[Catholic Caucus] Vatican denies Bishop Schneider Latin Mass at St. Peter’s Basilica

The Traditional Latin Mass will not be celebrated in St. Peter’s Basilica during this year’s Summorum Pontificum pilgrimage.

On September 9, the organizers of the 15th edition of the traditional Summorum Pontificum pilgrimage at the Tomb of St. Peter released the official program of the event. Unlike last year — and as already happened during Francis’s pontificate — the Pontifical Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica has been forbidden.

“The Secretariat of State sent the organizers a letter explaining that, at least for this year, permission for the Pontifical Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica will not be granted,” a source very close to the organization of the traditional pilgrimage told LifeSiteNews. “The real reasons are unknown. It seems very strange that today the so-called LGBT Catholics can obtain a special Mass in St. Peter’s more easily than Catholics attached to the Church’s Tradition.”

Bishop Athanasius Schneider will celebrate the Pontifical Mass at 3 p.m. at the high altar of the Papal Basilica of Saint Mary Major.

“Despite the bitterness of this prohibition, we were consoled by being contacted by the Archpriest of Saint Mary Major, the Lithuanian cardinal Rolandas Makrickas, who expressed his willingness to welcome us into the important Roman church. This is why the Pontifical Mass will be celebrated there this year. Paradoxically, it is the very same church in which Pope Francis is buried,” said the source.

The pilgrimage itself will still proceed to St. Peter’s, where participants will venerate the tomb of the Apostle Peter at the Altar of the Confession. “The organizers insisted on obtaining at least a moment of prayer in the Basilica, which is the heart of Catholicism,” said the source. “It seemed the bare minimum.”

According to another source consulted by the Catholic outlet Ad Vaticanum, the difficulty in obtaining permission for this year’s Pontifical Mass followed the reaction to last year’s celebration. Pope Leo XIV’s 2025 concession was viewed by the Pope’s “circle” and by staff at St. Peter’s Basilica led by the controversial Cardinal Mauro Gambetti as “gloating.”

The change represents a reversal from the 2025 pilgrimage, when the Traditional Latin Mass was celebrated at the Altar of the Chair in St. Peter’s Basilica by Cardinal Raymond Leo Burke. For several years before that, the pilgrimage had been unable to hold its Pontifical Mass inside the Vatican basilica following the promulgation of Pope Francis’ Traditionis custodes (2021), which placed restrictions on celebrations according to the 1962 Roman Missal.

Last year’s edition even saw Cardinal Matteo Zuppi, the progressive head of the Italian bishops, preside over the Pontifical Vespers. At the end of the Mass in St. Peter’s, instead, the Albanian cardinal Ernest Simoni — known for having suffered torture and unjust imprisonment during the Soviet occupation — performed a minor exorcism from the ambo, reciting the long prayer to St. Michael composed by Pope Leo XIII. The 2025 edition of the pilgrimage saw record participation and was perceived by many as a possible sign of openness from Pope Leo XIV toward the traditional rite.

The pilgrimage will begin on Friday, October 23, with the “Pax Liturgica” Meeting at the Augustinianum and Pontifical Vespers at the Pantheon, with Bishop Schneider presiding. On Saturday morning, October 24, participants will gather at the Church of Saints Celsus and Julian and depart at 11 a.m. for St. Peter’s Basilica. After prayer and veneration at the Altar of the Confession, they will travel to Saint Mary Major for the 3 p.m. Pontifical Mass.

The Summorum Pontificum pilgrimage has been held every October since 2012 as an act of gratitude toward the eponymous motu proprio of Pope Benedict XVI, which liberalized the celebration of the sacraments according to the traditional Roman Rite.

“That perception was not well received,” that source said.

2 posted on 09/09/2026 9:43:29 AM PDT by ebb tide (Our Lady, Co-Redemptrix and Mediatriax of All Graces pray for us.)

“Once again, there is a welcoming attitude toward everyone, even the most remote pagans of the globe, but not toward those who wish to remain children of the Roman Catholic Apostolic Church without compromise.”

3 posted on 09/09/2026 6:33:28 PM PDT by ebb tide (Our Lady, Co-Redemptrix and Mediatriax of All Graces pray for us.)

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[Catholic Caucus] Vatican denies Bishop Schneider Latin Mass at St. Peter’s Basilica

'It seems very strange that today the so-called LGBT Catholics can obtain a special Mass in St. Peter's more easily than Catholics attached to the Church’s Tradition,' a source told LifeSite.

“Once again, there is a welcoming attitude toward everyone, even the most remote pagans of the globe, but not toward those who wish to remain children of the Roman Catholic Apostolic Church without compromise.”