No — not of itself. Attending the Traditional Latin Mass, in communion with the Church, is not a rejection of Vatican II, the Pope, or the Church. The clearest authority for that is a pope. Benedict XVI, accompanying Summorum Pontificum in 2007, wrote: “What earlier generations held as sacred, remains sacred and great for us too, and it cannot be all of a sudden entirely forbidden or even considered harmful.” A reigning pontiff called the older liturgy sacred and legitimate, so loving it is not, by that fact, a repudiation of anything.

We should name the real distinction honestly, though, because it is the heart of the matter. There is a way to weaponize the old Mass: to fly it as a banner against the Council, to deny the validity of the Novus Ordo, to reject the authority of the Pope. That posture is a genuine problem, and the Church is right to be wary of it. But it is a disposition, not the Mass. The same rite can be prayed by a Catholic in full communion who simply finds it the most reverent way he knows to worship.

And keep two things distinct that critics often merge: the spiritual question and the legal one. Spiritually, the older liturgy is sacred and is not a rejection of the Council, that judgment stands. Legally, the permissions changed: Traditionis Custodes (2021) restricted the older Mass and is the discipline now in force. A faithful Catholic can hold both at once, honoring the rite and respecting the Church’s present law, without contradiction.

So come as a Catholic seeking the Lord, not as a partisan joining a side. You do not have to reject the Council to love the old Mass; you do not have to despise the new Mass or the people who pray it. The inheritance is offered to you in communion with the Church, which is exactly where it belongs, and exactly where you should receive it.