British lords and celebrities ask Vatican to preserve treasure of Latin Mass

A distinguished group of British public figures are calling on the Vatican to preserve what they describe as the “magnificent” cultural treasure of the Catholic Church’s traditional Latin Mass.

In 2021, Pope Francis imposed extensive restrictions to the celebration of the Mass using the Roman Missal of 1962, also known as the extraordinary form of the Roman Rite or Tridentine Mass. Rumors have circulated in recent months that the Vatican is preparing to further crack down on the celebration of that ancient liturgy.

New directives on the Latin Mass have yet to be enacted amid rumors. Meanwhile, in a letter sent Tuesday to the London newspaper The Timesa broad cross-section of English culture openly implored the Vatican to refrain from further restricting the rite.

“There have recently been worrying reports from Rome that the Latin Mass is to be banished from almost all Catholic churches,” the letter reads. “This is a painful and confusing prospect, especially for the growing number of young Catholics whose faith has been nourished by it.”

The signatories, who included actress and human rights activist Bianca Jagger, writer Tom Holland, musical eminence Julian Lloyd Webber and media executive Sir Nicholas Coleridge, described the Latin Mass as a “cathedral ” of “text and gestures” that developed over many centuries.

“Not everyone appreciates its value and that’s fine,” the writers said, “but destroying it seems an unnecessary and callous act in a world where history can too easily escape into oblivion.”

“The ability of the ancient rite to encourage silence and contemplation is a treasure that is not easy to replicate and, when it disappears, impossible to reconstruct,” they said.

In their letter, the writers pointed to a 1971 petition from a similar cross-section of prominent Britons who had also asked the Vatican to preserve the Latin Mass in England.

That petition led to the “Agatha Christie pardon” allowing the extraordinary form to continue there. The pardon is named after the famous writer, who was among the signatories.

In their letter this week, the British celebrities said their petition, like that of 1971, was “entirely ecumenical and apolitical.”

“Signatories include Catholics and non-Catholics, believers and non-believers,” they wrote. “We implore the Holy See to reconsider any further restrictions on access to this magnificent spiritual and cultural heritage.”

In issuing the 2021 guidelines, the Pope had said he was saddened that the celebration of the extraordinary form was now characterized by a rejection of the Second Vatican Council and its liturgical reforms.

To doubt the council, he said at that time, is to “doubt the same Holy Spirit who guides the Church.”

Translated and adapted by the ACI Prensa team. Originally published in CNA.