Please read and sign the Open Letter to Pope Francis
(from https://preservethelatinmass.org)
About Preserve the Latin Mass
We wish to share our experience of the traditional liturgy, which has nourished many saints throughout the centuries and continues to edify a growing number of souls throughout the Catholic Church today. We will share why Catholics of all backgrounds value and treasure this Mass and why so many non-Catholics are inspired by its beauty and majesty. This Mass is an integral part of our collective heritage and must be preserved.
We are surprised and saddened by the issuance of the document Traditionis Custodes by Pope Francis and even more so by the recent response of the Vatican Congregation for Divine Worship. It is difficult to reconcile these actions with the commitments and promises made by Pope Francis’ predecessors, St. John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI.
We wish to continue in harmony with the Holy Father, Pope Francis, while spiritually benefiting from the graciousness of Pope Benedict XVI who encouraged all priests of the Roman Rite who desired to celebrate the Traditional Latin Mass and sacraments through his motu proprio, Summorum Pontificum.
The wide and generous acceptance of the usus antiquior, or traditional rites, has produced a healing within the Church that allows many Catholics to draw closer to Christ and to the heart of their Mother, the Church. It has been especially helpful in reconciling those who have felt abandoned by their shepherds in the past. Far from driving Catholics away, the Latin Mass has helped many to think with the mind of the Church, recognizing Vatican II as a true ecumenical council and the Liturgy of Pope Paul VI as a real re-presentation of the Sacrifice of Jesus Christ.
We are saddened too, at the thought of the possible loss of the beauty of the Traditional Liturgy which hearkens back more than fifteen hundred years and has inspired great works of art, literature, music, poetry, and architecture for centuries. We see the eventual prohibition or severe restriction of the Traditional Latin Mass and sacraments as a loss, not only to the many Catholics who regularly lift up their hearts to God in this form of worship, but to all Catholics, and to humanity in general.
