Vatican gives permission for the Latin Mass to be celebrated in 2 diocesan churches in the US.

The Diocese of Cleveland (United States) has confirmed that the Vatican granted permission for the celebration of the Traditional Latin Mass (TLM) in two diocesan churches for an additional two years.

The extension applies to St. Mary’s Church in Akron and St. Stephen’s in Cleveland; both, according to Catholic Herald, had previously received limited approval to continue celebrating the extraordinary form of the Roman rite.

In both parishes, it is diocesan priests who celebrate the Masses, and not priests of the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Peter or the Institute of Christ the King High Priest, as sometimes happens in other dioceses.

In an email to CNA, Nancy Fishburn, executive director of communications for the Diocese of Cleveland, said: “The Holy See granted a two-year extension of permission for the two remaining diocesan celebrations of the Latin Mass within the Diocese of Cleveland.”

He motu proprio Guardians of traditionpublished in 2021 by Pope Francis, has restricted the use of the pre-Vatican II Mass by requiring Vatican approval for its celebration in parish churches, placing oversight directly under the Holy See. Bishops must now obtain authorization from the Vatican to allow the oldest form of the Roman rite in their dioceses.

It is unclear when the Bishop of Cleveland, Bishop Edward C. Malesic, requested the extension. Fishburn told CNA he had no further information.

The extension of the MTL in Cleveland comes even as other dioceses are seeing its cancellation.

In the Diocese of Knoxville last week, Bishop Mark Beckman informed the MTL community in a letter dated October 14 that “by January 1, 2026, all Latin Masses in the diocese will be celebrated using the 2002 Roman Missal, ensuring consistency with the liturgical books approved by the Church, while preserving the beauty and reverence that you cherish.”

Beckman wrote that he had consulted with the diocese’s three parish priests currently celebrating the MTL, assuring parishioners that the transition from the extraordinary form was “being handled with the utmost sensitivity and pastoral care, honoring both their devotion to the sacred liturgy and the living tradition of the Church.”

Meanwhile, in the Diocese of Charlotte, North Carolina, Bishop Michael Martin said in September that the MTL would cease in four parishes and would only be allowed in a chapel starting October 2nd.

Brian Williams, an MTL community leader in Charlotte, spoke with CNA in September.

“Why is attending the Latin Mass a bad thing? It’s no different from the Ordinariate, or the Byzantine Rite, or any other rite. It’s still Catholic,” he said.

Williams stated that he and other members of the MTL community remain hopeful that León’s pontificate will be more welcoming to the MTL and that things can change, citing a Sept. 29 X post showing a priest in the chapel of St. Michael in St. Peter’s Basilica celebrating Mass in the extraordinary formas well as the recent granting of an exemption to the restrictions imposed by Guardians of tradition in the Diocese of San Angelo, Texas, the first exemption granted under the pontificate of Pope Leo XIV.

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