Cardinal Timothy Radcliffe, O.P., reflected on synodality, the traditional Latin Mass, and the increase in adult baptisms and Dominican vocations in England.
“Many people fear that synodality will lead to the rejection of the Church’s tradition,” he said in an interview. “But that is not at all its purpose.”
“It is not about conforming to modernity, but about becoming truly countercultural, opposed to a contemporary culture which sees human beings as consumers,” he continued. “Synodality invites us to see each other as made in the image and likeness of God, each given a share in the Spirit and a word to share.”
Addressing a question about the extraordinary form of the Mass, Cardinal Radcliffe said:
I do deeply sympathize with people whose love of the Tridentine Mass has led them into tension with the hierarchy. Some of them are my friends and I hate to see them pained.
But it is good always to remember that the Eucharist is the sacrament of our unity in Christ. So I believe that the sacrament can never become a sign of disunity with the Body of Christ. However painful it might be, if the Church declares that a rite is not to be used, however much one might love it, it cannot be good to let its celebration be a source of division.