Paix liturgique

As we know, Pope Leo XIV has little or no knowledge of this segment of the Church that requests the celebration of the traditional liturgy. Several small signs even indicate that he might view it with a certain suspicion. It is said, for instance, that he saw the enormous media attention given to the Mass celebrated in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome by Cardinal Burke as an "instrumentalization." And now, the announcement of the consecrations of bishops by and for the Society of St. Pius X has greatly disturbed his desire to bring peace to the Church.

However, Leo XIV is undeniably a man prone to attentive and honest listening. And he acts slowly, very slowly, to the point that sometimes one might get the impression that he is doing nothing. In reality, he simply wants to act with full knowledge of the facts. Thus, he received Cardinal Burke, Cardinal Sarah, and Bishop Schneider, who spoke to him about the distress felt by those who continue or try to participate in the Traditional Latin Mass under the legislation of Traditionis Custodes.

Recently, on March 5, he accorded a private audience to two eminent English-speaking sociologists whose research has focused on communities linked to the Tridentine Mass: Professors Stephen Bullivant and Stephen Cranney. These two scholars are renowned in the English-speaking world for their sociological work on Tridentine Catholics. Stephen Bullivant, Professor of Theology and Sociology of Religion and Director of the Benedict XVI Centre for Religion and Society at St. Mary’s University, London, attends the Traditional Latin Mass. Stephen Cranney is an American data scientist with doctorates in demography and sociology, and a research fellow at the Institute for the Study of Religion at Baylor University. The two work with Catholics who attend the traditional liturgy in the United States, and their forthcoming book, Trads: Latin Mass Catholics in the United States, will be published this November and will be presented as a comprehensive sociological analysis of this community.

In a study conducted in 2023 and published in 2024, they had already observed that approximately half of the Catholics surveyed expressed interest in attending Mass according to the traditional Roman Rite (thus aligning with the results of several repeated surveys previously reported by Paix Liturgique!). They further highlighted that Tridentine Catholics are significantly younger than "ordinary" Catholics: 44% of Tridentine faithful with a regular religious practice are under 45 years old, compared to only 20% of "ordinary" faithful.

According to the analysis of this survey, it appears that Tridentine faithful focus much more on the liturgy than on the Council. Furthermore, there is a strong consensus among them on issues related to family morality: 85% believe that abortion should be illegal under all circumstances. Politically, 77% of them in the United States vote for the Republican Party. Although they suffer greatly from the restrictions imposed on traditional liturgy, 95% formally recognize the Pope's authority and agree with the statement: "I believe the Pope is the Vicar of Jesus Christ." It is presumed that the dialogue between these English-speaking scholars and the Pope, a native of Chicago, was fluent, especially since the conclusions of both academics will likely reassure the pontiff. The driving force behind this sociological initiative, and presumably the request for a papal audience, appears to be Bullivant, who is intimately familiar with the subject, although it is clear that he approaches it from his own perspective. He is the author of Mass Exodus: Catholic Disaffiliation in Britain and America since Vatican II (OUP, 2019), a work in which he exposes the profound disillusionment that followed the last council and the liturgical reform, to the point that today, in the United States, only 15% of Catholics—13% in Great Britain—attend Mass every Sunday, and 35%—37% in Great Britain—no longer even check the "Catholic" box on surveys. In it, he also hypothesizes that Vatican II is not the cause of the crisis in Catholicism, but rather the secret to its lesser decline compared to other denominations, a notion that undoubtedly is bound to have consoled the Pope when he received him, even it is not entirely convincing.

It is most desirable that the Pope may continue his inquiry and receive not only prelates and sociologists, but also traditionalist Catholics directly. Because the problem, since Benedict XVI's resignation in 2013, is the breakdown of all communication between the basis —the faithful who adhere to the Traditional Latin Mass—and the top structure—the Pope and the bodies that represent him—so that the basis no longer have the means to make themselves heard, to make themselves known, to explain themselves directly.

Pope Prevost, when he was bishop of Peru, showed great empathy for the poorest of his flock. Now it is hoped that he will act as shepherd and father to these other much illtreated sheep: the Tridentine faithful and all those who would like nothing else than to become part of them if only they were given that possibility.

The Parisian sentinels are also among these sheep, who also hope that the next pastor appointed for Paris when Archbishop Ulrich retires may, very simply, be a father figure. This is one of the prayer intentions for which they keep praying their rosaries at rue du Cloître-Notre-Dame, number 10, from Monday to Friday, from 1 p.m. to 1:30 p.m., at Saint-Georges de La Villette, 114 avenue Simon Bolivar, on Wednesdays and Fridays at 5 p.m., in front of Notre-Dame du Travail, on Sundays at 6:15 p.m.