His Eminence, Frank Cardinal Leo, Archbishop of Toronto
Office of the Archbishop, Archdiocese of Toronto
Catholic Pastoral Centre
1155 Yonge St.
Toronto, ON M4T 1W2
Mississauga, ON A1A 1A1
September 17, 2026
Dear Eminence,
Greetings, Your Eminence, from this poor sheep. I come to you with great
love and respect, as a child approaching his father to discuss important
matters.
It has recently come to my attention, as a resident of the Archdiocese
who is attached to the usus antiquor, that You will be implementing Traditionis
Custodes as of September 20th, 2026. Over nine years, I have
happily attended Mass following the usus antiquor at Carmel Heights,
Holy Family, St. Vincent de Paul, and St. Lawrence the Martyr. Thus, it was
with deep dismay and concern that I received the news, and it is with the same
dismay and concern I write this letter.
Much of this concern and dismay stems from how cruel this action is, and
how it contradicts Your presentation as a kind, compassionate, and receptive
shepherd. Upon Your installation in March 2023, I reflected with happiness on Your
devotion to the Blessed Virgin. You seemed to embody those traits common to Her
and Our Lord Jesus Christ: generosity, magnanimity, and an encompassing concern
for Your flock. Such qualities are embodied particularly well in your pastoral
messages. One example I regularly ponder is found in Your Message for the World
Day for Grandparents and the Elderly. There, you write, “Can money, comfortable
lifestyle, convenience, material wealth, power, expedient use of resources
truly constitutes the “be all and end all” of human existence, the summum
bonum for which we must strive? […] Redemptive suffering is regrettably not
being preached or taught as it should.” You go on to highlight how requesting
MAiD in this mindset is a “sin against God’s love.” Reading this, I was pleased
to consider You my bishop. As commissioned by Our Lord Jesus, You were making
disciples of all nations and spreading the Gospel. Your words were at once
generous, challenged me to offer the pains of life with great love, and
displayed an awareness of what we in the pews face on a regular basis. It was
gratifying to see, and I noted with pleasure Your demonstrated commitment to
visit those smaller, less well-regarded parishes in the Archdiocese. Simply,
Your Eminence, Your actions gave further weight to Your words.
Compounding my happiness at Your commitment to the Gospel was how it has
trickled down to my local parish. Before Your installation, Your Eminence, (NAME
WITHELD) parish in Mississauga was rather reserved in its practice of the
Faith. Today, the Holy Ghost is easily discerned there. An Adoration chapel has
been installed which sees regular use. The sanctuary has been enriched with a
sobering crucifix, flanked by wonderful statues of St. Joseph and Mary. In the
rotunda, proper alcoves have been furnished for Our Lady of Mount Carmel and
our patronal saint. Last week, our nave doors were replaced and now depict
several Carmelite saints. Every Sunday, the priests offer Mass without fuss,
and remind us in their sermons of sin, mercy, justice, the importance of living
out of the Gospel, and much more. As a consequence, mindful of their – and Your
Eminence’s – practice of generosity, I have begun putting money in the
collection plate. As you have noted, money is not the “be all and end all” of
my life. The parish is livelier, with more community events than in decades
prior. It gives me hope for the future.
Given such evidence, Your Eminence, I am confused by Your decision to
implement Traditionis Custodes to the letter. It goes against everything
I have noticed in You. It was enacted without warning. No announcement has been
made on the Archdiocesan website. I am unaware of any lay consultation. I had
to find out through friends, to my great distress. Where was the kindness?
Where was the compassion? Where was the awareness of the trials of life? Since Traditionis
Custodes was introduced in 2021, I have witnessed a gradual witling down of
the usus antiquor’s offerings here in the Archdiocese. The effects of
this have been incalculable. To give just one example, people have been going
to other dioceses to hear the Mass of the Ages on Sundays. This is not how it
should be. As residents of the Archdiocese of Toronto, we should be able to
remain close to home to hear Mass. Pushing us to travel long distances on a
Sunday to hear the Mass of my grandparents, at the expense of building the
domestic church, is an aberration. It defies history, sense, and charity. To
his credit, Your predecessor, His Eminence Emeritus Thomas Cardinal Collins,
recognized this, and allowed yours truly to attend the usus antiquor any
Sunday I wish. Contrariwise, Your decision to severely restrict the offering of
the usus antiquor to certain Sundays, instead of every Sunday, is
regrettable.
My confusion is multiplied by the fact Your Eminence has not deemed it
necessary to ensure the novus ordo Missae is offered well, with decorum,
reverence, and precision. While St. PARISH WITHELD offers acceptable Masses,
it could be better. Music is often lacking finesse; I have heard guitars on
more than one occasion. When laypeople handle the sacred vessels before and
after Mass, they do not wear gloves. Against the late Pope Benedict XVI’s
injunction, applause is heard during Mass. These and other actions cause me
distress. I have left Mass with tears in my eyes at how Our Lord is treated
with such ingratitude and disrespect, heaping, of course, the heaviest charge
on myself. That You have not issued a pastoral notice addressing such disregard
for His Majesty and His Mother at the Mass most people know, but instead focus
on the one attended by a mere one thousand souls, is bewildering. Loathe as I
am to say so, conscious of addressing Your Eminence, Your decision to implement
Traditionis Custodes is cruel. It betrays the Gospel. I pray and hope it
was a hastily considered one, and that it will be swiftly revoked, if not for
my sake, but for those of my fellow Christians.
Until then, I will be withholding my donations. This is done without
malice. I still consider myself Your sheep until such time as I am not. In
addition to revoking Your implementation of Traditionis Custodes,
following Canon 212, I respectfully ask Your Eminence to: (a) allow the usus
antiquor to be freely offered throughout the whole Archdiocese, every
Sunday; (b) permit the other six sacraments to be freely offered in the usus
antiquor; and (c) enforce the novus ordo Missae to be consistently
offered with decorum, reverence, and precision, as mandated by the Second
Vatican Council. Doing so will shower the Archdiocese with untold graces and
restore Your reputation as a kind and compassionate bishop.
In closing, Your Eminence, it pains me to write this letter in such a
direct manner, but I have a duty to You as my father to approach you with my
worries, my troubles, and my concerns about Your management of the Archdiocese.
Again, it is my hope and prayer that Your decision to implement Traditionis
Custodes was hastily considered, and that it will be swiftly retracted. May
the Blessed Virgin, whom we dearly love, spread Her Mantle over You and shower
You with the many graces You need as Cardinal.
Kissing the Purple,
I remain,
In the Hearts of Jesus, Mary,
and Joseph,
Your sheep,