The Last Latin Mass at Our Saviour’s Parish in New York City

Fr. Louis Van Thanh, priest of the Church of the Holy Innocents, celebrates the Last Extraordinary Form Mass at the Church of Our Saviour in NYC. (Low Mass for the Eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost.). The end of a tradition that began in September 2007 after the promulgation of Summorum Pontificum.  In a perhaps unprecedented act, the current pastor of Our Saviour’s  encourages his parishioners who attend this mass to go to another parish. For photographs see HERE. (thanks to  Arrys Ortanez  for the tip and photos)

The last Latin Mass at Our Saviour’s – and simultaneously, the pastor of the Basilica of St. John’s,  Stamford, CT, terminates the Traditional Mass celebrated there.  Substantial changes are also made to the celebration of the Novus Ordo mass at the high altar at St. John’s. Further east, the pastor of St Mary’s, New Haven,  proposes to terminate the 30-year old schola at that parish. While St. Mary’s New Haven is definitely not “traditionalist,” many of those active in the parish schola have participated in the St. Gregory’s Society. Finally, of course, we have the FFI saga being played out at a priory right here in Connecticut, where the establishment of the Traditional liturgy earlier this year comes to an untimely end.

Are all these actions unrelated? I think not. True,  there are specific circumstances at each of these places that, in my opinion,  make these actions not at all unexpected. But the fact that the Bishop of Rome has signaled publicly his disdain for the Traditional liturgy and for traditionalists – once more in his latest interview – undoubtedly  is,  at the very minimum, a key element of the background. A background  of which the decision makers are  well aware.

UPDATE:  We have received a report that the situation of the schola at St. Mary’s, New Haven, has been “clarified” and that  it continues to sing.

UPDATE #2: A discussion of the situation at Our Saviour’s at First Things.