Quo Primum Called—It Wants Its Perpetuity Back
Or: How Two Cardinals Accidentally Argued Themselves Into Liturgical Absurdity
In recent months, Blase Cupich and Arthur Roche have once again mounted the tired campaign to suffocate the Traditional Latin Mass—also known as the usus antiquior, the Roman Rite, the Mass of the saints, Mass of the Ages, or (apparently) Public Enemy No. 1 in certain episcopal conference break rooms filled with Felt Banners and Boomer Bishops.
Their stated reason, as always, is unity—that ecclesiastical solvent so powerful it can apparently dissolve history, law, logic, and the explicit words of popes, provided one says it slowly and with enough pastoral concern.
Cardinal Cupich has dismissed the Traditional Latin Mass as a “spectacle,” a curious accusation from a Church that once used flying baldachins, triple tiaras, and Latin precisely to signal that this is not a PTA meeting. Cardinal Roche, meanwhile, has assured us in briefings that liturgical pluralism is dangerous, that the old rite was a temporary indulgence, and that—brace yourselves—it was never meant to survive.
Which is fascinating, because the very document they repeatedly cite says the exact opposite.
A Bull, A Saint, and a Catastrophic Case of Selective Quoting
One might expect that cardinals invoking a papal bull would have read it. Or at least skimmed it. Or at minimum glanced nervously at the parts that don’t help their argument. And, on top of that, they may have considered the context in which it was drafted—i.e., the Counter-Reformation.
The bull in question is Quo Primum (1570), promulgated by Pope St. Pius V following the Council of Trent. Its purpose was simple: to codify, protect, and perpetuate the Roman Mass after Protestant heretics had turned worship into a theological free-for-all.
And Pius V was not subtle.
He did not say:
“Try this for a few decades and see how it feels.”
He did not say:
“We’ll do this until modern man matures emotionally.”
He said—repeatedly and with juridical clarity—that the Roman Missal was to be used “henceforth, now, and forever.”
Forever. Not “until a committee.” Not “until Germany votes.” Forever.
He further commanded that nothing be added, removed, or changed, declared that the decree “can never be revoked or modified,” and concluded—helpfully, for those unclear on the stakes—that anyone who violates it should expect the wrath of Almighty God and of the Blessed Apostles Peter and Paul.
This is not the language of a temporary concession.
This is the language of a man who brought a legal sledgehammer to a doctrinal knife fight.
The 200-Year Clause: The Part Everyone Pretends Doesn’t Exist
Now comes the truly impressive part.
Cardinal Roche has recently cited Quo Primum to argue that Pope Pius V wanted “one rite of the Roman Church”—while somehow failing to mention the small, inconvenient footnote that undermines his entire thesis: the 200-year exemption clause.
Pius V explicitly protects any rite that could demonstrate continuous usage of at least 200 years.
Which is, inconveniently, exactly what the Roman Rite itself does.
This omission is not accidental. It is not an oversight. It is the theological equivalent of quoting “Thou shalt not kill” while quietly shredding the phrase “innocent” in the margin.
Liturgical scholars have called this move “seriously misleading.” Others have been less charitable and more accurate.
Cardinal Cupich and the Amazing Self-Defeating Citation
Cardinal Cupich’s use of Quo Primum is even more impressive in its accidental comedy.
He reportedly invokes it to argue for unity under the Novus Ordo while simultaneously declaring the Traditional Latin Mass effectively abolished.
So to summarize:
A pope issues a bull guaranteeing perpetuity
A saint binds it with divine sanctions
A cardinal quotes it
…to justify doing the opposite
This is not interpretation.
This is performance art with an agenda.
It is roughly equivalent to citing the Bill of Rights as evidence that free speech is outdated, or quoting Pastor Aeternus while explaining that papal infallibility was just a vibe.
If Quo Primum can be overridden because “discipline evolves,” then every papal document becomes a suggestion box. Vatican I becomes provisional. Nicaea becomes revisable. The Creed becomes a draft.
Congratulations—Protestantism has been reinvented, but with better vestments.
The Mass That Accidentally Formed Western Civilization
The Traditional Latin Mass is not a medieval cosplay event. It is not a niche preference. It is not a political faction.
It is the liturgy that:
formed saints
converted nations
survived revolutions
endured schisms
and outlasted every prior attempt to “update” it out of existence
It is the Mass that Pope St. Pius V bound to perpetuity precisely because it was not his to reinvent.
Suppressing it does not create unity. It creates resentment, fracture, and the unmistakable impression that continuity is tolerated only when it flatters the present regime.
A Final Reminder from a Sainted Pope
If Cardinals Cupich and Roche truly desire unity, they could begin with a modest experiment:
read the documents they quote in full.
Quo Primum is not dead.
It is not obsolete.
It is not embarrassed by modernity.
It stands exactly where Pope St. Pius V left it—guarding the Roman Rite, daring modern bureaucrats to explain why “forever” no longer means forever.
Ignore it if you wish.
But do not pretend it agrees with you.
Because Quo Primum called.
And it wants its perpetuity back.
