Published May 30, 2025
The liturgy wars are certainly back in the news.
Last week, Bishop Michael Martin of Charlotte, North Carolina, announced new policies restricting the celebration of the Traditional Latin Mass in that diocese to a single location.
Predictably, this upset a lot of people. Things got worse when a diocesan memo emerged that included talking points for priests put in the awkward position of having to defend the bishop’s controversial decision.
Things got even messier when a draft of a diocesan plan to change policies regarding the celebration of the Novus Ordo was leaked. The policies outlined in that draft would have restricted many traditional practices and devotions throughout the diocese – no celebrating Mass ad orientem, no celebrating Mass in Latin, no use of altar rails, no praying the St. Michael Prayer, etc. The response to all this was swift and overwhelmingly negative.
The diocese has since said it has shelved that plan, at least for now.
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Stephen P. White is a fellow in the Catholic Studies Program at the Ethics and Public Policy Center. Mr. White’s work focuses on the application of Catholic social teaching to a broad spectrum of contemporary political and cultural issues. He is the author of Red, White, Blue, and Catholic (Liguori Publications, 2016).
