The president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops suggested that there could be developments and changes relating to Traditionis Custodes and the availability of the Traditional Latin Mass in the future.

“I’m not sure that we’ve heard the last word from this pontificate on Traditionis Custodes,” said Archbishop Paul Coakley, president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) and archbishop of Oklahoma City.

“Until Pope Leo has spoken, I’m not sure that we know for sure what the way forward will be,” he added.

Coakley made these comments on the Thursday, August 13 episode of The World Over with Raymond Arroyo on EWTN.

Speaking about the Latin Mass, Arroyo noted that Coakley was one of a handful of bishops in the United States who encouraged people who attended Mass at chapels affiliated with the Society of St Pius X (SSPX) to attend diocesan Latin Masses following the SSPX’s excommunication.

“It’s a dilemma that many people who are attached to the Traditional Latin Mass are facing,” said Coakley. “We have taken the course of trying to encourage people who are so attached to visit and participate in the Mass at our local Fraternity of St Peter parish.”

The Archdiocese of Oklahoma City is home to an independent chapel that is not in communion with the Catholic Church. As archbishop, Coakley said he “encouraged people no longer to attend that if they had been, and to visit our own parish where they can be nourished spiritually”.

Some of his brother bishops seem to be taking a similar approach.

“I think bishops are going to be discussing this among themselves and within their own dioceses,” said Coakley, noting that a diocese in Texas recently expanded its Latin Mass offerings.

“I think those are conversations that are happening internally, and certainly we want to be solicitous to the pastoral needs of our Catholics who are attached to the Traditional Latin Mass.”

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