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Above: Cardinal Juan Sandoval Íñiguez. Photo credit.
As President of the FIUV, I’m delighted to announce, as per our official Press Release, that we have awarded the ‘de Savanthem Medal’ to Cardinal Juan Sandoval Íñiguez, sometime Archbishop of Guadalajara in Mexico, and to Sir James MacMillan, the Scottish composer, for their role in the petitions to save the Traditional Mass that appeared in July this year.
Sir James headed the first petition, which was published in The Times newspaper on 6th July, almost exactly the anniversary of the 1971 petition that was published in the same newspaper. It stated:
Recently there have been worrying reports from Rome that the Latin Mass is to be banished from nearly every Catholic church. This is a painful and confusing prospect, especially for the growing number of young Catholics whose faith has been nurtured by it. The traditional liturgy is a “cathedral” of text and gesture, developing as those venerable buildings did over many centuries.
It was signed by 48 artists, musicians, and public figures, about half Catholic and half not. Among the non-Catholics were the historian Tom Holland, the composer, of Jewish heritage, Lord (Andrew) Lloyd Webber and his brother the cellist Julian Lloyd Webber, and senior politicians from the Labour Party (Tristram Hunt) and the Conservatives (Michael Gove). Among the Catholics were the writer Lord (Julian) Fellowes, creator of Downton Abbey; the pro-life campaigner Lord (David) Alton, Bianca Jagger, and a senior member of the Royal Family, Princess Michael of Kent.
This petition was echoed in the United States by a petition organised by a friend of Sir James MacMillan, the poet Dana Gioa, which was published on 16th July, which included Larry Chapp and Frank La Rocca, composer of the ‘Mass of the Americas.’
Cardinal Sandoval stimulated a similar petition, following his open letter to Pope Francis in which he pleaded, ‘Pope Francis, do not allow this to happen. You are also the guardian of the historical, cultural, and liturgical richness of the Church of Christ.’ More than seventy public figures signed a ‘Letter of Adherence’ to Cardinal Sandoval’s intervention, ‘to make our plea that the treasure known as the Mass of Saint Pius V, due to its spiritual and historical richness, be preserved and not restricted in the Church.’ The signatories were all Catholic, and mostly from Latin America, including academics, musicians, and media figures, including Nicolás Marquez, friend and biographer of Javier Milei; Manuel Ocampo, Director and founder of the Faculty of Philosophy at the Universidad Panamericana; the singer known as Emmanuel (Jesus Emmanuel Acha Martinez); and the anti-feminist campaigner Mamelo Fiallo Flor.
These petitions seem to have contributed to a change of attitude in the Holy See. The tenor of rumours coming from Rome is no longer that a new and definitive set of restrictions on the Traditional Mass are to be expected, but that the issue has been shelved. The Traditional Mass remains in an ambiguous situation, officially allowed but somehow also officially discouraged, but older readers will recall that this was widely understood to be the position under the ‘indults’ from 1984 to 2007. Perhaps we will have to wait for the next pope for this tension to be resolved. In the meantime, bishops and commentators are having to readjust their attitude to the ancient Mass, which they had been told would soon be all but banned.
Una Voce International wishes to record its thanks to the petitioners, who have performed a great service to the Church. It might seem a small thing to sign a petition, but in this case this is not so. The petitioners have put their names to an unfashionable cause, which will earn them no credit with the Catholic establishment or with their secular peers. I know that friendships have been lost on account of people supporting these petitions. These men and women, many deeply committed to the Faith, some far from it, recognise the objective value of this liturgy, and were motivated to defend it because of that value alone. This shows a true greatness of spirit.
In London, the Latin Mass Society organised an especially splendid High Mass for petitioners’ good estate, 18th September. At a dinner afterwards, I was able personally to present the De Saventhem medal to Sir James MacMillan. On Saturday 26th October, my colleague and predecessor as President, Felipe Alanís Suárez, is presenting the medal to His Eminence Cardinal Sandoval, in Mexico.
May all these petitioners continue to flourish, and in God’s good time come to Him in a state of sanctifying grace. Like the petitioners of past decades, we will continue to remember them.