“And now, therefore, I say to you, refrain from these men, and let them alone; for if this council or this work be of men, it will come to nought; But if it be of God, you cannot overthrow it, lest perhaps you be found even to fight against God.” (Acts 5:38-39 Douay–Rheims translation)
On 01st July 2025, Journalist Diane Montagna, shocked the Catholic world with an explosive exposé: That the 2021 Motu Proprio by Pope Francis ‘Traditionis Custodes’ was predicated on a lie.
Brief Timeline: Tridentine Latin Mass (Vetus Ordo) or the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite from 1969 onwards
- 1969: Pope Paul VI, after the conclusion of the Second Vatican Council, promulgates the Novus Ordo Missae (New Mass). Among the many changes, the ones that were noteworthy were
- Use of the vernacular language instead of Latin.
- Priest offers the mass facing the congregation instead of Ad Orientum previously.
- Various changes (mostly deletions) in the liturgy prayers, & inclusions such as Eucharistic prayers, prayers of the faithful, etc.
- 1970: Pope Paul VI’s Novus Ordo Missale is published.
- 1970: Archbishop Lefebvre institutes The Society of Saint Pius X (SSPX), which became the only society/seminary in the world that was allowed to not celebrate the Novus Ordo Mass & use the 1962 Missal (TLM) instead.
- 1971: Pope Paul VI issued an Indult in November (also known as the Agatha Christie Indult – which was a permission for the use of the Tridentine Mass in England & Wales)
- 1984: Pope John Paul II issues an Indult, granting permission for celebrations of the 1962 Missal, under certain conditions.
- 1988: Pope John Paul II issues a Motu Proprio titled Ecclesia Dei following Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre’s Episcopal consecrations.
- 2007: Pope Benedict XVI issues the Motu Proprio titled Summorum Pontificum.
- 2021: Pope Francis issues the Motu Proprio titled Traditionis Custodes reversing Summorum Pontificum. This was followed by an extension in 2022, which further required that the Bishop seek approval from the Holy See to allow the TLM using the 1962 missal.
The ‘Streisand Effect’
On 17th December 2024 (the last birthday of Pope Francis), I addressed a blog titled “Why we must thank God for Pope Francis”. In this I wrote of how Traditionis Custodes was in a sense responsible for educating me about the existence of the TLM, which to my knowledge at the time, was stopped after Vatican II.
This ‘Streisand effect’ would have resulted in other Catholics like me asking similar questions about the Traditional Latin Mass. Since 2021, suddenly even the secular press was talking about the Traditional Latin Mass.
Summorum Pontificum: the calm before the storm
As tabled in the timeline above, in 2007 Pope Benedict XVI issued the Motu Proprio titled Summorum Pontificum, and took the extensions given to Traditional Catholics on the use of the 1962 missal (TLM) by Pope John Paul II a step further. Stating that the TLM “was never abrogated”, Pope Benedict XVI allowed any priest of the Latin Rite to celebrate the TLM privately without permission, while advocating supervision by relevant superiors.
Traditionis Custodes: Guardians of Tradition, or Eversor of Tradition?
Enter Francis ‘The reformer’ Pope. In 2021, after gauging that during the Covid 19 lockdowns implemented, devout Catholics had been found flocking to the TLM, which were still being convened despite contrary instructions by authorities (including the Pope), the Vatican & Pope Francis issued another Motu Proprio titled Traditionis Custodes (translated as ‘Guardians of Tradition’. Yes the irony meter broke that day), where they/he reversed the allowances provided by Popes John Paul II & Benedict XVI on the use of the 1962 Missal, thus greatly restricting access to the 1962 Missal (TLM), further even requiring an approval from the diocesan Bishop to celebrate the TLM using the 1962 missal.
But it was the way that Traditionis Custodes was imposed that raised several questions. This is detailed in a talk given by Montagna in October 2021 & later reprinted in an article on ‘Inside the Vatican’, where the following became apparent:
- The rulings, or what would become the instructions of Traditionis Custodes had already been discussed during a plenary meeting of the CDF, at the end of January 2020, indicating that three cardinals were already laying the groundwork for Traditionis Custodes in July 2021. Therefore, it was implicit that the Vatican already had decided to crackdown on the TLM, commencing work on drafting of the document. In fact, Lee Fratantuono, writing at One Peter Five in November 2021 cites the modernist liberal lay theological liturgist Andrea Grillo, who in March 2020 quickly started a petition aimed at ending the use of the older rite (published at Munera and again at Pray Tell). He goes on to state that “Traditionis Custodes was the granting of Grillo’s petition.”
- Montagna also details a parallel report (a 2nd report) in November 2020 which was completed in December 2020, when the responses from most of the bishops had not yet been received. Therefore many, were curious to know if the parallel report was only a smokescreen, with a collective response of a minority of the bishops, whose liberal views were antagonistic to the TLM.
- The third aspect: It was not clear if Pope Francis was given the main report (containing the responses and analyses of all the bishops who responded to the survey), implying that it was suspected (by Montagna and others), that Traditionis Custodes did not accurately represent the main, detailed report prepared by the CDF.
2025 – Exponere Mendacium: Traditionis Custodes
After the demise of Pope Francis and the election of Pope Leo, the TLM continued to be persecuted in places like Detroit and Charlotte in America, under the banner of Traditionis Custodes. During all this, there was a bombshell dropped by Diane Montagna, who is a reputed journalist, on 01st July 2025, on her Substack account which, if true, will put to rest the above speculations (in the above section) once and for all.
Based on document(s) now received (from an unknown source within the Vatican presumably), it is now learnt, that what seemed to have propelled Pope Francis to issue Traditionis Custodes, was actually the exact opposite of what he claimed as being the reasons for restricting the TLM. The document known as the ‘Overall Assessment’ brings to light overwhelming contradictions to Pope Francis’ Motu Proprio and the accompanying letter to the bishops.
For instance, Francis in his apostolic letter that accompanied the Motu Proprio, Traditionis Custodes stated:
“The responses reveal a situation that preoccupies and saddens me, and persuades me of the need to intervene”
Question: What was the ‘situation’ that ‘preoccupied’ and ‘saddened’ the late Pontiff? The answer was apparently evident in the survey results. And it now seems logical to conclude that the survey results therefore weren’t what Francis had probably expected. Thus, Francis seems to have acted in vehement opposition to the very results of the survey. And in this, Francis seems to have exposed his authoritarian nature.
The survey results, if one goes through the ‘overall assessment’, was clearly all but unanimous. Montagna summarizes the new findings in 2025 on her Substack account as:
“The majority of bishops who responded to the questionnaire stated that making legislative changes to Summorum Pontificum would cause more harm than good.” (emphasis mine)
And
“The overall assessment directly contradicts, therefore, the stated rationale for imposing Traditionis Custodes and raises serious questions about its credibility.” (emphasis all mine)
The verdict was clear: Pope Benedict XVI’s Motu Proprio should continue.
Was Traditionis Custodes therefore a psychological excursion in self-importance and vainglory on the part of Pope Francis, considering that the results depicted his predecessor, Pope Benedict XVI to be seen as more accurate, and even more favoured than him? Emotional words like ‘saddened’ & ‘preoccupied’ in Pope Francis’ letter reveal signs of rejection. Could Francis have perceived the response to the survey as a rejection of his leadership? We will never know the real motive for Traditionis Custodes now that Francis is no more.
The below are the highlights from Montagna’s article (from the key takeaway section). If these were the recommendations placed in the ‘overall assessment’ document, and if (speaking for myself) I was required to judge if Summorum Pontificum was to be retained or not, as an unbiased Novus Ordo Catholic in 2021 I wouldn’t touch it with a bargepole! Instead, Francis went for the jugular and did the exact opposite!
Take a look & judge for yourself (quotes below are taken from Montagna’s article & the assessment)
1) Traditionis Custodes was a product of a minority of liberal bishops:
“Where liturgical peace is lacking, the report shows it stems more from a level of nescience, prejudice and resistance of a minority of bishops to Summorum Pontificum than from any problems originating from those drawn to the traditional Roman liturgy.”
2) The Majority of bishops who implemented Summorum Pontificum expressed satisfaction with it.
“The report found that “the bishops most attuned to this matter observe that the older form of the liturgy is a treasure of the Church to be safeguarded and preserved”
3) Report confirmed attraction of young people to the older form of liturgy.
“The CDF report confirmed Benedict’s intuition, expressed in Summorum Pontificum, that younger people would find in the traditional Roman liturgy “a form of encounter with the mystery of the Holy Eucharistic particularly suited to them.”
Even the secular press had been reporting this information long before the p(l)andemic, apart from Catholic sources.
4) Growth of vocations reported in Ex-Ecclesia Dei communities since implementing Summorum Pontificum.
This is an interesting fact. Meaning, where Tradition is nurtured, the Faith flourishes. Similarly, the converse is also true. Pope Benedict XVI, through his wisdom in his post-conciliar years, and his astute reading of the situation, demonstrated an actual ability to ‘listen’, rather than the faux pretence by Pope Francis. Ultimately, the results speak of the measures taken. And clearly Pope Benedict’s measures to restore the TLM (with due caveats) was ‘The’ obvious shot in the arm to Catholicism, as against the actions of Pope Francis through Traditionis Custodes, by which he himself now stands vilified.
5) Report recommended studying both forms of Roman Rite as part of seminary formation.
As mentioned in point 1 above, I attribute this to “nescience, prejudice and resistance” on the part of the bishop(s) concerned.
6) Report recommended: “Let the people be free to choose.”
Citing a Filippino bishop, the CDF report concludes by recommending:
“Let the people be free to choose.”
(emphasis in all the above points are all mine)
The ‘overall assessment’ has huge ramifications. 1) The first implication is that there is an obvious sense of coercion by the powers that be in the Vatican by implying that the Vatican wasn’t letting the people access to something that they deemed beneficial to their spiritual development, and which was not morally harmful 2) The second, is an unspoken but severe implication: If more people prefer the TLM (by virtue of the very report that was drawn up to quash it), then what was the whole point of the Novus Ordo rite that was imposed on Catholics from the top since 1969?
Catholic Conclave, posting on their X account, said the following, which I thought to be a befitting assessment:
“Vatican II, which Francis & Modernist Co used as a touchstone of orthodoxy to the exclusion of all other Councils teaches quite clearly the importance of the collegiality of the Pope and Bishops. Ironic that Francis treated the opinions of the world’s bishops with utter contempt”
Closing thoughts
I opine that, if the TLM rite was allowed to operate freely in all parishes, in parallel with the Novus Ordo rite, it would soon become very clear which rite was not only more reverent, but unanimously drawing people closer to God, with clear results in the form of increased mass attendance, increase in vocations, etc.
And this is exactly the view of the survey that was conducted by Pope Francis. Views that were all too conveniently buried to cater to his own ideas.
Now, all eyes are on Pope Leo, to understand what his move will be. Will Summorum Pontificum be reinstated (with additional clauses and caveats)? Or will Pope Leo preserve the legacy of Pope Francis out of pure respect for him and pass the gauntlet to his successor, while continuing to ignore the truth?
Catholic Sat, posted on X on 02nd July 2025, which I think will neatly summarize how this can be resolved in a jiffy (my comments in brackets)!
“If the Vatican wants to defend the legacy of Pope Francis it really should publish the (original) results of the Summorum Pontificum survey of Bishops in full”
Your move, Pope Leo!
(A huge shout out to the inspiring & determined journalist Diane Montagna, who has been courageously speaking out for the TLM communities and persisting in investigating the likely mess & embarrassment future Catholics will come to know as Traditionis Custodes. It is likely that Montagna will be persecuted by the assorted ‘Popesplainers’ and modernists by hurling accusations & calumnies against her person and her impeccable past work. We pray to Mary our Mother, St. Joseph & all the angels & saints to intercede, to protect her, and to be her defence.)
Ave Maria
