As the College of Cardinals gathers in Rome for its first consultative consistory with the Holy Father tomorrow, expectation is growing that this meeting will be decisive in respect of certain “hot” issues in the life of the Church. The place of the older (or “traditional”) liturgical rites, the usus antiquior or the “more ancient use”, as it is perhaps less polemically known, is amongst them.
In his letter to the Cardinals before Christmas, Pope Leo indicated that this consistory would include an “‘in-depth theological, historical, and pastoral reflection ‘in order to retain sound tradition and yet remain open to legitimate progress.’” That is encouraging on two fronts.
