Cardinal Timothy Radcliffe has expressed a «deep sympathy» for Catholics who suffer the restrictions imposed on the traditional Mass, although he maintains that when the Church determines that a rite should not be used, the faithful must accept that decision to prevent the Eucharist from becoming a source of division.
The British Dominican made these remarks in an interview granted to AdVaticanum, in which he was specifically asked about Catholics attached to the Vetus Ordo who feel disapproved of by members of the hierarchy. The interviewer cited as an example the Pilgrimage of Our Lady of Christendom, which each year travels the route between Oviedo and Covadonga, in Asturias, and the restrictions that prevent its participants from celebrating the traditional Mass in Oviedo Cathedral and in the Basilica of Covadonga.
«I feel a deep sympathy for those whose love for the Tridentine Mass has brought them into tension with the hierarchy. Some of them are friends of mine and I hate to see them suffer», Radcliffe begins by responding.
«If the Church declares that a rite should not be used»
After expressing his closeness to the faithful, Radcliffe maintains that the character of the Eucharist as a sacrament of unity must prevail.
«It is good always to remember that the Eucharist is the sacrament of our unity in Christ. That is why I believe the sacrament can never become a sign of disunity with the Body of Christ», he states.
The cardinal concludes that Catholics attached to the traditional liturgy must accept the prohibition of celebrating it when ecclesiastical authority so determines, regardless of their attachment to the rite.
«Painful as it may be, if the Church declares that a rite should not be used, however much one may love it, it cannot be good to allow its celebration to be a source of division», he notes.
Radcliffe next proposes as an alternative the celebration in Latin of the rite reformed after the Second Vatican Council.
«It is possible to celebrate the new rite in Latin with great dignity and solemnity», he affirms.
The Dominican recounts that he did so during the funeral of one of his cousins and that some attendees later approached to congratulate him for having celebrated what they believed was the traditional Mass.
«I had to explain to them that it was the new rite. They had not been able to distinguish the difference. Many people can, of course», he adds.
The case of Covadonga
The reference to Covadonga made during the interview concerns one of the main pilgrimages linked to the traditional liturgy in Spain. The VI Pilgrimage of Our Lady of Christendom brought together nearly 1,700 pilgrims last July, who walked almost one hundred kilometres over three days from Oviedo to the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Covadonga.
The Mass according to the 1962 Missal constitutes the centre of each day of the pilgrimage. In the latest edition, the solemn celebrations took place at various points along the route, but the pilgrims once again arrived in Covadonga without being able to celebrate the traditional Mass in the basilica.
Nor were they able to do so in Oviedo Cathedral, although a Holy Hour was authorised there before the start of the pilgrimage.
Radcliffe attributes the growth of British Catholicism to the search for certainty
The interview also addresses the growth that Catholicism is experiencing in the United Kingdom and the particular appeal that the Church seems to exert on a portion of the younger generations.
Radcliffe considers that behind this phenomenon lies a search for transcendence that cannot completely disappear from human nature.
«In the heart of every human being there exists a desire, strong or weak, for ultimate meaning, a thirst for transcendence. It may have weakened in recent decades, but it cannot be repressed for long. I believe this revival is a sign of that», he explains.
The cardinal also links this approach to the search for certainty in the face of contemporary relativism.
«In an age in which relativism is widespread —“my truth” and “your truth”— people long for a sure and certain truth. Many young people are turning to the Catholic Church because of their confidence in the truths of its faith», he maintains.
Radcliffe qualifies that certainty about the truths of the faith does not eliminate the need to deepen one’s understanding of them and summarises his position with a formula: «Certainty without seeking is fundamentalism; seeking without certainty is relativism».
He acknowledges that many Catholics have not understood synodality
The former Master of the Order of Preachers, who directed the preparatory retreats for the 2023 and 2024 Synods on Synodality, also acknowledges the difficulties the synodal process has encountered in being understood by Catholics themselves.
«Many people, even some who participated in the Synod assemblies, have not understood what it is about», he admits.
Radcliffe rejects the idea that the goal of synodality is to abandon the Church’s tradition or adapt it to contemporary demands.
«Many people fear that synodality will lead to the rejection of the Church’s tradition. But that is not its purpose at all. It is not about adapting to modernity, but about becoming truly countercultural», he maintains.
For the cardinal, synodality should also not be understood primarily as «a form of governance or a way of reaching consensus», but as a way of opening oneself to the presence of God through mutual listening.
The increase in Dominican vocations
Radcliffe finally addresses the growth of vocations among the Dominicans of the United Kingdom while other religious orders experience difficulties in attracting new members.
The cardinal attributes part of that appeal to the coexistence of different generations and sensibilities within the order and to the importance given to study.
«We are not usually divided by ideological conflicts or intergenerational tensions. We live together with joy, most of the time!», he affirms.
He recalls that he asked a young man interested in joining what he found attractive about the Dominicans. The answer was simple: «It seems you like each other».
Radcliffe also highlights that «the emphasis on study» is attractive to young people seeking meaning for their lives and rejects pitting tradition against openness to the new.
«When we return to tradition —the Word of God and the teaching of the Church— we discover how to move forward», he concludes.