By Archbishop Héctor Aguer
Emeritus of La Plata, Argentina Buenos Aires, Monday, July 13, 2026
The always remembered Pope Benedict XVI — whom it is quite possible will one day be declared a Doctor of the Church — sought, through his Motu Proprio Summorum Pontificum of July 7, 2007, on the two uses of the one Roman Rite in its ordinary and extraordinary forms, to liberalize the celebration of the Mass commonly called "traditional," "Tridentine," "of Saint Pius V," or "the Mass of all time." He did so with the aim of contributing to liturgical peace and out of the respect owed to an ancient and venerable usage. In this way, any priest could celebrate the "Latin Mass" without need of special permissions and without risk of ideologically motivated reprisals from certain bishops.
In the letter to the world's bishops that accompanied the Motu Proprio, the Pontiff emphasized that what was sacred for previous generations remains sacred and great for us as well, and cannot suddenly be entirely forbidden or even deemed harmful. God alone knows how much the German Pope suffered when, fourteen years later, on July 16, 2021, his successor in the pontificate revoked that legislation with a stroke of the pen and imposed draconian restrictions on the Vetus Ordo. Something of that suffering has been revealed in recent days by the one who was his faithful personal secretary, Archbishop Georg Gänswein.
Traditionis Custodes, issued five years ago, far from closing wounds, only deepened them. And contrary to what its promoter sought, it contributed to a growing interest in Tradition and Orthodoxy — especially among the young. Today, a good portion of conversions occur among those who prefer the ancient use. And the transmission of the faith, to a significant degree, is no longer passed from parents to children but from young people to young people. I recall here what I have said on so many occasions: I was ordained a priest in 1972 according to the Novus Ordo, and I have never celebrated in the extraordinary form.
The Mystery, without question, continues to captivate hearts. And before a world of liquid relationships, drowning in emptiness and dehumanization — a world that arrogantly claims to live in post-truth, post-humanism, and post-Christianity — Christ, the Way, the Truth, and the Life (Jn 14:6), reasserts all his rights. He shows that through him, facing the Father, in the Holy Spirit, human existence finds its full meaning, in view of the better Future that awaits. The Pauline exhortation to the Colossians thus resonates with renewed vigor: Rooted and built up in him, and established in the faith (Col 2:7). It is a matter, then, of not allowing oneself to be enslaved by the emptiness of a deceptive philosophy inspired by purely human traditions and the elements of the world rather than by Christ (cf. Col 2:8).
It is not, therefore, persecution or the extreme measures of progressivism that will be able to stop this growing movement — which, as we have seen, goes far beyond mere fashion. For the fashion over the past sixty years has been to make of the Novus Ordo — even contrary to what Sacrosanctum Concilium mandated — an anything-goes vehicle of liturgical devastation.
More: https://rorate-caeli.blogspot.com/2026/07/facing-god-rooted-in-christ-latin-mass.html
