Paix liturgique

On June 28, following the consistory of June 26 and 27 convened by Pope Leo XIV, Cardinal Burke gave an important interview to The College of Cardinals Report (https://share.google/u8hh4lsiDxJ2y5V9S).

The interview focused primarily on synodality, the most important of the four topics addressed at the consistory, a subject particularly significant for Leo XIV. “I need your support: a firm, explicit, and public support,” the Pope said, apparently responding to criticisms directed at synodality. But he also affirmed: “I need your freedom, your openness, and your loyalty; sincere advice is always an act of communion.”

In this interview, Cardinal Burke is remarkably candid. He criticized the lack of a definition of synodality and expressed his deep concern about this new issue, as he did during the consistory. Synodality, as it is presented today, lacks a foundation in ecclesiastical tradition. While synods have long existed as occasional consultative meetings, the cardinal emphasized that they are not constitutive elements of the Church's nature. He therefore insisted that this process “has to be stopped” and that a very serious study be undertaken on the whole matter, because we are talking about the very life of the Church and the salvation of souls. And he added: “The Church does not have paradigm shifts."

But the cardinal also addressed other topics, particularly that of the traditional liturgy. "It is a form of the Roman rite that was celebrated for more than fifteen centuries.” “It’s been a great enrichment to me as a priest and bishop,” the Cardinal said. praising the beauty of this liturgy and the spiritual fruits it brings to those who practice it. These faithful “are just devout Catholics who are trying to live their faith at as intense a level as possible and hand it on. One of the marks of the traditional Latin Mass community is that there are many children, and the parents are very concerned to hand on to their children the Catholic faith.”

Hence his claim: “This should be allowed freely.” He went on to criticize the restrictions imposed by Traditionis Custodes, which he described as “persecution” against those who are spiritually nourished by worshiping according to the Usus Antiquior of the Roman Rite. “There can be no question in anybody’s mind, and Pope Benedict XVI made it so clear: [the vetus ordo] is an eternal good in the Church.” 

Therefore, it is appropriate for the Pope to review and modify the legislation of Traditionis Custodes, because what one Pope has done, another can undo, and vice versa. His proposal is extremely to the point: to create a special body within the Church government to help and take care of the questions related to Catholics who wish to live their faith according to the traditional form and receive all the sacraments in this way. Does Cardinal Burke mean the resurrection of the Ecclesia Dei Commission? Actually, more than that: “We need a Dicastery.” In his opinion, just as there is a Dicastery for the clergy, one for bishops, and one for divine worship in general, there should be a Dicastery for the traditional liturgy and for all the faithful and priests (and why not bishops) who wish to practice it.

From the moment Pope Francis was elected, dismantling the Ecclesia Dei Commission was a priority for those who supported Bergoglio's pontificate, who considered it, in their own words, “a state within the state.” Today, the climate in Rome remains unchanged and as hostile as ever. In an interview with The Tablet on July 29, Cardinal Roche, essentially responding to Cardinal Burke, said: “Pope Leo is not going to change Traditionis Custodes nor is he going to return to Summorum Pontificum.”

Thus, the idea put forward by Cardinal Burke may seem wishful or ineffective. But it is a wish expressed by a cardinal who chooses his words carefully. Like it or not, the traditional liturgy is a fact, a “problem,” as Pope Leo says. It is there, whatever we do, like a large stumbling stone in middle of the road. We cannot avoid coming across or stumbling over it.

In short, dear Parisian sentinels, you are also that stone, the stone that the administrators of the diocesan curia and the ecclesiastical authorities encounter on their way to and from the archbishop's offices, 10 rue du Cloître-Notre-Dame, and that they see praying the rosary there, Monday to Friday, from 1:00 to 1:30 p.m., just as it is prayed at Saint-Georges de La Villette, 114 avenue Simon Bolivar, on Wednesdays and Fridays at 5:00 p.m., and also before Notre-Dame du Travail, on Sundays at 6:15 p.m.