Una Voce Federation President: Message on Leo XIV (“A Pope of the Anglosphere”)
A Pope of the Anglosphere
Joseph Shaw
President, Una Voce Federation (FIUV)
During the reign of Pope Francis, a lot of attention was, rightly, given to his Argentinian background, and the Argentinian assumptions and habits of minds that he may have carried. I am grateful to our Argentinian friends who helped us to understand what was going on, during a rather confusing time. Now we have a Pope from the English-speaking world – even if he has spent a great deal of time in Peru – and I feel that I can more easily understand him.
I don’t claim any great insight in him personally, but there are certain aspects of his background, and of what is already evident about his attitudes, which is very familiar to me. I have met and interacted with many people who share things with Pope Leo, which may be puzzling to people from outside this milieu: English-speaking, highly educated, and clerical.
Pope Leo seems to be very comfortable in liberal circles,and evidently was very acceptable to liberal Cardinals in the conclave, as well as, obviously, to Pope Francis, who made him a bishop and then a cardinal. Nevertheless, he is also acceptable, apparently, to conservatives, and has made some conservative signals, such as wearing the red Papal mozetta. Readers may think: well, he was a compromise candidate with middle-of-the-road opinions. However, this is an unhelpful description. He seems to me, on my admittedly limited knowledge, to be what I would call an open-hearted liberal.
I have met many clerics like this. They gravitate naturally to liberal-dominated areas of study, such as biblical scholarship or social justice, and their assumptions are liberal, say, about modern biblical criticism, or the importance of Vatican II ‘updating’ the Church. They are completely comfortable with the Novus Ordo. In other words, in the modern ecclesial environment, they are neither dinosaurs nor wildly eccentric.Nevertheless, when you talk to them, two things become apparent. First, they don’t hate you. If you are a traditionalist, this, sadly, is not something you can take for granted. Secondly, they acknowledge that harm has been done by overzealous ‘updating’: something has been lost, as well as gained.
Pope Francis himself signalled both these attitudes early in his pontificate. He said that Pope Benedict’s approach to traditionalists was ‘pastoral’, and, on another occasion, that the liturgical reform had led to a loss of mystery and of orientation towards God, by contrast with the Eastern Rites. These statements could be taken as signals not so much of openness towards Trads, but of sophistication. These are classy attitudes: the attitudes of educated, intellectually honest people who can see both sides of a question.
In some places in the Church, I gather, these attitudes are not to be found at all. Pope Leo, on the other hand, comes from a milieu in which they are quite common, and can go quite deep. The depth can be measured like this. First, a liberal might say: yes the Eastern Rites are very moving, our liturgy used be more like that. The second stage is to say: I can understand why some people are attached to the TLM, that’s not necessarily something unhealthy. The third stage is to say that the continued existence of the TLM in the life of the Church is a positive thing. The fourth stage is for a person to become personally interested in it: to attend or celebrate it, as something which contributes his own personal re-integration of a more mystical and contemplative spirituality: an enrichment of his own spiritual life.
Pope Francis may have been stuck at stage one. Pope Leo has got all the way to stage four. For it seems that he has learnt and celebrated the Traditional Mass himself, both as a priest and even in Rome, when a member of the Congregation for Bishops. We know this now from many sources.
This does not mean that he has taken on attitudes and positions unacceptable to liberal Cardinals in a conclave: obviously, that is not the case. It does not mean that he will implement our favourite shopping-list of measures: actually, no pope would do that. It does not even mean that liturgy is necessarily high on his agenda. What it does mean, I hope, is that when the subject arises, as it will before long, he will not continue a policy that has as its aim the destruction of the Traditional Mass, at least among clergy outside the Traditional Institutes and communities. I would imagine the most likely policy would be to let bishops and religious superiors allow it, unless is causes problems.
I was hoping for such a policy from Pope Francis’ successor, even if he had no understanding or interest in the subject at all, simply on the basis that Traditionis custodes has led to a lot of fuss and bother, and no tangible good result. With a Pope with Leo XIV’s background, I am even more confident that this will be the outcome.
Let us pray for Pope Leo. There are some traditional prayers for the Pope here; if you would like to contribute to a spiritual bouquet for him, an easy way of doing so would be to contribute to the one being organised by the Latin Mass Society in England here.
Friday, 9 May 2025
Statement on the election of Pope Leo XIV
Press Release of Una Voce International (FIUV) on the election of Pope Leo XIV
Una Voce International (Foederation Internationalis Una Voce) would like to welcome Pope Leo XIV and assure him of the prayer of our member associations, who represent Catholics attached to the Traditional Mass all over the world.
Pope Leo has the chance to make a new start with many matters in the Church, and if the Traditional Mass does not appear to him the most pressing one, we commend to him a policy of peaceful co-existence, in which our supporters in every continent may be encouraged to make the greatest possible contribution to the life of the Church, united to the Holy Father in charity and obedience.
We urge all our supporters and friends to pray for Pope Leo. The following prayer, from the ancient Roman Missal, is the Collect from the Votive Mass ‘On the day of the Coronation of a Pope’, and is suitable for a newly elected Pope.
Deus, ómnium fidélium pastor et rector, fámulum tuum Leonem, quem pastórem Ecclésiæ tuæ præésse voluísti, propítius réspice: da ei, quǽsumus, verbo et exémplo, quibus præest, profícere; ut ad vitam, una cum grege sibi crédito, pervéniat sempitérnam. Per Dominum nostrum.
O God the Pastor and Ruler of all the faithful, look favourably on Thy servant Leo whom Thou hast been pleased to appoint as shepherd of Thy Church: grant to him, we beseech Thee, that by word and example he may edify those over whom he is placed, so that, with the flock entrusted to him, he may attain unto life everlasting.
Una Voce Bulletin, No. 7: No new restrictions so far, but petitions in support of the TLM
16th July passes, no document emerges From the President: no new restrictions so far, but several petitions in support of the TLM. The supposedly fateful date of 16th July has come, and, unlike the Ides of March for Julius Caesar, it has gone, without incident. This was the date specified in one version of the rumour predicting new restrictions on the Traditional Mass.
As far as I know none of the rumours that went into any detail suggested that there would be a complete ban. Rather, the idea seems to have been that restrictions would be tightened on the celebration of the Traditional Mass in parish churches, or by diocesan priests. These have been the focus of previous documents, and it would be surprising if proposals along these lines were not being discussed in the Holy See. It remains to be seen if any such new document will see the light of day.
Apart from the reality that nothing normally happens in Rome in the month of August, we are no further forward in relation to these rumours than before, except in one respect: the date of 16th July stimulated a whole series of appeals to the Holy See not to take this step.
Last year I published a book on past petitions, such as the one in 1971 which apparently stimulated the English Indult the same year, which was the first opening for the licit celebration of the Traditional Mass for the benefit of the Faithful—that is, not just in private by infirm priests. It is always difficult to know if an intervention of this kind has made a difference, but perhaps it did in 1971, and it may be playing a role today.
The impression given by the petitions from Britain, America, and Mexico, is that if you ask prominent lay Catholics, and non-Catholics who take an interest in these things, what they think about the Traditional Mass, if they think about it at all, they view it in a positive way. They know it is culturally significant, a great work of art, and they probably know that it has been spiritually significant for people they know—perhaps even for themselves. They find the idea that it must be restricted to safeguard the unity of the Church baffling.
Comment
This is not surprising, but these petitions make the issue very clear. Those who are pushing for more restrictions on the Traditional Mass in Rome are not indifferent to the views of film-makers, politicians, millionaires, artists, and musicians. The Church’s apostolic work depends on their good will, and prelates meet them constantly in different contexts: when raising money, organising events, restoring churches, and so on. Prelates’ feeling that their rank makes them part of an international elite is one of the few temporal perks of the role. Sometimes, mixing with these sorts of people may tempt them to play down the hard sayings of the Gospel. On this occasion, the elite is pushing them in a much more positive direction.
The danger that there will be new restrictions on the ancient Mass has not necessarily passed. Please maintain your prayers and offerings for this intention. Indeed, it is not enough not to have more bad documents. The current legal regime is causing unnecessary suffering and division, and we will need a new document at some point to make a positive change. I have complete confidence that common sense will prevail in the longer term, but it is impossible to know what difficulties will have to be overcome first.
A young Catholic at the doorway of the Birmingham Oratory, during Mass for SS Peter & Paul celebrated in association with the Latin Mass Society’s Annual General Meeting.
Dear FIUV Members and Friends: the Summer 2024 edition of Gregorius Magnus has been published!
As President of the International Una Voce Federation I hereby give notice for the
XXIV STATUTORY GENERAL ASSEMBLY
to be held at
Istituto Maria Santissima Bambina, Via Paolo VI, 21, 00193 Rome
on Saturday 28th October at 3pm
Participation by Zoom will also be possible.
Delegation and Procuration
All Member Associations should be represented by a delegate, who may be accompanied by up to three other members of his member association in the General Assembly (Statutes, 6.4). The delegate shall exercise his Member Association’s vote. Any Member Association unable to send a delegate is requested to arrange for another Member Association to exercise its vote by procuration (proxy) (Statutes, 6.5).
Advance notice for member associations: this will take place on Saturday 28th July at 3pm, at Istituto Maria Santissima Bambina, Via Paolo VI, 21, 00193 Rome.
Support the FIUV by becoming a Friend
The Friends of the FIUV support the Federation with a regular donation. They are added to the Gregorius Magnus mailing list and we arrange regular Masses for their intentions. See more about the Friends here.
Gregorius Magnus 13 published
Download the pdf here; see it optimised for mobile devices on ISSUU here.
The latest Gregorius Magnus includes articles from Malawi, Australia, New Zealand, and Ukraine, plus our regular selection of magazine articles from member associations in England, Germany, and France, book reviews, responses to the Responsa ad dubia, and a photographic report on the 2021 Summorum Pontificum–Ad Petri sedem Pilgrimage.
It can be downloaded as a pdf here ; see it optimised for mobile devices on ISSUU here.
The Latin Mass Society of New Zealand, an affiliate of the International Federation Una Voce established in 1965 (FIUV), the world-wide organisation of lay faithful attached to the Traditional Latin Mass hereby endorses their statement released on 19 July 2021.
We share the disappointment expressed in that statement regarding new restrictions on the celebration and promotion of the Traditional Latin Mass as stated in the moto proprio of Pope Francis, TraditionisCustodes:
“…as sons and daughters of the Church we wish to express our sadness over the restrictions on our ability to continue to nourish our spiritual lives using parish churches, as any Catholic would like to do. If there is one thing we fervently desire, it is to be able to live a normal life without being forced to use hidden or inaccessible spaces.
We believe that the beautiful spiritual fruits of this Missal should be shared, and we pray that we can be instruments of God inside and outside the Church.
The International Federation is deeply grateful to each of the Bishops who are generously providing for the faithful attached to the ancient Mass In their dioceses and to the Priests entrusted with the care of their souls.
Una Voce groups all over the world are united in prayer, as always, with their bishops and with the Pope…”
Felipe Alanis Suarez President
18 of July 2021
Neil A Coup Chairman
Melda F Townsley National Secretary
FIUV Report 2020
Foederatio Internationalis Una Voce
Report for the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith
The Implementation of the Apostolic Letter Summorum Pontificum
in Dioceses Around the World 2007-2020.
In 2020 the Federation presented this report to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, to complement reports sent by bishops around the world on the same subject, which had been requested by the CDF at the request of Pope Francis.
The Federation’s Report will not be published in full but a good deal of material from it will be published in different places, and this page will be updated with links to these materials.
Gregorius Magnus 10 has an account of the motivation, methodology, results, and conclusions of the reports. More is included Gregorius Magnus 11(Spring 2021)
Rorate Caeli has an article about Latin America drawing on the Report. (In Spanish, here.)
The Homiletic and Pastoral Review has a piece about the demographic profile of EF attendees, here. There is a brief notice and response to the article on the website of the German Bishops’ Conference (in German) here.
The Una Voce Federation [of whom we are a member] has taken out an advert in the mass-circulation Italian daily newspaper La Repubblica, appearing today, Sunday 4th July.The English text is as following (for other languages see here):
Living the faith, living the future:
The Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite
Declaration of the International Federation Una Voce
The International Federation Una Voce (FIUV), founded in 1965, brings together associations of the lay faithful attached to the Extraordinary Form of the Roman rite (the Traditional Latin Mass).
In 2007, the Apostolic Letter Summorum Pontificum recognised the vitality of the traditional liturgy, the freedom of priests to celebrate it, and of the faithful to request it. This has led to an ongoing increase in the number of celebrations of the ancient Latin Mass, and of its spiritual fruits.
During 2020 the FIUV conducted a worldwide survey of the faithful on the implementation of Summorum Pontificum. From this survey, which included results from 364 dioceses in 52 countries, we found:
• The ancient Latin Mass is deeply appreciated by groups of faithful of all ages, especially families with children, young people and converts, found in all social and cultural environments, on all continents and in an ever increasing number of countries.
• In many areas the increased availability of this Mass has favoured the normalisation of relations between the faithful attached to it and their bishops, relations increasingly characterised by mutual understanding and respect.
Nevertheless, we have noticed that, contrary to the previous policy of the Holy See, there are still people within the Church, including some bishops, who would like to see the Extraordinary Form of the Roman rite explicitly suppressed, or subject to further restrictions. For this reason, the FIUV, in view of the faithful who adhere to the Latin Mass, feels the duty to express its opinion, encouraged by Pope Francis’ exhortations to the members of the Church to use parrhesia with the necessary humility.
The growth of interest in the traditional liturgy is not due to nostalgia for a time we do not remember, or a desire for rigidity: it is rather a matter of opening ourselves to the value of something that for most of us is new, and inspires hope. Pope Francis has characterised the ancient liturgy in terms of a “sense of adoration” (Press conference of 28 July 2013), we can also apply his words to it: a “living history that welcomes us and pushes us forward” (Evangelii Gaudium 13).
Today we only wish to be part of that “great orchestra” of “unity in variety” which, as Pope Francis said (General Audience of 9 October 2013), reflects the true catholicity of the Church. The Apostolic Letter Summorum Pontificum continues to transform the conflicts of the past into harmony: long may it to continue to do so.
Felipe Alanis Suarez, President www.fiuv.org
Ends
Some details from the international survey are set out in here.
It includes a report on the events in Rome last October, in place of the usual Summorum Pontificum Pilgrimage.
It also includes a key passage from the French Bishops’ summary report to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith on the implementation of Summorum Pontificum, in an English translation published for the first time.
As usual it also includes translations of articles from the quarterly magazines of Una Voce France and Pro Missa Tridentina of Germany, as well as an article from the Latin Mass Society’s Mass of Ages, and news and reflections first published here, from Croatia, Romania, and Poland.
It is free to download as a pdf, or to view on the ISSUU website and app for mobile devices.
with thanks to the International Una Voce Federation
Quae patronum invocat sanctum Gregorium Magnum Papam.
Press Release: Communion on the Tongue and Epidemic
In light of the recent statement (and here) by Archbishop Thomas J. Rodi of Mobile, Alabama, in the United States of America, on social distancing during the reception of Holy Communion, and related issues surrounding the reception of Holy Communion around the world in the context of the Coronavirus epidemic, the Foederatio Internationalis Una Voce (FIUV) would like to make the following observations.
In the Ordinary Form, the universal law of the Church gives every Catholic the right to receive on the tongue. This was reaffirmed by the Congregation of Divine Worship in the context of earlier public health concerns, the so-called ‘Swine flu’ epidemic of 2009. (See for exampleRedemptionisSacramentum(2004) 92; Letter of the Congregation of Divine Worship 24th July 2009, Prot. N. 655/09/L.)
In the Extraordinary Form, the universal law of the Church allows for the reception of Holy Communion only on the tongue. (SeeUniversaeEcclesiae(2011) 28; MemorialeDomini (1969).)
In neither case can the law of the Church be set aside by the Ordinary.
The problem of maintaining physical distance between Minister and Communicant during the Reception of Holy Communion applies equally to Reception in the Hand as to Reception on the Tongue. In both cases Minister and Communicant are obliged to come close to each other, if only for a short time, and without touching. It is difficult to see how even the use of an instrument such as a pair of tongs (for which there are historical precedents) would enable Minister and Communicant to maintain a distance of six feet or two meters.
Canon law is rightly very restrictive in the penalties which bishops can impose on their priests for the breach of regulations of their own devising. Bishop Rodi’s attempt to prohibit priests who do not obey his regulations to celebrate public Masses—something which amounts to a partial suspension of a priest—goes beyond what Canon law would appear to justify. (SeeCanons1316-1319).
It has become increasingly evident that there is no clear scientific basis for the claim that Reception on the Tongue is more likely to transmit the Coronavirus than Reception in the Hand. This has been the expert advice given toArchbishop Sample of Portland, Oregon, USA, and toArchbishop José Antonio Eguren, of Piura, Peru, and it is also the view of the experts involved in the guidelines of the Thomistic Institute of Washington, DC, in the USA. If any bishops around the world are in possession of studies or expert opinions in conflict with this growing consensus, it behooves them to make these public as a matter of urgency.
Where local circumstances demand it, the suspension of the Reception of Holy Communion, of the celebration of Masses open to the public, and even the opening of churches for private prayer, have been ordered by bishops and public authorities. These measures are at least even-handed and, insofar as they are justified by genuine public health concerns, do not infringe the rights of the Faithful. As these measures are gradually lifted around the world, we urge bishops to continue to act in accordance with expert advice, not arbitrarily picking out certain priests and faithful for greater restrictions than those imposed on others, and with respect for the rights of the Faithful.
The President and Officers of the Foederatio Internationalis Una Voce, 8th June 2020
———–
ABOUT THE FOEDERATIO INTERNATIONALIS UNA VOCE (FIUV)
The FIUV represents the needs and concerns of the world-wide laity attached to the ancient Latin liturgical tradition, the Extraordinary Form. It has more than 45 member associations from Europe, North and South America, Africa, and Asia.
The Federation has a biennial General Assembly in Rome, and publishes a magazine twice a year, Gregorius Magnus.
CONTACT DETAILS
Website: www.fiuv.org
President, Felipe Alanís Suarez: president@fiuv.org
