Pope Francis issued the motu proprio Traditionis Custodes on July 16, 2021, restricting Masses celebrated in the extraordinary form of the Roman Rite. The pope made sweeping changes to his predecessor Benedict XVI’s 2007 apostolic letter Summorum Pontificum, which acknowledged the right of all priests to say Mass using the Roman Missal of 1962, which is in Latin. Traditionis custodes (“Guardians of the tradition”) is dedicated to “the use of the Roman Liturgy prior to the reform of 1970,” contains eight articles that go into immediate effect.

The Latest

The Confiteor at a Traditional Latin Mass.

Vatican downplays leaked documents on Latin Mass

Jul 3, 2025

By Hannah Brockhaus

A Vatican spokesman has played down the significance of recently leaked Vatican documents that appear to cast doubt on Pope... Read more

An exemption to the restrictions on the Traditional Latin Mass has been granted to a parish in the Archdiocese of San Angelo, Texas.

Vatican grants exemption from Traditional Latin Mass restrictions to Texas parish

Jul 2, 2025

By Madalaine Elhabbal

The Vatican has granted a parish in Texas an exemption from restrictions to the Traditional Latin Mass imposed by Pope... Read more

Cardinal Raymond Burke gives the final blessing during the Summorum Pontificum Pilgrimage Mass in Rome on Oct. 25, 2014.

Cardinal Burke appeals for restoration of Traditional Latin Mass

Jun 16, 2025

By Kristina Millare

Cardinal Raymond Burke said he has asked Pope Leo XIV to remove measures restricting the celebration of the Traditional Latin... Read more

Eighteen thousand pilgrims make their way to Chartres through the French fields at sunrise during the 2024 Paris to Chartres pilgrimage.

Record 19,000 young Catholics to walk Paris-Chartres pilgrimage amid Vatican scrutiny

Jun 5, 2025

By Bénédicte Cedergren

Organized by the French Notre-Dame de Chrétienté association, the three-day walking journey is set to take place this year from... Read more

Bishop Dominique Rey of Fréjus-Toulon, France.

Pope accepts resignation of bishop investigated for ordinations with pre-Vatican II rite

Jan 7, 2025

By Hannah Brockhaus

French Bishop Dominique Rey said he was recently informed by the nuncio, the pope’s ambassador in France, that Pope Francis... Read more

Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament along route of Chartres pilgrimage June 9, 2019.

Vatican could reportedly restrict Latin Mass for Chartres pilgrimage, French media claims

Dec 6, 2024

By Courtney Mares

The three-day walking pilgrimage from Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris to the Chartres over Pentecost weekend culminates in a massive... Read more

The Confiteor at a Traditional Latin Mass.

Vatican prohibits Traditional Latin Mass in Bishop Strickland’s former cathedral

Nov 11, 2024

By Kristina Millare, Tyler Arnold

The move was announced in a letter to parishioners of the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Tyler, which has... Read more

Cardinal Juan Sandoval Íñiguez.

Guadalajara archbishop to Pope Francis on Latin Mass ban: ‘Do not allow this to happen’

Jul 16, 2024

By Daniel Payne

Cardinal Juan Sandoval Iñiguez has implored Pope Francis not to ban the Traditional Latin Mass amid rumors that the Vatican... Read more

The Summorum Pontificum pilgrimage, an annual three-day pilgrimage for devotees of the Traditional Latin Mass, concludes on Oct. 29, 2023, with a pontifical high Mass celebrated by Bishop Guido Pozzo at the Church of the Most Holy Trinity of the Pilgrims in Rome.

Summorum Pontificum pilgrimage draws Traditional Latin Mass devotees to Rome

Nov 1, 2023

By Matthew Santucci

More than 1,000 pilgrims gathered in Rome for an annual three-day pilgrimage for those devoted to the Traditional Latin Mass... Read more

Cardinal Joseph Tobin, archbishop of Newark, New Jersey.

Synod cardinal speaks on LGBTQ+ Catholics and those who love the Traditional Latin Mass

Oct 10, 2023

By Walter Sánchez Silva

At an Oct. 10 press conference on the Synod on Synodality, Cardinal Joseph Tobin responded to a question about those... Read more

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Annual Requiem Latin Mass canceled at Westminster Cathedral in London after 50 years

Oct 2, 2023

By Tyler Arnold

Due to the restrictions outlined in the 2021 motu proprio Traditionis Custodes, the Requiem Mass has been moved to a... Read more

In his address to a Catholic university in Hungary on April 30, 2023, Pope Francis spoke about the false freedoms offered by both communism and consumerism, and encouraged people to seek out Christ’s truth.

Pope Francis says traditional Latin Mass was being used in an ideological way

May 9, 2023

By Hannah Brockhaus

The pope spoke about the Latin Mass in a private conversation with Jesuits on the second day of his April... Read more

A group of Traditional Latin Mass supporters in Italy posted signs as part of a billboard campaign in a neighborhood near the Vatican on March 28, 2023.

‘For love of the pope’: Latin Mass supporters post billboards near Vatican

Mar 28, 2023

By Hannah Brockhaus

A group of Traditional Latin Mass supporters in Italy has sponsored a billboard campaign in a neighborhood near the Vatican. Read more

A Traditional Latin Mass.

Steubenville bishop bans Latin Mass at Franciscan University, effective immediately

Mar 7, 2023

By Tyler Arnold

Bishop Jeffrey Monforton of the Diocese of Steubenville ordered an immediate end to the Latin Mass on Franciscan University’s campus. Read more

Bishop Thomas Paprocki of the Diocese of Springfield, Illinois, speaks with EWTN's Raymond Arroyo on "The World Over with Raymond Arroyo" on March 2, 2023.

Bishop Paprocki, Archbishop Naumann speak out in support of Traditional Latin Mass goers in their dioceses

Mar 3, 2023

By Tyler Arnold

The two U.S. prelates spoke on EWTN’s “The World Over with Raymond Arroyo” March 2. Read more

Bishop Thomas Paprocki of Springfield

Bishop Paprocki: Local Latin Mass goers are ‘faithful Catholics’  

Feb 24, 2023

By Tyler Arnold

Bishop Thomas Paprocki of the Diocese of Springfield, Illinois, told CNA that the Latin Mass community in his diocese has... Read more

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Traditional Latin Mass attendees waiting to see impact of new Vatican restrictions

Feb 21, 2023

By Tyler Arnold

A newly issued clarification says that only the Vatican can grant permission for the Old Mass to be said in... Read more

A Traditional Latin Mass.

Traditionis custodes: Cardinal says only Vatican can dispense from certain obligations

Feb 21, 2023

By Hannah Brockhaus

The head of the Vatican’s liturgy office said Tuesday that dispensations from two of the rules in Traditionis custodes can... Read more

President of the Italian Bishops' Conference Cardinal Matteo Maria Zuppi (center) attends the consistory for the creation of new cardinals at St. Peter's Basilica on Aug. 27, 2022, in Vatican City.

Analysis: The significance of Cardinal Zuppi celebrating with Summorum Pontificum pilgrims

Oct 31, 2022

By Andrea Gagliarducci

The head of the Italian bishops’ conference, Cardinal Matteo Zuppi, presided over Vespers on Friday for an annual Traditional Latin... Read more

Pope Francis in April 2022

How Pope Francis is changing the shape of the Roman Curia

Aug 19, 2022

By Andrea Gagliarducci

The new round of promotions and demotions in the Vatican is the consequence of two decisions recently taken by Pope... Read more