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus and the Holy Face (1873-1897). In raising them to the glory of the altars, my predecessor Pius XI wanted to present them to the People of God as teachers to listen to, models to imitate, and powerful supporters to pray to and invoke. The scale of the challenges facing the Church in France a century later, and the continuing relevance of these three holy figures in meeting them, lead me to invite you to give special prominence to this anniversary.

An Apostolic Church or a "Synodality" Church?

Caminante Wanderer

Argentina, May 29. 2025

Saint Charles Borromeo and one of the Diocesan Synods he presided in Milan

One of the most pressing and certainly most complex issues that Pope Leo will have to resolve is that of the famous synodality. He is a canonist and a man of government and he knows, therefore, that continuing along the path of a synodal church that Francis had irresponsibly opened would lead to a catastrophe. For those of us who are laymen in theology and canon law, I recommend this article ["The Pope and the Prefectress"] published in Infovaticana. And I summarize the issue: the ius regendi, or the power to govern, is given by the sacrament of Holy Orders. That is to say, only those who have received that sacrament can perform valid acts of government within the Church. Consequently, neither laymen nor nuns can govern. And it is not a question of fashion; it is a profoundly theological question that was strongly reaffirmed by the Second Vatican Council.

Rorate Exclusive: The Anti-Traditional and Anti-Liturgical Pastoral Letter to be Sent by the Bishop of Charlotte on Liturgical Norms in His Diocese

Rorate was able to obtain the letter written by the Bishop of Charlotte, North Carolina, Michael Martin OFM Conv, who last week decreed the almost extinction of the Traditional Latin Mass in his diocese. This letter is supposed to be made public sometime in the future, and it was being kept secret (since it was written while Francis was still pope, Francis is referenced in the document -- it also leads to believe that the decision to extinguish the Traditonal Mass in the diocese was taken while Francis was still pope). We are making it known to you now.

The letter, which is dedicated to a completely anti-liturgical and anti-traditional overhaul also of the Mass of Paul VI (the Novus Ordo Missae), is transcribed in its entirety below. The micromanagement of all aspects of the new mass in order to make it as anti-traditional as possible is quite astonishing. Some aspects of this have already been implemented at places where the bishop says mass (for instance, he forbids Communion from being distributed at the rail when he celebrates mass in churches that normally do that.)

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“Go In Peace, Glorifying the Lord By Your Life”
A Pastoral Letter on the Celebration of the Liturgy
in the Diocese of Charlotte

My brother priests,

Since my appointment as the bishop of the Church of Charlotte, I have had the privilege of visiting many of our parish churches, schools, and communities. I am edified by the liturgical fervor of the majority of people that I have encountered throughout the diocese. The heart of the ritual and sacramental life of the Church is to draw us into the saving work of Jesus. The liturgy and our sacramental life always send us out to fulfill the saving work of Jesus, building his kingdom that is manifest in the Pentecost moment and the birth of the Church. For this reason, we hear at the end of the Mass as two of the options for the dismissal, “Go in peace, glorifying the Lord by your life,” and, “Go and announce the Gospel of the Lord” (Roman Missal, “The Order of Mass,” n. 144) The dynamism of the liturgy compels us to live the saving work of Christ out in the world. As we all seek to live as sons and daughters of God, we must take every opportunity to reflect upon the life of the Church within the walls of our church buildings and outside the walls.

A Warning to Traditional Catholics in the Wake of TLM Closures

Dear faithful,

It has unfortunately come to my attention over the years that an unscrupulous individual “ambulance chaser” type with a canon law degree has been approaching unsuspecting traditional Catholics with promises of aiding in canonical redress with their bishops after their local TLM has been canceled.

For the Record: The Anti-Liturgical Bishop of Charlotte's Talking Points to Defend His Monstrous Anti-Traditional Actions

This was sent to us yesterday, and also first posted online by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf: the talking points shared by the Bishop of Charlotte, Bp. Martin, to explain to the faithful his monstrous anti-traditional actions.

They are so grotesque, and so absurd for any bishop, that it pains us to believe they are real -- but they indeed are. (Inside diocesan sources have confirmed receiving this 4-page document from the chancery.) So we leave them here for the record of current events, hoping that this monstrous overreach may convince Rome to act before it's too late.

(Click on images for larger view.)

"Pax Christiana": Leo XIV Knows that Peace in the World needs Restoring Peace in the Church first

Laurent Dandrieu

Valeurs Actuelles

May 25, 2025

Leo XIV blessing the Romans yesterday from the
loggia of his Cathedral, the Lateran Basilica

Peace: this was the leitmotif of Leo XIV's first public appearance, shortly after he was elected 266th successor of Peter, on May 8. "Peace be with you all! were his first words.