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A notable and debated action during Francis’s papacy is his limiting of the Traditional Latin Mass, an older form of Catholic worship.

Francis stated that his reason for restricting the Latin Mass stemmed from concerns that its practice was causing disunity within the Church. He believed the traditional mass was “being used ideologically” as a rejection of modern practices, including the more contemporary Vatican II mass.

The mass, derived from the Latin “missa” meaning “sacrifice,” encompasses the “Liturgy of the Word” and the “Liturgy of the Eucharist,” the latter being considered the most sacred act of worship for Catholics.

The Latin Mass, officially established by Pope St. Pius V in 1570 and still observed by some Catholics, differs from the Vatican II mass introduced in 1969. Key distinctions include the use of Latin throughout the service and the priest facing “ad orientem” (“to the east”) instead of the congregation.

Throughout his 12-year leadership, Francis implemented several measures to curtail the use of the Latin Mass globally. Consequently, its availability was significantly reduced, often limited to specific churches and priests from dedicated orders.

In 2021, Francis issued a “motu proprio,” a set of directives imposing substantial restrictions on the Latin Mass. These included a requirement for priests to obtain explicit permission from their bishops to celebrate it. Further restrictions followed in 2023, mandating bishops to seek Vatican approval for allowing the Latin Mass within their dioceses and prohibiting newly ordained priests from performing it.

These directives marked a departure from the policy of Pope Benedict XVI, Francis’s predecessor, who had permitted all priests to conduct the Latin Mass.

In a 2023 conversation with Jesuits, Francis explained that he felt his predecessor’s permissions “were being used in an ideological way, to go backward.”

“The danger today is indietrismo, the reaction against the modern. It is a nostalgic disease,” he said. “This is why I decided that now the permission to celebrate according to the Roman Missal of 1962 [the Latin Mass] is mandatory for all newly consecrated priests.”

Francis stated that this limitation was “necessary to stop this indietrismo, which was not in the pastoral vision of my predecessors.”

However, Francis clarified that certain priestly orders, such as the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter (FSSP), were exempt from these restrictions.

Following a 2024 meeting between Francis and Father Andrzej Komorowski, head of the FSSP, the order issued a statement saying “in the course of the audience, the pope made it clear that institutes such as the Fraternity of St. Peter are not affected by the general provisions of the motu proprio … since the use of the ancient liturgical books was at the origin of their existence and is provided for in their constitutions.”