The bishop of San Angelo, Monsignor Michael Sis, has decided to expand the celebration of the traditional Mass in his diocese, located in the state of Texas, United States, with a new monthly Mass according to the 1962 Missal in the city of Midland. The first celebration will take place on Sunday, August 30, and from then on it will be offered on the last Sunday of each month, while the weekly traditional Mass already celebrated in San Angelo will continue unchanged.
The announcement was made public by Father Ryan Rojo, director of Vocations and responsible for the seminarians of the diocese, who noted that Monsignor Sis’s decision is “motivated by the salvation of souls.”
A new traditional Mass in Midland
The celebration will take place at 3:00 p.m. in the Holy Family chapel of St. Ann parish in Midland, a city in western Texas located about 190 kilometers from San Angelo.
The schedule aims to facilitate attendance by the faithful from a wide area of the southwestern United States. According to Father Rojo, Catholics from other Texas cities such as Lubbock, Amarillo, and El Paso, as well as from the southeastern part of neighboring New Mexico, which belongs to the diocese of Las Cruces, are expected to travel to Midland.
The new celebration thus expands the availability of the Vetus Ordo in a diocese characterized by its vast distances. At the same time, Rojo expressly confirmed that the traditional Mass celebrated weekly at St. Margaret church in San Angelo will continue without modifications.
“This is only a beginning”
The initiative does not appear to be limited to the opening of this new monthly celebration. The diocese is studying how to continue providing pastoral care to the faithful attached to the traditional liturgy and is preparing new priests to celebrate it.
“This is only a beginning as the diocese discerns a path to serve our faithful,” Father Rojo stated. The priest also announced that “other priests of the diocese will learn the Mass in the coming weeks and months.”
The diocese will provide more details about the initiative in the near future. Rojo also asked the faithful to pray for Monsignor Sis, for the priests, and for all those who will participate in the celebrations.
A dispensation granted under the pontificate of Leo XIV
Monsignor Sis’s decision comes after the diocese obtained a dispensation from the Holy See in 2025 to maintain the celebration of the traditional Mass at St. Margaret despite the restrictions established by Traditionis custodes.
In July 2025, the bishop confirmed that Rome had accepted his request for the parish to continue celebrating according to the 1962 Missal. The authorization was one of the first dispensations of this kind known during the pontificate of Leo XIV.
Monsignor Sis explained at the time that the concession was based on “a continuous effort to promote the full appreciation and acceptance of the liturgical books renewed by decree of the Second Vatican Council and promulgated by Popes Saint Paul VI and Saint John Paul II.”
The prelate, ordained a priest forty years ago for the diocese of Austin, held various responsibilities before reaching the episcopate, including those of director of Vocations and vicar general. In 2013, Pope Francis appointed him bishop of San Angelo.
The opening of a second location for the Vetus Ordo will now bring the traditional Mass closer to the faithful of Midland and other areas of western Texas and neighboring New Mexico. The announcement that more priests will begin to learn to celebrate it also points to the diocese’s intention to continue expanding this pastoral care in the coming months.