VATICAN CITY (LifeSiteNews) — Pope Benedict XVI was deeply saddened after learning that the broad permission he granted for the Traditional Latin Mass (TLM) had been significantly restricted by Pope Francis, former aide Archbishop Georg Gänswein has revealed.

On July 7, Italian newspaper Il Giornale published an exclusive interview with Gänswein on the occasion of the 19th anniversary of Summorum Pontificum, Pope Benedict XVI’s motu proprio that expanded access to the TLM. Gänswein said the late pontiff regarded the measure as a means of restoring peace in the Church’s liturgical life and was personally distressed when its provisions were later curtailed by Pope Francis’ 2021 motu proprio, Traditionis Custodes.

“When I read Traditionis Custodes to him, I saw that there was sorrow in his heart. That was my impression,” Gänswein said, recalling Benedict XVI’s reaction after the publication of the document that imposed new restrictions on celebrations according to the pre-conciliar Roman Missal.

Gänswein, who now serves as apostolic nuncio to the Baltic States and was Benedict XVI’s longtime personal secretary, said the late Pope introduced Summorum Pontificum to restore what he considered the rightful place of the older Roman Rite within the Church. According to Gänswein, Benedict believed the rite “had never been abolished” and wanted to give it “full recognition” while “promoting peace in the Church’s liturgical life.”

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Asked about the resistance that accompanied the document’s publication in 2007, Gänswein said Benedict “was accustomed to receive criticism, but when he was convinced that something was right, he pressed on toward his goal and simply took note of it.”

The archbishop also addressed the relationship between Summorum Pontificum and the Society of St. Pius X. “For him, who had witnessed up close the agreement that Lefebvre reneged on in 1988, the schism was a personal suffering. He said it would have consequences not just for a few days, but would be a wound to the unity of the Church destined to endure.”

Nevertheless, Gänswein said Summorum Pontificum was “not conceived primarily in that perspective, but rather aimed at the internal life of the Church. In his experience as prefect, he had already seen that there were unsatisfactory aspects in the application of Ecclesia Dei, and therefore something had to be done.”

Reflecting on the years that followed the document’s publication, Gänswein said Benedict believed the initiative had begun to bear fruit, “particularly among younger Catholics.” He described the motu proprio as “a beginning” and he believed that “it could lead to integration by removing the existing split within the liturgy.”

“He was convinced that such a rite, celebrated for so many centuries, could not fail to be revived,” Gänswein added. “He was also pleased with the work of the former Ecclesia Dei institutes, which offer an alternative for those who would otherwise go to – or remain within – the Society of Saint Pius X.”

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Gänswein also pointed to the annual Paris-to-Chartres pilgrimage as evidence of growing participation by younger Catholics attached to the Traditional liturgy. “These young people are nourished by the beauty of the liturgy; they are not at all opposed to the Second Vatican Council. It is not true that those who have a Traditional liturgical sensibility and attend Tridentine Masses are anti‑conciliar – anyone who claims this is driven solely by ideology.”

Asked whether restrictions introduced by Traditionis Custodes should be removed, Gänswein expressed support for such a step. He said he hoped for a decision that would eliminate the existing prohibitions, describing the present moment as a kairos, i.e., an appropriate time, to move beyond the measures introduced in 2021, “to remove those prohibitions and overcome the incident represented by that text.”

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