VATICAN CITY (LifeSiteNews) — Pope Leo XIV has urged French bishops to seek “concrete solutions” that would include Catholics “attached” to the Traditional Latin Mass, describing divisions over the liturgy as a “painful wound” in the Church.

The message, delivered through Cardinal Pietro Parolin to the bishops’ plenary assembly in Lourdes, France, comes amid ongoing debate over restrictions imposed on the older form of the Roman Rite.

The Holy Father addressed what he called the “delicate theme of the Liturgy” in the context of the continued growth of “communities attached to the Vetus Ordo.” He warned that tensions surrounding the Mass remain unresolved.

“It is troubling that a painful wound continues to open in the Church concerning the celebration of the Mass, the very sacrament of unity,” the Pope wrote.

To address the situation, he called for greater mutual understanding among Catholics with differing liturgical sensibilities and encouraged the bishops to develop practical measures. He expressed the hope that the Holy Spirit would suggest “concrete solutions that would generously include those sincerely attached to the Vetus Ordo, while respecting the orientations set forth by the Second Vatican Council regarding the Liturgy.”

The remarks come amid news that the French bishops’ March 24 plenary assembly in Lourdes would address the issue of liturgy as part of its agenda.

“At issue,” reported Céline Hoyeau in La Croix, “notably, is what action to take following the motu proprio Traditionis Custodes, published by Pope Francis in 2021, which had drastically restricted the possibility of celebrating the Tridentine Mass. Will these restrictions need to be maintained, or should the permission granted by Benedict XVI to the traditionalist world be restored, especially given that, beyond the success of the Pentecost pilgrimage to Chartres, other regional ‘traditionalist’ pilgrimages have emerged in France?”

An internal source according to Catholic blog Rorate Caeli noted that Cardinal Jean-Marc Aveline, who is supportive of the Traditional Latin Mass and has celebrated it even after restrictions, may “bring a well-informed contribution to the June consistory.”

“It has been a long time since this topic,” the source claimed, “which is not without causing tensions, has been addressed at the assembly. The bishops, whose sensibilities on the subject vary widely, will share how things are going in their dioceses and what questions are arising.”

Pope Leo’s remarks are likely to draw close attention because they touch directly on the future of the Traditional Latin Mass, which has been subject to significant restrictions since Pope Francis issued the 2021 motu proprio Traditionis Custodes, placing tighter limits on the celebration of the pre-1970 liturgy and giving bishops broader authority to regulate its use. Those measures reversed the more permissive framework established in 2007 under Pope Benedict XVI via the publication of his own Summorum Pontificum.

Since his election in 2025, Pope Leo has taken several steps viewed by observers as signals of a more conciliatory approach toward traditionalist communities. He granted permission for the Traditional Latin Mass to be celebrated in St. Peter’s Basilica for the first time since the 2021 restrictions during the Summorum Pontificum pilgrimage, a move widely interpreted as a gesture toward reconciliation.

He has also held meetings with researchers studying Catholics who attend the older liturgy and encouraged bishops to reflect on how to welcome those communities while maintaining ecclesial unity. In early March 2026, Leo met with academic Stephen Bullivant, who provided data and findings to Leo which showed that while traditionalist laity do tend to lean to the right on the political spectrum, that they broadly accept papal authority, heed the doctrines of the Church to a significant degree, and do not uniformly reject Vatican II.

More recently, Vatican discussions have continued over how to interpret and implement existing restrictions, with materials defending the current regulatory framework circulated among cardinals earlier this year, including by Cardinal Arthur Roche during January’s extraordinary consistory.

Within that context, the Pope’s latest message to the French bishops is being read as a potentially significant development. Writing on social media, British journalist Damian Thompson said the statement “could be big news,” adding that it is “hard to read this as anything other than papal support for greater freedom for celebration of the TLM, though it’s frustratingly short on details.”

In his message, Leo framed the issue primarily in terms of ecclesial unity and pastoral inclusion. He called for “a fresh regard from each person toward the other, with a greater understanding of the other’s sensibility,” so that Catholics “enriched by their diversity” might welcome one another “in charity and in the unity of faith.”

The communication was issued from the Vatican on March 18 and released by the French Bishops’ Conference as the bishops gathered to consider pastoral approaches to developments within the Church in France, which is seeing a continued surge in the number of adult baptisms, including the growth of communities devoted to the Traditional Latin Mass.