The liturgy wars are back. Spoiler: They never left.

VATICAN CITY (RNS) — Pope Leo XIV returned to Rome in late July from his summer vacation just as one of the Catholic Church’s longest-running internal conflicts came back into the spotlight.

Prominent prelates were sparring on Catholic television and social media over how to address Catholics attached to the traditional Latin Mass, which had been sharply restricted by Pope Francis in 2021.

The liturgy wars, as they are called in Catholic circles, concern how the Mass expresses the church’s theology, authority and tradition. After the church introduced the new rite, or Novus Ordo, in 1969, some believers remained attached to the traditional Mass, celebrated in Latin and with the priest’s back to the congregation.

Pope Benedict XVI attempted to mend the rift with a 2007 decree, Summorum Pontificum, allowing faithful to attend the Latin Mass without their bishop’s approval and enabling stable groups of parishioners to request the older rite.

Benedict hoped the decree would promote reconciliation, particularly with the traditionalist Society of St. Pius X or SSPX, which promoted the Latin Mass and rejected reforms of the Second Vatican Council meant to reconcile the church…