England: A Petition from Leading Figures Defends the Tridentine Rite

The signatories first refer to the famous “Agatha Christie” letter, published by The Times on July 6, 1971, in favor of the Latin Mass, “signed by Catholic and non-Catholic artists and writers, including Agatha Christie, Graham Greene and Yehudi Menuhin,” which pushed Paul VI to grant an indult for England.

The letter goes on to report the “worrying reports from Rome that the Latin Mass is to be banished from nearly every Catholic church.” It then advocates for Tridentine Rite, explaining that “The traditional liturgy is a ‘cathedral’ of text and gesture, developing as those venerable buildings did over many centuries.”

It continues by saying that “to destroy it seems an unnecessary and insensitive act [...] The old rite’s ability to encourage silence and contemplation is a treasure not easily replicated, and, when gone, impossible to reconstruct.”

The letter notes that “The signatories include Catholics and non-Catholics, believers and non-believers,” and concludes: “We implore the Holy See to reconsider any further restriction of access to this magnificent spiritual and cultural heritage.”

An Unfounded But Revelatory Rumor

According to an article in La Croix published on July 2, which cites Vatican sources, “the Dicastery for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, which is responsible for the liturgy, is not currently preparing such a document.” The question even irritates a senior Vatican official, who declares: “These are just idle chatter.”

However, The Pillar, which comments on the petition in an article from July 2, reports another side of the story: while admitting that it has not been able to confirm the existence of such a document, it reports that “several curial officials told The Pillar that they understood such a draft existed and that, if promulgated by Pope Francis, it would further restrict the celebration of the old form of the liturgy beyond the provision of the 2021 motu proprio Traditionis custodes.”

What is especially interesting in what follows is showing the mentality of the Curia officials concerned: “One Vatican official told The Pillar that some proponents of new measures to restrict celebration of the TLM were not aiming for complete and total suppression, [...] but rather a kind of ‘quarantine.’”

“The thinking,” The Pillar quotes this official, “and some will put it in these terms, is to ‘force them [traditionalist Catholics] onto reservations,’ with everything that goes with that kind of imagery.” The official continues: “Taking them out of diocesan life, driving them into little pockets around things like the ICKSP, the [Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter] and even the SSPX would take them out of local bishops’ hands.”

The Pillar continues: “‘For the ones pursuing “maximum TC”, it would be a welcome relief,’ he said. ‘And for those bishops who have been pushing back [by seeking to make space for traditionally minded communities] it would take the whole issue out of their hands.’” The ex-Ecclesia Dei communities are being warned...

The Signatories of the Letter

The Pillar provides information on some of the letter’s signatories: Julian Fellowes (Lord Fellowes of West Stafford), creator of the historical series Downton Abbey; Kiri Te Kanawa, famous soprano opera singer; “cellists Steven Isserlis and Julian Lloyd Webber, the conductor Jane Glover, the sopranos Sophie Bevan and Felicity Lott, and the pianists Imogen Cooper, Stephen Hough, András Schiff, and Mitsuko Uchida.”

It was also signed by journalists like Fraser Nelson and Charles Moore and several members of the House of Lords. Finally, let us also mention historian Tom Holland and Princess Michael of Kent, a member of the British royal family.