Archbishop Cordileone: "Many Latin Mass Faithful Have Experienced Rejection and Marginalisation by the Hierarchy"
The
Archbishop of San Francisco, Monsignor Salvatore Cordileone, supports the two
letters for the Mass in the Roman Rite from intellectuals in Britain (3 July)
and the Americas (15 July).
Speaking to PillarCatholic.com, Cordileone rejects the "stereotype"
that "lovers of the Latin Mass are rigid and backward". His argument
is that there are "so many great creatives" among them.
"Rather than rigid, some of the most creative Catholic minds are those
drawn to the Latin Mass."
Archbishop Cordileone recalls that Francis has
called for a listening Church: "These petition signers speak to Pope
Francis with great humility and in a spirit of obedience, and with the kind of
confidence that children have when they go to a loving father, in order to
speak of their spiritual needs."
Monsignor Cordileone sees the Roman Rite as an instrument of evangelisation:
"The traditional Latin Mass is a tool that works for some people; not the
only one, but it works for some."
Asked about Archbishop Viganò and Spanish sedevacantist nuns, who have declared
their separation from Francis' Vatican in recent weeks, Cordileone refers to
the internet: "Social media rewards and magnifies the most extreme and
disrespectful voices."
He wants to amplify "the voices of those who, as in this petition, are
faithful Catholics, declare their loyalty to the pope, and at the same time ask
that no further restrictions be placed on their access to a form that feeds
them spiritually”.
Further, Archbishop Cordileone suggests some introspection: "Why do some
lovers of the Latin Mass show such rigid behaviour? Many, I know, have
experienced rejection and marginalisation by the Church’s pastors - the very
ones called to nurture them spiritually - simply because of their desire to
worship in the way the Church has done for many centuries."
In his own experience, "Latin Massgoers
are good Catholics and faithful to the Catholic Church".
And, "They aren't heretics or schismatics as a general rule. Some of the strongest
Catholics I know, who serve the poor and their parish, love the Latin
Mass."
