Why did Pope Francis restrict the ancient Latin Mass?

One of the most controversial aspects of Pope Francis’ legacy as the leader of the Catholic Church is his decision to restrict an older form of the Catholic liturgy known as the Traditional Latin Mass.

Francis explained that he decided to restrict the Latin Mass because he was concerned its use was leading to division in the Church. Francis said he felt the more ancient mass was “being used in an ideological way” in reaction to modernity, including the more modern Vatican II mass.

The mass — from the Latin word “missa,” which means “sacrifice” — consists of the “Liturgy of the Word” and “Liturgy of the Eucharist,” the latter of which is considered the most sacred and highest form of worship by Catholics. 

The Latin Mass, which was formalized by Pope St. Pius V in 1570 and continues to be practiced by some Catholics today, has several key differences from the more common Vatican II mass, which was instituted in 1969. These differences include the entirety of the mass being said in Latin and the priest facing “ad orientem” (“to the east”) rather than facing the congregation.

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During his 12-year pontificate, Francis took several actions to limit the use of the Latin Mass throughout the world. The result was that the Latin Mass was relegated to a very limited number of churches, with it often only being offered by priests belonging to specific orders expressly devoted to it.

In 2021, Francis issued a set of instructions, called a “motu proprio,” in which he placed sweeping restrictions on the Latin Mass, including requiring priests wanting to say the mass to seek express approval from their local bishops. In 2023, Francis issued additional restrictions on the Latin Mass, requiring bishops to obtain express approval from the Vatican to allow it to be said in their jurisdictions and barring newly ordained priests from saying it.

The instructions diverged from the policy of Francis’ predecessor, Pope Benedict XVI, who had allowed all priests to say the Latin Mass.

In a conversation with Jesuits in 2023, Francis explained that he felt his predecessor’s allowances “were being used in an ideological way, to go backward.”

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“The danger today is indietrismo, the reaction against the modern. It is a nostalgic disease,” he said. “This is why I decided that now the permission to celebrate according to the Roman Missal of 1962 [the Latin Mass] is mandatory for all newly consecrated priests.”

Francis said the restriction was “necessary to stop this indietrismo, which was not in the pastoral vision of my predecessors.”

Despite this, Francis clarified that specific orders of priests, such as the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter (FSSP), were not impacted by the restrictions.

After a 2024 meeting between Francis and Father Andrzej Komorowski, the head of FSSP, the order released a communique in which it said “in the course of the audience, the pope made it clear that institutes such as the Fraternity of St. Peter are not affected by the general provisions of the motu proprio … since the use of the ancient liturgical books was at the origin of their existence and is provided for in their constitutions.”