Is the Vatican retreating on the Latin Mass ban?

Nick Hallett, European Conservative

Wednesday, November 19, 2025

The Bishops of England and Wales have apparently been told, via the pope’s own representative in Britain, that their requests for permission to celebrate the Old Rite in parish churches will be granted, and renewed, as a matter of course. In other words, the strict regime of Traditionis custodes remains on paper, but its most restrictive provisions are being suspended in practice. You would not know this from reading Catholic News Service – the U.S. bishops’ official outlet – which rushed to insist that “nothing has changed.” But the bishops who heard the nuncio’s briefing came away with a very different impression: Pope Leo is keeping the old rite alive, and the bureaucracy that tried to smother it is now being told to stand down.