Encouragement from Pope Francis?
Traditional Pontifical Mass Inside St. Peter’s for Close of Second Annual Summorum Pontificum Pilgrimage in Rome, October 2013.  (Remnant Tours to Organize U.S. Contingent)

(ROME) The majority of tradition-minded faithful here in Rome were certainly pleased to learn that there will be a second Summorum Pontificum Pilgrimage in October similar to that which took place in Rome last November, and culminated with a solemn pontifical in St Peter’s Basilica celebrated by Cardinal Cañizares Llovera, Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship.

In a message dated 18 March and posted to its portal, "the Cœtus Internationalis Summorum Pontificum (CISP) gladly announces that it will end the Year of Faith just as it had begun it: with a pilgrimage Ad Petri Sedem (to the See of Peter)".

As a result of the 2012 pilgrimage’s spiritual success, the post goes on, "the people of Summorum Pontificum are once again meeting in Rome to bear witness to the traditional liturgy’s eternal youth at the Apostle’s Tomb. The CISP thus means to contribute to the harmony and building up of the universal Church, while remaining docile to the action of the Holy Ghost".

But more specifically, as pointed out in CISP post, "in order to respond to the encouragement to "seguir adelante" (keep forging ahead) on the part of Cardinal Cañizares Llovera, Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship, at the end of the November pilgrimage, the CISP early in 2013 had asked St. Peter’s Basilica’s archpriest, Cardinal Angelo Comastri, for access to the Basilica for this even. On March 14, 2013 Cardinal Comastri confirmed the Basilica's availability on 26 October next at 11am for the solemn celebration, which will be the high point of the pilgrimage".

Therefore, "the Cœtus Internationalis Summorum Pontificum thanks Cardinal Comastri for his hospitality and invites all groups linked to the extraordinary form of the Roman rite to start preparing for this pilgrimage through prayer and to take an active part in organizing it".

The most immediate implication that comes to mind at this announcement is that the celebration of the October Pontifical Mass could not have been made possible had it not been approved by the newly-elected Pope Francis.

In a comment at the tradition-minded portal, Paix Liturgique, "the fact that the response of Cardinal Comastri, Archpriest of the Vatican Basilica, is dated the first day of the pontificate of Francis is not meaningless: it shows that, thanks to the celebrations held in the past, starting from 2009, and the excellent impression conveyed by the pilgrimage of 2012, traditional liturgy no longer stirs controversy at St. Peter’s".

The comment goes on, as was the case on the previous occasion last year "the solemn Mass in St Peter’s will be preceded by a procession through the streets of Rome". The pilgrimage is due to conclude on "Sunday, October 27, the feast of Christ the King, according to the traditional liturgical calendar: that is, with the same solemnity that will distinguish, according to the modern calendar, the official conclusion of the Year of Faith, November 24, 2013". A coincidence that evidently is not a coincidence, "and that the organizers explained with their concern to show the unity of the universal Church" and thus "contribute to the harmony and building up of the universal Church, while remaining docile to the action of the Holy Ghost", in a clear reference to the words of the new Pontiff to the Cardinals on March 15.

As already noted in my interview on Remnant TV, as a faithful Catholic attached to the old Roman Rite I am in a wait-and-see attitude, following the election of the new Pope, whose credentials with regard to the defence and upholding of the non-negotiable pro-family and pro-life values, as far as I have seen, seem to be flawless. Since apparently this does not seem to be the case in so far as the tradition liturgy and notably the smooth implementation of Summorum Pontificum are concerned, the CISP-announced traditional pilgrimage in October is wonderful news that a tradition-minded Catholic could aptly hail as a very good step in the right direction.

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The Cœtus Internationalis Summorum Pontificum, which was established last July, is the organizer of the People of Summorum Pontificum pilgrimage–diocesan priests and priests from ED communities, seminarians, religious, and the faithful attached to the traditional liturgy–in Rome.
This year the steering committee is made up of: Giuseppe Capoccia, managing director; Guillaume Ferluc, secretary-general; Father Claude Barthe, chaplain. Giuseppe Capoccia, Italian senior civil servant, succeeds as councillor to Riccardo Turrini who was named Judge at the Court of Appeals of the Vatican City State on December 31, 2012.