Vatican could reportedly restrict Latin Mass for Chartres pilgrimage, French media claims

Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament along route of Chartres pilgrimage June 9, 2019. / Credit: Benjamin Crockett/EWTN Vatican City, Dec 6, 2024 / 09:55 am (CNA). The Vatican Dicastery for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments is reportedly looking into enforcing restrictions on the Latin Mass at the annual Chartres pilgrimage, according to a French media outlet.The three-day walking pilgrimage from Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris to the Chartres over Pentecost weekend culminates in a massive Latin Mass inside the Notre-Dame de Chartres Cathedral. The pilgrimage drew a record attendance of 18,000 people earlier this year.Citing anonymous sources in Paris and Rome, La Croix reported that Vatican officials are examining whether the Latin Mass offered in the Chartres cathedral at the conclusion of the popular pilgrimage is in accordance with the restrictions laid out in Traditionis Custodes, the motu proprio Pope Francis issued in 2021 that sharply curtailed the celebration of the Traditional Latin Mass worldwide.In February 2023, Pope Francis issued a rescript that required bishops to seek specific approval from the Dicastery for Divine Worship before designating the use of additional parish churches for the Latin Mass.Last year, the Vatican enforced restrictions on the Summorum Pontificum pilgrimage, which was denied permission to celebrate the Traditional Latin Mass inside St. Peter’s Basilica.The 2025 edition of the Chartres pilgrimage organized by the Notre-Dame de Chrétienne association is scheduled to take place from June 7–9, 2025.The reopening of Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris this weekend would make it possible for the pilgrimage to begin inside of the Paris cathedral for the first time since the Notre Dame fire in 2019.