Decades after Agatha Christie and other prominent Brits begged the Pope to preserve the Latin Mass and its rich liturgical and cultural heritage, a group of British lords and stars are making the same request of woke Pope Francis.
The letter from British celebrities about the “treasure” of the Latin Mass includes non-Catholic signatories, just as the original 1971 letter did. The letter praised the Latin Mass as a “magnificent” cultural artifact, according to the Catholic News Agency (CNA). There have been rumors that the pope, who often attacks traditionalists, is considering banning the Latin Mass altogether.
CNA quoted the letter, “Recently there have been worrying reports from Rome that the Latin Mass is to be banished from nearly every Catholic church. This is a painful and confusing prospect, especially for the growing number of young Catholics whose faith has been nurtured by it.” Signatories include author Tom Holland, musician Julian Lloyd Webber, actress Bianca Jagger, and media executive Sir Nicholas Coleridge.
In 2021 Pope Francis placed sweeping restrictions on the celebration of Mass using the 1962 Roman Missal, known also as the extraordinary form of the Roman rite and the Tridentine Mass … In a Tuesday letter to the London newspaper the Times, meanwhile, a wide cross-section of English cultural fixtures openly implored the Vatican to refrain from restricting the rite further.
The signatories praised the Latin Mass as a “cathedral” of “text and gesture.” Over the development of more than a millennium, the Latin liturgy became a cultural gem.
“Not everyone appreciates its value and that is fine,” the letter said of the centuries-old Mass, “but to destroy it seems an unnecessary and insensitive act in a world where history can all too easily slip away forgotten.” It added, “The old rite’s ability to encourage silence and contemplation is a treasure not easily replicated, and, when gone, impossible to reconstruct.”
For Our VIPs: Orwellian Lies: Abortion Isn’t Healthcare, and Pro-Lifers Aren’t Terrorists
As the letter clarified, “The signatories include Catholics and non-Catholics, believers and nonbelievers. We implore the Holy See to reconsider any further restriction of access to this magnificent spiritual and cultural heritage.”
The writers in their letter pointed to a 1971 petition from a similar cross-section of prominent Britons that had also asked the Vatican to preserve the Latin Mass in England.
That petition led to the “Agatha Christie indult” allowing the extraordinary form to continue there; the indult was named after the famous author who was among the signatories.
The new letter insisted that the request was “entirely ecumenical and nonpolitical.”
Pope Francis has said that he is saddened by Latin Mass Catholics criticizing the disastrous aftermath of Vatican Council II. This seems puzzling considering his apparent unconcern about the many Byzantine Catholic rites, which most definitely do not follow the new post-VCII liturgical norms. Is Francis, the same who honored heretics, actually worried about unity — or is he simply undermining prominent traditionalists?
The new letter emphasizes what too many Catholic clerics have forgotten — that the Latin Mass is indeed a magnificent treasure of Christian civilization.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member