Pope Francis has held a meeting with leading representatives of the largest grouping of traditionalist priests in the Catholic Church during which he reaffirmed his support for their charism.
Speaking on behalf of the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Peter (FSSP), Fr Andrzej Komorowski, Abbé Benoît Paul-Joseph, and Abbé Vincent Ribeton were received by the Pope in a “very understanding” manner in the Vatican on 29 February 2024.
The meeting followed a request lodged by the Fraternity itself. It was able to go ahead despite the Pope’s ill health of late, which caused the cancellation of his entire schedule on the previous Saturday, and is seen by some as marking a significant moment in the ongoing debate around the old rite.
“It means that the campaign against the Traditional Latin Mass isn’t really endorsed even by Pope Francis,” says Dr Joseph Shaw, chairman of the Latin Mass Society. “He doesn’t seem to believe what he [previously] wrote about the importance of a ‘single rite’.”
The chairman added that potentially this could mean “not just that the FSSP will be OK [but] the whole anti-trad programme will fall apart”.
The agenda of the discussion focussed on the fact that the FSSP – despite having been reaffirmed and supported by the Pope in its mission to offer the ancient liturgy despite Traditiones Custodes after a similar meeting in 2022 – has lately faced strained relations with some regional bishops.
Prelates, particularly in France, have sought to implement the perceived will of the Holy Father in restricting or rescinding permissions for localities where the Mass is celebrated in the old (Traditional Latin) rite. The FSSP exclusively adheres to the 1962 Missal and therefore its members only follow the rituals according to this form. It means bishops who would wish to forbid the Traditional Latin Mass within their diocese necessarily suppress the Fraternity’s activities.
This was the case on 17 December 2023 in the diocese of Quimper, Brittany, when Bishop Laurent Dognin announced in a letter from the pulpit that he would “put an end to the agreement which binds the diocese with the Priestly Fraternity of Saint-Peter” owing to “irreversible tensions” in the diocesan community.
This played a large part in the Fraternity’s leaders seeking papal clarifications. The FSSP has over 85 “apostolates” and centres around France, with 249 locations in 149 dioceses worldwide where Mass is regularly celebrated in the old rite. This has seen some parishes experience “prolific growth”, part of a growing trend, even reported on in secular media, of attracting young converts to the Faith.
However, this growth was jeopardised by the confusion following Traditiones, with the continuation of the FSSP’s efforts in many places becoming precarious.
During the 1 March meeting, it is reported that the Pope offered the same spirit of support as he did 2022. According to a press statement by the Fraternity, he “was very understanding and invited the Fraternity of St. Peter to continue to build up ecclesial communion ever more fully through its own proper charism”.
Furthermore, the Pope once again “confirmed the liturgical specificity of the Fraternity of St Peter”. He hailed the fact that his 2022 decree protecting and exempting the FSSP from Traditiones was published on “the very day of the Fraternity of St Peter’s consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, on the feast of Our Lady of Lourdes” as a “providential sign”.
In a statement disclosed to the Catholic Herald, Fr Armand de Malleray FSSP, superior of the England apostolate, stated:
“Even though no particular decision or directive followed [the February 29 meeting], the papal audience was reassuring. Pope Francis is not known to have met with other representatives of the traditional movement so far.
“His willingness to meet again with the FSSP superiors just two years after the first audience expresses a benevolent disposition confirmed at the time by his subsequent decree.
“The recent papal audience is an encouragement to the Priestly Fraternity of St Peter and, further afield, to all those who seek to honour God and serve souls through the Roman traditions in hierarchical communion with Holy Church.”
Areas of Catholic Herald business are still recovering post-pandemic.
However, we are reaching out to the Catholic community and readership, that has been so loyal to the Catholic Herald. Please join us on our 135 year mission by supporting us.
We are raising £250,000 to safeguard the Herald as a world-leading voice in Catholic journalism and teaching.
We have been a bold and influential voice in the church since 1888, standing up for traditional Catholic culture and values. Please consider donating.