Vatican prohibits Traditional Latin Mass in Bishop Strickland’s former cathedral

CNA Staff, Nov 11, 2024 / 15:35 pm

Celebration of the Traditional Latin Mass in the cathedral of the Diocese of Tyler, Texas, will cease effective Dec. 1, according to a Vatican-approved order that comes almost one year after Pope Francis removed Bishop Joseph Strickland, one of his most outspoken critics, as head of the diocese.

Bishop Joe S. Vásquez of Austin, who has served as apostolic administrator of the Tyler Diocese in East Texas since Strickland’s dramatic ouster last Nov. 11, announced the move in a letter to parishioners of the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Tyler, which has offered a 2 p.m. Sunday Mass in Latin.

A spokesperson for the diocese also confirmed with CNA that Masses celebrated according to the pre-Vatican II liturgical form will also be halted in four other parishes: Mary Queen of Heaven in Malakoff, Sacred Heart in Texarkana, St. Francis of Assisi in Gilmer, and Sacred Heart in Nacogdoches. 

The letter was first obtained by Catholic journalist Diane Montagna who published it on X over the weekend.

“Following the guidance of the Holy See,” Vásquez stated in a letter dated Nov. 6, “celebration of the liturgy according to the liturgical books approved by St. Paul VI and St. John Paul II in accordance with the Second Vatican Council” will no longer be permitted in the cathedral from December onward but will be permitted in only one parish within the Diocese of Tyler.  

St. Joseph the Worker Parish, entrusted to the care of the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter (FSSP), is the only parish in the diocese authorized to “use of the 1952 Missal, according to the provisions of Traditionis Custodes,” the motu proprio Pope Francis issued in 2021 that sharply curtailed the celebration of the Traditional Latin Mass worldwide. 

According to Vásquez’s letter, St. Joseph the Worker Parish is a “personal parish” established in 2003 to “pastorally care for all those in the diocese who celebrated according to the older liturgical forms.”

A spokesperson for the diocese told CNA: “Going forward, as the letter states, St. Joseph the Worker Parish in Tyler, a personal parish entrusted to the FSSP, will continue to serve the faithful of the diocese according to the norms of Traditionis Custodes.”

The letter does not specify why Traditional Latin Masses are ending at the cathedral, though Strickland’s refusal to fully implement Traditionis Custodes is widely believed to be one factor that led to his removal. The Vatican has not publicly disclosed exactly why Pope Francis asked for his resignation.

Strickland said in an interview with LifeSiteNews a year ago: “I know I didn’t implement Traditiones Custodes because I can’t starve out part of my flock.”

In his letter, Vásquez indicated that he “recently received a reply” from the Vatican after submitting a letter to the Vatican Dicastery for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments on how to implement the Holy Father’s motu proprio in the local Church after Strickland’s departure.

“While this transition may be difficult for some, my hope is that you will open your hearts and move forward on this path with faith and trust,” Vásquez wrote. 

“I pray you will experience a deepened unity with the whole Church and a greater awareness of the liturgical richness of the ordinary form of the Roman liturgy,” he added.

This article has been updated.