The calls on Pope Francis not to impose fresh restrictions on the Traditional Mass have been joined by two more joint letters. Both have been published with the same intention as the open letter by Scottish Catholic composer Sir James MacMillan that was <a href="https://catholicherald.co.uk/leading-british-figures-appeal-for-access-to-latin-mass-in-echo-of-agatha-christie-letter/"><mark style="background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)" class="has-inline-color has-vivid-cyan-blue-color">published</mark></a> 3 July in <em>The Times</em> to much acclaim.
First, a <a href="http://www.fiuv.org/p/cardinal-sandoval-letter-and.html"><mark style="background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)" class="has-inline-color has-vivid-cyan-blue-color">letter</mark></a> from a retired Mexican Cardinal, Juan Sandoval Iñiguez, which had been sent to Pope Francis a week ago, has been published, together with a "Letter of Adherence" signed by 67 personalities from around the world.
Second, a <a href="http://www.fiuv.org/p/american-gioia-petition-to-save.html"><mark style="background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)" class="has-inline-color has-vivid-cyan-blue-color">petition</mark></a> organised by the American poet Dana Gioia, has been published with eleven signatures, representing American Catholic artists and academics.
The signatories of the second include two composers, Morten Lauridsen and Frank La Rocca; a Professor of Composition, David Conte; and Catholics from areas not normally associated with the Traditional movement: Nina Shea, an international religious freedom advocate, and Larry Chapp, theologian and founder of the Dorothy Day Workers Farm.
The names on the Letter of Adherence in support of Cardinal Sandoval fall naturally into three categories:
First, there are a good number of figures, some very distinguished, from Mexico and the wider Spanish-speaking world, from the arts, academia and business.
From Mexico we find, among others, Anuar López Marmolejo, founder of the Mexican Association of Catholic Jurists; and Manuel Ocampo, Director and founder of the Faculty of Philosophy at the Universidad Panamericana. From Argentina, Simon DeLacre, the film director; and the philosophers Horacio Giusto and Rubén Peretó Rivas. From Spain, Javier Navascués Pérez, editor of InfoCatólica; and Julio Ariza Irigoyen, President and founder of Grupo Intereconomía, La Gaceta and Toro TV.
Second, there are representatives of the international Una Voce movement: Edgardo Juan Cruz Ramos, President of Una Voce Puerto Rico; Patrick Banken, President of Una Voce France; Fabio Marino, President of Una Voce Italy; Uchenna Okezie, President of Ecclesia Dei Society, Nigeria; Jarosław Syrkiewicz, President of Una Voce Poland; and others.
Third, there are artists and intellectuals from around the world: two very well-known Catholic artists, the American Gwyneth Thompson-Briggs and British James Gillick; the British concert pianist Matthew Schellhorn; another philosopher, the Frenchman Alberto Buela from the Sorbonne; Lord Moylan, the British politician; and another composer, Sir James MacMillan, making a deliberate connection with his petition from two weeks ago.
Not to be neglected is a further public <a href="https://gloria.tv/post/tRQ9jP78hD2x43tKTncLFbmuK"><mark style="background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)" class="has-inline-color has-vivid-cyan-blue-color">letter</mark></a>, dated 14 July, from Mexican actor and film producer José Eduardo Verástegui, who pleads with the Pope, echoing the words of Cardinal Sandoval, as "our Father, Pastor, and spiritual protector, the custodian of the historical, cultural, and liturgical riches of the Church of Christ". He speaks for those "many" in Mexico who "with all their hearts" desire the Traditional Mass, specifically with the Holy Father’s permission.
Although these initiatives have all been organised independently of each other, Verástegui’s phrases just quoted aptly capture the tone of the other letters. As the Gioia petition expresses it, "we come to you with the humility and obedience but also the confidence of children, telling a loving father of our spiritual needs".
The prominence of artists, musicians, singers, film-makers and actors in these petitions underlines the point made by the Gioia petition: "Petitioners of this caliber are proof the traditional Latin Mass cannot be understood as a mere refuge from modernity, for some of the most creative minds on our planet are inspired by the Latin Mass – its beauty, its reverence, its mystery – to make new works of art and also to serve the least among us."
Both the Gioia petition and the Letter of Adherence in support of Cardinal Sandoval emphasise that many signatories attend the reformed Mass as well as the Traditional Mass; signatories also include non-Catholics and non-believers. As the Gioia petition puts it, "we pray that you will not lump us with some of the angry and disrespectful voices magnified by social media".
The fact that Pope Paul VI granted permission for the Traditional Mass in 1971 after receiving a petition of distinguished Catholic and non-Catholic advocates of toleration has planted the idea that these things can make a difference.
Pope Francis is a very different character from Paul VI, but talks warmly about his love of <a href="https://www.chantcafe.com/2013/09/pope-francis-on-music/"><mark style="background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)" class="has-inline-color has-vivid-cyan-blue-color">classical music</mark></a>. The fact that so many classical musicians are begging him to allow the Traditional Mass to live may speak to him: these petitions add three more composers to the four who signed the MacMillan petition, to say nothing of the singers and instrumentalists.
As public statements, these documents also have a wider audience. They directly address two negative stereotypes often attached to the Traditional Mass: that some of its adherents are angry internet radicals; and that they are inward-looking, "rigid", and uncreative, incapable of engaging with non-Catholics.
It is sometimes said that these kinds of initiatives establish a third, contrasting negative stereotype: that the Traditional Mass is attended only by a cultural elite. If true, this would reassure many of its opponents in the Church, who are only too well aware of its appeal to ordinary, unsophisticated young Catholics, such as the 18,000 who recently took part in the Chartres Pilgrimage.
Ordinary Catholics attached to the Traditional Mass need friendly spokespersons from the elite, people with education, achievements and connections, who can find the right words to bring to the Pope’s attention their ardent desire: simply to attend the Traditional Mass for their spiritual good, and to do so with his approval. <br><br><strong>RELATED: <a href="https://catholicherald.co.uk/why-young-people-love-the-chartres-pilgrimage/"><mark style="background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)" class="has-inline-color has-vivid-cyan-blue-color">Why young people love the Chartres pilgrimage</mark></a></strong><br><br><strong>RELATED: <a href="https://catholicherald.co.uk/disappearance-of-the-traditional-mass-would-impoverish-the-world-both-spiritually-and-culturally/?swcfpc=1"><mark style="background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)" class="has-inline-color has-vivid-cyan-blue-color">Disappearance of Traditional Mass would impoverish the world both spiritually and culturally</mark></a><br></strong><em><br>Photo: Pope Benedict XVI incenses the altar during a Traditional Mass in St Peter's Basilica at the Vatican, 29 June 2007. (Photo by VINCENZO PINTO/AFP via Getty Images.)</em><br><br><em>Dr Joseph Shaw is Chairman of the Latin Mass Society (<a href="https://t.co/IW7Q6gqTDJ" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><mark style="background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)" class="has-inline-color has-vivid-cyan-blue-color">https://lms.org.uk</mark></a>), President of Una Voce International (<a href="https://t.co/LAaYY4RNuV" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><mark style="background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)" class="has-inline-color has-vivid-cyan-blue-color">http://fiuv.org</mark></a>), and a public philosopher and freelance writer.</em>
