Pope Allows American Cardinal to Say Latin Mass in St. Peter's

An American cardinal celebrated a traditional Latin Mass on Saturday in St. Peter's Basilica with the explicit permission of Pope Leo XIV, thrilling supporters of the the ancient liturgy who had felt abandoned after Pope Francis greatly restricted it. A few thousand pilgrims, including young families and women who covered their heads with lace veils, packed the altar area of the basilica. Cardinal Raymond Burke, who had clashed with Francis, presided over the 2½-hour liturgy that was rich in hymn, incense and priests bowing to the altar, their backs to the faithful in the pews, the AP reports.

Supporters of the Latin Mass took the moment as a sign that Leo might be more sympathetic to their position after Francis' 2021 crackdown on the old liturgy. He had taken action after the spread of the ancient liturgy, especially in the US, dovetailed with the rise of religiously inspired political conservatism and decline in church attendance at more progressive parishes. "I'm very hopeful," said Rubén Peretó Rivas, an Argentine organizer of the pilgrimage. "The first signs of Pope Leo are those of dialogue and listening, truly listening to everyone."

Christian Marquant, a French organizer of Saturday's pilgrimage, said that after Leo's election, she wrote to him on behalf of some 70 groups asking to celebrate a Mass according to the ancient rite in St. Peter's during traditionalists' annual pilgrimage to Rome. Burke, in an audience with Leo on Aug. 22, gave him the letter, and Leo gave his permission, Marquant said. Francis, too, had allowed Latin Masses to be celebrated in the basilica even in the immediate aftermath of his 2021 crackdown, but only by low-ranking priests. Burke didn't mention Francis, his crackdown or Leo in his homily on Saturday. successors," Burke said.

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But he referred repeatedly to Benedict and his 2007 liberalizing of the old liturgy as if it were still in force, per the AP. Through Benedict's reform, "the whole church is maturing in an ever deeper understanding and love for the great gift of the sacred liturgy, as it has been handed down to us in an unbroken line from the Apostolic Tradition, from the Apostles and their successors," Burke said.