Jus novum (c. 1140-1563) Jus novissimum (c. 1563-1918) Jus codicis (1918-present) Other Sacraments Sacramentals Sacred places Sacred times Supra-diocesan/eparchal structures Particular churches Juridic persons Philosophy, theology, and fundamental theory of Catholic canon law Clerics Office Juridic and physical persons Associations of the faithful Pars dynamica (trial procedure) Canonization Election of the Roman Pontiff Academic degrees Journals and Professional Societies Faculties of canon law Canonists Institute of consecrated life Society of apostolic life Traditionis custodes (Guardians of the Tradition) is an apostolic letter issued motu proprio by Pope Francis, promulgated on 16 July 2021 regarding the continued use of pre-Vatican II rites.

[9] This apostolic letter of Benedict XVI, in brief, allowed any priest of the Latin Church to celebrate the Tridentine Mass according to the Roman Missal of 1962 without needing to have his bishop or the Holy See's permission.

[12] In May 2021, less than two months before Traditionis custodes was published, a rumor said that during a "closed-door question-and-answer session" with the members of the Italian bishops' conference, Francis stated that the draft of a text restricting the celebration of the pre-Vatican II Mass was awaiting his approval.

[7] Moreover, the diocesan bishop has "to designate one or more locations", excluding the parochial churches and without erecting new personal parishes, where the faithful adherents of those groups may gather to perform Tridentine Mass.

[14] The diocesan bishop must also establish "the days on which eucharistic celebrations are permitted using the Roman Missal promulgated by Saint John XXIII in 1962" and ensure that the readings are "in the vernacular language, using translations of the Sacred Scripture approved for liturgical use by the respective episcopal conferences".

[2][7][11] In the letter accompanying the document, Francis explains that the concessions granted by his predecessors John Paul II and Benedict XVI for the use of the 1962 Roman Missal were above all "motivated by the desire to foster the healing of the schism with the movement of Mons.

He explains that "an opportunity offered by St. John Paul II and, with even greater magnanimity, by Benedict XVI, intended to recover the unity of an ecclesial body with diverse liturgical sensibilities, was exploited to widen the gaps, reinforce the divergences, and encourage disagreements that injure the Church, block her path, and expose her to the peril of division".

[7] Francis said that he deplores liturgical abuses "on all sides" and the fact that "in many places the prescriptions of the new Missal are not observed in celebration, but indeed come to be interpreted as an authorization for or even a requirement of creativity, which leads to almost unbearable distortions".

However, Francis adds: "I am nonetheless saddened that the instrumental use of the Roman Missal of 1962 is often characterized by a rejection not only of the liturgical reform, but of the Vatican Council II itself, claiming, with unfounded and unsustainable assertions, that it betrayed the Tradition and the 'true Church'".

He recalled that "a recent stage of this dynamic was constituted by Vatican Council II where the Catholic episcopate came together to listen and to discern the path for the Church indicated by the Holy Spirit".

[7][11] According to Francis, John Paul II in 1988 and Benedict XVI in 2007 were motivated to allow "the use of the Roman Missal of 1962" for the celebration of the Mass "to promote the concord and unity of the church" and "to facilitate the ecclesial communion of those Catholics who feel attached to some earlier liturgical forms".

[7] In this letter, Francis writes: "I take the firm decision to abrogate all the norms, instructions, permissions and customs that precede the present motu proprio, and declare that the liturgical books promulgated by the saintly Pontiffs Paul VI and John Paul II, in conformity with the decrees of Vatican Council II, constitute the unique expression of the lex orandi [law of prayer] of the Roman Rite.

I take comfort in this decision from the fact that, after the Council of Trent, St. Pius V also abrogated all the rites that could not claim a proven antiquity, establishing for the whole Latin Church a single Roman Missal".

[7] Francis gave explicit instructions to the bishops to take measures to strongly limit the use of the Tridentine Rite, with the clear goal of getting all Catholics to eventually celebrate only the reformed liturgy which followed Vatican II.

Francis wrote: "Indications about how to proceed in your dioceses are chiefly dictated by two principles: on the one hand, to provide for the good of those who are rooted in the previous form of celebration and need to return in due time to the Roman Rite promulgated by Saints Paul VI and John Paul II, and, on the other hand, to discontinue the erection of new personal parishes tied more to the desire and wishes of individual priests than to the real need of the 'holy People of God'".

[17] Francis adds that he asks the bishops "to be vigilant in ensuring that every liturgy be celebrated with decorum and fidelity to the liturgical books promulgated after Vatican Council II, without the eccentricities that can easily degenerate into abuses.

[15][2] On 18 December 2021, the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments (CDW),[b] the Holy See office responsible for matters related to liturgy, released official guidelines and clarifications, approved by Pope Francis, on the implementation of Traditionis custodes.

[18][19][20] The concession of celebrating the 1962 Tridentine Mass that any diocesan bishop would want to grant to any priest ordained after the publication of Traditionis custodes (16 July 2021) must before that necessarily be approved by the Holy See.

[24][25][26][27] The rescript also states: "the Holy Father confirms - having already expressed his assent in the audience of 18 November 2021 - what was established in the Responsa ad dubia with the annexed Explanatory Notes of 4 December 2021".

Roche had responded to Flynn, saying, "It is an absurdity to think that the prefect of a dicastery would do anything other than exercise the wishes of the Holy Father as clearly outlined in their mandate and the General Norms of Praedicate Evangelium.

[33] Cardinal Gerhard Ludwig Müller, who served as Prefect for the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith until 2017, criticised the letter as "harsh", saying: "Instead of appreciating the smell of the sheep, the shepherd here hits them hard with his crook."

[34] Retired Cardinal Joseph Zen SDB released a statement on his personal blog, in which he wrote: "Many tendentious generalizations in the documents [of the motu proprio] have hurt the hearts of many good people more than expected".

[41] It has been reported that Traditionis custodes demonstrated the growing influence of the liturgical faculty of the Sant'Anselmo University at the Vatican, as the newly appointed secretary and undersecretary of the CDW, Vittorio Francesco Viola OFM and Aurelio García Macías [es], both studied at the institute.

It was noted that Roche's declaration contradicted that of Benedict XVI in his 2007 letter to the world's bishops accompanying Summorum Pontificum, in which the Pope wrote that the Tridentine Mass was "never juridically abrogated".

[58] Arthur Roche, head of the CDW, responded to the Latin Mass Society document by saying: "The responses to the various dubia are evidently legitimate and fully compliant with Canon Law in their elaboration by this Congregation whose authority in this matter is undisputed".

[23] The Fœderatio Internationalis Una Voce released an official statement in which it rejected the idea that those who performed or assisted to Tridentine Masses were disobedient to the Catholic Church and the Second Vatican Council.

The FSSP also stated the Pope issued a decree granting the members of the Fraternity to the ability to celebrate the Mass other the sacraments and rites according to the typical editions of the liturgical books in force in 1962.

[67][68][69] Kurt Martens, professor of canon law at the Catholic University of America, noted that the term "extraordinary form" is no longer used in the new legislation and that the new motu proprio "establishes that liturgical books promulgated in conformity with the decrees of Vatican Council II are the unique expression of the lex orandi of the Roman Rite".

[70] Douglas Farrow, professor of theology and ethics at McGill University, wrote: "In sum: Traditionis Custodes, alas, confirms that the old Mass has indeed become a proxy in the fight over the legacy of Vatican II, as much on the one side as on the other.

Certain regularly-scheduled Tridentine Masses were permanently cancelled at the behest of local bishops within the first week, while other ordinaries stated they would grant temporary permissions until they had reviewed the motu proprio.