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

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“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? 

“Liturgy is not a toy of popes; it is the heritage of the Church” — Very strong statement on Traditionis Custodes by Bp. Rob Mutsaerts (Den Bosch, Netherlands)

Rob Mutsaerts, Auxiliary Bishop of ‘s-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands, published this strong statement on his blog. The pope has asked frequently for parrhesia, and now he's getting a good dose of it from around the world. Translation prepared for Rorate Caeli.—PAK

An Evil Edict from Pope Francis

Bp. Rob Mutsaerts

Auxiliary Bishop of ‘s-Hertogenbosch

Pope Francis promotes synodality: everyone should be able to talk, everyone should be heard. This was hardly the case with his recently published motu proprio Traditionis Custodes, an ukase [imperial edict] that must put an immediate termination on the traditional Latin Mass. In so doing, Francis puts a big bold line through Summorum Pontificum, Pope Benedict’s motu proprio that gave ample scope to the old Mass.

The fact that Francis here uses the word of power without any consultation indicates that he is losing authority. This was already evident earlier when the German Bishops’ Conference took no notice of the Pope’s advice regarding the synodality process. The same occurred in the United States when Pope Francis called on the Bishops’ Conference not to prepare a document on worthy Communion. The pope must have thought that it would be better [in this case] not to give advice any more, but rather a writ of execution, now that we’re talking about the traditional Mass!