Cardinal Raymond Burke presided over a Mass rich in hymn, incense and priests bowing to the altar. Photo: AP PHOTO

A top US cardinal has celebrated a traditional Latin Mass in St Peter's Basilica with the explicit permission of Pope Leo XIV, thrilling traditionalist Catholics who had felt abandoned after Pope Francis greatly restricted the ancient liturgy.

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A few thousand pilgrims, many of them young families with multiple children and the women covering their heads with lace veils, packed the altar area of the basilica to standing room-only capacity.

Cardinal Raymond Burke, a conse

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