Letter from Rome: the Roche rescript comes with all the zeal of Saul the Pharisee

Cardinal Arthur Roche, prefect of the Dicastery for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments
(Photo: Marcin Mazur)

VATICAN CITY

Still breathing threats against the Church’s ancient liturgy in a way not unlike Saul's persecution in Acts 9:1, Cardinal Arthur Roche has now begun strong-arming bishops to “ensure the correct application” of Pope Francis’s 2021 apostolic letter restricting the Traditional Latin Mass (TLM), Traditionis Custodes.

The latest crackdown by the prefect of the Dicastery for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments has come in a rescript that severely restricts the freedom of bishops in matters of the TLM and their autonomy as “directors, promoters, and guardians of the entire liturgical life” in their dioceses (Canon 835 §1).