Continuity and Change at Vatican II

The publication of Pope Francis's motu proprio Traditionis custodes last summer marked a decisive moment in the history of the reception of the Second Vatican Council. The pope's concern for the legacy of Vatican II is apparent in the document itself, and even more so in the accompanying cover letter. In essentially revoking Pope Benedict XVI's Summorum pontificum, which gave sweeping permission to celebrate the preconciliar Latin Mass, Francis regretted that his predecessor's good will had been abused. The "instrumental use" of the preconciliar Mass, according to Francis, "is often characterized by a rejection not only of the liturgical reform, but of the Vatican Council II itself." The recent motu proprio is in many ways the juridical codification of a position that Pope Francis had already given voice to a number of times. He did so most bluntly in a 2017 speech, describing the liturgical reforms of Vatican II as "irreversible" judgments of "the magisterium" of the Church.