“Aren’t we, for too long, blocked, parked in a conventional, exterior, formal religion that no longer inflames the heart and does not change life?” Said Francisco.
“Do our words and our rites provoke in the hearts of the people the desire to go towards God or are they ‘dead language’, speaking only of themselves and themselves?”
The Latin Mass ceased to be in general use after the Second Vatican Council of 1962-1965 and was replaced by local languages.
In July, after arguing that the Latin Mass was being exploited by anti-reformists to damage the unity of the Catholic Church, the Supreme Pontiff tightened the rules on when it could be celebrated, reversing the decisions of his two predecessors.
Since then, some conservatives, including bishops, have openly defied the pope, leading to the latest chapter in what some have called the Church’s “liturgical war.”
Faith is not “an armor that plasters us, but a fascinating journey, a continuous and restless movement, always in search of God,” said Francisco.