The Diocese of Austin, Texas, prevented a group of Catholic students from celebrating a Traditional Mass on the Texas A&M University campus, arguing that they had not requested the necessary permission from the local bishop, Daniel Garcia, who was installed just on September 18.
The university group, affiliated with the international movement Juventutem, had organized the liturgy in a campus conference room with a priest from the Diocese of Victoria. However, the day before the event, the priest communicated that he could not travel, after receiving an express directive from the host diocese.
A Growing and Frustrated Community
The president of Juventutem A&M, Nick Cardone, a convert student to Catholicism, lamented the decision, stating that the diocese was “silencing one of the most vibrant and growing expressions of the Catholic faith among young people in the United States.”
Cardone explained that his group, with nearly 140 members, usually organizes the Traditional Mass once a month, generally in private homes, with invited priests and subsequent social gatherings. After experiencing the ancient liturgy in his home parish, he confessed to feeling “surprised” upon seeing the modern liturgy in the university parish of St. Mary’s, which motivated him to seek the Tridentine Mass in College Station.
Between Summorum Pontificum and Traditionis Custodes
The tension reflects the difference in norms between the documents of the last popes. In 2007, Benedict XVI promulgated Summorum Pontificum, which expanded priests’ freedom to celebrate the 1962 liturgy. However, in 2021, Francis restricted those provisions through Traditionis Custodes, leaving authorization exclusively in the hands of diocesan bishops.
The Diocese of Austin defended the prohibition by recalling that the celebration of the ancient rite “outside a sacred space” and without explicit permission is not possible according to current norms. “The approval and regulation of the Mass in the previous rite is entrusted to the diocesan bishop,” declared spokesperson Camille Garcia to Catholic News Agency.
Unanswered Requests
The students had already formally requested permission in the spring from the then-bishop Joe Vásquez (now archbishop of Galveston-Houston), accompanying their petition with more than 100 signatures. The response was negative, alluding to the canonical situation of the diocese and the need to apply universal norms.
Cardone assured that they have been praying a novena for the new bishop Daniel Garcia and that, upon its conclusion, they will request authorization again. “We are Roman Catholics, we belong to the Roman rite. This is the Mass that was celebrated for nearly 2,000 years. We are drawn to its stability, its heritage that formed so many saints,” he stated.
Juventutem, an International Movement
The Juventutem chapter at Texas A&M is part of an international movement recognized by the Holy See, present in more than 25 countries since 2004, and dedicated to the sanctification of young people through the traditional liturgy, prayer, and community life.