A group of young people unfurled a banner on Monday, November 9, in Buenos Aires bearing the slogan “Young people want the traditional Mass” as León XIV passed by in the popemobile. The white cloth banner with clearly visible black lettering was stretched among the crowd gathered behind the barriers, and images of the moment have been circulating on social media since the afternoon. In them, the Pope can be seen standing at the rear of the vehicle, waving to the faithful as he passes the spot where the young people were standing.
The gesture took place on the day the Pontiff celebrated his first Mass in Argentina in front of the Monument to the Spaniards, in the Palermo neighborhood of Buenos Aires, during his trip that also takes him to Uruguay and Peru. According to figures released by the Vatican based on data from the organizers, the celebration and the procession drew around two and a half million people. In his homily, León XIV focused on the family, as InfoVaticana reported in its account of the Mass.
A request made during the visit
The appearance of the banner coincides with the debate on the traditional liturgy in Argentina in recent days. Archbishop Héctor Aguer, who led the Archdiocese of La Plata from 2000 to 2018, called in an interview given to AdVaticanum, coinciding with the Pope’s visit, for “the repeal of Traditionis custodes”, the 2021 motu proprio that restricted the celebration of Mass in the extraordinary form of the Roman rite.
The request from the young people of Buenos Aires thus joins other voices within the Church that, in recent weeks, have raised the question of the place the traditional Mass should have. This is the case of Cardinal Oswald Gracias, who told AdVaticanum that he would not be in favor of prohibiting its spread as long as it does not imply rejecting the Second Vatican Council.
A meeting with young people on Tuesday
On Tuesday, November 10, at 8:15 p.m., León XIV will hold his meeting with young people at the same Monument to the Spaniards, to which people between the ages of 15 and 35 are invited. It will be the occasion for the Pope to meet again with thousands of faithful from that age group, among whom, as Monday’s banner showed, there are those who publicly request the traditional liturgy.