Archbishop Miguel Maury Buendía, apostolic nuncio to Great Britain, spoke to the plenary assembly of the Catholic Bishops Conference of England and Wales, telling the bishops that the Vatican would “be generous” when asked to dispense from the restrictions on the Traditional Latin Mass (TLM).
As per someone present at Archbishop Buendía’s address, the latter elaborated that although Pope Leo XIV is “not minded to change [“Traditionis Custodes”], but as there are many different rites in the Church, there’s no reason to exclude the TLM.”
What the nuncio did state was that while pastors would still have to seek the permission of their bishops to celebrate the TLM in parish churches, and diocesan bishops still have to seek permission from the Dicastery for Divine Worship for permission, “Leo will ask Cardinal Arthur [Roche, prefect of the dicastery] to be generous.”
It is the wish of many Catholics devoted to the TLM that the Pope magnanimously broaden the scope of diocesan dispensations, permitting more parishes to continue celebrating the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass according to the 1962 Missal, with episcopal approval.
“The impression [the nuncio gave] was that the pope wants the door to be left open and not narrowed or closed,” one cleric who heard Archbishop Buendía’s speech said.
Likewise, the Catholic Herald spoke of “unconfirmed reports from the plenary meeting of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales suggest that a policy could be implemented whereby any bishop who requests dispensation for the Traditional Latin Mass to occur will have it granted.”
However, a Vatican official told Catholic News Service November 14 that the exemptions were nothing new.
“This is no more than a restatement of the practice of the Dicastery for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments since the motu proprio (‘Traditionis Custodes’) came into force,” Monseignor Enda Murphy, an official at the dicastery, clarified.
Put simply, a bishop can allocate one or more locations where the faithful who had been celebrating the older Mass could continue to do so, “not however in the parochial churches and without the erection of new personal parishes”, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) stated.
It is the wish of many Catholics devoted to the TLM that the Pope magnanimously broaden the scope of diocesan dispensations, permitting more parishes to continue celebrating the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass according to the 1962 Missal, with episcopal approval.
Yet realistically speaking, this latest piece of news from Archbishop Buendía is not surprising. It remains evident that under Pope Leo XIV, Pope Francis’ “Traditionis Custodes”—which asserts that the reformed liturgy is the unique expression of the Roman Rite—will remain officially unscathed.
If the current reports are accurate, Pope Leo XIV’s “generous exemptions” could alleviate animosities between traditional Catholics and their bishops, permitting the venerable TLM to thrive under diocesan supervision rather than “in the catacombs”. Also, the pontiff’s purported “exemptions” importantly reaffirm that love the TLM is completely in sync with loyalty to Rome and the papacy, as was seen during the most recent 2025 Summorum Pontificum pilgrimage. The pontiff also personally gave approval for Cardinal Raymond L. Burke to celebrate the TLM in St. Peter’s Basilica during the Summorum Pontificum pilgrimage.
Moreover, this piece of news shows yet another illustration of Pope Leo XIV’s track record as a mediator. His papal motto, reportedly “Servire in caritate” (“To serve in charity”), could possibly point to his plans to soften the impact of strict and harsh implementations of “Traditionis Custodes”.
From the standpoint of Catholic tradition, the Church’s law regarding the liturgy balances two principles: the authority of the Pope to regulate rites and the Church’s organic continuity of worship. Pope St. Pius V’s Quo Primum articulated this balance in the sixteenth century by unifying the missal while permitting older local uses that predated 1570.
What could the future hold?
If Rome’s attitudes towards the TLM softens, an optimistic view to take would be to hope that diocesan bishops can approve TLM communities, easing the fear that traditional Catholics are living on “borrowed time”.
At the same time, more “hardline” Catholics on online forums have scoffed at the latest piece of news coming from Archbishop Buendía, stating that such developments are a prime example of the Vatican’s tactic of “switch and bait” to lure TLM-loving Catholics into a false sense of security while concurrently working to destroy the ancient Mass. While such insinuations may indeed materialize in the future (at this time, only God knows), I prefer to adopt a cautious “wait and see” approach instead of jumping the gun to accuse Pope Leo XIV of any deceitful ploy. After all, not everything that comes from Rome is necessarily evil, and we who call ourselves traditional Catholics have to walk a delicate tightrope to avoid falling into the spiritually proud and un-Catholic mindset of questioning every single line that comes from Rome.
Maria, Mater Ecclesiae, ora pro nobis.
