ENGLISH EXCLUSIVE: Cardinal Roche Defends Traditionis Custodes at Extraordinary Consistory
Full text of Cardinal Roche’s two-page report to Cardinals.
ROME, 13 January 2026 — A previously undisclosed text on the liturgy, prepared by Cardinal Arthur Roche and distributed to Cardinals at last week’s Extraordinary Consistory, has now come to light. In it, the Prefect of the Dicastery for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments mounts a strong defense of Traditionis Custodes, revealing that the traditional Latin Mass was squarely on the agenda of the meeting.
The two-page report—published exclusively below in English and Italian—was one of four texts distributed to the cardinals for reflection and discussion, each corresponding one of the topics initially chosen by Pope Leo XIV: evangelization, the Roman Curia, the Synod and synodality, and the liturgy.
Upon their arrival at the Jan.7-8 consistory, Cardinals were informed that, due to time constraints, they would need to select only two topics. Evangelization and synodality were chosen as the primary themes for discussion, while the liturgy and reform of the Curia were set aside.
Therefore, while Cardinal Roche’s report was distributed to the Cardinals, it was never formally discussed.
Pope Leo XIV will convene another two-day extraordinary consistory at the end of June, with discussions on the liturgy expected to take place.
Here below is the full text of Cardinal Roche’s report in English and Italian:
English:
Italian:
The fruits of the traditional Mass speak for themselves. There is no contravening the reality of its effect on those who worship. No amount of gobbledygook will ever change that. The Gamaliel Principle is in effect. “If this is of God, there is nothing you can do to stop it, unless you even fight against God.” Mary’s Immaculate Heart will triumph. Praised forever be Jesus Christ!
No one doubts that the Pope has the authority to regulate tradition as he sees fit. Some of us love the council documents, even though they were written disingenuously. How do you have a document that says Latin must be retained and then just ever use it? They all signed it. And then went home and destroyed Latin from the liturgy. It’s much more than a “spirit of the council.” Why are they not considered to be disobedient to the council? Why is it that only we who want to do it the old way are disobedient?
Those of us who want continuity are accused of rupture. And those who are actively seeking to rupture us from tradition are trying to claim that they alone have the continuity with tradition.