Vatican Upholds Expulsion of Thriving Latin Mass Community in New Zealand

Vatican Upholds Expulsion of Thriving Latin Mass Community in New Zealand

The Vatican has upheld Bishop Michael Gielen’s expulsion of the Sons of the Most Holy Redeemer (FSSR) from the Diocese of Christchurch, New Zealand, confirming the suppression of a flourishing traditional community without any public allegation of doctrinal error, moral scandal, or schism. This decision, announced on August 10 following the Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life’s (CICLSAL) ruling against the FSSR’s appeal, is emblematic of the ongoing campaign against the Traditional Latin Mass and its adherents since the promulgation of Traditionis Custodes in 2021¹.

Bishop Gielen’s decree of July 2024 ordered the FSSR to cease public ministry within 24 hours and to vacate the diocese within 90 days, citing the “good of the Church and the faithful” but offering no public explanation for such an extreme measure². The FSSR — a community established in 2012 on Papa Stronsay, Scotland, with its New Zealand mission founded in 2014 — had been offering daily public celebration of the traditional rites, attracting vocations and drawing the faithful in numbers that contrasted starkly with the decline elsewhere in the diocese. In their place, Gielen permitted only a single weekly Sunday Mass in the older form, declaring that any other public celebration by the Sons would be “illicit.”³

The Vatican’s endorsement of the suppression — issued by a dicastery now led in part by a religious sister, with Cardinal Ángel Fernández Artime as pro-prefect to provide canonical authority⁴ — reinforces the pattern seen in the treatment of other flourishing traditionalist institutes, such as the Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate⁵ and the Institute of the Good Shepherd⁶. In each case, communities in full communion with Rome, faithful to the magisterium, and bearing demonstrable pastoral fruit have been curtailed or dismantled under pretexts of “unity” that mask a drive toward uniformity of postconciliar liturgical expression.

Such actions directly contradict the assurance given by Pope Benedict XVI in Summorum Pontificum (2007) that “what earlier generations held as sacred, remains sacred and great for us too, and it cannot be all of a sudden entirely forbidden or even considered harmful”⁷. The Church’s magisterium affirms that the faithful “have the right to worship God according to the provisions of their own rite approved by the lawful pastors of the Church” (Code of Canon Law, c. 214)⁸. The removal of that right, absent grave cause, constitutes an abuse of authority.

Historical precedent underscores the injustice. While the Church has, in the past, suppressed religious orders, these suppressions were justified either by doctrinal deviation — as in the case of the Templars in the early 14th century⁹ — or by moral and disciplinary collapse, such as the late medieval dissolutions of certain lax monasteries. Even politically motivated suppressions, like those under Joseph II or Napoleon, were recognised at the time as acts of secular overreach, not of ecclesiastical pastoral prudence¹⁰. The present suppression of communities like the FSSR bears none of these hallmarks; instead, it reflects an ideological drive to eradicate the preconciliar liturgical ethos from ordinary parish life.

This policy cannot be reconciled with the Church’s perennial teaching on liturgical tradition. St. Pius V, in Quo Primum (1570), enshrined the perpetuity of the Roman Missal, declaring that it could be used “for all time” by any priest of the Latin Church without fear of reprobation¹¹. While later pontiffs have legislated for legitimate liturgical reform, the wholesale suppression of a venerable and canonically approved rite constitutes a rupture, not a development.

The faithful in Christchurch — and Catholics worldwide — are being told that the very form of worship sanctified by centuries of saints, martyrs, and popes must now be treated as illicit in all but the most marginalised circumstances. This is not the work of a shepherd guarding his flock from danger, but of a regime seeking to erase a living link with the Church’s past. In this, the Vatican’s decision reveals less about the FSSR than it does about the priorities of those now entrusted with “unity” in the Church.

Unity without truth is false; unity without tradition is rootless; and unity without the freedom to worship according to the rites handed down to us is tyranny disguised as pastoral care.

¹ Traditionis Custodes, Apostolic Letter of Pope Francis, 16 July 2021.
² Bishop Michael Gielen, Decree of Removal, Diocese of Christchurch, July 2024.
³ Ibid.
⁴ Vatican Press Office, “Appointment of Cardinal Ángel Fernández Artime as Pro-Prefect,” 2024.
⁵ Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life, Decree on the Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate, 2013.
⁶ Congregation for the Clergy, Measures regarding the Institute of the Good Shepherd, 2016.
⁷ Summorum Pontificum, Pope Benedict XVI, 7 July 2007, accompanying letter to bishops.
⁸ Code of Canon Law (1983), c. 214.
⁹ Barber, Malcolm, The Trial of the Templars, Cambridge University Press, 2006.
¹⁰ Aston, Nigel, Religion and Revolution in France, 1780–1804, Catholic University of America Press, 2000.
¹¹ Quo Primum Tempore, Pope St. Pius V, 14 July 1570.

Other Traditionalist Communities Targeted in the Last Decade

Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate (FFI)
In July 2013, the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life imposed direct Vatican control over the FFI, appointing an apostolic commissioner and restricting the order’s ability to celebrate the Traditional Latin Mass without explicit permission¹. The stated justification was “internal divisions” over the use of the 1962 Missal, but the measure effectively abolished the order’s founding charism of Marian-Franciscan life in the traditional rite. The restrictions remain in force, with vocations having collapsed and many friars dispersed.

Institute of the Good Shepherd (IBP)
Founded in 2006 with explicit permission to use the pre-1955 Holy Week rites and to offer “constructive criticism” of the Second Vatican Council, the IBP has faced increasing pressure since 2016². The Congregation for the Clergy intervened to limit its autonomy, citing “governance issues,” but the order’s priests have noted that diocesan bishops in France have systematically curtailed their public apostolates.

Diocese of Chicago – St. John Cantius Parish
In August 2022, Cardinal Blase Cupich restricted the Canons Regular of St. John Cantius from offering most public Traditional Latin Masses, allowing only one Sunday Mass in the older rite³. Cupich cited compliance with Traditionis Custodes, despite the parish’s thriving congregation and history of liturgical renewal rooted in the traditional form.

Carmelite Monastery of Philadelphia
In 2021, Archbishop Nelson Pérez implemented directives from the Vatican to cease public celebration of the Traditional Latin Mass at the Carmel of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph in Philadelphia⁴. The decision came despite the community’s cloistered nature and its long-standing use of the traditional rites.

Diocese of Savannah – Sacred Heart Parish
In May 2023, Bishop Stephen Parkes ordered the cessation of all Traditional Latin Masses at Sacred Heart Parish in Savannah⁵, displacing a stable group of faithful who had attended for over a decade. The stated rationale was compliance with new Vatican norms, but the faithful reported no consultation or pastoral provision for their spiritual needs.

Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter (FSSP) – Dijon, France
In June 2021, Archbishop Roland Minnerath expelled the FSSP from the parish of St. Bernard in Dijon after 23 years of service, citing their refusal to concelebrate the Chrism Mass⁶. The FSSP, while affirming their fidelity to the Church, maintained that concelebration is not obligatory under canon law.

Contextual Note
In each case, the communities removed or restricted were not guilty of doctrinal deviation or moral scandal but were targeted for their adherence to the Traditional Latin Mass and associated liturgical customs. The pattern is clear: post-Traditionis Custodes governance treats traditional worship as a tolerated concession to be progressively withdrawn, rather than as a legitimate, perennial form of the Roman rite protected by the Church’s own magisterial tradition⁷.

¹ Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life, Decree on the Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate, 2013.
² Congregation for the Clergy, Measures regarding the Institute of the Good Shepherd, 2016.
³ Archdiocese of Chicago, Directives implementing Traditionis Custodes, August 2022.
⁴ Archdiocese of Philadelphia, Statement on the Carmel of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, 2021.
⁵ Diocese of Savannah, Bishop Stephen Parkes’ Letter to the Faithful, May 2023.
⁶ Archdiocese of Dijon, Press Release on the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter, June 2021.
⁷ Summorum Pontificum, Pope Benedict XVI, 7 July 2007; Code of Canon Law (1983), c. 214.