(LifeSiteNews) — The Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston, West Virginia’s only diocese, under Bishop Evelio Menijar-Ayala announced last week that it will expand access to the Traditional Latin Mass (TLM) to four locations to provide for the faithful’s “various spiritual needs.”
In its August 28 statement, the diocese announced that Evelio, who was appointed by Pope Leo XIV earlier this year, beginning September 20 will permit the TLM to be celebrated each Sunday at Our Lady of Seven Dolors Mission in Triadelphia, an expansion from its previous monthly permission, and will allow another Tridentine Mass to be celebrated at a yet to be determined location in the Charleston region.
Per the announcement, the regular Latin Mass schedule will continue at St. John University Parish in Morgantown, where it is offered each Saturday and Sunday. The TLM will also continue to be offered at the Priory of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Charles Town, home to the Canons Regular of the New Jerusalem.
The statement further noted that the bishop has named Very Rev. Timothy J. Grassi, V.F., pastor of St. James Parish in Charles Town, as the episcopal delegate for the diocese to “assist in coordinating authorised celebrations, locations, calendars, and pastoral provisions … for the pastoral care of the faithful” devoted to the Latin Mass along with three other priests as episcopal delegates for various regions of the diocese.
“In an effort to foster greater unity among the Catholic faithful and provide for their various spiritual needs, Most Rev. Evelio Menjívar, Bishop of the Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston, announced that Very Rev. Timothy J. Grassi, V.F., pastor of St. James Parish in Charles Town, has been appointed Episcopal Delegate for Matters Concerning the Usus Antiquior in the Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston,” the diocesan statement said.
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“This is an effort on the part of Bishop Evelio to ensure that the spiritual needs of every portion of his flock are attended to by priests of our diocese,” the statement continued.
Evelio, who illegally crossed the U.S. border in 1990, also attended a solemn high Mass at the Priory of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary on Sunday “to coincide with the announcement.”
It’s worth noting that Our Lady of Seven Dolors Mission in Triadelphia, which will soon offer the ancient Roman liturgy every Sunday, is only about three miles or a 10-minute drive from Our Lady of Lourdes Chapel, staffed by the Society of Saint Pius X (SSPX). The Society’s presence likely played a role in the bishop’s decision to expand permission to celebrate the TLM at this mission and across the diocese.
In recent months, several bishops who lead dioceses where the SSPX has a presence have expanded access to the Latin Mass in response to the group’s consecration of four new bishops without a papal mandate last month and subsequent excommunication earlier this summer.
In June, just before the consecrations, the Diocese of Arlington, Virginia, under Bishop Michael Burbidge announced plans to establish a chaplaincy under the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter (FSSP) to provide Old Rite sacraments to the faithful devoted to the TLM.
Earlier this month, Bishop Michael Sis of San Angelo, Texas, also granted permission for a monthly Latin Mass at St. Ann’s Catholic Church in Midland, a five-minute drive from an SSPX chapel.
READ: Diocese establishes FSSP chaplaincy to serve faithful devoted to Latin Mass