Much has been made in Catholic media world of the latest crumb flicked toward Catholics when Bishop Michael Sis of the Diocese of San Angelo, Texas announced that he would expand the provision of the so-called Extraordinary Form in his diocese.
This announcement of Sis’s “generosity” was praised by Fr. Ryan Rojo, Vocations Director for the seminaries in the diocese, who claimed that Sis’s decision was “motivated by the salvation of souls.”
Sober-minded social media users and commentators were quick to point out that the newly opened TLM seems to be less about “the salvation of souls” and more a strategic move by the cunning Synodal hierarchy to keep Catholics on the conciliar plantation as it turns out that the new Mass is reportedly only about four miles from an SSPX chapel.
These observations become especially meaningful in view of Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone’s recent comments. Cordileone acknowledged during an EWTN interview the danger of a clampdown on indult Masses in an interview following the SSPX’s controversial consecration of four bishops.
He called for “easier access” to the Traditional Latin Mass so that Catholics “attached to the old liturgy” would not feel compelled to seek spiritual nourishment outside full communion with Rome.
But while this Vatican dog-and-pony show in Texas raises questions about the motives of Sis, the latest move in Pittsburgh leaves no doubt as to whether the demolition of Catholicism is going to wind down anytime soon.
Bishop Mark Eckman announced that the Traditional Latin Mass at Saint Titus Church will come to an end on September 4. The arrangement, which began in 2022 with permission from Rome, was extended once in 2024, but the bishop has now decided not to seek another extension.
The Dispatch
In a letter announcing his decision, Eckman gave away the modernists in Rome’s game plan, admitting that the permission was never intended to be permanent. Catholics are expected to “grow in their appreciation” of the post-conciliar liturgy and return to it, he said.
It is clear from this candid and straightforward admission that the Latin Mass was therefore not being tolerated as a legitimate and enduring expression of Catholic worship, but only tolerated as a temporary pastoral accommodation.
And this needs to be made clear: it is a pastoral accommodation that is now reaching the end of its existence.
Pittsburgh, of course, is not an isolated case, but just another data point in the continuing implementation of the policy established by Traditionis Custodes.
One has to be pretty foolhardy not to recognize the pattern: restrict the traditional liturgy, prevent its normalization, and ultimately encourage those who are attached to it to migrate to the post-conciliar Mass. In other words, give traditional Catholics just enough room to keep them inside the diocesan structure while ensuring that the traditional Mass itself remains subordinate, restricted, and ultimately momentary.
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That is why the occasional opening of a TLM should not automatically be interpreted as a reversal of Traditionis Custodes or a slackening of the campaign against the TLM. The Pittsburgh letter is the latest expression of the Vatican’s objective to eventually move traditional Catholics onto the post-conciliar landscape. After all, Traditionis Custodes made it clear that the reformed Missal is to be the unique expression of the Roman Rite. The war, therefore, has not ended, but has simply become more sophisticated and intense.
Curb your excitement. There will be occasional new Masses, pastoral accommodations, and carefully controlled traditional enclaves, but alongside them will come closures, restrictions, and pressure to assimilate until the TLM is completely eradicated from the Synodal Church.
