The cardinal praised Pope Benedict’s 2007 decision to allow the faithful greater access to the Latin Mass but called Pope Francis’ 2021 decision to restrict it neither ‘sensible’ nor ‘respectful.’
“We, as a Church, cannot declare war on those who devoutly attend Mass simply because they prefer one form over another; this is a shortsighted and entirely ideological stance and, therefore, neither pastoral nor Christian,” Cardinal Robert Sarah said on Aug. 27. “It is harmful and destructive to the Church.”
Cardinal Sarah, the former prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, spoke to the Italian newspaper Il Giornale last week about the importance of the traditional liturgy, which dates back to the time of Pope Gregory the Great and earlier and which was celebrated worldwide until the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965).
After the council, the old liturgy was abandoned, although some priests continued to celebrate it. The archbishop of Dakar, Senegal, Marcel Lefebvre, remained faithful to it and founded the Society of St. Pius X (SSPX) under the claim of preserving the traditional Latin Mass and in opposition to some reforms of the Second Vatican Council. The SSPX has twice been declared to
