Rorate Caeli

Annual Requiem Mass in Westminster Cathedral cancelled

IMG_2604
LMS Annual Requiem 2018, celebrated by
the retired Bishop Patrick Campbell, in Westminster Cathedral.

28th September 2023

The Latin Mass Society has been informed that the Annual Requiem (sung, 1962 Missal) scheduled to take place at Westminster Cathedral on Saturday 4th November at 2:30pm will not take place.

The 1962 Missal will continue to be used in the Cathedral on First Saturdays at 4pm (Low Mass), including Saturday 4th November. A Sung Requiem Mass for deceased members and benefactors of the society will take place at Corpus Christi, Maiden Lane on the following Monday, 6th November, at 6:30pm, accompanied by the Southwell Consort.

The Annual Requiem has taken place in consultation with the Latin Mass Society since Cardinal Heenan gained the 1971 ‘English Indult’. The series of monthly Low Masses were established at the same time. The Latin Mass Society lays a wreath on the tomb of Cardinal Heenan annually, in thanksgiving for his intervention, and this tradition will continue.

Background

The Latin Mass Society was founded to preserve the ancient Latin liturgy of the Catholic Church in 1965.

The 1962 Missal (containing the ‘Traditional Latin Mass’) was used before the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965). Mass according to this missal may be celebrated under certain conditions alongside the reformed Missal first used in 1969.

The English Indult was a permission granted by Pope Paul VI which allowed the bishops of England and Wales to permit celebrations of the older Missal. This possibility was extended to bishops all over the world by Pope John Paul II in 1984. Today, under new legislation by Pope Francis in 2021, it is increasingly restricted.

Link to statement on the LMS website.


Latin Mass Society, 9 Mallow Street, London EC1Y 8RQ | 020 7404 7284

Media contact: portia@lms.org.uk

Registered Charity Number: 248388