The Diocese of Knoxville, Tennessee, will transition all of its celebrations of the Traditional Latin Mass from the 1962 edition of the Roman Missal to the 2002 Third Typical Edition of the Roman Missal by the end of 2025, according to a recent statement from Saints Peter and Paul Basilica in Chattanooga.
Bishop Mark Beckman of Knoxville “has responded to the request of the universal Church that he implement Traditionis Custodes in the Diocese of Knoxville,” the statement reads.
The changes will take effect at the basilica Nov. 23, when the Latin Mass will be celebrated in the Ordinary Form according to the 2002 Roman Missal using “the most traditional options that the current rubrics allow,” the statement reads. “The 11:30 Latin Mass will continue to be very beautiful, reverent, and full of mystery and stillness.”
The Mass will still be celebrated ad orientem (facing the altar) and entirely in Latin, except the homily. It will include “full use of incense and bells.” The priest will also pray the long form of the Eucharistic Prayer, and the faithful will receive the Eucharist from the clergy by kneeling at the altar rail, according to the statement.
The statement directs the faithful to learn more details about the changes in the Oct. 12 pastoral letter from Father David Carter, the basilica’s pastor and rector.
Fr. Carter wrote that when Pope Francis issued Traditionis Custodes, which limited the celebration of the Traditional Latin Mass according to the 1962 missal, it “came as a heavy weight to bear for our community,” as it has celebrated the Mass according to this missal fairly regularly since 2014.
When Traditionis Custodes was issued, Fr. Carter said he preached that at the basilica, “we understand ourselves to be a Novus Ordo parish at which there is a Traditional Latin Mass, and that the primary purpose of our celebrating the 1962 Roman Missal was for the purpose of mutual enrichment between the two forms, which was one of Pope Benedict XVI’s stated goals when he issued Summorum Pontificum.”
“Already at that time, I very strongly suggested that we receive the new legislation with humility and obedience and that we fight the temptation to go against proper ecclesial authority, even when we disagree,” he continued. “We must make the choice to be either Catholic or Protestant.”
“The irony is that so many people would choose the trappings of Catholic identity over the essence, which is union with the successor of Peter,” he added. “As for Sts. Peter & Paul, we are going to be Catholic.”
Fr. Carter explained that after Traditionis Custodes’ issuing, he worked with the previous bishop of Knoxville and the basilica was asked to continue offering the Traditional Latin Mass according to the status quo for the time being. Bishop Beckman became the diocese’s bishop in 2024, and Fr. Carter noted he works closely with him.
“Many times, he has remarked to me how impressed he is by the Basilica parish, and he acknowledged the great fruitfulness we have, particularly in our liturgy,” Fr. Carter wrote.
Fr. Carter said Bishop Beckman received a letter from a Vatican Dicastery “asking him to respond with his implementation of Traditionis Custodes” in the diocese.
“Bishop Beckman reiterated that he loves the people that go to the Latin Mass,” Fr. Carter said. “He does not wish ill on anyone who loves ancient things. But he very publicly professed an oath of fidelity to the Roman pontiff and the laws of the Church, the same as every priest and deacon under Holy Orders. Like the centurion, Bishop Beckman is bound to holy obedience, and so am I.”
“We are not the masters of the liturgy. We are its servants. The reality is, we’ve been living on borrowed time since 2021, and we knew the status quo we have enjoyed would not last forever,” he added.
He noted that there is also a lack of clergy qualified to celebrate the Mass according to the 1962 Missal moving forward. He also observed that parishioners observe two different liturgical calendars – “the Novus Ordo and the ancient form, which causes division, where half of our parish celebrates one feast and one set of readings, and the other celebrates another feast and another set of readings.”
Fr. Carter noted that the decision allows for the Mass to be continued to be celebrated in Latin at the Basilica while also transitioning to one liturgical calendar.
“Sensitive to how difficult this is for many,” Fr. Carter continued, “Bishop Beckman has given assurances that the legitimate aspirations for transcendent, classical, traditional and beautiful liturgies can be accommodated, and that our celebration of the 2002 Roman Missal can and should be done in a way that causes the least rupture and highlights the most continuity with the tradition of the Church.”
Fr. Carter emphasized that the basilica does not reject the validity of Vatican II or the Novus Ordo Mass and that responding to the changes in “humility and obedience” is crucial.
“I believe that as a parish, we have borne the fruit desired by Pope Benedict XVI from Summorum Pontificum, and now it’s time for us to apply it to the current Roman Missal (2002),” he wrote. “We have achieved the mutual enrichment that Pope Benedict XVI encouraged. We have learned from our past, and now we are being sent to the future with what we have learned and been formed in.”
Fr. Carter explained further details about the changes and concluded with a call for the faithful to guard their hearts in this time of change and difficulty.
“I need to speak bluntly to you as a father to his children. Don’t be Protestant,” he wrote. “If you feel so strongly about the 1962 edition of the Missal that you would separate yourself from union with the Church rather than follow the current Missal of the Universal Church, I urge you to repent. This is nothing more than the spirit of Protestantism.”
Fr. Carter said the faithful are not alone in lamenting the loss of something that is beautiful, but noted the Mass is not being lost. Rather, unity with fellow Catholics who celebrate the reformed liturgy is being gained, he said.
“We also have the opportunity to help shape the liturgy from our years of celebrating the Latin Mass,” he wrote. “Rather than looking at it from the perspective of losing something, we can see it as gaining an opportunity to revisit Sacrosanctum Concilium with its legitimate call to reform the Roman rite, while at the same time answering the legitimate aspirations of the faithful expressed over many generations for maintaining continuity with our tradition in the various options and practices provided for in the rubrics of the new form of the Mass.”
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