[Catholic Caucus] ‘Traditionis Custodes’ One Year Later, Brings New Pastoral Realities and Challenges

National Catholic Register ^ | August 5, 2022 | Peter Jesserer Smith

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‘Traditionis Custodes’ One Year Later

Bishops seeking to faithfully fulfill the Pope’s call for greater regulation of the traditional Latin Mass are grappling with tough decisions that have real pastoral consequences.

Vatican

August 5, 2022

More than one year has passed since Pope Francis’s 2021 apostolic letter Traditionis Custodes (Guardians of Tradition), and as U.S. bishops implement the papal decree limiting the use of the 1962 Roman Missal for Catholic communities, new pastoral realities and challenges are arising.

For the most part, the 150,000 U.S. Catholics who regularly attend Mass celebrated with the 1962 Roman Missal, commonly called the traditional Latin Mass or “Tridentine Mass,” have been unaffected so far. But the issuance of new diocesan regulations limiting this form of the Mass has picked up in 2022, especially over the summer. 

Diocese of Arlington, Virginia, announced July 29 that it would be reducing the number of traditional Latin Masses (celebrated weekly or monthly) from 21 to eight geographically dispersed locations. Among them are three parishes that are given at least two years to make the transition from the TLM. The Arlington Diocese has more than 70 parishes for 100,000 weekly Mass-attending Catholics (450,000 total registered parishioners), and the arrangement is intended to serve the 2.5% of Catholics who attend the older Mass. 

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Other bishops have chosen so far to use their authority to keep the status quo in their dioceses, on the basis that the pastoral concerns expressed by Pope Francis in connection with the TLM are not problematic in their jurisdictions. For instance, Archbishop Alexander Sample’s implementation of Traditionis Custodes in the Archdiocese of Portland, has resulted in “no major changes,” while Archbishop Jerome Listecki said applying the motu proprio “will not create much change” in the Archdiocese of Milwaukee.

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One online tracker, Traditioniscustodes.info calculates that out of 98 U.S. dioceses that have responded, only three have suppressed the TLM; 23 have issued restrictions of some kind, and 72 have chosen thus far to leave it in place.

The above link is a good indicator that separates the wolves from the shepherds.

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