The Mass according to the 1962 Missal will no longer be celebrated at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Tyler, Texas, after Nov. 30, but it will continue at a nearby parish in care of the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter.
Bishop Joe S. Vásquez, apostolic administrator of the Diocese of Tyler, made the announcement in a Nov. 6 letter to cathedral parishioners, having received a response to his inquiry about the matter from the Vatican’s Dicastery for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments. OSV News obtained a copy of the letter from the Diocese of Tyler.
In his message, Bishop Vásquez noted that “the law of the Church governing the celebration of Mass according to the Missal of 1962” — colloquially referred to as the Tridentine, or traditional Latin Mass — “has undergone revision.”
He pointed to “Traditionis Custodes,” an apostolic letter issued “motu proprio” by Pope Francis in July 2021 asking bishops to evaluate the celebration of the Mass according to the 1962 Missal in their respective dioceses.
The apostolic letter sought “to help the faithful unite in the celebration of the liturgy according to the liturgical books approved by St. Paul VI and St. John Paul II in accordance with the Second Vatican Council,” said Bishop Vásquez.
He said that following his appointment as apostolic administrator of the diocese — from which his predecessor, Bishop Joseph E. Strickland, was removed by Pope Francis on Nov. 11, 2023 — he had written to the dicastery asking for guidance on how to implement “Traditionis Custodes.”
Bishop Vásquez said the decision to limit the earlier form of the Mass to St. Joseph the Worker Parish in Tyler — which he described as “a personal parish established in 2003 to pastorally care for all those in the Diocese who celebrate according to the older liturgical forms” — “may be difficult for some.”
At the same time, he said, “My hope is that you will open your hearts and move forward on this path with faith and trust.”
“I pray you will experience a deepened unity with the whole Church and a greater awareness of the liturgical richness of the ordinary form of the Roman liturgy,” wrote Bishop Vásquez, assuring cathedral parishioners of his pastoral concern.
