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James Mark Beckman

Bishop of Knoxville

Bishop

1962

1990

Ordained

2024

Consecrated Bishop

Knoxville

Diocese

United States

Country

The Life

James Mark Beckman was born on October 19, 1962, in Lawrenceburg, Tennessee, the oldest of six children of Jimmy and Lois Beckman, and grew up in the Diocese of Nashville. He attended Sacred Heart School and Lawrence County High School in Lawrenceburg, then St. Ambrose College Seminary in Davenport, Iowa, where he earned a bachelor's degree in history in 1984. He continued his formation at the Catholic University of Louvain in Belgium, earning a master's degree in religious studies, and was ordained a priest for the Diocese of Nashville on July 13, 1990, by Bishop James Niedergeses.

In Nashville he was associate pastor of Holy Rosary, a teacher and then associate principal at Father Ryan High School from 1990 to 1996, pastor of Our Lady of Lourdes in Springfield and St. Michael Mission in Cedar Hill from 1996 to 2002, pastor of St. Matthew in Franklin from 2002 to 2015, and pastor of St. Henry in Nashville from 2015 until his appointment to Knoxville. From 2018 he also served the Diocese of Nashville as director of priest personnel. He is an avid hiker, a pastime he has said he intends to keep up in East Tennessee.

Pope Francis appointed him the fourth Bishop of Knoxville on May 7, 2024, and he was ordained and installed on July 26, 2024, succeeding Bishop Richard Stika, with Archbishop Shelton Fabre having administered the diocese in the interim. His see covers more than 14,000 square miles of East Tennessee, with about 71,000 Catholics among more than two and a half million people. His episcopal motto is 'Jesus Christ yesterday, today and forever.'

Major Works & Initiatives

Nashville teaching and pastorates

Teacher and then associate principal at Father Ryan High School, Nashville, 1990-1996, followed by pastorates at Our Lady of Lourdes, Springfield, St. Matthew, Franklin, and St. Henry, Nashville.

Director of priest personnel, Nashville

Director of priest personnel for the Diocese of Nashville from 2018 until his appointment to Knoxville in 2024.

Listening sessions on the Knoxville transition (2025)

Held listening sessions at the Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul on November 5, 2025 and at Holy Ghost, Knoxville, on November 16, 2025, hearing the Traditional Latin Mass communities before the transition took effect.

In His Own Words

it became clear to me that the desire of the Holy Father was that we move in the direction of re-establishing one form for the celebration of the Roman Rite.

Letter to the faithful, November 25, 2025, ending the Traditional Latin Mass in the Diocese of Knoxville; the East Tennessee Catholic, the diocese's own paper

I do believe the reform of the liturgy as directed by the Second Vatican Council and as implemented by St. Paul VI and St. John Paul II is a gift of the Holy Spirit for the Church,

On his hope that the faithful would still find the richness of the liturgy in the reformed rite; the East Tennessee Catholic

I sincerely believe, based on my direct witness of Father Carter, that those elements will all continue as he celebrates the Latin Mass in the Novus Ordo. I am convinced he will do that because he knows this community, he loves you, and I know you all love him.

To the Basilica community at Chattanooga after a listening session, on whether ad orientem, chant and the communion rail would survive the transition to the 2002 Missal in Latin; the East Tennessee Catholic

The Old Mass, See by See

Knoxville2024-07-26 – presentSuppressed

3 sites → 1 site

What he inheritedBeckman's predecessor Bishop Richard Stika had delayed implementation of Traditionis custodes, citing a need for greater clarity and the faithfulness of the older-liturgy faithful, and the delay continued under Archbishop Shelton Fabre as apostolic administrator. The diocesan paper reports that Beckman was contacted by the Dicastery for Divine Worship while still bishop-elect with a request to revisit the direction of Traditionis custodes, and that his predecessor had filed for an extension in March 2023. At his decision the diocese had three parish celebrations of the 1962 Missal: Holy Ghost, Knoxville; St. Mary, Johnson City; and the Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul, Chattanooga, the last of which had offered the 1962 Missal since Christmas 2014.

2025-10-12The three Traditional Latin Mass communities were first told of the decision by pulpit announcements at Holy Ghost Church, Knoxville; St. Mary Church, Johnson City; and the Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul, Chattanooga, that their celebrations according to the 1962 Missal would transition to the 2002 Roman Missal. ↗
2025-10-14Issued a letter announcing his decision to end celebration of the Traditional Latin Mass in the Diocese of Knoxville by December 31, 2025, replaced by the Novus Ordo celebrated in Latin with the traditional elements permitted by the 2002 Roman Missal. ↗
2025-11-05Held a listening session with Fr. David Carter at the Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul, Chattanooga, hearing parishioners' responses to the transition, including requests that he appeal to Rome for an extension or move the Mass to an approved chapel. ↗
2025-11-25Wrote to the faithful that it had become clear to him that the desire of the Holy Father was to move toward re-establishing one form for the celebration of the Roman Rite, and decided to provide for continuation of Mass according to the 1962 Missal on a monthly basis at the chapel of Christ Prince of Peace Retreat Center in Benton, Tennessee, placing care of the community under Fr. David Carter as his delegate. A lay account quoting the letter adds that he stated he had chosen not to ask for a dispensation from the prohibition on celebrating the 1962 Missal in parish churches. ↗

latin-novus-ordo: The three parishes transitioned to Mass in Latin according to the 2002 Roman Missal, retaining Latin language, Gregorian chant, and ad orientem celebration within the reformed rubrics. This reformed-rite Latin provision is not a 1962-Missal provision and is not counted as an old-Mass site.

Rome: None sought. Beckman stated in his November 25, 2025 letter that he had chosen not to ask for a dispensation from the prohibition on celebrating the 1962 Missal in parish churches.

Since the SSPX decree of 2 July 2026: No statement recorded as of 2026-10-24.

Reviewed 2026-10-24Confidence: highSee the diocese on the scorecard ›

Domus Dei’s Verdict

The Bishop & the Mass of Ages

Parish Masses ended; monthly retreat Mass only

Bishop Beckman inherited three parish celebrations of the 1962 Missal that his predecessor had deliberately left in place: Holy Ghost in Knoxville, St. Mary in Johnson City, and the Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul in Chattanooga, where the older Missal had been offered since Christmas 2014. Bishop Stika had delayed implementing Traditionis custodes, and Archbishop Fabre continued the delay as administrator, while Beckman himself was contacted by the Dicastery for Divine Worship while still bishop-elect and asked to revisit the motu proprio's direction.

In the autumn of 2025 Beckman ended that parish provision. Pulpit announcements on October 12 told the three communities their 1962 celebrations would transition to the 2002 Missal, his October 14 letter set December 31, 2025 as the end, and his November 25 letter confirmed he would not seek a dispensation to keep the 1962 Missal in parish churches. The parishes moved to Latin celebrations of the reformed Missal, with chant and ad orientem retained within the 2002 rubrics, which is not the older Missal and is not counted here.

What remains is a single monthly Mass according to the 1962 Missal at the chapel of the diocese's Christ Prince of Peace Retreat Center in Benton, under Fr. David Carter as the bishop's delegate. Three settled parish communities reduced to one monthly, non-parish celebration is suppression of the parish provision on the project's precedent, even though the form itself has not vanished from the diocese, and the board row agrees.

References & Further Reading

Pope Francis appoints Father James Mark Beckman next Bishop of Knoxville — Diocese of Knoxville · dioknox.org · 2024Birth October 19, 1962, Lawrenceburg; St. Ambrose degree 1984; Louvain master's; ordination July 13, 1990; Nashville assignments; appointment announced May 7, 2024; Fabre administrator until ordination in late July.

Pope Francis Appoints Father James Mark Beckman as Bishop of Knoxville — United States Conference of Catholic Bishops · usccb.org · 2024Confirms birth, education, ordination, and Nashville assignments including director of priest personnel from 2018.

Bishop implements Traditionis custodes — East Tennessee Catholic (diocesan newspaper) · etcatholic.org · 2025Beckman implementing Traditionis custodes; pulpit announcements October 12 at Holy Ghost, St. Mary Johnson City, and the Basilica of Sts. Peter and Paul; November 25 letter; listening sessions November 5 and November 16; monthly 1962 Mass at Christ Prince of Peace Retreat Center, Benton; Basilica transition began November 23.

What's happening with the Latin Mass? — Knoxville Nobility (lay account quoting Beckman's letters) · knoxvillenobility.substack.com · 2025October 14, 2025 letter ending the TLM by December 31; November 25, 2025 letter stating he chose not to ask for a dispensation from the prohibition on the 1962 Missal in parish churches and providing a monthly 1962 Mass at Christ Prince of Peace, Benton, under Fr. David Carter as delegate. Secondary source quoting the letters; the letters themselves were not retrieved.

Portrait: Wikimedia Commons / Wikimedia Commons

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