According to Cardinal Matteo Zuppi, there are no special “signs” to be read into his attendance and presiding over Vespers for a recent annual Traditional Latin Mass (TLM) pilgrimage to Rome, named after Benedict XVI’s apostolic letter Summorum Pontificum, acknowledging the right of all priests to offer Mass according to the 1962 Roman Missal.
As reported by Andrea Gagliarducci for the Catholic News Agency, the pilgrimage by the People of Summorum Pontificum “predates the recent restrictions and changes decreed by Pope Francis”, while the President of the Episcopal Conference of Italy said he received an invitation before he was appointed to that role and agreed to it “not thinking there was anything wrong”.
According to Gagliarducci however, “Zuppi’s participation in the pilgrimage, which brings to Rome thousands of pilgrims who favor the Traditional Latin Mass, had a particular, if not surprising, impact.” He added: “The pilgrimage over the years has seen several cardinals and archbishops celebrate for the numerous pilgrims”, including Cardinal Antonio Cañizares Llovera who celebrated with pilgrims in 2012.
However, while the former Archbishop of Valencia “was among those who practically applied Pope Francis’ motu proprio Traditionis Custodes to the letter, suspending the celebration of the TLM in his archdiocese”, by contrast, Zuppi – the Archbishop of Bologna and a member of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development – “found a pragmatic solution”, taking “into account the particular sensitivity of the faithful of the diocese”.
Cardinal Zuppi, in one decree, “noted that a traditional community had immediately started in Bologna after Summorum Pontificum and that this celebration had already met the requirements of Traditionis Custodes”. The Italian prelate kept “everything as it was – except to find another non-parish church – allowing the faithful to attend the Traditional Latin Mass.”
Zuppi himself said that “the liturgical tradition has given an unmistakable mark to our local Church. It is a garden to be cultivated with renewed love and passion without ever resigning ourselves to weariness and laziness, which – even when they do not degenerate into abuses – end up weakening the formidable strength of the liturgy from which the Church is born and always is built.”
As a bishop, Zuppi had accepted invitations to celebrate the TLM, hence why his participation in the recent pilgrimage should come as no surprise. Indeed, Zuppi also visited the Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest (ICKSP) recently, an institute which celebrates the TLM. While no traditionalist (Zuppi supports the Community of Sant’Egidio), he is known as a compromise figure more than a continuity one.
While Zuppi is seen as progressive in many areas, having endorsed a “new pastoral attitude” for LGBT Catholics, he appeals to many traditionalists and has an increasing role in the Curia. As Gagliarducci wrote: “How the cardinal-electors might decide in a possible conclave remains to be seen”. However, “Zuppi does not want to be divisive [but] is building bridges – which might yet prove to be an essential role in a Church marred by tensions and divisions.”
Indeed, given recent clashes over the TLM, Zuppi may be seen by both sides as a figure who can heal some recent divisions. This is after all a cleric who said that everybody loses when politics tries to poison Church life, having told L’Osservatore Romano, “wherever politics has used pseudo-theological or spiritual categories to contaminate ecclesial life, everyone has lost in the end”, warning “of manipulation from the outside” as well as “divisions within”.
As reported by UCA News – in a report by Carol Glatz from the Catholic News Service – Zuppi said it seems quick and easy to take a side without needing to think or tackle too many questions. According to Zuppi, “we have to face complexity without fear”, and regarding ethical issues, “cannot simply repeat little lectures from the past, instead, we must find new words for new questions”.
Zuppi added that people are calling for “a Church that is more evangelical, more motherly and, for this reason, demanding and engaging, that does not play the (wicked) stepmother and says, ‘I told you so’.” Taken in the context of his recent participation therefore, it seems Zuppi is offering a voice of bridge-building which may appeal to many in the College of Cardinals in the future.
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