Latin Mass Debate Grows After Apparent Leak of Vatican Report

The debate in the Catholic Church over the celebration of the old Latin Mass is heating up just as Pope Leo XIV’s pontificate is getting under way, with the apparent leak of Vatican documents that undermine the stated reason of his predecessor Pope Francis for restricting access to the ancient liturgy.

The documents suggest that the majority of Catholic bishops who responded to a 2020 Vatican survey about the Latin Mass had expressed general satisfaction with it, and warned that restricting it would “do more harm than good.”