The (Hidden) Good News of Francis’ Suppression of the Latin Mass

The recent issuing of the motu proprio “Traditionis Custodes” and the subsequent Response to the Dubia (questions) regarding its implementation has sent shockwaves across the Catholic world. Most recently, Cardinal Cupich of Chicago has taken steps to ban the Traditional Latin Mass (TLM) on all the most important holidays, like Christmas and Easter and the first Sunday of every month. So, if you are in Chicago and don’t want to go to a Novus Ordo (NO), you are basically out of luck.

Personally, I’ve attended the TLM about half a dozen times. I’m lucky that a very reverent and traditional-minded priest runs my Parrish. Our NO is very reverent, so I’m not compelled to find an alternative. However, if a Parrish close enough to me had a regular Sunday TLM, I would choose that over the NO. Why? Because I realized the truth of the phrase, “Lex orandi, lex credenda,” which means “the law of worship determines the law of belief.”  How we worship helps determine what we believe. When you attend a TLM, everything: from the priest facing “Ad orientem” to the long periods of silence, you immediately realize that you are not worthy of being a participant in what is about to happen. Pride is the original sin, and humility is its antidote. The TLM teaches you to be humble in the presence of God. 

The basic form of the TLM was established around A.D. 600 during the pontificate of Pope St. Gregory the Great. It remained essentially unchanged until the Second Vatican Council ended in 1965, so call it 1,300 years of consistent written tradition. As Catholics, we know that tradition is one of the three pillars of the faith (the other two being Scripture and the Teaching Authority of the Church). Of course, St. Paul wrote, “Therefore, brethren, stand fast; and hold the traditions which you have learned, whether by word or by our epistle.” 2 Thessalonians 2:15. The basic structure of the Mass is even older. It’s recorded in scripture in the Last Supper and the Road to Emmaus, developed over the early centuries, and only then is it institutionalized and preserved for thirteen centuries; it is one of, it not the most well-established traditions in the Catholic Church. Therefore, as Catholics, we can conclude that the Mass, in the traditional Latin form, is inspired and developed by the Holy Spirit. To conclude otherwise would be to suggest that God had failed to guide the Church for over 1,900 years; that’s not possible.

So, around 1965 the NO was promulgated and effectively replaced the TLM. Afterward, there was a relatively small movement to preserve the TLM. This movement blossomed and grew significantly after 2007 when Pope Benedict issued his motu proprio “Summorum Pontificum” and effectively extended to every priest the “right” to say the TLM. The movement grew, and in part because of it, the widespread corruption within the Church was exposed. Fundamentally, as people rediscovered the TLM, they realized they had been deprived of something beautiful. That realization awakened them a willingness to be more critical of the hierarchy of the Church. The laity realized that the infallibility of the Pope and the Magisterium did not apply to every decision. When the laity awakened and became more vocal, the scandals that broke over the years couldn’t be covered up. When they stray so far from the truth as to be routinely covering up sin, scandal, and criminal conduct, the hierarchy can and must be challenged. The awake and now noisy sheep began to bleat at the bishops, and when they invariably failed to make necessary changes, the TLM movement grew exponentially. At the NO Parrish, the priest wasn’t allowed to preach on the sins of abortion, homosexuality, and Marxism, but the TLM Parrish was preaching the truth. Of course, as people vote with their feet, they also vote with their wallets. Therefore, attendance and donations at NO Parrish’s went down and simultaneously grew at TLM Parrish’s. Since many TLM Parrish’s were independent, this money did not flow back to the bishops.  So the donations dried up while the sheep simultaneously complained louder and more often about the failings of the hierarchy.

That brings us to today. Under the guise of “unity,” Pope Francis seeks to suppress the TLM. People more learned and well connected than me have written about why a Pope would seek to do such a thing, but I will take Francis at his word. He is correct; the TLM movement has brought disunity to the Church. Francis repeatedly portrays the cause of this disunity as the “traditionalists” rejecting Vatican II and the authority of the Church. However, on that issue, he is wrong. The disunity comes not from “traditionalists” criticisms of Vatican II but rather from the modernists having been discovered and their decades of scandal and abuse come to light. When evil is discovered and outed, it lashes out. Thus, the hierarchy which for decades has been complicit in scandal now seeks to suppress the TLM because fundamentally, the traditionalist movement was the catalyst of their discovery and eventual ruin.

And therein lies the hidden good news of Pope Francis’ attempted suppression of the TLM. Why did Pope Francis issue a lengthy motu proprio to suppress the TLM, followed by a clarification, followed by further suppression by his favorite American Cardinal? Why didn’t he just issue a short one-paragraph declaration that the TLM is suppressed and cannot be said by any priest, anywhere in the world, at any time?

Possible answers include that the Missal of Pope Gregory is protected by a subsequent encyclical, “Quo Primum” which states that it is perpetual and cannot be abrogated. Perhaps it was a tactical decision knowing that the rebellion against such an action would be immediate and widespread, better to slowly tighten the rules against the “troublemakers.” However, I think the reason is more straightforward. Fundamentally, the infallibility of the Pope is a “negative charism.” The infallibility of the Pope does not mean that he will always be right and articulate the faith in the clearest, most articulate way possible. Fundamentally, infallibility means the Pope will not teach error, and if he tries, the Holy Spirit will work in some manner to prevent it. The good news is, I believe that is what we see here. Can anyone really doubt that Pope Francis would ban the TLM outright if he could? Yet he didn’t. Rather, he put out a long, nasty-toned, motu proprio that not only reveals more of his personality that he tries to keep hidden, but it fails to accomplish what he desires. So much so that he had to clarify it with a second document that is so much more onerous, more didactic, and off-putting than the first document that it can’t help but harden everyone’s previous positions. No serious traditionalist will run to the NO now that Francis has “clarified” his motu proprio. 

So, take heart, brethren! The TLM is a holy tradition of the one true Church. He will not let the Pope teach error. The Holy Spirit continues to protect his Church.