Leo XIV on Mass in Roman Rite: "Very Complicated", "Political Tool", "Very Unfortunate", "an Ideology"
- I hope to continue in the footsteps of Francis, including in appointing women to some leadership roles at different levels in the Church’s life.
- I don’t have an intention of changing the teaching of the Church on the topic of female deacons. I think there are some previous questions that have to be asked.
- Why would we talk about ordaining women to the diaconate if the diaconate itself is not yet properly understood and properly developed and promoted within the Church?
Homosexuality: Rapprochement Without Formally Changing Church Teaching
- I was asked about the LGBT issue already a couple of times during these first couple of months. I recall something that a cardinal from the eastern part of the world said to me before I was pope, about “the western world is fixated, obsessed with sexuality.”
- Any issue dealing with the LGBTQ questions is highly polarizing within the Church. I’m trying not to continue to polarize or promote polarization in the Church.
- Francis was very clearly when he would say, ‘todos, todos, todos’. Everyone’s invited in, but I don’t invite a person in because they are or are not of any specific identity.
- We have to change attitudes before we even think about changing what the Church says about any given question. I find it highly unlikely, certainly in the near future, that the Church’s doctrine in terms of what the Church teaches about sexuality, what the Church teaches about marriage, will change.
- In Northern Europe they are already publishing rituals of blessing ‘people who love one another’, is the way they express it. This goes specifically against the document that Pope Francis approved, Fiducia Supplicans. It doesn’t look for a way of ritualizing some kind of blessing.
- Some people will make demands to say, “we want the recognition of gay marriage,” for example, or “we want recognition of people who are trans,” to say this is officially recognized and approved by the church. The individuals will be accepted and received.
“Is There Really Much Difference Between the Roman Rites?”
- I have already received a number of requests and letters about the ‘the Latin Mass.’ Well, you can say Mass in Latin right now. If it’s the Vatican II rite there’s no problem.
- Obviously, between the Tridentine Mass and the Vatican II Mass, the Mass of Paul VI, I’m not sure where that’s going to go. It’s obviously very complicated.
- I do know that part of that issue, unfortunately, has become – again, part of a process of polarization. People have used the liturgy as an excuse for advancing other topics. It’s become a political tool, and that’s very unfortunate.
- I think sometimes the, say, ‘abuse’ of the liturgy from what we call the Vatican II Mass, was not helpful for people who were looking for a deeper experience of prayer, of contact with the mystery of faith that they seemed to find in the celebration of the Tridentine Mass.
- Again, we’ve become polarized, so that instead of being able to say, well, if we celebrate the Vatican II liturgy in a proper way, do you really find that much difference between this experience and that experience?
- I have not had the chance to really sit down with a group of people who are advocating for the Tridentine rite. There’s an opportunity coming up soon, and I’m sure there will be occasions for that. But that is an issue that we have to sit down and talk about.
- It’s become the kind of issue that’s so polarized that people aren’t willing to listen to one another, oftentimes. […] It means we’re into ideology now, we’re no longer into the experience of Church communion.
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