ROME \u2014 Some cardinals and faithful who have a devotion to the traditional Roman rite have expressed concern that the liturgy appears to be sidelined in the extraordinary consistory currently underway at the Vatican after the cardinals voted to give priority to other issues on the agenda.<\/p>\n
In his opening address to the consistory yesterday, Pope Leo XIV reaffirmed to the cardinal participants that they will have the opportunity to \u201cengage in a communal reflection\u201d on four themes already preannounced to be on the meeting\u2019s agenda.<\/p>\n
Those topics, he said, were Pope Francis\u2019 2013 apostolic exhortation Evangelii Gaudium, \u201cthat is, the mission of the Church in today\u2019s world\u201d; Praedicate Evangelium, the late pope\u2019s apostolic constitution reforming the Roman Curia; the Synod and synodality \u201cas both an instrument and a style of cooperation\u201d; and the liturgy, \u201cthe source and summit of the Christian life.\u201d<\/p>\n
But Leo added that \u201cdue to time constraints, and in order to encourage a genuinely in-depth analysis, only two of them will be discussed specifically.\u201d<\/p>\n
The cardinals were then asked to make clear which two of the four they would want to be specifically debated and, according to Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni, \u201ca large majority\u201d decided the topics would be \u201cevangelization and the Church\u2019s missionary activity drawn from rereading Evangelii Gaudium,\u201d and \u201cthe Synod and synodality.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bruni told reporters at a press briefing Wednesday evening that the 170 cardinals taking part were divided into 20 groups, which were then divided into two blocks. Eleven groups consisted of cardinals in Rome including curial cardinals and those who have concluded their service and are no longer electors. The remaining nine groups were cardinal electors of local Churches (archbishops and bishops of dioceses), cardinal electors who are nuncios and cardinal electors who have concluded their service but remain electors due to being under the age of 80.<\/p>\n
Bruni said that \u201cfor reasons of time,\u201d the cardinal secretaries of the second block had the job of reporting back the decision of the cardinals. \u201cThey had three minutes to explain the work done within the groups and the reasons that led to the choice of the two themes.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Holy Father had made clear in his opening address that it was his preference to hear back from the second block as he does not usually receive advice from those cardinals. \u201cIt is naturally easier for me to seek counsel from those who work in the Curia and live in Rome,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
But the decision not to make the liturgy a key theme was disappointing to some cardinals and traditional faithful.<\/p>\n
The liturgy has long been a particularly sensitive issue, and especially to traditional-minded Catholics following recent sweeping restrictions on the older form of the Latin rite during Pope Francis\u2019 pontificate. These faithful experienced the restrictions not as a mere disciplinary change but as a judgment on their fidelity, spirituality, and ecclesial belonging, which many have described as deeply wounding and divisive.<\/p>\n
The popular Italian traditional website \u201cMessa in Latino\u201c wrote Jan. 7 that it had contacted some anonymous but important cardinals who all said they were \u201cdiscouraged and disappointed\u201d about the relegation of the liturgy as a discussion topic.<\/p>\n
In comments to the National Catholic Register, CNA\u2019s sister news partner, on Jan. 8, the website\u2019s editor Luigi Casalini asked: \u201cTo whom did the pope delegate this choice, and according to what criteria were these cardinals of the nine local Churches selected in order to remove \u2014 in effect \u2014 two topics?\u201d He also wondered \u201cwhy cardinals sensitive to the issue\u201d appear to have \u201cmade no attempt to lobby\u201d for the liturgy to be included as a core topic of discussion, \u201ceven before the consistory.\u201d<\/p>\n
The consistory, he added, \u201cappears to be in perfect continuity with the synods and the thought of Francis\u201d \u2014 a reference to how recent synods were silent on the traditional liturgy.<\/p>\n
Speaking to journalists Wednesday, Bruni tried to offer some reassurance. \u201cThe other two themes will still be addressed in some way, because mission does not exclude the liturgy,\u201d he said. \u201cOn the contrary, in many ways it does not mean exclusion. It means that they will still be addressed within the others or in some other way.\u201d<\/p>\n
He added: \u201cAs the pope said and as he noted in both his opening and closing speeches [on Wednesday], the themes cannot be separated from each other, because in mission and evangelization there is liturgy.\u201d<\/p>\n
Casalini said he was looking ahead to the two free discussions today to see \u201cwhether the topic of the liturgy will be taken up again.\u201d<\/p>\n
This story\u00a0was first published\u00a0by the National Catholic Register, CNA’s sister news partner, and has been adapted by CNA.<\/p>\n