It cannot be overemphasised that Pope Francis clearly intends the remaining concessions on the Tridentine Mass set out in Traditionis Custodes to be only temporary. In his accompanying letter, the Pope tells the bishops they must “authorise the use of the Missale Romanum of 1962 … in such a way as to return to a unitary form of celebration”. There is, says Pope Francis, “a need to return in due time to the Roman rite promulgated by Paul VI and John Paul II”.

The task of the new Bishop’s Delegate, as sole liaison with groups in special pastoral need of the Tridentine Mass, is therefore emphatically not to duplicate the aggressive encouragement of such liturgy currently characterised by groups such as the Latin Mass Society and Una Voce.