The 1966 Petition for the Traditional Mass

The petition was organised by Cristina Campo and published on February 5, 1966. It was addressed to Pope Paul VI.

Artists and scholars, Catholic and non-Catholic alike, concerned with preserving, in the modern world, one of the greatest cultural and spiritual heritages of the West, a heritage that runs the risk, in a short time, of becoming purely archaeological, ask that it be submitted to the benevolent attention of His Holiness, the Pope Paul VI, a request that, as it appears, represents by now the desire of ever larger groups, both of the Faithful and of non-Catholics, that the Latin-Gregorian liturgy, as practised for fifteen centuries in monastic communities, remain intact and complete at least in those conventual churches that do not have strictly parochial duties; that in this liturgy, including the Mass, there be no parts in the vernacular nor any music other than Gregorian Chant; in conventual churches  neither amplifiers nor other mechanical instruments be used that irreparably distort the nature of the plainchant and the character of the place.

If His Holiness will graciously consider this request—that does not appear in any way contrary to the conciliar liturgical texts, and seems to accord particularly well with the admirable words of the Pontiff himself in his address to the Augustinians on 31th August 1965—it will enable a large section of the faithful, and non-Catholics who wish to continue to participate or attend the traditional liturgy and chant, without taking anything away from other liturgical forms recently adopted in parish churches throughout the world.

It was accompanied by the following 37 names:

Wynstan Hugh Auden, poet (W.H. Auden, English poet); 

José Bergamin, Spanish writer and playwright; 

Robert Bresson, French film director; 

Benjamin Britten, British composer; 

Jorge Luis Borges, Argentinian writer; 

Cristina Campo, Italian writer; 

Pablo Casals, Spanish/Puerto Rican musician; 

Elena Croce, Italian writer; 

Fedele D’Amico, 

Luigi Dallariaga, 

Giorgio De Chirico, Italian artist; 

Tamaro De Marinis,

Augusto Del Noce, Italian philosopher; 

Salvador De Madariaga, Spanish diplomat and writer; 

Carl Theodor Dreyer, Danish film director; 

Francesco Gabrieli, Professor of Arabic language and literature in the University of Rome; 

Julien Green, French writer and member of L’Académie française; 

Jorge Guillèn, Spanish poet; 

Hélène Kazantzakii;

Lanza del Vasto, Italian philosopher; 

Gertrud von Le Fort, Catholic convert and German writer; 

Gabriel Marcel, French writer; 

Jacques Maritain, French philosopher; 

Francois Mauriac, French writer, Nobel laureate, and member of L’Académie française; 

Eugenio Montale, Italian poet and Nobel laureate; 

Victoria Ocampo, Argentinian writer; 

Nino Perrotta, Italian composer;

Goffredo Petrussi, Italian composer; 

Ildebrando Pizzetti, Italian composer; 

Salvatore Quasimodo, Italian poet; 

Elsa Respighi, Italian singer and composer; 

Augusto Roncaglia, 

Wally Toscanini, daughter of the composer Toscanini,

Philip Toynbee, British writer; 

Evelyn Waugh, British novelist; 

Morin Zambrano, 

Elémir Zolla, Italian philosopher.

Of particular interest are the Argentinian writer Jorge Luís Borges (d. 1986), the English (and non-Catholic) poet W. H. Auden (d. 1973), the French Academician Julien Green (d. 1998), philosophers from Italy (Augusto Del Noce, d. 1989) and France (Gabriel Marcel, d. 1973), the English novelist Evelyn Waugh (d. 1966), and the French philosopher so admired by Pope Paul VI, Jacques Maritain (d. 1973), and Philip Toynbee, a well-known communist sympathiser. Cristina Campo was the pen-name of Vittoria Guerrini (d. 1977), an Italian very active in the early days of the movement.