Una Voce Decries St. Peter's Ban on TLM Pilgrims
Organizers reaffirm fidelity to the Pope.
On October 26, Joseph Shaw and Monika Rheinschmitt of Una Voce International issued a statement thanking organizers of the Pontifical Mass held two days earlier at the Basilica of St. Mary Major, while lamenting the refusal to admit traditional pilgrims to St. Peter’s Basilica.
The annual Ad Petri Sedem Summorum Pontificum pilgrimage, organized by the Coetus Internationalis Summorum Pontificum and bringing together 33 traditional Catholic associations, took place in Rome from October 23 to 25 with more than 1,500 participants. Christian Marquant, the chief organizer, stressed that the pilgrimage was an act of fidelity to the Successor of Peter, lived “cum Petro et sub Petro.”
Refusals Without Reasons
The Vatican Secretariat of State denied the group permission for a Pontifical Mass at St. Peter’s in an August 7 letter. On September 30, Archbishop Paolo Rudelli rejected a September 8 request by Father Claude Barthe for a procession into the basilica at 1 p.m. on October 24, to pray at the Confession and to adore the Blessed Sacrament at the Altar of the Chair. No reasons were given for either denial, and no alternative dates were offered; the basilica was available. Pilgrims were informed only the day before the planned procession.
Mass for Liturgical Peace
Barred from St. Peter’s, the pilgrims gathered instead at St. Mary Major on October 24 for a Pontifical Low Mass celebrated by Bishop Athanasius Schneider, auxiliary bishop of Astana, Kazakhstan, for the repose of the soul of Pope Francis. The liturgy concluded around 4:15 p.m.
In his homily, Bishop Schneider defended the 1962 Missal as never abrogated, citing Quo Primum and Summorum Pontificum. He said traditional Catholics feel treated as “second-class Catholics” under the restrictions of Traditionis Custodes, recalled teachings of past popes, including John Paul II and Francis, on liturgical beauty, and urged “liturgical peace” so that the traditional Roman Rite might again be used fully and without discrimination. He called on Church leaders to heed Regina Pacis and the marginalized faithful.