Nine months after organizers of the Ad Petri Sedem pilgrimage sought an audience, the Vatican has declined a pontifical Mass in St. Peter’s and no papal meeting has been announced.
Edward Pentin
Pilgrims process towards St Peter’s Basilica during last year’s Ad Petri Sedem pilgrimage in Rome, Oct. 25, 2025 (Photo: Edward Pentin)
Is Pope Leo XIV missing an opportunity to heal wounds felt by traditional Catholics by not meeting with a large representative group of them next month?
The Holy Father has so far not responded to a request for a papal audience from the leaders of an annual traditional Catholic pilgrimage to Rome — despite the request having been made nine months ago and the Pope saying last year he would like to meet such groups.
The organisers of the Oct. 23-25 Ad Petri Sedem (to the See of Peter) pilgrimage, mostly made up of laypeople, had requested the papal audience in a letter signed by two lay members of the organisation and personally delivered by Bishop Athanasius Schneider when he met Pope Leo at the Vatican last December.
They also asked in the same letter for permission to celebrate a Pontifical Mass at the Altar of the Chair in St Peter’s Basilica, as has happened several years in the past, and during last year’s pilgrimage which took place during the jubilee year and was celebrated by Cardinal Raymond Burke.
The pilgrimage is run by Coetus Internationalis, an association comprising 33 traditional Catholic associations from all over the world. Last year, an estimated 3,000 faithful attended the annual three-day gathering.
After repeated requests for a definitive response, the Secretariat of State on 7 August declined permission for the Pontifical Mass to be celebrated in St Peter’s Basilica. The Mass will instead be held at the Basilica of St Mary Major on 24 October, with Bishop Athanasius Schneider as celebrant.
The organisers expressed their “deep gratitude” to Cardinal Rolandas Makrickas, archpriest of St Mary Major, for granting permission for the Mass.
More: https://edwardpentin.substack.com/p/no-response-to-traditional-pilgrimages?r=2x82t4&utm_medium=ios
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