Vatican could restrict celebration of Latin Mass on pilgrimage to Chartres

The Vatican’s Dicastery for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments would be studying the possibility of imposing restrictions on the Latin Mass on the annual pilgrimage to Chartres, according to a French media outlet.

The three-day walking pilgrimage from Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris to Chartres over the Pentecost weekend culminates with a mass Latin Mass inside the Notre Dame Cathedral in Chartres. The pilgrimage attracted a record attendance of 18,000 people earlier this year.

Citing anonymous sources in Paris and Rome, La Croix reported that Vatican officials are examining whether the Latin Mass offered at Chartres Cathedral at the conclusion of the popular pilgrimage is in accordance with the restrictions established in Keepers of Traditionhe motu proprio that Pope Francis issued in 2021 that drastically reduced the celebration of the traditional Latin Mass around the world.

In February 2023, Pope Francis issued a rescript requiring bishops to seek specific approval from the Dicastery for Divine Worship before designating the use of additional parish churches for the Latin Mass.

Last year, the Vatican imposed restrictions on pilgrimage the Supreme Pontiffwhich was denied permission to celebrate the traditional Latin Mass inside St. Peter’s Basilica.

The 2025 edition of the Chartres pilgrimage organized by the Notre-Dame de Chrétienne association will take place from June 7 to 9, 2025.

The reopening of Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris this weekend would allow the pilgrimage to begin inside the Paris cathedral for the first time since the Notre Dame fire in 2019.

Translated and adapted by the ACI Prensa team. Originally published in CNA.