An international pilgrimage of over 1,000 traditionalist Catholics, celebrating the 5th anniversary of the motu proprio Summorum Pontificum,
concluded on November 3 with a Mass in St. Peter’s basilica, celebrated
in the extraordinary form by Cardinal Antonio Cañizares Llovera, the
prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship. In a message to the pilgrims, Pope Benedict XVI said that he issued his motu proprio encouraging wider use of the traditional liturgy because “it is good to preserve the riches which have developed in the Church's faith and prayer, and to give their rightful place, while fully recognizing the value and sanctity of the ordinary form of the Roman rite.”
In his homily Cardinal Cañizares emphasized the need for unity within the Church, and said that “this holy Mass in the extraordinary form must be a sign of obedience and communion with the Pope.”