Many Catholics reacted strongly to the promulgation of Traditionis custodes, a motu proprio signed by Pope Francis on July 16, offering pithy comments on Twitter as well as more detailed takes.
In the motu proprio, the pope made sweeping changes to his predecessor Benedict XVI's 2007 apostolic letter Summorum Pontificum, which acknowledged the right of all priests to say Mass using the Roman Missal of 1962, which is in Latin.
The new document is dedicated to "the use of the Roman Liturgy prior to the reform of 1970" and contains eight articles that go into immediate effect.
In an accompanying letter to bishops, Pope Francis wrote: "In defense of the unity of the Body of Christ, I am constrained to revoke the faculty granted by my Predecessors. The distorted use that has been made of this faculty is contrary to the intentions that led to granting the freedom to celebrate the Mass with the Missale Romanum [Roman Missal] of 1962."