The Vatican Secretariat of State has prohibited participants in the international pilgrimage Summorum Pontificum from entering in procession into St. Peter’s Basilica this Saturday, October 24, to pray at the Apostle’s tomb. The decision, communicated to the organizers in recent days, expands the restrictions imposed on the faithful linked to the traditional liturgy, who had already been denied the celebration of Mass according to the 1962 Missal in the Vatican basilica.
According to journalist Diane Montagna, the prohibition was conveyed through a letter from the Secretariat of State whose content was made public this Friday by Christian Marquant, president of the French association Paix Liturgique and one of the main organizers of the pilgrimage.
“Your procession is not permitted to enter St. Peter’s Basilica,” states the Vatican communication, according to Marquant’s testimony.
The president of Paix Liturgique announced the decision during the meeting held this Friday at the Augustinianum Patristic Institute in Rome. “Tomorrow we will not enter St. Peter’s,” he told the participants, explaining that accusations had also been made that last year’s Mass had been “instrumentalized.”
From the prohibition of celebrating Mass to the veto of the procession
The XV International Pilgrimage Summorum Pontificum Ad Petri Sedem, taking place in Rome from October 23 to 25, brings together priests, religious, and lay faithful from various countries who wish to express their attachment to the traditional liturgy and their communion with the successor of Peter.
The organizers had requested to repeat the pontifical Mass celebrated in October 2025 by Cardinal Raymond Leo Burke at the Altar of the Chair of St. Peter. However, a letter from the Secretariat of State dated August 7 communicated that this year the celebration of the traditional Mass in the basilica would not be authorized.
The main celebration was moved to Santa Maria Maggiore, where Bishop Athanasius Schneider, auxiliary bishop of Astana, is scheduled to preside over a pontifical Mass according to the traditional Roman rite this Saturday.
Despite the refusal, the pilgrims had kept in their program the procession to St. Peter’s to pray at the Apostle’s tomb, a practice customary in this pilgrimage since its creation in 2012.
In fact, on October 14, Joseph Shaw, president of the International Una Voce Federation, had explained that the pilgrims would be able to access the basilica to venerate the tomb of St. Peter.
The new prohibition affects precisely that organized access, which until now had been maintained even in the editions in which the traditional Mass was not permitted in St. Peter’s.
From the permission of Leo XIV in 2025 to the prohibition of entry in 2026
The contrast with what happened a year ago is particularly significant. On October 25, 2025, Leo XIV authorized Cardinal Raymond Leo Burke to celebrate a traditional pontifical Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica, specifically at the Altar of the Chair.
The celebration gathered numerous priests and faithful linked to the traditional Roman rite and was one of the main events of that year’s pilgrimage.
Now, twelve months later, the participants not only lack authorization to repeat that Mass, but will also be unable to access the basilica in procession to pray at the tomb of the first Pope.
According to Franca Giansoldati in Il Messaggero, the organizers had received months earlier an authorization from the then archpriest of St. Peter’s Basilica, Cardinal Mauro Gambetti, to hold a brief celebration at one of the side altars.
The subsequent refusal by the Secretariat of State nullified the expectations of the promoters, who had organized the pilgrimage counting on the possibility of maintaining the usual events.
Marquant attributes to Leo XIV a criticism of last year’s Mass
During his intervention at the Augustinianum, Christian Marquant also referred to the efforts made to convey directly to Leo XIV the concerns of Catholics linked to the traditional liturgy.
According to his account, Bishop Athanasius Schneider raised with the Pontiff during an audience held in December the desire of numerous faithful to participate in the Mass according to the 1962 Missal.
Marquant stated that during that conversation, the Pope had described the previous year’s celebration in St. Peter’s as “instrumentalized.”
“Perhaps he was bothered by the large attendance or the extensive media coverage,” commented the president of Paix Liturgique, linking that supposed assessment to the refusal received this year.
The expression attributed to Leo XIV comes from Marquant’s account of that audience and not from a public statement by the Pontiff.
The president of Paix Liturgique also lamented what he considers a lack of knowledge of traditional faithful on the part of ecclesiastical authorities.
“It is very sad to be ignored by the hierarchy of the Church. Ignored in the literal sense: they do not know who we are, what we do. They only know the Priestly Fraternity of St. Pius X, and that one very poorly as well,” he declared.
“We are cum Petro et sub Petro”
The organizers have insisted that the pilgrimage brings together Catholics who fully recognize the authority of the Roman Pontiff and wish to publicly manifest their fidelity to the Apostolic See.
In statements reported by Il Messaggero, the promoters rejected any identification with the Priestly Fraternity of St. Pius X, especially after the episcopal consecrations carried out this summer in Écône without pontifical mandate.
“We are not excommunicated. We are cum Petro et sub Petro,” they affirmed, emphasizing that their attachment to the traditional liturgy takes place within ecclesial communion.
The pilgrimage is organized by the Coetus Internationalis Summorum Pontificum, an international coalition of associations dedicated to the promotion of the traditional liturgy. Its name comes from the motu proprio Summorum Pontificum, promulgated by Benedict XVI in 2007, which expanded the possibilities of celebrating Mass according to the Roman Missal of 1962.
Uncertainty regarding this Saturday’s procession
The official program contemplates for this Saturday the recitation of the rosary at 10:00 a.m. and the departure of the procession from the church of Saints Celso and Giuliano, with arrival expected at St. Peter’s Square around 11:00 a.m.
The procession has authorization from the Italian police authorities, but the organizers do not know what will happen when the pilgrims reach Vatican territory.
According to Il Messaggero, during Friday’s meeting some participants raised the possibility of trying to access at least the atrium of the basilica, although it is not clear what provisions the Vatican Gendarmerie will apply.
The controversy comes, moreover, at a time when St. Peter’s Basilica has other events scheduled for Saturday afternoon. At 3:30 p.m., the conference Lectio Francisci, dedicated to St. Francis of Assisi, is scheduled, followed by a Mass at 6:00 p.m. at the Altar of the Chair.
As reported last September, it is the same altar where the traditional pilgrims had requested to celebrate their pontifical Mass.
The events are scheduled for the afternoon, several hours after the expected arrival of the procession at St. Peter’s.
With only hours remaining before the pilgrimage, the organizers maintain their intention to head to the basilica, although the new communication from the Secretariat of State would prevent them from accessing as a group to pray at the Apostle’s tomb.