Attack on Chartres: FULL TEXT of the Letter of Bishops of France in Consultation with the Dicastery for Divine Worship (Cardinal Roche) on Traditional Pilgrimages

For some reason, some have reduced to the rank of a simple "rumor" our previous post transcribing the comment by the French Association "Paix Liturgique" on the attack by Abp. Jordy, Archbishop of Tours and assigned by the French Conference of Bishops (CEF) to deal with Traditional Catholics.

Naturally, we would not have posted such a grave matter based on a simple rumor. No, the letter on general norms on all Traditional Catholic pilgrimages in France does exist, and our translation of it is transcribed below. It was a letter based on correspondence sent by Abp. Jordy and other anti-Traditional French bishops to the Dicastery for Divine Worship, headed by Cardinal Roche, and its intent is obviously to create all kinds of embarrassment to the organizers of the Paris-Chartres Pilgrimage and all other pilgrimages in France. It is shameful and, unfortunately, it is not a "rumor".

***

Paris, Tuesday, May 6, 2025

Dear brother bishops,

The Bishops of France and Cardinal Roche Still at War Against the Traditional Pilgrimages of France -- What Will Leo XIV do?

 

Sometimes, decisions can wait. At other times, they have to be made fast.

In April and early May, making use of the interregnum for their nefarious ends, the anti-traditional bishops of France negotiated with Cardinal Roche, Prefect of Divine Worship, in order to make as hard as possible the celebration of the Traditional Latin Mass and sacraments in the Paris-Chartres Pilgrimage -- and all other pilgrimages in France. [Update: Full text of the Letter of the French Bishops here.]

Leo XIV was not involved in these decisions. What will he do now? What will Roche do now?

From Paix Liturgique:

Cardinal Roche's Dicastery for Divine Worship and Cardinal Aveline's Conference of French Bishops wish that the traditional pilgrimages flourishing in France be brought into the liturgical order of Paul VI.

Leo XIV: Synodality with Ecumenism

Leo XIV, today, in Audience to Representatives of other Christian Communities and Other Religions:

"Aware, moreover, that synodality and ecumenism are closely related, I wish to assure my intention to continue Pope Francis' commitment to promoting the synodal character of the Catholic Church and developing new and concrete forms for an ever more intense synodality in the ecumenical field.

Leo XIV Inauguration Mass - Full Text of the Sermon: "Peter must shepherd the flock without ever yielding to the temptation to be an autocrat."

Leo XIV

Mass for the Inauguration of the Petrine Ministry of the Supreme Pontiff

Saint Peter's Square, May 18, 2025

Dear Brother Cardinals, Brother Bishops and Priests, Distinguished Authorities and Members of the Diplomatic Corps, and those who traveled here for the Jubilee of Confraternities, Brothers and Sisters:

I greet all of you with a heart full of gratitude at the beginning of the ministry that has been entrusted to me. Saint Augustine wrote: “Lord, you have made us for yourself, and our heart is restless until it rests in you” (Confessions, I: 1,1).

Personal Reflections on the Election of Pope Leo XIV - by Fr. Richard Cipolla

 for Rorate Cæli

May 16, 2025

Within hours after the election of Pope Leo XIV,  Cardinal Burke sent the new Pope a heartfelt message of congratulations:

Leo XIV: The Church Must Always Speak the Truth, "resorting whenever necessary to blunt language that may initially create misunderstanding"

 The central message of the new pope in his address to the Diplomatic Corps today:

Leo P.P. XIV - Official Portrait

(Click for larger view and/or for printing)

Prayer for the Pope:
[Partial indulgence granted: Enchiridion indulgentiarum, IV ed. (al. conc., 25, 1°)]

“Let’s sing with the Pope”: New Initiative from the Pontifical Institute of Sacred Music (PIMS) - Videos for Learning Basic Chant

 From the PIMS Instagram account:

“Let’s sing with the Pope” is a new initiative from the Pontifical Institute of Sacred Music (PIMS), which is launching a series of short educational video tutorials on social media to help the People of God sing along with the Holy Father during the upcoming major liturgical celebrations.

It aims to make the rich heritage of Gregorian chant accessible to all—a universal musical and spiritual language for celebrations such as papal Masses and to promote active and conscious participation in the liturgy.

FR. Robert Mehlhart OP, Rector of the Institute, presents simple, singable chants that are easy to learn, encouraging active and meaningful participation.

The Pontifical Institute of Sacred Music currently has 153 students from 44 countries; 10 of them will sing in the guide choir at the inaugural Mass of Pope Leo XIV’s pontificate.

Video below, from their YouTube page:

5-Day Silent Ignatian Men's and Women's Retreats in Ohio, July 2025 - Register Today

Una Voce Federation President: Message on Leo XIV ("A Pope of the Anglosphere")

A Pope of the Anglosphere

Joseph Shaw

President, Una Voce Federation (FIUV)

During the reign of Pope Francis, a lot of attention was, rightly, given to his Argentinian background, and the Argentinian assumptions and habits of minds that he may have carried. I am grateful to our Argentinian friends who helped us to understand what was going on, during a rather confusing time. Now we have a Pope from the English-speaking world – even if he has spent a great deal of time in Peru – and I feel that I can more easily understand him.

Cardinal Müller to the Associated Press on the Latin Mass and the new Pope: "According to his character, I think he is able to speak with people and to find a very good solution that is good for everybody."

A good portion of the interview granted by Cardinal Gerhard Ludwig Müller in Rome to Nicole Winfield, of the Associated Press, was dedicated to the central question of the Traditional Latin Mass -- central because Francis chose to make it so by creating division in a matter that Benedict XVI had settled peacefully. It would honestly be a muted matter now if Francis had just left it alone.

Main excerpts:

They went into last week’s conclave vastly outnumbered and smarting after being sidelined by Pope Francis for 12 years. And yet conservatives and traditionalist Catholics are cautiously optimistic over the historic election of Pope Leo XIV, hopeful that he will return doctrinal rigor to the papacy, even as progressives sense he will continue Francis’ reformist agenda.

Better destruction than devotion: Indiana Novus Ordo parish kicks out Latin Mass community, gets closed by bishop several years later

An Indiana parish that ran to the National Catholic Reporter to stir up animosity against the Latin Mass community found out this week it will be closed due to lack of vitality.

St. Joseph's Church, Hammond, IN

On Sunday, the parish officially announced it would be closing sometime in 2026, following a series of discussions with other churches in the area over how to address demographic changes and a declining number of priests.

Yet things could have gone so differently.

Leo XIV on Liturgy: "We have great need to recover the sense of mystery that remains alive in your [Eastern] liturgies."

Hierarchical Divine Liturgy in Rome for Jubilee Pilgrims from the Eparchy of Mukachevo (May 12, 2025)

***

 

In his audience with Eastern Catholics in Rome for the Jubilee:

I would also like to mention Pope Leo XIII, the first Pope to devote a specific document to the dignity of your Churches, inspired above all by the fact that, in his words, “the work of human redemption began in the East” (cf. Apostolic Letter Orientalium Dignitas, 30 November 1894).

PINNED: Leo XIV: the Man, the Priest, and the Bishop - Who is He? An Assessment, by RORATE CÆLI

[PINNED MAY 11 POST, newer posts below]

Who Is He?

by Serre Verweij

for Rorate Cæli

May 10, 2025

Robert Francis Prevost has become Pope Leo XIV. Before May 8, 2025, most people did not know the name Prevost, but now he is the chief shepherd of over a billion Catholics. Both orthodox Catholics and modernists have been celebrating, while there have been naysayers on both sides, too. This reflects the fact Prevost was touted as a ‘compromise candidate’ and pushed by strong prelates on both sides. Both the orthodox and the modernists seem to think, or hope, that the new Pope actually leans more in their direction, with orthodox faithful especially being optimistic after his more traditional choice of papal attire and his orthodox first papal mass. So, to put it crudely, the real question is: who got played? 

To fully understand our new Pope it could help to look into his past statements, actions, and general career, starting with his recent rise in Rome. 

The meteoric rise

Testimonies on Father and Bishop Prevost - from Illinois and Peru

From Illinois, the following note from a priest: 

The former Fr. Prevost was an assistant pastor at St. Jude in New Lenox for a time, not far from where we serve.  It is an Augustinian parish.  

The strong and firm consensus about him in this area is that he is smart, quiet, and kind.

***

The Priestly Fraternity of Saint Peter (FSSP) in North America has annual missions to northern Peru, especially in the city of Piura. There, they are warmly welcomed by an American priest, Father Joe (Joseph Uhen), of the Santísimo Sacramento Parish.

Fatima and Pope Leo XIV

by Fr. Jay Finelli

Today is the 108th Anniversary of the First Apparition of Our Lady of Fatima. Let us examine the prophetic link between Fatima, Pope Leo XIII, and Pope Leo XIV.

FRIENDS OF CAMPOS: Help the only Diocesan Structure in the World Exclusively Dedicated to the Traditional Mass

Friends of CAMPOS, BRAZIL: EASTERTIDE

Aldo Maria Valli: "Time to Return to a Normal Pope."

 Aldo Maria Valli, the former Vaticanist for Italian state broadcaster RAI (and very critical of the last pontificate, as every sensible Catholic), concluded his article today with these words:

"Before and After the Conclave" - by Archbishop Héctor Agüer

Before and After the Conclave

Archbishop Héctor Agüer

Emeritus of La Plata, Argentina

Buenos Aires, May 12, 2025

Before the Conclave

Our Long Collective Nightmare is Over

Earlier today, another sign that, no matter what happens, at least a sense of Catholic normalcy is returning to the Vatican.

Video: Leo XIV takes possession of papal apartments in Apostolic Palace - move in 7 weeks

Video below, provided by Italian news agency ANSA:

A RORATE Editorial Note: Kinship

A Pontificate to Continue the Legacy of Christ

On the same day that the Church in Rome buried Pope Francis I had the privilege of offering a funeral Mass and burial for a woman who, almost 40 years ago, was among those who requested of Cardinal Hickey, then Archbishop of Washington, a southern Maryland venue at which to offer the Latin Mass. That location turned out to be my parish of Saint Francis de Sales and I was the priest who took up that task in 2010 as a new pastor there.

The writer with the late Catherine Quinn who, almost forty years ago, was instrumental in restoring the traditional Latin Mass in the Archdiocese of Washington.

Leo XIV: the hope of the Church and the world

 

Dear Readers,  for your consideration, I offer this translation of an Italian  article that  reflects my present thoughts and sentiments regarding the election of Pope Leo XIV, despite initially being worried when I heard his name.  

Paolo Deotto

Il Nuovo Arengario

10th May 2025

Allow me today to speak only of the Pope.

In the coming days we will also return to our customary news, which is, unfortunately, mostly news of a world lost, in the hands of the reckless (in the best of cases) and the wicked (more often than not), where the few who are still lucid and honest are insulted and attacked.

A world that needs to rediscover reason and peace - true peace.

And from whom can this true peace come if not from Christ?

Can we once again look to Rome as a guide and a beacon of light?

I hope so with all my heart. Twelve years of the Bergoglian disaster have filled us with suspicion.  Nor could it be any other way.

Leo XIV to the Lady of Good Counsel

In the guestbook at Genazzano, the city of the Shrine of Our Lady of Good Counsel, which he visited today, Pope Leo XIV wrote the following:  

“Still in the first days of the pontificate, I felt the duty and a deep longing to approach Genazzano, the shrine of Our Lady of Good Counsel, who, throughout my life, has accompanied me with her maternal presence, with her wisdom, and the example of her love for her son who is always the center of my faith. Way, truth and life. 

"Thank you Mother, for your help - accompany me in this new mission”  

Leo PP XIV 

May 10, 2025

Francis Witnesses the Traditional Mass in Saint Mary Major

 The Jubilee Pilgrimage of the Institute of Christ the King had a celebratory Traditional Mass in the Basilica of Saint Mary Major this week.

In the video below (tip: Una Voce Sevilla, Spain), that lighted spot in the background is the recently opened tomb of Francis, which was put in the place of magnificent early 17th-century baroque  wall ands doorway, decorated with the most beautiful stone, destroyed and demolished to accomodate the enormous humility of the humble pontiff.

Leo XIV: Address to the College of Cardinals

Thank you very much, Your Eminence. Before taking our seats, let us begin with a prayer, asking the Lord to continue to accompany this College, and above all the entire Church with this spirit, with enthusiasm, but also with deep faith. Let us pray together in Latin.

Pater noster… Ave Maria…

In the first part of this meeting, there will be a short talk with some reflections that I would like to share with you. But then there will be a second part, a bit like the opportunity that many of you had asked for: a sort of dialogue with the College of Cardinals to hear what advice, suggestions, proposals, concrete things, which have already been discussed in the days leading up to the Conclave.

Dear Brother Cardinals,

Leo XIV and the Future of the Church - by Roberto de Mattei

 Roberto de Mattei

Rome, May 10, 2025

The white smoke rose as a surprise from the chimney of the Sistine Chapel at 6:08 p.m. on Thursday, May 8, as the twilight illuminated the Bernini colonnade. An hour later, St. Peter's Square and Via della Conciliazione were packed with more than a hundred thousand people, while nearly a billion were connected through the media. The crowd, as had happened in 1978 with Pope Wojtyla, did not immediately understand the name of the new pontiff, announced by Cardinal Dominique Mamberti. However, the applause erupted long and thunderous. The square acclaimed the 267th successor of St. Peter, Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost, who assumed the name of Pope Leo XIV. 

Rector of Cathedral in Pope's former Diocese: "I never heard from him one sentence in favor of all these [human sexuality] novelties"

The rector of the Chiclayo Cathedral in the years when Robert Prevost was diocesan ordinary, Fr. Jorge Millan Cotrina, lived with other priests in the residence of the bishop, now Pope Leo XIV, for 8 years.

He was interviewed earlier today by a famous Argentine radio interviewer (YouTube video embedded in the end here, in Spanish); the interviewer pressed him on regarding "LGBT issues." 

After making clear that these "LGBT" issues really are irrelevant in Chiclayo, unlike abroad and in the Peruvian capital Lima, the priest was firm: "He [Leo XIV] knows very well what is the teaching of Christ" on such matters; "he showed it to us in his homilies; I never heard from him one sentence in favor of all these novelties. Rather, he was always a man who tried to put realities in the proper place."

What Italian Daily "Corriere della Sera" Reported on May 1st

Source: Conclave Life, Corriere della Sera, May 1st, 2025.

Excerpt, for the record of current events:

Spiritual Bouquet for Pope Leo XIV

 For traditional Catholics and all Catholics interested in adding their names and prayers to the spiritual bouquet organized by the Latin Mass Society of England and Wales: please click here.

Inaugural Sermon of Leo XIV - Sistine Chapel - Full Text

A very good first sermon of the new Pope in the mass with the Cardinals at the Sistine Chapel. No buzzwords, just Christ-God. Christological, Christ-centered, Patristic.

Leo spoke briefly in English before his sermon, saying:

"I want to repeat the words from the Responsorial Psalm: 'I will sing a new song to the Lord, because He has done marvels,' and indeed, not just with me but with all of us.

"My brother Cardinals, as we celebrate this morning, I invite you to reflect on the marvels the Lord has done, the blessings that the Lord continues to pour out on all of us through the Ministry of Peter.

"You have called me to carry that cross, and to carry out that mission, and I know I can rely on each and every one of you to walk with me, as we continue as a Church, as a community of friends of Jesus, as believers, to announce the Good News, to announce the Gospel."

"You are the Christ, the Son of the living God" (Mt 16:16). In these words, Peter, asked by the Master, together with the other disciples, about his faith in him, expressed the patrimony that the Church, through the apostolic succession, has preserved, deepened and handed on for two thousand years." 

Then, the following homily in Italian:

Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God: the one Saviour, who alone reveals the face of the Father.

For the historical record: Certificate of Acceptance of the Supreme Pontificate

 

Certificate of the Public Instrument of Acceptance of the Roman Pontificate by Cardinal Prevost and formal registration of the name he assumed, drawn up by the Master of Pontifical Liturgical Celebrations acting as notary. (Source: Office of Pontifical Celebrations X account @UCEPO)

Interestingly, the last native English-speaking pope, Cardinal Nicholas Breakspear (Adrian IV), a cardinal of the order of bishops, also had as his cardinalatial title the Suburbicarian See of Albano.

Before Leo XIV, he had been the only Cardinal of that titular see to be elected Roman Pontiff.

The Fast Election of Leo XIV: Now What? - by Fr. Claude Barthe

 Fr. Claude Barthe

May 8, 2025

In the French Academy, we'd call this an “election of a Marshal”: on the second day of the conclave, in the fourth vote, Robert Francis Prevost just won an absolute majority, faster than Cardinal Ratzinger in 2005 and Cardinal Bergoglio in 2013.

Born in Chicago in 1955, a religious of the Augustinian order, a highly competent jurist with long pastoral experience in Peru, where he became Bishop of Chiclayo, he was called by Pope Francis to become Prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops in 2023.

All commentators will now ask whether he will be a faithful follower of Pope Francis. The answer is both yes and no. 

So what to think of the new Pope?

Leo XIV

 It's too soon. 

On the one hand... he is a creature of the Church of Chicago and liberal Villanova University, and the very liberal Catholic Theological Union (even more liberal when he was a student there, in the feverish 1970s);  he has a long life living in the Liberation Theology-filled rural expanses of Peru; on the other, he is a Doctor of Canon Law, after a period in which it was destroyed by arbitrariness.

We are encouraged by his choice of name, by his reasonable opening message, and by his use of the papal mozzetta -- they are all signs of true humility, not the feigned humility of the past few years. We dread the future, we just want peace. Will peace come?...

Oremus pro pontifice nostro Leone XIV

Dominus conservet eum,

et vivificet eum,

et beatum faciat eum in terra,

et non tradat eum

in animam inimicorum eius.

Robert Francis Cardinal Prevost, American, born in the Archdiocese of Chicago, on September 14, 1955, was elected on the 4th vote of the Conclave. His pontifical name is Leo XIV.

Prevost is a former superior of the Order of Saint Augustine, and bishop in Peru (where he had lived much of his religious life), before being named Prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops by Francis.

 

We pray for him and for the happiness, peace, and liberty of the Holy Roman Church, and of the entire Catholic Church.

What Holy Mother Church needs is unity and peace, no more agitation. Since 1959, this permanent state of agitation.

May Our Lord and Our Lady grant us a period of peace. We need peace. We need normality.

God bless the new Pope, and may God protect our Church.

We will soon publish a post with more information on the new Roman Pontiff.

HABEMUS PAPAM

 

A new Pope has been elected after the 4th Vote (3rd of the day): The See is no longer vacant.

We will soon learn his name when the Cardinal Protodeacon announces him from the Loggia of St. Peter's Basilica.

From Rome: Might it be Today?

Habemus Papam? Maybe?

by Aurelio Porfiri

Rome, May 8, 2025

Many people and seasoned Vatican watchers around the Vatican have the impression that today might be the day the new Pope is elected.

I’ve spoken with individuals who have been following Vatican affairs for decades, and they say it would be surprising if no Pope were elected today. Everyone is waiting for the moment when Cardinal Dominique Mamberti appears on the balcony of St. Peter’s (unless he himself is the one elected) to announce the name of the new Pope to the world.

What To Do During The Conclave

The last couple weeks were the important ones for any hope of influence. Media articles lifting up good cardinals. Reports exposing bad cardinals. We can only hope the cardinal electors talked with their sheep, read up on their colleagues, chatted with their colleagues on strategy and came up with a Plan A, Plan B and Plan C, if not more.

The Procession of the Cardinals - Litany of the Saints - Live

You may follow along with the Libretto available here.