Bishop cancels Latin Mass in California parish to bring about ‘unity’

CNA Staff, Sep 23, 2025 / 17:22 pm (CNA).

In one of his final acts as the bishop of Monterey, California, Bishop Daniel Garcia issued a letter terminating the Traditional Latin Mass (TLM) in the diocese “in order to strengthen our unity with the universal Church” and “to support [Pope Francis’] goal of moving toward greater unity in the postconciliar Roman rite.” 

Garcia issued the letter to the Latin Mass community, located at Sacred Heart Church in Hollister, California, on Sept. 14, four days before he was installed as the new bishop of Austin, Texas.

In the letter, Garcia expressed his concern that the pastor at Sacred Heart, Father Stephen Akers, be “able to give his full attention to the entire parish rather than taking his limited time spent with a small group of individuals who are not worshipping according to ordinary (and one) rite of the Latin Church,” as the number of those who attend the “preconciliar” Mass is “very small.”

Garcia cited Pope Francis’ motu proprio Traditionis Custodes as well as the “Letter to the Bishops of the Whole World” that accompanied it, which addressed “the rare situation” of the Church “having two liturgies being celebrated in the one Latin rite.”

Garcia said the Church is ”moving us to greater unity in worship,” saying St. Paul VI had “declared the new rite an expression of the Church’s unity” as reflected by the unanimity of the [Second Vatican] Council Fathers” as well as postconciliar documents.

He ordered Akers to stop celebrating the TLM after Oct. 13 at Sacred Heart Church. 

The bishop said he came to the decision after consulting with the chancellor, Deacon David Ford, and the director of the tribunal, Cecilia Brennan, who had visited the Latin Mass community in Hollister in the last few months.

He admonished the Latin Mass community to “join in unity with the parish … as they gather around the table of the Lord celebrating the rich Eucharistic sacrifice, each Sunday, which has been a great fruit of the Council” in order “to build the unity Pope Leo spoke about in the Mass he celebrated early in his pontificate,” which called the Church to become “a leaven of harmony for humanity.”

Garcia was named as the bishop of Austin on July 2 and installed on Sept. 18.

Bishop Slawomir Szkredka was named the apostolic administrator of the Diocese of Monterey on Sept. 19. 

Earlier this year, the Vatican granted a parish in Texas an exemption from restrictions to the TLM imposed by Traditionis Custodes. 

The exemption, requested by Bishop Michael Sis on Feb. 6, was granted to St. Margaret of Scotland Parish in the Diocese of San Angelo, Texas.

No other such exemption by Pope Leo XIV has been reported since the start of his pontificate. 

Akers, the pastor at Sacred Heart Church, declined to comment.

Source: https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/266731/bishop-cancels-latin-mass-in-california-parish-to-bring-about-unity