DETROIT (LifeSiteNews) — In response to Cardinal Arthur Roche’s February rescript, the Archbishop of Detroit has asked parishes to seek alternative buildings to continue offering the Traditional Latin Mass (TLM).
Archbishop Allen Vigneron issued new guidelines on May 5, the feast day of Pope St. Pius V, requesting that pastors of parishes offering the TLM find a new location for the liturgy by July 1, 2024, in conformity with the Holy See’s regulations. In addition, the archbishop asked priests to request permission to continue or begin offering the TLM by May 10, 2023.
“In order to allow for the pastoral care of those faithful who are attached to this form of the Mass in each region, I am also prepared to grant a two-year permission for the use of the parish church at a site in each region,” Vigneron’s instruction stated. “The Oakland County Latin Mass Association and St. Joseph Parish cover this need in the Northwest and Central Regions. St. Anthony Parish in Temperance and St. Edward on the Lake Parish in Lakeport may apply for this extended time period as well.”
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St. Joseph Shrine is served by priests of the Institute of Christ the King, founded as a Society of Apostolic Life of Pontifical Right in 1990 in Gabon, Africa, by Monsignor Gilles Wach and Father Philippe Mora. The motherhouse and international seminary of the Institute is located in Gricigliano, in the Archdiocese of Florence, Italy.
“There are 14 Sunday TLM sites and 14 non-Sunday sites in the Archdiocese of Detroit,” said Alex Begin, a Catholic who has been working to help spread and promote the TLM and sacraments in the Detroit-Windsor area “for decades.” “The parishes offering them either daily or almost every day include St. Joseph Shrine, Assumption Grotto, and Holy Family in Detroit. All three of those are beautiful, historic churches.”
“Unlike many other U.S. dioceses, the Archdiocese of Detroit has numerous chapels and secondary churches within multiple church parishes,” Begin continued. “Many of them are beautiful and architecturally significant” and have served the needs of Catholics attached to the pre-1970 liturgy and sacraments in accord with Traditionis custodes.
“We believe that metro Detroit has the largest number of TLM sites of any major city in North America,” he added.
Vigneron’s May 5 letter also advised priests that permission to offer the TLM is still required for both the priest and location.
“I grant to these priests the additional dispensation to celebrate both forms of Mass on the same day, if necessary,” he wrote.
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In addition to the Institute of Christ the King personal parish and numerous diocesan churches, shrines, and other locations where the traditional liturgy can be found on Sundays, holy days, and weekdays, the Society of St. Pius X (SSPX) has been in Detroit since the 1970s and currently has chapels in Livonia and Armada.
Begin said that after years of hard work applying the motu proprio of Pope John Paul II, the Archdiocese of Detroit “went from last place to first place” among large U.S. dioceses offering the TLM and sacraments. In fact, there was not a regularly scheduled TLM in the Archdiocese of Detroit until 2003, according to Begin.
In response to LifeSiteNews’ request for clarification, the Archdiocese of Detroit’s Director of Communications, Edmundo Reyes, referred us to Vigneron’s May 5 letter to archdiocesan priests.