Pope Francis invites the faithful to “docility” with regard to the liturgy — a subject of lively disagreement between Rome and certain traditionalist movements — in a message for the 150th anniversary of the death of the French monk Prosper Guéranger (1805-1875), published on January 30, 2025. The French bishops in November 2023 gave the green light to the cause for beatification of this restorer of the Benedictine order and architect of liturgical renewal in France.
In this message addressed to the abbot of the great abbey of Saint-Pierre de Solesmes, Dom Geoffroy Kemlin, the pontiff refers in particular to Dom Guéranger’s role as “restorer of Benedictine monastic life in France.” The monk revived the abbey of Solesmes, abandoned during the French Revolution.
Francis also praises “his work in favor of the definition of the dogma of the Immaculate Conception and that of papal infallibility” and “his writings in defense of the freedom of the Church.”
Liturgical renewal
The 266th pope particularly highlights his contribution in the field of liturgy. Dom Guéranger was one of the architects of the liturgical movement that led to the drafting of the constitution Sacrosanctum Concilium at the Second Vatican Council.
The French Benedictine’s work led to the “historical, theological, and ecclesiological rediscovery of the liturgy as a language of the Church and an expression of her faith,” the message reads.
The pontiff refers to Dom Guéranger’s publications “in favor of the return of the dioceses of France to the unity of the Roman liturgy” and his volumes of The Liturgical Year, his best-known work, translated into various languages (including English).
Pope Francis underlines Dom Guéranger’s “fidelity to the Holy See and the Successor of Peter” in his liturgical research. He hopes that his example will inspire the faithful to “filial trust and docile collaboration” with Peter’s Successor, in order to preserve the unity of the Church.
The controversy surrounding Tridentine liturgy
The spotlight on Dom Guéranger’s personality comes at a time of discord between Rome and certain traditionalist groups attached to the Tridentine liturgy. In 2021, Pope Francis largely restricted the use of the traditional Mass with the motu proprio Traditionis custodes.
Dom Geoffroy Kemlin, the recipient of the Pope’s letter, was received at the Vatican in September 2022. During an audience with the pope, the two men discussed the matter of the traditional liturgy, and the pope encouraged the young abbot to make a discernment on a case-by-case basis.
At the Abbey of Saint-Pierre de Solesmes, mother of the Solesmes Congregation — 24 monasteries of monks and 8 monasteries of nuns worldwide—Mass is celebrated in Latin using the Paul VI missal. However, some abbeys of the congregation celebrate Mass according to the Tridentine rite.
And today we celebrate...