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Chicago archdiocese, Georgia diocese to shut traditionalist churches

July 18, 2022

Cardinal Blase Cupich has ordered the priests of the traditionalist Institute of Christ the King to stop celebrating the Tridentine Mass in Chicago by August 1. And in Savannah, Georgia, Bishop Stephen Parkes has announced that permission for the traditional liturgy in three parish churches will be withdrawn in May 2023—saying that he is acting on instructions from the Vatican.

Cardinal Cupich is apparently withdrawing the faculties of the priests of the Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest (ICKSP) on August 1, so that they will not be authorized to celebrate Mass or administer the sacraments. Neither the Chicago archdiocese nor the ICKSP has issued a public statement about the cardinal’s decision, but multiple sources have confirmed it.

The situation in Chicago is complicated by the fact that the ICKSP owns title to the church—the shrine of Christ the King Sovereign Priest—where its priests have celebrated the traditional Mass. The site is also the provincial headquarters for the traditionalist group, which has over 120 priests at work around the world, dedicated to the use of the traditional liturgy.

Cardinal Cupich reportedly made the decision to withdraw faculties from the ICKSP priests when they declined to celebrate the Novus Ordo liturgy once a month.

In Savannah, Bishop Parkes issued a statement on July 15 saying that three diocesan parishes would cease to offer the traditional liturgy after May 20, 2023. Also, a Tridentine Mass that had been offered at the diocesan cathedral will be discontinued after August 7 of this year.

Bishop Parkes recalled that after the publication of Traditionis Custodes he had announced that the tradition liturgy could be continued until further notice in the parishes where it was being celebrated. In his July 15 statement he said that he had then written to the Congregation for Divine Worship, seeking permission for the continuation of that policy. It was the Congregation’s decision to curtail the traditionalist celebrations.

 


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  • Posted by: miketimmer499385 - Jul. 19, 2022 1:41 PM ET USA

    I highly recommend Peter Kwasniewski's "The Road from Hyperpapalism to Catholicism," recently published by Arouca Press in two volumes. Readers of this post will appreciate his bluntness, but also his determination to take these issues head on within our deeper and wider knowledge of the Faith through history. The formation of clergy since Vatican II is going to be a formidable obstacle to overcome. Cupich is downright evil, but I'd bet Parkes is just a victim of seminary disease.

  • Posted by: rfaussette4878 - Jul. 19, 2022 11:46 AM ET USA

    Randal wrote: "A messier Church is his stated goal; a dismantling of our 2-millennial religion is the reality on the ground." That's exactly right, but the Church isn't the only force trying to dismantle our religion. The Left is behind it all. In the paper below, I compare Leftist ideology, the culture of death, and Catholic theology, the culture of life. https://www.academia.edu/43218381/The_Biblical_and_Political_Significance_of_the_Levitical_Prohibitions_Leviticus_18_19_24_

  • Posted by: rfaussette4878 - Jul. 19, 2022 10:57 AM ET USA

    This is very bad. I've met two people who attend the Tridentine mass, one was a historical theologian who had written about the history of the Church and the other was a stock broker who had written for Catholic publications. Catholic intellectuals attend the Tridentine Masses. Alienating them is foolish. Remember what the Talmud says about Jesus. His master pushed him away with both hands when he should have been pushed away with one hand and pulled back with the other. Very bad.

  • Posted by: Randal Mandock - Jul. 19, 2022 3:07 AM ET USA

    As in China, so in the rest of the world, Pope Francis is enforcing his dictates on the "rigid", the "lovers of rules and doctrines", those who see morality in terms of black and white, right and wrong. A messier Church is his stated goal; a dismantling of our 2-millennial religion is the reality on the ground. I attended a Novus Ordo Mass on Sunday and witnessed the same disunity as existed prior to the FSSP coming to town in 1995: no 2 Masses are said with the same words. Busyness and change.

  • Posted by: frjt - Jul. 18, 2022 6:34 PM ET USA

    They'll welcome lmnopqrst+ James Martin with balloons and banners & look what they're doing to God's people! There are bishops/cardinals in hell... If they continue it may be the same for this Sodom and Gommorah gang..

  • Posted by: Frodo1945 - Jul. 18, 2022 6:10 PM ET USA

    Bishop Parkes has no guts. Is he the bishop of Savannah or not? He is letting an office in Rome run his diocese. Pathetic.