Cardinal Cupich advocates for Latin Mass suppression, cites document from recent consistory

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Cardinal Cupich advocates for Latin Mass suppression, cites document from recent consistory
Cardinals Blase Cupich's and Arthur Roche's citation of Quo Primum in justifying TLM suppression is disingenuous,

 because the 1570 bull authorized the traditional Mass ‘in perpetuity.’



A portrait of Pope Francis sits on the alter as Cardinal Blase Cupich, the Archbishop of Chicago, 

presides over a Mass at Holy Name Cathedral honoring the late pope on April 23, 2025, in Chicago, Illinois
Scott Olson/Getty Images

Jan 27, 2026
(LifeSiteNews) — Cardinal Blase Cupich issued a reflection on Wednesday supporting Pope Francis’ goal of suppressing the traditional Latin Mass, arguing that the existence of only “one rite” is a matter of “unity.”

“Accepting the reform authorized by the church is a matter of preserving the unity of the church as St. Pope Pius V stated, a truth the late Pope Francis recalled,” wrote Cupich, referring to one of the main “takeaways” of a document on the liturgy distributed by Cardinal Arthur Roche at the extraordinary consistory convened by Pope Leo XIV earlier this month.

Cupich referred to Roche’s own citation of Pope Pius V that Bishop Athanasius Schneider later pointed out was taken out of context: “As in the Church of God there is only one way of reciting the psalms, so there ought to be only one rite for celebrating the Mass,” Pius V wrote while issuing the Roman Missal of 1570.

The Chicago Archbishop explicitly used this principle of “unity” as a justification for the TLM-suppressing Traditionis Custodes. Cupich pointed out that Francis considered the Second Vatican Council’s liturgical “reform” – that is, the Novus Ordo Missae – to be the “unique expression of the ‘lex orandi’ of the Roman Rite.”

Favoring the Novus Ordo while suppressing the traditional Latin Mass is therefore “in keeping with his predecessor St. Pope Pius V,” because “there must be only one rite as a means of preserving the unity of the church,” according to Cupich.

The orthodox prelate Schneider recently stressed that Roche selectively referenced Quo Primum in his consistory document when he quoted its statement that “there ought to be only one rite for celebrating the Mass.”

The reality is, Schneider pointed out, Quo Primum actually “explicitly permits all variants of the Roman Rite that had been in continuous use for at least 200 years to continue lawfully,” including the Ambrosian and Dominican rites. “Unity does not mean uniformity, as the history of the Church attests,” Schneider noted.

Referencing Quo Primum here is disingenuous on the parts of Roche and Cupich, because the 1570 bull clearly contradicts their main point by firmly authorizing the TLM “in perpetuity.” 

Quo Primum states that “this Missal is hereafter to be followed absolutely, without any scruple of conscience or fear of incurring any penalty, judgment, or censure, and may freely and lawfully be used. Nor are superiors, administrators, canons, chaplains, and other secular priests, or religious, of whatever title designated, obliged to celebrate the Mass otherwise than as enjoined by Us. We likewise declare and ordain … that this present document cannot be revoked or modified but remains always valid and retains its full force.”