Cleveland Diocese extends Latin Mass

CNA Staff, Oct 22, 2025 / 17:04 pm (CNA).

The Diocese of Cleveland has confirmed that the Vatican granted permission for the celebration of the Traditional Latin Mass (TLM) at two diocesan churches for an additional two years. 

The extension applies to St. Mary’s Church in Akron and St. Stephen’s in Cleveland, both of which, according to the Catholic Herald, had previously been granted limited approval to continue celebrating the extraordinary form of the Roman rite. 

At both parishes, diocesan priests say the Masses, rather than priests from the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter or the Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest, as sometimes occurs in other dioceses.

In an email to CNA, Nancy Fishburn, executive director of communications for the Diocese of Cleveland, said: “The Holy See granted a two-year extension of permission for the two remaining diocesan celebrations of the Latin Mass within the Diocese of Cleveland.” 

Pope Francis’ 2021 motu proprio Traditionis Custodes has restricted the use of the pre-Vatican II Mass by requiring Vatican approval for its celebration in parish churches, placing oversight directly under the Holy See. Bishops must now obtain authorization from the Vatican to permit the older form of the Roman rite in their dioceses.

It is unclear when Cleveland Bishop Edward C. Malesic requested the extension. Fishburn told CNA she had no further information.  

The extension of the TLM in Cleveland comes even as other dioceses are seeing its cancellation. 

In the Diocese of Knoxville last week, Bishop Mark Beckman informed the TLM community in an Oct. 14 letter that “by Jan. 1, 2026, every Latin Mass in the diocese will be celebrated using the 2002 Roman Missal ensuring consistency with the Church’s approved liturgical books while preserving the beauty and reverence you cherish.”

Beckman wrote that he had consulted with the three pastors in the diocese who currently celebrate the TLM, assuring parishioners that the transition away from the extraordinary form was “being handled with utmost pastoral sensitivity and care, honoring both your devotion to the sacred liturgy and the Church’s living tradition.” 

In the Diocese of Charlotte, North Carolina, meanwhile, Bishop Michael Martin said in September that the TLM would cease at four parishes and would only be permitted at one chapel beginning Oct. 2.

Brian Williams, a leader of the TLM community in Charlotte, spoke with CNA in September.

“Why is going to the Latin Mass a bad thing? It’s no different from the Ordinariate, or Byzantine, or any other rite. It’s all still Catholic,” he said. 

Williams said he and other members of the TLM community are still hopeful that Pope Leo’s pontificate will be more welcoming of the TLM and that things can change, citing a post on X on Sept. 29 showing a priest at the St. Michael’s chapel in St. Peter’s Basilica saying the Mass in the extraordinary form, as well as the recent granting of an exemption to the restrictions imposed by Traditionis Custodes in the San Angelo Diocese in Texas, the first exemption granted under the pontificate of Pope Leo XIV.

Source: https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/267339/cleveland-diocese-extends-latin-mass