Reinstated after a three-year ban, the traditional liturgy fills the Vatican Basilica: over two thousand people attend the pontifical Mass celebrated by Cardinal Burke for the annual Summorum Pontificum gathering. High numbers and a low average age testify to the excellent health of the faithful attached to the Vetus Ordo.
The best image of the Pontifical Mass celebrated by Cardinal Raymond Leo Burke at the altar of St. Peter’s Chair was taken in a joke by Damian Thompson, a brilliant writer for the British magazine The Spectator: “You know it’s an ancient rite when the priests aren’t ancient.” And indeed, what was most striking about Saturday afternoon’s ceremony was the young age not only of the priests but also of all the faithful present.
There were certainly more than two thousand people. The gendarmes and sampietrini noticed this as they found themselves managing the impressive influx for the highlight of the 14th Summorum Pontificum pilgrimage. With the benches and standing room filled to capacity, many were forced to remain in the adjacent aisles, and queues soon formed inside the Basilica. It was a “sweet” inconvenience, if you will, because it testified to the excellent health of the community of lovers of the so-called Tridentine Mass. There was a large turnout and a lot of media attention, with a large contingent of journalists and photographers unlike anything seen before 2022.
The Mass in Vetus Ordo for the Summorum Pontificum pilgrimage had been absent from St. Peter’s for three years, and the last time it was celebrated, it was not pontifical. At that time, Traditionis Custodes had already been in force for more than a year, and the initial stages of a liturgical war were underway, causing serious divisions within the Church during the latter part of Francis’ pontificate. The controversial motu proprio is still there, sadly in full force, but Leo XIV has sent a significant and also conciliatory signal by authorizing this Mass. Hostility to the extraordinary form of the Roman rite is a minority characteristic even in the most progressive faction of the Church, and even those who consider its celebration anachronistic are perplexed about the usefulness of Traditionis Custodes and the restrictive measures that followed it.
Continue reading at Rorate Caeli