Cardinal Jean-Marc Aveline, Archbishop of Marseille and President of the French Episcopal Conference, has placed the liturgical issue among the most delicate ecclesial matters of the moment in France. In an interview granted to KTO on the occasion of Easter, the cardinal addressed the relationship between liturgy and tradition starting from the letter sent by the Pope to the French bishops during their spring plenary assembly.
Aveline directly addressed the tension between liturgy and tradition, insisting that it is not merely a ritual matter, but one of theological substance. An idea that, by the way, has already begun to gain ground among the French bishops themselves, who recognize that behind the liturgical debate there are “problems of doctrine and ecclesiology”, especially regarding the acceptance of the Second Vatican Council.
Welcoming the faithful attached to the ancient rite, but without questioning the last Council
The president of the French episcopate explained that the bishops are called to exercise a “pastoral solicitude” toward the faithful linked to the liturgy prior to the conciliar reform. In his words, that spiritual need must be “welcomed” and not judged from the outset.
However, that welcome has a clear limit: the acceptance of the living tradition of the Church, which for Aveline expressly includes the Second Vatican Council. “The tradition extends to the last council, including Vatican II,” he maintained.
With this, the cardinal seeks to maintain a balance that in practice remains a source of tension: opening space for those who prefer the pre-conciliar liturgy, while at the same time requiring them to accept conciliar teaching.
“It is not necessarily irreconcilable”
During the interview, that apparent contradiction was precisely raised: how to make room for those who prefer the tradition prior to Vatican II while asking them to accept that same Council.
Aveline responded that this tension “is not necessarily irreconcilable,” provided that a “hermeneutic of continuity” is adopted. According to his approach, each council responds to a moment in history and does not annul the previous ones, but rather inserts itself into a broader continuity.
However, the debate in France itself shows that this interpretation does not manage to close the wound. The growth of communities linked to the Vetus Ordo has even led the Pope to warn of a “painful fracture” surrounding the celebration of the Mass, asking the bishops for concrete solutions to integrate these faithful without breaking unity.
The Priestly Fraternity of St. Pius X and the wound that remains open
The interview also addressed the announcement of new episcopal consecrations by the Priestly Fraternity of St. Pius X. Aveline described that gesture as a cause of “sadness,” emphasizing that it is not the first time in the history of the Church that a council encounters difficulties in being received.
Rather than resorting to forceful measures, the cardinal defended dialogue as the only path. “Only dialogue allows the proclamation of the Gospel to continue,” he affirmed, even evoking the example of St. Augustine in the face of divisions in the African Church.
Liturgy, tradition, and crisis of transmission
The most revealing aspect of his intervention may not lie in the formulas of reconciliation, but in the underlying diagnosis. Aveline relates this issue to the spiritual thirst of many faithful, especially young people, who seek doctrinal stability, roots, and a faith expressed in solid forms.
That is why he insists that the response cannot simply consist of redirecting them from one place to another, but rather welcoming that longing and explaining it in the light of the Church’s tradition. But, once again, the key lies in what is understood by tradition: whether an organic continuity with what has been received or a forced adherence to the dominant post-conciliar reading.
An open question that France has not resolved
Aveline’s words confirm that the debate over traditional liturgy remains far from closed in France. The episcopate speaks of welcome, listening, and continuity, but the core of the problem remains intact: the difficulty of harmonizing attachment to the pre-conciliar liturgical tradition with the reception of a Council whose application continues to be, for many, a source of fracture.
The issue, therefore, is not only disciplinary or about the form in which the Mass is celebrated. It is a question of tradition, authority, and ecclesial continuity, which even calls into question what it means to be faithful to the Church’s tradition in the 21st century.