(LifeSiteNews) — Cardinal Robert Sarah shared in an interview published on Monday that he has spoken with Pope Leo XIV about the concerns of those who have attended the Traditional Latin Mass and that the pontiff is aware of their difficulties.

“We continue to fight over the liturgy, we continue to bully certain people,” Cardinal Sarah told Tribune Chrétienne in an exclusive interview, as reported by Rorate Caeli. He suggested that Christians who attend and support the TLM cannot be justly deprived of the Latin Mass, in part because these Catholics fully, authentically practice their faith.

“Whereas in fact, when we really look at the Christians who practice today, they are the ones who go to traditional Mass. So why forbid them? On the contrary, we should encourage them,” said the prelate.

“I don’t know what the Pope will do, but he is aware of this battle. He is aware of this difficulty,” continued the prelate.

The cardinal affirmed that he had the “opportunity” to discuss the matter when he met with Pope Leo, but did not reveal any specifics about their conversation, including whether Leo indicated any course of action regarding the Latin Mass.

However, he has expressed hope that Leo will take the needs of Latin Mass-attending Catholics into consideration. When his interviewer pointed out that Cardinal Raymond Burke obtained a traditional Mass at St. Peter’s Basilica, Cardinal Sarah replied: 

Which will take place, but everyone must be given space. The Pope is the father of everyone, of each one of us. He is the father of the traditionalists. He is the father of the progressives, the father of everyone. He cannot ignore his children. Everyone has their own character, their own sensibilities. Everyone must be taken into account. I think he will try to act in this way.

Earlier in his interview, Cardinal Sarah stressed that the Mass has become a “battlefield between traditionalists and progressives” and questioned why, encouraging the faithful to reflect upon where the authority to forbid a Mass comes from.

“I think we need to reflect on this. It is the only time when man is in face-to-face relationship with God,” he said in reference to the Mass. “It is the only time when man is in direct contact with God, when God listens to him, when he speaks to God.” 

“Why do we have to fight? Why forbid this? Why forbid that? Who gives us this right? Who gives us this power? Someone who has a personal relationship with God? We’ve never seen this in the history of the Church,” the cardinal continued, referring to the unprecedented prohibition of a venerable liturgy developed organically over many centuries.

“So I think that if the Pope tries to see that it’s not easy because the question is a matter of faith. How we believe is how we pray,” said Cardinal Sarah, in an inversion of the Latin saying Lex orandi, lex credendi (the law of prayer is the law of belief).

When Leo finally publicly addressed the issue last month, he dodged any clear answer about his stance on the legitimacy of the restrictions on the TLM, saying that the topic is “very complicated.”

Leo further called the Latin Mass a “hot-button issue” and revealed that he has already received “a number of requests and letters” about the topic.

The traditional Mass of the Church came under heavy restrictions in July 2021 thanks to Pope Francis’ Traditionis Custodes as well as subsequent measures imposed by Cardinal Arthur Roche in his role as the prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship. 

While the Vatican under Leo has granted one parish in Texas a two-year extension to offer the Traditional Latin Mass, the pope has not given any indications thus far, including in this decision, that he will declare Traditionis Custodes abrogated or modify its diktats. 

On the contrary, the two-year TLM extension in Texas, as well as the TLM suppressions ordered by bishops since Leo took office, could suggest the pope will not undo Traditionis Custodes.

Traditionis Custodes has been firmly denounced by clergy and scholars as a repudiation of the perennial practice of the Catholic Church and even of solemn Church teaching.

Cardinal Raymond Burke has affirmed that the traditional liturgy cannot be proscribed, even by the Pope himself. “It is a question of an objective reality of divine grace which cannot be changed by a mere act of the will of even the highest ecclesiastical authority,” the cardinal wrote in 2021.

St. Pius V’s 1570 bull Quo Primum permanently authorized the traditional Mass, declaring that it may be used “freely and lawfully” in “perpetuity” and even that the wrath of God would fall upon those who would dare to restrict or abolish the Traditional Latin Mass, also known as the Tridentine Mass.

“This present document cannot be revoked or modified, but remains always valid and retains its full force,” Quo Primum added.