Is the Traditional Latin Mass still allowed?

Yes. Despite restrictions imposed by Traditionis Custodes in 2021, the Traditional Latin Mass is still offered in dioceses around the world, in parishes, oratories, and chapels of the priestly societies that exist for it — most prominently the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter (FSSP), the Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest (ICKSP), and the Personal Apostolic Administration of St. John Mary Vianney. The Society of St. Pius X (SSPX) also offers the TLM, though its canonical status remains a question Rome has not fully settled.

The legal landscape since 2021 is more constrained than it was under Benedict XVI’s Summorum Pontificum (2007), which had recognized the older Mass as a form that “had never been abrogated.” Traditionis Custodes restricted the TLM’s celebration in diocesan parishes and required bishops to obtain Roman approval for new locations. Subsequent rescripts have tightened those rules further.

But the Mass itself has not been outlawed. It cannot be — a rite of the universal Church, codified and protected in perpetuity by Pope St. Pius V, with continuous use across centuries, possesses a stability that no single pontificate can erase. The pastoral picture is harder than it was a decade ago. The sacramental reality is unchanged.

Go deeper → The TLM Today: Fraternities, Legal Status, and What Comes Next