Mallow Street

“Il carnevale è finito”—the carnival is over. These words are attributed to Pope Francis, allegedly spoken to his Master of Ceremonies as he declined the traditional red papal mozzetta upon his election. Whether the story is fact or legend, it captures something real. In the Roman tradition, the end of Carnival marks the beginning of Lent—a season of austerity, self-examination, and spiritual testing in the wilderness. For many traditionally minded Catholics, the doctrinal ambiguities and liturgical restrictions of Francis’s pontificate came to feel like a kind of spiritual Lent—a prolonged period of trial and waiting for better times.

At the heart of Pope Francis' rationale for Traditionis Custodes—the first in a series of legal documents restricting the traditional Latin Mass—was a Vatican survey of the world’s bishops conducted in 2019–2020. In the accompanying letter, the Pope wrote that the bishops’ responses “reveal a situation that preoccupies and saddens me, and persuades me of the need to intervene.” Although the full results of the survey have not been made public, a recent report by American journalist Diane Montagna has leaked the Vatican’s overall assessment and a selection of quotations from the world’s bishops.

A Holy See spokesman has played down the leak as “partial and incomplete” but its revelations are nonetheless explosive: they reveal that “the majority of bishops … state that making legislative changes to the MP Summorum Pontificum would cause more harm than good”. The assessment is essentially positive, highlighting outcomes from Benedict XVI’s restoration of the traditional liturgy—including increased participation by young people, families, and converts; deeper spiritual engagement; and liturgical catechesis impacting celebrations in the novus ordo. Far from sowing division, the leaked document is nuanced but essentially positive about the old rite; it proposes that seminarians be trained in the traditional liturgy and presents the traditional Latin Mass as generally enriching parish life and fostering ecclesial unity — directly contradicting the stated justification for Traditionis Custodes.

Some days before Montagna’s report, Cardinal Burke spoke at the Latin Mass Society’s sixtieth anniversary conference about a need for an end to “the persecution from within the church” of the traditional movement. The cardinal is a judicious man – a canon lawyer – who chooses his words with care and precision. He told us in no uncertain terms there has been a persecution and it has come from within the church.

Elsewhere in this edition of Mass of Ages, Frederick Wolf asks whether Pope Leo XIV will embrace the liturgical vision of Benedict XVI—a vision rooted not in rupture but in renewal. Pope Benedict told the world’s bishops that his rehabilitation of the traditional Latin Mass was “a matter of coming to an interior reconciliation in the heart of the Church”. His call was clear: “Let us generously open our hearts and make room for everything that the faith itself allows”. As a new pontificate begins, that appeal for reconciliation and renewal remains as urgent as ever.