The Bishops of France underline the spiritual zeal of the faithful who celebrate the traditional Latin Mass

The bishops of the French Episcopal Conference (CEF) expressed their esteem for the Catholic faithful who celebrate the traditional or Tridentine mass in Latin and affirmed that the restrictions imposed by Pope Francis on this type of celebration constitute a “demanding call for all the community”. Church”.

This is what the prelates indicated in a press release of July 17, the day after the publication of the Motu Proprio. Tratitiones custodes, with which Pope Francis established a series of restrictions on the celebration of the traditional or Tridentine mass.

Among the provisions of the pontifical document published on July 16, the Pope establishes that it will be the bishop who will authorize the priests who want to celebrate Mass in this way, as well as where and when these celebrations can take place; and that the groups of faithful who participate in it will have a delegate priest who will accompany them pastorally.

In their press release, the Bishops of France expressed “to the faithful who usually celebrate according to the Missal (of 1962) of Saint John XXIII and to their pastors, their attention and the esteem they have for the spiritual zeal of these faithful and for their determination to follow together the mission in the communion of the Church and according to the norms in force ”.

“Cada obispo se esforzará por estar a la altura de la misión descrita por el Santo Padre to exercise the responsibility that el recuerda en la justicia, la caridad, el cuidado de todos y cada uno, el servicio de la liturgia y de la unidad from the church. This will be done in dialogue and it will take time, ”the text continues.

The bishops also underlined that “the Motu Proprio delivery guards and the letter of the Holy Father to the bishops which introduces it are a demanding call for the whole Church to an authentic Eucharistic renewal. No one can do without it. “

To conclude, the bishops “invoke the Holy Spirit so that the Eucharist, ‘source and outcome of Christian life’, sacrifice of the Lord and memorial of his Passion and of his Resurrection, may be every day the place where the Church draws its strength to become what it is: “in Christ as sacrament, that is to say, sign and instrument of intimate union with God and of the unity of all mankind.

France, one of the countries in which there are various communities celebrating the traditional Mass, has experienced some tensions in the Archdiocese of Dijon in recent months.

Several worshipers protested after Archbishop Roland Minnerrath of Dijon asked members of the Fraternité sacerdotale Saint-Pierre (FSSP) to leave the Basilica of Fontaine-lès-Dijon, where Saint Bernard of Clairvaux was born, after 23 years of presence in the archdiocese.

The FSSP is a society of apostolic life in full communion with the Catholic Church, canonically erected by Pope Saint John Paul II in 1988. Its members celebrate the traditional Mass, an essential element of their charism. It has more than 300 priests and 150 seminarians from 30 countries who serve in more than 130 dioceses around the world.

The controversy in Dijon arose a few months after the bishops drafted a memorandum in response to the questionnaire that the Vatican sent to the episcopates on the application of the Motu proprio Summorum pontificum in 2020.

The bishops’ text called for measures to “encourage the faithful in an extraordinary way to participate more in diocesan life” and thus avoid the creation of a “parallel Church”.

In a July 16 statement, the FSSP indicated that “with the publication of the last motu proprio of Pope Francis, Guardians of tradition, which imposed new restrictions on the extraordinary form of the Roman rite, many of us are discouraged and anxious ”.

“At this moment, it is too early to specify what all the implications will be for the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Peter, but we assure you that we remain committed to the service of the faithful who attend our apostolates, in accordance with our Constitutions and our charism. whereas we have done since our foundation, ”the press release said.

“We must strive to see this cross as a means of our sanctification and it is up to us to remember that God will never forsake his Church. Our Lord himself promises us the graces necessary to carry our crosses with strength and courage; however, we cannot stop doing our part as faithful Catholics ”.

“Let us pray and offer sacrifices in our daily life and have confidence in the intercession of Our Lady, Saint Joseph and our Patron Saint Peter”, concludes the text.