In July 2021, Pope Francis issued the motu proprio Traditionis Custodes, a document that signaled a decisive moment in the ongoing liturgical development of the Roman Catholic Church. At its core, the document represents not an arbitrary restriction of liturgical freedom but a deliberate response to a long and complex historical process that has unfolded since the Second Vatican Council. To understand Traditionis Custodes in its proper context, it is necessary to look back over the developments that preceded it, particularly the temporary accommodation of the pre-conciliar liturgy, the intentions of Pope Benedict XVI, and the feedback received from bishops around the world.
Vatican II and the Call for Liturgical Reform
The Second Vatican Council (1962–1965) issued Sacrosanctum Concilium, the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, which called for a renewal of the Roman Rite. This renewal sought to simplify the rites, promote the active participation of the faithful, and allow for the use of the vernacular. The Council did not abolish the 1962 Missal, nor did it explicitly call for the creation of a new Missal. However, the implementation of its principles led to the promulgation of a revised Roman Missal in 1970 by Pope Paul VI, which became the normative expression of the Roman Rite.
While many welcomed the liturgical reforms, some Catholics, particularly those attached to the older liturgy, resisted the changes. Among the most prominent critics was Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, who founded the Society of St. Pius X (SSPX) and ultimately led his followers into a state of formal disobedience to the Holy See. The division threatened to fracture the Church and posed a pastoral challenge to successive popes.
A Temporary Pastoral Solution: Two Forms of the Roman Rite
In an effort to heal these divisions and provide a space for the legitimate aspirations of those attached to the older liturgy, Pope John Paul II issued the motu proprio Ecclesia Dei in 1988. This document granted indults—special permissions—for the continued use of the 1962 Missal under certain conditions, particularly for groups that distanced themselves from schismatic tendencies.
This pastoral concession was deepened by Pope Benedict XVI in 2007, who issued Summorum Pontificum, a motu proprio that greatly expanded access to the older liturgy. Benedict argued that the 1962 Missal had never been abrogated and could therefore be freely used by any priest of the Latin Rite. He introduced the terminology of “Ordinary Form” (1970 Missal) and “Extraordinary Form” (1962 Missal), asserting that both were valid expressions of the same Roman Rite.
Benedict’s intention was clear: to foster reconciliation within the Church and preserve unity by granting generous access to the traditional liturgy, while also affirming the legitimacy of the liturgical reforms of Vatican II. However, even in 2007, Benedict foresaw the possibility that this arrangement might present challenges. In the accompanying letter to the bishops, he wrote:
“I invite you, dear Brothers, to send to the Holy See an account of your experiences, three years after this Motu Proprio has taken effect. If truly serious difficulties come to light, ways to remedy them can be sought.”
This invitation implied that Summorum Pontificum was not necessarily a permanent solution but a pastoral initiative subject to review and potential revision.
The Church’s Delayed Response and the 2020 Survey
Despite Benedict XVI’s request, the Church did not produce a coordinated review of Summorum Pontificum by 2010. Over the next decade, bishops quietly managed the implementation of the motu proprio in various ways. Some dioceses saw flourishing communities dedicated to the traditional liturgy, while others experienced tension, division, and even open rejection of Vatican II by adherents of the older form.
Recognizing the need to evaluate this complex situation, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) under Pope Francis conducted a worldwide survey of bishops in 2020. This consultation was not a rejection of Summorum Pontificum but the very act Benedict XVI had called for. The responses gathered would form the empirical basis for a reassessment of the place of the 1962 Missal in the life of the Church.
The Findings and the Decision of Pope Francis
In July 2021, Pope Francis published Traditionis Custodes in direct response to the findings of the 2020 survey. In the accompanying letter to bishops, he explained that the feedback from around the world had revealed significant concerns. According to the bishops’ reports, in many cases the expanded use of the traditional liturgy was fostering division, encouraging a rejection of the Second Vatican Council, and undermining ecclesial unity.
Francis wrote:
“Responding to your requests, I take the firm decision to abrogate all the norms, instructions, permissions and customs that precede the present Motu proprio…”
“I take the decision to suspend the faculty granted by my Predecessors.”
With these words, Pope Francis ended the juridical framework of dual forms. He did not deny the validity of the 1962 Missal, but he did revoke the special permissions that had allowed its widespread use. In doing so, he reasserted the vision of Vatican II: that the Church of the Roman Rite should have a single liturgical form that embodies the principles of the Council.
Liturgical Unity: Not Emotional Harmony, but Ecclesial Order
One of the most misunderstood elements of Traditionis Custodes is its appeal to “unity.” Critics often interpret this as an unrealistic call for harmony between groups that fundamentally disagree. However, Pope Francis clarified what he meant:
“The revision of the Roman Missal, carried out in the light of the liturgical sources, had the goal of permitting the Church to raise up, in the variety of languages, ‘a single and identical prayer’ capable of expressing her unity.”
This is not unity in sentiment, but unity in form. It is the restoration of a unitary mode of worship that gives visible expression to the Church’s faith. When Pope Francis speaks of liturgical unity, he is not asking that all Catholics be pleased or agreeable, but that the Church be visibly and doctrinally united in how she worships.
A Pastoral Judgment: The Experiment Did Not Fulfill Its Purpose
The logic of Traditionis Custodes is not arbitrary. It is the fruit of a judgment made after years of experience. The “experiment” of two forms was meant to be pastoral and conciliatory, aimed at healing division. Yet, the bishops reported that it had instead entrenched separate identities, with many communities using the 1962 Missal as a sign of resistance to the Council and to the Church’s magisterial authority.
Pope Francis concluded that the dual-form approach was no longer helping the Church, but harming her unity. The pastoral concern that justified Summorum Pontificum had become the reason for its revision.
The Role of Obedience and the Danger of Resistance
Perhaps the most sobering part of the current discussion is the reaction to Traditionis Custodes. Some Catholics have responded with open defiance, characterizing the Pope’s decision as a betrayal of tradition. But this response underscores the very problem that the bishops’ feedback highlighted: that some traditionalist groups have come to define themselves by opposition to the Council and to the living magisterium.
This raises a serious question: Can a liturgical form become a symbol not of unity with the Church but of resistance to it? Pope Francis’s answer is that this is precisely what has happened in too many cases. Therefore, his decision is not an act of hostility, but a call back to communion.
“The use of the 1962 Missal was regulated by my Predecessors with the desire to foster the healing of the schism with the movement of Mons. Lefebvre. The request directed to the bishops to evaluate the application of the Motu Proprio Summorum Pontificum has revealed a situation that preoccupies and saddens me, confirming the need to intervene.”
Unity Through Liturgy: The Council’s Vision Realized
Ultimately, Traditionis Custodes is about liturgical consistency and ecclesial unity. It affirms the long-term vision of Vatican II: a reformed Roman Rite that draws on ancient sources, promotes active participation, and expresses the Church’s faith with clarity and universality.
The two-form structure introduced by Benedict XVI was a noble pastoral attempt to maintain peace and accommodate diversity. But when that accommodation began to harden into division, it became necessary to act.
Francis’s decision does not erase the past but corrects a trajectory. It reaffirms that the Church cannot sustain liturgical pluralism as a permanent norm when that pluralism undermines the very unity the liturgy is meant to embody.
A Final Word of Caution
Those who resist Traditionis Custodes should do so with deep care. The Church has shown a remarkable degree of patience and pastoral sensitivity over the decades. But Pope Francis’s motu proprio signals that the era of open-ended tolerance may be at an end. The call now is to trust the Church, to embrace the unity of her worship, and to recognize that fidelity to tradition includes obedience to the living magisterium.
Traditionis Custodes is not a repudiation of Benedict XVI’s intentions. It is a response to them. It is not an attack on tradition, but a reaffirmation of the Church’s authority to guide the faithful in liturgical matters. And above all, it is a step toward the unity that Vatican II envisioned: not just unity of heart, but unity of worship, doctrine, and ecclesial life.
In this light, Traditionis Custodes stands as a bold, necessary, and pastorally grounded act of liturgical reform—an act made in fidelity to the tradition it seeks to protect, and the future it seeks to serve.
Mr. William C. Michael, O.P.
Headmaster
Classical Liberal Arts Academy
