Bishops of Lake Charles, Raleigh issue statements on Latin Mass

Washington D.C., Oct 21, 2021 / 18:01 pm (CNA).

Three months after the release of Traditionis custodes, Pope Francis’ restrictions on traditional liturgies, U.S. bishops are continuing to implement the apostolic letter within their respective dioceses. 

The Bishop of Lake Charles is allowing traditional liturgies to be offered at the cathedral parish and at a second parish in the southwest Louisiana diocese. He granted both parishes a canonical dispensation from the document’s restrictions on traditional liturgies being celebrated at parochial churches.

“As a pastor and a bishop, I am aware of the needs of the flock and address them,” said a letter from Bishop Glen Provost published on the diocesan website on Oct. 19. Provost noted that his diocese has endured several natural disasters within the last year, in addition to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, and that many within his diocese are still displaced from their homes.

“Given these burdens and the emphasis on mercy exhibited by our Holy Father, I am prompted to address this implementation, where appropriate, in a spirit of epikeia and with the application of Canon 87,” he said. 

Canon 87 of the Code of Canon Law states, “A diocesan bishop, whenever he judges that it contributes to their spiritual good, is able to dispense the faithful from universal and particular disciplinary laws issued for his territory or his subjects by the supreme authority of the Church.”

The diocese already seeks to address the needs of certain groups of Catholics, he said, “such as our University students, the Hispanic community, and the hearing impaired.”

“Our pastoral concern extends as well to those who worship in the usus antiquior, that is, with the Roman Missal of 1962, and who have done so since the establishment of the Diocese,” he wrote. 

The Diocese of Lake Charles was established on Jan. 29, 1980, nearly a decade and a half after the closing of the Second Vatican Council. 

In his motu proprio Traditionis custodes, issued and made effective on July 16, 2021, Pope Francis allowed individual bishops to authorize the celebration of traditional liturgies in their dioceses. Among the document’s provisions, bishops allowing the Traditional Latin Mass are to designate locations for celebration of the Mass; the liturgies cannot be offered at “parochial churches.”

In a letter accompanying the document, Pope Francis cited the need to promote unity in the Church. He said he was “saddened” that the celebration of the Traditional Latin Mass “is often characterized by a rejection not only of the liturgical reform, but of the Vatican Council II itself, claiming, with unfounded and unsustainable assertions, that it betrayed the Tradition and the ‘true Church’.” 

In his letter, Bishop Provost wrote that he was “unaware of anyone in this community who has expressed opposition to the Second Vatican Council, much less denied its legitimacy,” and that “those who have chosen to discuss with me their devotion to the usus antiquior have insisted upon the validity of the reformed liturgy.” 

Restricting the Latin Mass in the diocese, he said, “would be grossly negligent, if not callous” in light of what Catholics in his diocese have endured. 

“In my many years of having the privilege of celebrating the Sacraments in the Diocese of Lake Charles, I have been continually struck by the tender devotion of the faithful,” said Provost. “I am also aware, as well as can be, of the needs of the people as they have expressed them to me. Whether at Masses in newer or older rites, I know the people with their concerns.”

These concerns, he explained, include financial issues, unemployment, deaths, illnesses, and many others. 

“They suffer quietly, not advertising their problems, seeking some solace in the rites of the Church, whether in the vernacular or in Latin,” he said. “If we, as pastors, do not acknowledge these realities and instead continue to engage in arguments that the faithful find incomprehensible, then we truly risk becoming a ‘resounding gong and clashing cymbal’ and just as irrelevant.” 

Earlier in October, Bishop Luis Zarama of Raleigh stated in a letter to priests that the Novus Ordo Mass is to “take priority” in the diocese, which includes the eastern half of North Carolina. 

“It is my expectation that priests serving all parishes, missions, stations and chapels of ease will celebrate Mass using [the 2011 Missal] every Sunday and on weekdays, as the principal celebration(s) of the day,” he wrote in an Oct. 12 letter to the priests of the diocese. 

The monthly Sunday Latin Masses at the Holy Name of Jesus Cathedral in Raleigh and the Basilica Shrine of Saint Mary in Wilmington will continue, he wrote, as will Sunday Latin Masses at two other parishes in the diocese. However, he restricted the time of day at which the Masses can be offered on Sundays. 

The Masses may begin no earlier than 1 p.m., and the translations for the prescribed scripture readings in the vernacular should be taken either from the Revised Roman Lectionary or the New American Bible, Revised Edition, he said.

The weekday Latin Masses that had previously been offered at Our Lady of Perpetual Help parish in Rocky Mount will be suppressed under the implementation of Traditionis custodes. 

Only priests who have previously received faculties from Zarama are permitted to celebrate the Latin Mass using the Roman Missal of 1962, he wrote, “as the faculty to do so is a personal privilege and not one proper to a parish or faith community nor any other group of the faithful.” 

The changes will go into effect on Jan. 1, 2022, he wrote. 

“It is my hope that this direction may assist us as a Diocesan family to continue to grow in holiness through a renewed relationship with God through our prayer and integrity of life, but also by fostering further formation throughout our Diocese on the beauty, theology and praxis of the sacred liturgy, where we encounter Our Lord most intimately,” said Zarama.