Pope Francis: ‘...making the liturgy a battleground’

In a week dominated by the Roe vs Wade debate in the US, which has placed Eucharistic coherence bishops firmly in the spotlight once again, did Pope Francis take the opportunity to re-emphasize the Church's strict prohibition on abortion?

Of course not! Instead he decided to start attacking Traditionalist Catholics AGAIN. CNA reports [my own comments in square brackets here]:

Pope Francis said Saturday that the liturgy should not be “a battleground” for “outdated issues.” [I mean - seriously? Who made it a battleground by overturning a provision made by his (still living) predecessor? Who has constantly attacked "rigid" Catholics?]

“I emphasize again that the liturgical life, and the study of it, should lead to greater Church unity, not division. When the liturgical life is a bit like a banner of division, there is the stench of the devil in there, the deceiver,” Pope Francis [said]

[I agree, but the division and the deceit comes from those who fail to recognise the work of the Holy Spirit in terms of growth, fruit, etc. I find it difficult to see anyone other than Pope Francis spreading discord, confusion and doing damage to unity throughout the Church]  

“It’s not possible to worship God while making the liturgy a battleground for issues that are not essential, indeed, outdated issues, and to take sides starting with the liturgy, with ideologies that divide the Church.”

[The only invading ideology is the one which seeks to supplant Catholic truth with a plurality of religions, obfuscate Catholic teaching and promote treacherous, abusive men to high office. There must be a cabal promoting these errors, but the man they have chosen to front this ideological agenda now sits on the throne of Saint Peter. The Pope's comments take clear aim at those who are seeking to put Jesus at the centre of their lives and want to worship Him in the most beautiful, authentic and appropriate way possible. The real question is why this is such a problem for Pope Francis? To be Catholic is to accept unity in diversity!].

Speaking at an audience with the Pontifical Liturgical Institute in the apostolic palace, the pope said that he believes that “every reform creates resistance.”

Pope Francis recalled reforms made when he was a child by Pope Pius XII, particularly when Pius XII reduced the fasting requirement before receiving holy Communion and reintroduced the Easter Vigil.

“All of these things scandalized closed-minded people. It happens also today,” he said.

“Indeed, such closed-minded people use liturgical frameworks to defend their views. Using the liturgy: this is the drama we are experiencing in ecclesial groups that are distancing themselves from the Church, questioning the Council, the authority of the bishops ... in order to preserve tradition. And the liturgy is used for that.”

[This comment seems to show a disconnect with the actual people who seek out the Traditional Latin Mass. This dissonance was similarly evident in the moto proprio Traditiones custodes which seemed to characterise those who go to the Traditional Latin Mass as older people perhaps brought up before the reform who had trouble with the changes. The reality is completely different. Those who support the Traditional Latin Mass are often young people looking to escape the guitar-strumming banality of the Novus ordo and have found in the Traditional Liturgy something timeless, beautiful and authentic. Why is this such a problem for the Pope? Why are people who are sincere and dedicated such a big no-no for him? 

The truth appears to be something quite different from the reasons laid out in the moto proprio & covering letter. As I posted on December 19th, reliable reports from inside the Vatican suggest that the growing support for the Traditional Latin Mass among the youth is the real motivating factor behind the moto proprio.]

Commenting in Rorate Caeli, Dr. Peter Kwasniewski remarks as follows:

His attacks on tradition are, as always, superficial, hypocritical, and judgmental, and his undying optimism for a failed reform bears all the marks of boilerplate stereotypes, ignoring all realities on the ground. It’s really rather pathetic: he has no experience at all of the joy and energy of the traditional movement, and seemingly no awareness of how deathly dull is the Novus Ordo in most parishes—aging, shrinking, few children, few or no vocations... representing the “active participation” of a few percent of a once-Catholic population, driven away from the “Church of Vatican II” by its sheer banality, irreverence, irrelevance, and lack of anything meaningful to say to anyone hungry for encounter with the mystery of God. That’s what’s “senza vita, senza gioia.”

Meanwhile, my crowded FSSP parish this morning rejoiced in a solemn High Mass with many first Communions, as our parish continues to grow: people who love the Lord and each other and are relieved to have found truly Catholic worship that nourishes and inspires us in our pilgrimage to heaven, a foretaste of which we experience on earth.


The end of this papacy cannot come soon enough.