ROME — Pope Francis complained that the traditionalist Catholics in America are “gagging” modernizing church reforms. He insisted that there was no going back.
In comments published Tuesday, Francis stated to a group of Jesuit editors that he believes that not all Catholics have accepted the Second Vatican Council. These 1960s meetings led to Mass being celebrated in Latin rather than in Latin. It also revolutionized the church’s relationships with other faiths.
Francis stated that “the number of groups [of’restorers] – for instance, in the United States, there are many – is significant,” according to excerpts published in La Civilta Cattolica.
He said that restorationionism had come to gag the council, and added that he knew priests for whom 16th-century Council of Trent was more memorable then the 20th-century Vatican II.
Francis has been criticized fiercely by traditionalists. They accuse him of heresy for opening up to divorcing and civilly remarried Catholics, gay Catholics, and other reforms. Francis is taking a more aggressive stance against them by imposing new restrictions on the celebration of the Latin Mass and taking action in dioceses where traditionalists resist his reforms.
Last week, Francis, a Sicilian priest, told them that “grandma’s lace” was not always appropriate and that they should update their liturgical garb in order to keep up with the times and be faithful to Vatican II.
It is also true that it takes a century to get a council to grow. He said to the editors that it would take forty years for the council to become a reality.
Francis spoke out about Germany’s church and warned that he had a resignation offer for Cardinal Rainer Maria Woelki (archbishop of Cologne), who was heavily criticized for his handling the sexual abuse scandal in the church.
Francis granted Woelki a “time-out” for several months in September last year, but has not yet made a decision on his future. This has made the situation in Cologne uneasy and frustrated the head of the German bishops’ conference, who has tried to get a decision.
Francis stated, “When things were very chaotic, I asked the archbishop for six months to leave, so that they would calm down and I could clearly see.” “When he returned, I asked him for a resignation letter. He wrote one and sent it to me. He also wrote an apology letter for the diocesan. I was unable to leave him at his place, but I do have his resignation.”
