ROME — A veritable “Who’s Who” of United Kingdon (UK) cultural and political bigwigs have written an open letter petitioning the Vatican not to ban the Traditional Latin Mass (TLM). Responding to widespread and persistent rumors that the Vatican intends to thoroughly quash the TLM, the letter — which believers and non-believers alike signed — weighs the historic, spiritual, and cultural impact that the TLM has had and implores the Vatican “to reconsider any further restriction of access to this magnificent spiritual and cultural heritage.” The more than 40 signatories of the letter , which was published in the Times of London Wednesday, include composer Andrew Lloyd Webber, historian Tom Holland, Downton Abbey creator Julian Fellowes, human rights activist Bianca Jagger, opera singer Kiri Te Kanawa, interior designer Nina Campbell, fashion designer Paul Smith, actress Susan Hampshire, philanthropist Lady Getty, authors Antonia Fraser and A.
N. Wilson, Princess Michael of Kent (a member of Britain’s royal family), cellists Steven Isserlis and Julian Lloyd Webber, conductor Jane Glover, sopranos Sophie Bevan and Felicity Lott, and pianists Imogen Cooper, Stephen Hough, András Schiff, and Mitsuko Uchida, along with nearly a dozen members of the House of Lords. The letter presents itself as a successor to the “Agatha Christie letter,” a similar appeal made to Pope Paul VI in defense of the Latin Mass, which the Times published on July 6, 1971.
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