For noen dager siden kom pave Frans med nye bestemmelser, i dokumentet Traditiones custodes, om tillatelsene til å feire den tradisjonelle messen – og tillatelsene har blitt ganske kraftig beskåret.
Biskop Thomas Tobin i Providence, Rhode Island skriver om dette: «Upon reflection, it seems that in addressing the “problems” of the traditional Latin Mass community-real or perceived-Pope Francis used a chainsaw when only a scalpel was needed. We need to understand the Holy Father’s genuine concern, while also supporting the TLM faithful.»
Den kjente katolikken George Weigel er enda skarpere. Han skriver (etter å først ha sagt at han selv ikke er interessert i den gamle messen, i latin, eller i fancy messeklær o.l.): «That being said, I also think that the recent apostolic letter Traditionis Custodes [Custodians of the Tradition], which attempts to repeal Pope Benedict XVI’s generous permission for easier use of the Traditional Latin Mass in the 2007 apostolic letter Summorum Pontificum, was theologically incoherent, pastorally divisive, unnecessary, cruel—and a sorry example of the liberal bullying that has become all too familiar in Rome recently.» Les hans artikkel hos First Things.