(CCN) — A Toronto parish known for regularly offering the pre-conciliar form of the Mass, commonly referred to as the traditional Latin Mass (TLM), has been instructed to replace one of those Masses each month with the post-conciliar Novus Ordo Mass.
The change at Holy Family Parish in Parkdale, a neighbourhood in the west end, was published in the Sept. 20, parish bulletin, which said the Sunday Mass schedule would be updated “following the liturgical changes mandated by the Holy See and archdiocese.”
Holy Family already offered four Novus Ordo Masses each Sunday, as well as an 11 a.m. traditional Latin Mass. Under the new arrangement, one 11 a.m. traditional Latin Mass per month will be replaced by a Novus Ordo Mass.
The announcement drew criticism and conflicting reports, since the reason for the directive was not clear to parishioners, with some early accounts suggesting the weekly TLM was to cease altogether.
A petition launched Oct. 1 on Change.org calls on churches across the Greater Toronto Area to offer at least one TLM daily where permitted and to promote Gregorian chant.
A Sept. 25 statement from the Archdiocese of Toronto said the archdiocese had not yet conformed fully to the canonical and disciplinary norms set out by Pope Francis in his 2021 motu proprio “Traditionis Custodes” and subsequent documents. The statement was shared with parishes, clergy and staff, as well as media and individuals who contacted the archdiocese with questions.
It said Cardinal Frank Leo, archbishop of Toronto, had sought a dispensation from the Vatican to allow the TLM to continue at four parish churches in the archdiocese, and the dispensation was granted last December for two years.
The four churches are Holy Family and St. Vincent de Paul in Toronto, St. Lawrence Martyr in Scarborough, and St. Patrick’s in Schomberg.
Neil MacCarthy, director of public relations and communications for the archdiocese, told Canadian Catholic News the Vatican dispensation required replacing one TLM each month with a Novus Ordo Mass.
“The dispensation was granted under the condition that once per month, in each parish church that received a dispensation, one of the ancient-use Masses is replaced by a Mass of the Novus Ordo,” MacCarthy told CCN.
MacCarthy said the purpose was not to make the Novus Ordo Mass available, since it already was, but “to bring those who do not attend the Novus Ordo to begin to do so.”
Although the Vatican dispensation was granted Dec. 5, 2025, the archdiocese targeted Sept. 1, 2026, for implementation of the changes. MacCarthy said most of the affected communities implemented them as scheduled, while one began later in September.
The implementation followed a period of consultation between auxiliary bishops responsible for the archdiocese’s four geographical pastoral regions — Northern, Central, Eastern and Western — and pastors of the affected parishes.
MacCarthy said the consultation was intended to make sure priests understood the reason for the changes and “to help ensure the communities were able to prepare to accept them.”
The TLM had already been celebrated for years at the four churches. In July 2021, Pope Francis restricted use of the TLM, directing that it should not be celebrated in parish churches ordinarily.
Later Vatican rules made clear that bishops needed the Vatican’s permission for certain exceptions, including continued celebration in ordinary parish churches. After those rules took effect, including a February 2023 Vatican clarification reserving such parish-church dispensations to the Holy See, Cardinal Leo sought the dispensation for the four Toronto-area churches.
The Vatican repeatedly has allowed dioceses to continue celebrating the TLM in parish churches across Canada. The Diocese of Peterborough received permission for four parish churches on March 4, 2024. The Archdiocese of Vancouver received permission on Sept. 3, 2024, for St. James Parish in Abbotsford and Sts. Joachim and Anne Parish in Aldergrove. Toronto followed last December, along with St. Agnes Church in the Archdiocese of Halifax-Yarmouth.
Questions have been raised about whether baptisms, marriages, funerals and other rites can be celebrated according to the older liturgical books. MacCarthy said those rites are not permitted in the Archdiocese of Toronto, a condition of Vatican rules that follow Francis’ 2021 restrictions. Bishops may permit use of the older Roman Ritual in personal parishes dedicated to the older liturgy, but Toronto has none.
Replacing the TLM does not mean replacing Latin itself. At Holy Family Parish in Toronto, the monthly Novus Ordo Mass scheduled to replace a TLM liturgy is celebrated in Latin. The parish’s four other regular Sunday Novus Ordo Masses are celebrated in English.
