What is happening to the TLM on Leo’s watch?

Mark Lambert @sitsio:

I would strongly encourage Catholics, particularly those interested in the direction of Pope Leo XIV's pontificate, to listen carefully to this remarkable address by Vatican journalist Diane Montagna @dianemontagna at the Catholic Identity Conference in Pittsburgh.

There are some genuinely explosive revelations here, but what interests me most is the emerging contradiction between Leo's apparent openness to liturgical reconciliation and the continuing determination of Cardinal Arthur Roche to suppress the Traditional Latin Mass. Diane reminds us that the Vatican's own assessment of the bishops' survey preceding Traditionis Custodes was substantially more favourable towards the ancient liturgy than Francis's subsequent justification suggested. She also reports that restrictions continue to be imposed, sometimes apparently with the explicit intention of eliminating the Traditional Mass altogether. Yet Leo has called for generous accommodation of Catholics attached to the older liturgy, has received prominent traditionalist figures, and, according to Montagna's sources, understands that something needs to change.

So why hasn't it?

Here we reach the most fascinating and troubling part of her analysis. Leo inherited a Curia populated by men deeply invested in the policies of his predecessor. Roche continues to pursue his restrictive agenda, apparently without papal intervention. Is Leo receiving the full picture? Is he reluctant to confront those around him? Or is his own understanding of liturgical unity closer to theirs than his public remarks suggest? We simply don't know, and it would be unfair to pretend otherwise. But Diane makes an important observation: Leo has already demonstrated his willingness to reverse Francis's decisions elsewhere. He is not powerless, nor is he necessarily bound by his predecessor's policies.

I was particularly struck by Cardinal Sarah's suggestion that Traditionis Custodes need not even be formally repealed. A change of attitude in Rome, allowing bishops genuinely to exercise their pastoral judgement, could gradually restore liturgical peace.

There is also a deeper theological question here. As Benedict XVI understood, fidelity to Vatican II does not require treating every subsequent liturgical reform as beyond criticism. The Church cannot reasonably insist that what nourished generations of saints has somehow become a threat to Catholic unity. I don't believe the answer is to retreat into permanent suspicion of Rome, still less to abandon communion with the successor of Peter. But neither should Catholics be expected to mistake enforced liturgical uniformity for genuine ecclesial unity.

Diane's speech leaves us with a question that increasingly defines this pontificate: Will Leo's admirable language of reconciliation become a reality in the life of the Church, or will the machinery he inherited continue to frustrate it?

This is well worth watching in full.

Video: https://youtu.be/Gljgeo-sa5Q