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Bishop Daniel J. FeltonScreenshot/Diocese of Duluth

DULUTH, Minnesota (LifeSiteNews) – The Bishop of Duluth has obtained permission for the celebration of the Traditional Latin Mass (TLM) to continue in one of his parish churches. 

Bishop Daniel J. Felton called the Catholics of the local TLM community “a rich blessing in our diocese.” 

According to The Remnant’s editor-in-chief Michael Matt, Felton announced his current provisions for the traditional liturgy on January 22, 2023, at the Church of Saint Benedict in Duluth, Minnesota.

“With this response from the Holy See and after much prayer and consultation […] especially with Father Hastings and with the priests who publicly celebrate Mass using the Missale Romanum 1962, I’ve decided that the celebration of the Mass using [the] Missale Romanum of 1962 will take place in our diocese exclusively at Saint Benedict Church here in Duluth,” Felton said.  

“To that end, I have received a dispensation from the Vatican from article 3.2 to have this Mass be celebrated in a parish church.” 

“Saint Benedict Church has been and continues to be the home of the vast majority of Catholics in northeastern Minnesota who deeply appreciate this form of the Mass,” the bishop continued. “I am fully in support of those who worship at Saint Benedict Church using this form, and I wish to state clearly that this community of the faithful is a rich blessing in our diocese.” 

Matt commented on Felton’s remarks, stating that he was “moved by his pastoral sensitivity and charity.” 

WATCH: The real reason why liberal bishops are trying to shut down the Latin Mass

 

“Wouldn’t it be great if all bishops spoke like that to us? Don’t you think we could have actual ‘dialogue,’ maybe, and come to something of a consensus rather than being blown apart, being polarized by what’s coming out of, sorry, that’s coming out of the Vatican right now?” 

“And I repeat, Bishop Felton is not a traditionalist,” the Remnant editor said. “You know what he is? He is a shepherd who has a heart. He is a shepherd who has the faith, and it manifests itself in this charitable and fraternal and pastoral concern for his flock. “ 

READ: Wisconsin bishop eliminates Latin Mass at parish churches

In July 2021, Pope Francis published his highly controversial restrictions on the TLM within his motu proprio Traditionis Custodes. With that document, Francis directly opposed the ideas of his then still living predecessor Pope Benedict XVI, who had made the TLM more accessible and declared that the traditional form of the Roman Rite had never been abrogated. Many TLM parishes have since been shut down or forbidden to celebrate the Mass in the traditional form by their local bishops. 

READ: Cardinal Cupich under fire for banning Latin Mass, allowing ‘blasphemous’ liturgies 

Bishop Felton’s initial reaction to Traditionis Custodes was to publish a memo in which he said that the “weekly celebration of the extraordinary form Mass will continue at St. Benedict’s Church in Duluth,” but that the “situations” of other parishes celebrating the TLM would be “examined on a case-by-case basis.” He also stipulated that “[n]o new celebrations of the Traditional Latin Mass may be initiated in the parishes at this time.”

In the memo, Felton asked that the feelings of those Catholics attached to the TLM be respected.

“I encourage you to be mindful of the faithful who are devoted to the traditional liturgy and sensitive to their feelings at this time,” he wrote.

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