Vatican City – The lines seem to have hardened in the dispute over the “Old Mass.” Pope Leo XIV has therefore devised an unusual approach intended to foster peace—until a final solution is found.
Pope Leo XIV intends to temporarily end the long-standing dispute over the pre-conciliar liturgy with a compromise. With the motu proprio “Retrograde semper,” he permits all the faithful to turn their backs on the priest during the celebration of Mass—regardless of the missal used. The new rules will take effect on April 1 until a comprehensive revision of the Missal is completed. They are intended to ensure that the direction of the celebration does not lead to further division and, instead, allows individual believers to celebrate Mass in a form that suits them, in spiritual autonomy.
The letter goes on to state that this compromise was chosen because the controversy over the liturgy is often reduced to the direction in which the priest faces during the celebration. The Mass is celebrated “ad orientem” according to the 1962 Missal—that is, facing the same direction as the congregation—while under the liturgical reform, it is generally, though not necessarily, celebrated “versus populum,” that is, facing the congregation. At times, instead of the solution now reached, a version was also under discussion in which the priest regularly turns around (“sicut sol”). However, due to negative experiences with changing directions of celebration during the reform of the Syro-Malabar liturgy, this variant was rejected.
Several variants for a final solution under discussion
The motu proprio explicitly describes the now-approved form as a transitional arrangement until a final decision is reached regarding the 1962 Missal. According to Vatican observers, several options are currently being considered, two of which are on the shortlist. On the one hand, the proposal by Geoffroy Kemlin, abbot of the French Benedictine Abbey of Solesmes, to include both forms in a single missal is highly favored. On the other hand, the possibility of a synchronous concelebration is said to be among the promising proposals. In this arrangement, two priests celebrate the newer and the older forms in parallel. According to a proposal by the former Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship, Cardinal Robert Sarah, differences in pace and detail are to be balanced by additional moments of silence.
Last week, the Pope had already informed the French Bishops’ Conference that liturgical peace is a matter of great concern to him. “The Holy Father is following this issue with particular attention in light of the growth of communities attached to the traditional liturgy,” reads a letter from Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin to the French Bishops’ Conference. It is “worrying that a painful wound in the Church continues to widen because of the celebration of the Mass, which is, after all, the sacrament of unity.” (fxn)
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!ping CHRISTIAN
Submission Statement:
The dispute between conservatives and liberals within the Catholic Church has been ongoing for a long time. With the dwindling number of believers in many Western countries and new growth primarily in the more conservative churches in Africa, conservative elements appear to have gained additional influence. This development is surprising, as Pope Leo was actually widely regarded as a successor to the line of Francis. It will also be interesting to see, incidentally, whether this will cause the reform and restriction of the American Catholic Church, which is considered conservative, to falter.
As a lapsed Catholic, we stan an American pope who promotes unity and harmony among the universal church (I don’t know what the issue is about).
the vast majority of catholics dont care which way the priest faces; it is the “trads” who love gatekeeping “tradition”