FIRENZE-NUOVA ROMA 16 July 2021 (NRom)
Earlier today His Holiness and Eminence Papa Rutherford I, Prince of Rome issued a statement regarding the new policy of His Holiness Francis regarding the use of the Latin mass in the Roman Communion. The Archfather expressed significant concern that the fundamental and ancient rights of Roman Catholics around the world have been violated.
The full text of the statement is given below:
We are deeply saddened and extraordinarily concerned by the recent change in policy by Our Brother the Bishop of Rome regarding the ability of the Catholic faithful within the Roman Communion to use the traditional Latin Tridentine mass and accompanying liturgy. Truly they have been evicted from their homes, declared guilty when guiltless, as was our Lord. Although We anticipated such change, We nevertheless prayed and hoped that the Holy Spirit would be listened to that it thereby would not come to fruition.
The right to the Tridentine mass, often referred to now as the “Latin Mass,” was established in perpetuity by Pope Saint Pius V in Quo Primum and even referenced by Pope Saint Paul VI. It may not be suppressed. The Holy Father Benedict XVI merely confirmed those rights and ensure that they would be protected globally, even against modernists within the church hierarchy. Now that protection has been removed, placing the traditional Catholics within the Roman Communion at spiritual peril and in a situation of religious persecution from their own hierarchy. Indeed, as Our most holy predecessor Pope Saint Pius IX said, liberal Catholics are the worst enemies of the church. Now the door has been flung open wide for the widespread suppression of adherents to the Tridentine liturgy.
Indeed, it appears that not only may no new Latin mass communities be formed within the dioceses of the Roman Communion, those that do exist now apparently must find other accommodations, for they are no longer permitted to celebrate that liturgy within existing parish buildings. This act of policy change not only is against sacred tradition and the fundamental rights of Catholics, but also is against that form of authentic diversity and inclusion so deeply cherished since antiquity within the Holy Catholic Church.
Regarding the new requirement that bishops ensure that any existing Latin mass communities fully accept the Second Vatican Council, We must state that the Council may certainly be acknowledged as a pastoral Council only, for that is what Pope Saint John XXIII intended it to be. However, no faithful Catholic may accept in any way the numerous theological and doctrinal errors that were the result of exploitation of the Council by various modernists and liberal Catholics. This includes both errors in liturgy and subsequent Catholic culture, for both reflect theology and doctrine, underscoring the importance of both.
It was stated that this new policy was made to foster unity, but We firmly believe it will have the exact opposite effect. Indeed, We cannot comprehend why the modern Vatican of today is so welcoming and tolerant to those even who reject Catholic faith of Christ, but is simultaneously so hostile to its own people who do nothing but keep the true and traditional Catholic faith in an ever-changing world.
Therefore, We reiterate Our commitment to safeguard the one, true, holy, Catholic, Apostolic, and Roman faith within Our universal jurisdiction as Coadjutor of Rome and Legate of Christ, and within Our Anglican Patriarchate and the Anglo-Roman Metropolitan Province of Aquileia. We further charge all faithful Catholics within Our Patriarchate and province, as well as all the faithful of the world to follow the precepts, teachings, and commands of the traditional Church through the years and keep the true individual faith, no matter the opposition.