Peregrinatio Ad Petri Sedem: Rome, October 2023

by Joseph Shaw

The FIUV managed to fit the General Assembly in among the events of the annual traditional Peregrinatio Ad Petri Sedem, which had special importance this year, because it was not allowed to have Mass in St Peter’s Basilica, something which has been an annual event since 2012. Instead, Mass was celebrated for us in the Basilica of Santi Celso e Giuliano (SS Celsus & Julius), where the Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest have their Roman apostolate, followed by Benediction there, and then the usual procession to St Peter’s. Our entrance was delayed at the security gates for an hour, ostensibly because the numbers were larger than expected. Nevertheless, we finally got in and had a devotion at the High Altar, followed by the canonical hour of Sext in the Chapel of the Throne, with more than 1,000 pilgrims.

Sext, the traditional office of midmorning (six hours after dawn, in its origin), is the third of the short daytime hours that were swallowed up by the ‘Midday Office’ in many communities after the Second Vatican Council: Prime, Terce, Sext, None. Outside Lent, it is the hour traditionally said immediately before the celebration of Mass. (In Lent, Mass is preceded by None.)

Sext was led by Fr Antonius Maria Mamsery, superior general of the Missionaries of the Holy Cross of Tanzania.

The previous evening we had had Vespers with Bishop Athanasius Schneider in the Basilica of Santa Maria ad Martyres (the Pantheon).

On Sunday I attended Mass in Santissima Trinità dei Pellegrini, which is cared for by the Priestly Fraternity of St Peter. Archbishop Guido Pozzo, once the Secretary of the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei, celebrated Pontifical High Mass to a church that is fuller every year: if you want a seat, you have to arrive very early. On the other hand, this year pilgrims also had the option of attending an earlier Mass at Santi Celso e Giuliano.

On the previous Friday, the usual Pax Liturgica Conference had taken place. It was addressed by Bishop Schneider, whose talk was attended by Cardinal Robert Sarah. During the course of the conference, I was able to launch a book I have edited, The Latin Mass and the Intellectuals: Petitions to Save the Ancient Mass from 1966 to 2007.

The weekend also saw the launch of Bishop Schneider’s catechism, Credo, also attended by Cardinal Sarah. Bishop Schneider spoke with great eloquence about his book, and, in response to a rather unfriendly question from a journalist, about his determined adherence to the See of St Peter.

I encourage all readers able to do so to join the pilgrimage this year, particularly the procession to St Peter’s, where we are on display, as it were, to all: even to the windows of the Sacred Dicasteries in the Via della Conciliazione. (Photos by Joseph Shaw)