Posted on 02/08/2026 6:04:19 PM PST by ebb tide
Una Voce International (FIUV) and the Latin Mass Society of England and Wales issued a joint statement this week urging the Church hierarchy to end the restrictions on the Traditional Latin Mass for the benefit of the faithful in light of the Society of St. Pius X’s (SSPX) plans to consecrate new bishops without Vatican approval.
In the February 3 letter, the organizations, known for their promotion of the TLM, expressed hope that the SSPX will someday receive regular canonical status and emphasized the challenges faced by the faithful devoted to the Tridentine Mass, who have relied on the society for the Mass and sacraments due to the restrictions of Traditionis Custodes. The letter then called on the Vatican to lift these restrictions and allow for the creation of additional parishes that celebrate the Latin Mass to accommodate these faithful.
“Una Voce International and the Latin Mass Society have heard with concern the announcement by the Superior General of the Society of St Pius X (SSPX), Fr Davide Pagliarani, that the SSPX will carry out Episcopal consecrations on 1st July this year,” the statement read. “Our ardent wish, shared by many Catholics of good will, is for the canonical regularization of the SSPX, which would enable its many good works to bear the greatest possible fruit.”
Earlier this week, the General House of the SSPX announced its plans to carry out new episcopal consecrations without Vatican approval in July, citing what it described as an “objective state of grave necessity” for the continuation of its sacramental ministry.
READ: SSPX announces consecration of bishops without Vatican approval
The statement announcing the society’s decision says that Superior General Father Davide Pagliarani had sought an audience with the Holy See last August to present what he called their “current situation” and the need to ensure the continuation of its episcopal ministry.
In a second letter,” Pagliarani “explicitly expressed the particular need of the Society to ensure the continuation of the ministry of its bishops,” but received a recent response that was said by the SSPX to “not in any way respond to our requests.”
“We share the SSPX’s goal, that the Church’s ancient liturgy be made available as widely as possible for the good of souls,” the statement continued. “We do not share the SSPX’s analysis of the crisis of the Church in all its details. In particular, we know many Catholics (are) able to attend the Traditional Mass with all the necessary permissions from the Church’s hierarchy, such that it is not necessary for them to seek it in any irregular context.”
“We also know, however, that for others, attending the Traditional Mass has been made very difficult: in some places, this is despite the desire of qualified priests to celebrate it for the faithful, and even the willingness of the local bishop to allow this,” the organizations added. “This creates an environment in which the SSPX argument of a ‘state of emergency’ gains sympathy.”
The traditional organizations appear to be suggesting here that TC’s draconian restrictions have lent greater credence to the society’s claim of being in a “state of emergency."
Indeed, since Pope Francis promulgated his 2021 motu proprio Traditionis Custodes, several bishops have severely restricted the celebration of the TLM, leading faithful to increasingly go to the SSPX for the Mass and sacraments.
Last year in the Diocese of Charlotte, Bishop Michael Martin suppressed all diocesan Latin Masses and merged them into a single small chapel, which he admitted was not intended to accommodate all the faithful who wished to attend the ancient Roman liturgy.
Following Martin’s restrictions, the SSPX’s St. Anthony of Padua Chapel in Mt. Holly has seen a dramatic rise in attendance, prompting the society to plan to build a new chapel to accommodate this growth.
READ: SSPX in Charlotte plans for new chapel to accommodate growth after Latin Mass suppression
The traditional organizations concluded their letter by urging Pope Leo and the Church hierarchy to be mindful of these challenges and reminded them of Popes John Paul II and Benedict XVI’s praise of the ancient liturgy and the faithful devoted to its celebration.
“We urge our bishops, and above all His Holiness Pope Leo XIV, to be mindful of these pastoral realities, which are at this moment precipitating a crisis whose consequences no one can foresee,” they wrote.
“What Catholics attached to the ‘former Missal’ desire is not some harmful or novel liturgical form. Pope St John Paul II called our desire for this Missal a ‘rightful aspiration’ (Ecclesia Dei, 1988), and later Pope Benedict XVI described it as a source of ‘riches’ (Letter to Bishops, 2007),” they concluded.
Several Catholic prelates have denounced the harsh restrictions of Traditionis Custodes, noting that neither the pope nor the bishops have the right to suppress the TLM.
Cardinal Raymond Burke has stressed that the Latin Mass was “never juridically abrogated” and that it is not permissible for a pope to pretend to wield “absolute power” to “eradicate a liturgical discipline."
Bishop Athanasius Schneider, auxiliary bishop of Astana, Kazakhstan, has underscored that the Holy Father does not have the right to suppress the Tridentine Mass, which served as the liturgy of numerous saints, emphasizing that it is not disobedient to continue celebrating or attending the ancient Mass:
The faithful as well as priests have the right to a liturgy that is a liturgy of all the saints (…). Therefore, the Holy See does not have the power to suppress a heritage of the whole Church; it is an abuse, it would be an abuse even on the part of a bishop. In this case, you can continue to celebrate the Mass even in this form: It is a form of obedience (…) to all the popes who have celebrated this Mass.
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Ping
What Una Voce and LMS don’t quite understand is that what they see as a “bug” is considered a *feature* by the TLM-haters in the hierarchy. Such folks would like nothing better than having trads isolated and marginalized outside of parish life and confined the ghetto of the SSPX. One of the good cardinals (Muller, I think) said that many of his colleagues say (of trads), “Let them go to the SSPX”
Some TLM haters are that way- but many can’t stand that the SSPX is outside their control.
And the FSSP and ICK communities are still considered “ghettos” by the synodal church.
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