UPDATE (5/4/2025):
After a massive backlash, Bishop Michael Martin of Charlotte, North Carolina, has extended the date that his restrictions on the Traditional Latin Mass will take effect from July to October.
The embattled bishop had decreed last month that the Latin Mass must cease at all four parishes in the diocese that continue to offer it by July 8.
However, Martin announced in an email on Tuesday that he has accepted a request from the priests of the four parishes to delay the restrictions until October 2, the deadline set by the Vatican to implement Pope Francis’ anti-Latin Mass norms in Traditionis Custodes.
Martin said that the diocese “would abide by” any changes to Traditionis Custodes if the Vatican promulgates them, according to the Catholic News Herald.
Meanwhile, in Missouri, devotees of the traditional Mass will no longer be able to attend the ancient liturgy in St. Joseph Parish in the Diocese of Jefferson City after the end of June.
Bishop Shawn McKnight is to set aside “one or more locations” where the faithful can attend the Latin Mass, but without this “location” being a “parochial church” and without establishing any new personal parishes, as stipulated by Traditionis Custodes.
Please join us in respectfully urge Pope Leo XIV to abandon the unjust restrictions of Traditionis Custodes, and to allow the TLM to flourish again around the world.
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In a shocking move, Bishop Michael T. Martin of Charlotte, North Carolina has announced that all Traditional Latin Masses (TLMs) celebrated in diocesan parish churches will be halted as of July 8, 2025. The faithful who attend these Masses—many of whom are young families, converts, and devoted Catholics—will now be required to drive outside the city to attend the TLM.
This is not just a liturgical policy shift—it is a spiritual displacement.
For years, the TLM has flourished in Charlotte, drawing increasing numbers of faithful. The reverence, sacred music, and continuity with centuries of Catholic tradition have enriched parishes and inspired vocations. Yet now, under the shadow of Traditionis Custodes, these thriving communities are being pushed to the margins—literally and spiritually.
Imagine being told you can no longer worship in your own parish church… that your form of worship, once called “the most beautiful thing this side of heaven,” is being pushed to the margins and excluded from the normal life of the Church.
This is not pastoral care. It’s abandonment, and there are so many similar cases around the world.
Pope Leo XIV must hear from faithful Catholics who love the Vetus Ordo. The TLM is not a threat to unity—it is a living treasure of the Church. The faithful who are drawn to it are not rebels—they are Catholics who love the Church and want to worship as the saints did.
Sign this petition to respectfully urge Pope Leo XIV to abandon the unjust restrictions of Traditionis Custodes, and to allow the TLM to flourish again.
Please continue to pray for Pope Leo XIV as Successor of St. Peter and Vicar of Christ.
See our letter to Pope Leo under 'Petition Text'.
