The Vatican has granted a parish in Texas (United States) an exemption from traditional Latin mass restrictions (TLM) imposed by the encyclical Tradition of guards of Pope Francis.
The exemption, requested by the obispo Michael Sis On February 6, it was granted to the St. Margaret of Scotland parish, in the Diocese of San Angelo, Texas.
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No other exemption from this type has been reported by Pope Leo XIV since the beginning of his pontificate.
“The Dicastery for Divine Cult Moving Proper Tradition Guardsso that the Mass according to the ‘Roman Missal“1962 can be held at the Parish Church of St. Margaret of Scotland in San Angelo,” said SIS, who was previously a member of the DoclTrine Committee of the United States Catholic Bishop Conference, in a statement shared with CNA, Ewtn News English agency.
“As before,” he added, “the granting of this dispensation is based on a continuous effort to promote the full appreciation and acceptance of the liturgical books renewed by decree of the Vatican Council II and promulgated by the Popes San Pablo VI and San Juan Paul II.”
SIS also pointed out that when he submitted his request for extension to the Vatican, he did it “with a spirit of total openness to what is the will of God.”
He continued: “I trust in the judgment of our Holy Father Pope León and who assist him in his ministry of unity through the various dicasteries of the Holy See.”
The exemption was originally announced in a publication on social networks on June 27 by the Diocese Vocations Director, Fr. Ryan Rojo.
I’m grateful to @Pontest and to the Dicastery for Divine Worship and Discipline of the Sacraments for allowing the TLM to continue to exist in our parish church, extending permission for another two years. We look forward to shepherding them to heaven with love and care. pic.twitter.com/NBKUU0TRY4
— Fr. Ryan Rojo 🇺🇸🇻🇦🇲🇽 (@FrRyanRojo) June 27, 2025
“I am grateful to @Pontest And with the Dicasterio for the divine cult and discipline of the sacraments for allowing TLM to continue in our parish church, extending permission for another two years, ”Red wrote in the June 27 publication.
St. Margaret’s pastor, Freddy Perez, said to CNA: “Now that we have the permission, the attitude is relief; I saw a lot of relief last weekend.” Although Vatican’s approval is dated May 28, Father Perez said he did not receive notification of the approval of his bishop until last week.
P. Perez revealed that the Vatican’s letter praised St. Margaret for the steps he took to follow the Motu proprio of the Holy Father. The Vatican “praised our efforts and our ‘pastoral concern to instill a clear appreciation of the Church as the unique, the law of prayer“,” Perez told CNA, adding: “That is a direct appointment of the letter they sent us.”
Although the parish priest noticed some negativity on the part of the parishioners regarding having to ask permission to celebrate the TLM, his approach is to explain that “the Church is now, and that is where we have to be obedient.”
Beyond the extension of two years, Father Perez said: “My hopes are simply continuing to provide a positive experience of the liturgy to all my people, try to bring them closer to the Gospel, to the teachings of the Church, as we are taught, and try to teach them that Mass prepares us for heaven.”
Although the parish experienced uncertainty about whether it would be allowed to continue celebrating the TLM, Father Perez said that the advice of the auxiliary bishop Mario Aviles helped him guide himself. “The advice that gave me was very simple,” recalled the pastor. “He told me: ‘I only know obedient, son.”
“And I think that simply putting my eyes on the Lord has satisfied everything I could not achieve through my own spirit of protest or my spirit of simply being angry at not getting what I want, forming my will to the will of our Lord,” said Father Perez. “We are in this world temporarily, and at the end of the day, we are asked to be faithful to our Lord Jesus Christ and his Holy Mother Church.”
According to Fr. Perez, St. Margaret has been offering TLM for just over five years, currently on Sundays in the afternoon and on Thursday morning.
The TLM community said, is mainly composed of young families, as well as curious people interested in experiencing the liturgy. The small parish consists of about 200 families, he said, and TLM assistance is usually the highest for the parish, with between 140 and 200 people every week.
The news of St. Margaret’s exemption comes After Detroit’s archdiocese announced Earlier this month that the non -parish churches of the archdiocese can continue to celebrate the TLM despite a previous statement that said that most TLM held in the area would be suspended.
The archdiocese reported that the permits granted to the priests of parish churches to celebrate the TLM would expire and could not be renewed, but the archbishop of Detroit, Mons. Edward Weisenburger, said it would recognize at least four non -parish places in the archdiocese where the TLM could still be celebrated.
Cardinal Raymond Burke, defender of the traditional liturgy, has said that he asked Pope León to eliminate the measures that restrict the celebration of the TLM, recently declaring at a conference in London: “I wish that he, as soon as it is reasonably possible, is given the task of studying this issue.”
Translated and adapted by the ACI Press team. Originally published in CNA.
Low Elhabbal
Madalaine Elhabbal is a CNA journalist based in the Washington DC office in EWTN. He has published articles in Catholicvote and has also worked as a foreign language assistant in France. She is a graduate of Benedictine College.