Pope Francis on June 1 named Cardinal Blase Cupich as a member of the Vatican's Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments.
On June 1, the Holy See's press office announced the appointment of Chicago's archbishop.
The motu proprio Traditionis custodes, which restricts the celebration of the Traditional Latin Mass, was published in 2021, to Cupich's delight.
Cardinal Kevin Farrell of Ireland, prefect of the Dicastery for the Laity, the Family, and Life, and Bronx-born Archbishop Augustine Di Noia of the Bronx are also listed in the congregation.
In a 2021 interview with the Catholic News Service, Di Noia lauded the publication of Traditionis Custodes, stating that the Traditional Latin Mass movement distorted the initiatives of Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI.
Bishop Hugh Gilbert of Aberdeen, president of the Bishops' Conference of Scotland, is a member of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples.
Other members include Cardinal Mario Grech, Secretary-General of the Synod of Bishops, Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples and Myanmar's Cardinal Maung Bo of Yangon.
Vatican congregation members normally serve a five-year term.
Pope Francis appointed Cardinal Cupich to the Congregation for Bishops in 2016 and to the Congregation for Catholic Education in 2017.
It was announced in 2020 that he had been appointed to the Vatican Task Force to assist Episcopal Conferences, Religious Congregations, and Apostolic Societies in preparing and updating guidelines for minor protection.
Cardinal Cupich wrote in his November 2021 essay that Traditionis custodes (TC) is an "opportunity to assist all of our people in a deeper understanding of the value of the [Second Vatican] Council in reforming our worship."
As Jesus prayed the night before he was crucified, all need to all pray that all might be one, as he did the night before he died, and to move forward in a manner that promotes the return to a unitary celebratory form following TC's directives.
The 73-year-old cardinal issued a revised policy for the Archdiocese of Chicago in December 2021 that curtailed celebrations of the Traditional Latin Mass and other sacraments in Latin from liturgical books that predate Vatican II.
Priests, deacons, and ordained ministers wishing to use the Old Rite must submit a written request to the cardinal, which takes effect on January 25, 2022.
Archbishop Arthur Roche, who will take over as leader of the Congregation for Divine Worship after a consistory on August 27, succeeded Guinean Cardinal Robert Sarah in May 2021.
When the revised Vatican constitution comes into effect on June 5, Pentecost Sunday, the Congregation will be renamed the Dicastery for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments. – Anbu Selvam
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