CHARLOTTE, North Carolina (LifeSiteNews) — The Diocese of Charlotte said that a highly controversial leaked document detailing the bishop’s proposed liturgical restrictions is just “an early draft” that is still being sizably changed before any norms are promulgated.
On May 28, the traditional blog Rorate Caeli published a document described as being new liturgical norms that Bishop Michael Martin, OFM, of the Diocese of Charlotte had composed. Rorate stated that the text “is supposed to be made public in the next few days. We are making it known to you now.”
The highly controversial document garnered instant outrage on social media, drawing millions of views within less than 24 hours, and prompting stringent criticism from clergy and laity alike.
Less than a week before, Martin had announced widespread restrictions on the traditional Mass, and his purported new document now levied micromanagement level control over the Novus Ordo liturgy in his diocese.
Among a non-exhaustive list of actions and items in the liturgy, the letter leaked on May 28 showed Martin condemning:
- The use of Latin
- Priests praying before and after Mass
- Reverence by the faithful to kneel for Holy Communion
- Ornate vestments
- The use of any traditional acts of reverence by priests in cleansing the sacred vessels, saying this “misses an authentic understanding of the accidents and substance of the Eucharist.”
So far, the diocese has not made a public comment available on its website or via its official news channels. Nevertheless, the diocese has sought to distance itself from the text.
In a statement issued by diocesan communications director Liz Chandler to the National Catholic Register, the document was described as a draft – the current version of which had been considerably changed. Chandler said that the letter published by Rorate “was an early draft that has gone through considerable change over several months and is still in discussion within our Presbyteral Council and Office for Divine Worship.”
Chandler’s statement called the leaked text a “starting point to update our liturgical norms and methods of catechesis for receiving the Eucharist.”
“Once our norms have been thoroughly reviewed in accord with the norms of the General Instruction of the Roman Missal and of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, any changes will be shared through the diocese’s regular communications channels,” she added.
According to The Pillar, the leaked document has been reportedly shelved to a large extent. Citing sources close to the diocesan chancery, The Pillar corroborated Chandler’s comment that the leaked document was something that had been discussed by Martin earlier in the spring.
However, the document was reportedly met with “strong opposition” from “both the diocesan presbyteral council and an ad hoc liturgical working group established by Martin.”
Those sources told The Pillar that though Martin felt confident in his restrictions on the traditional Mass – due to having the backing of Traditionis Custodes – he did not receive local support for his Novus Ordo restrictions due to their widespread contradiction of liturgical rubrics and Vatican texts.
One source is quoted as saying that “the Novus Ordo plans got panned by everybody who talked about them, across the entire theological spectrum of the presbyterate.”
While Martin’s controversial document is believed to have been shelved – or at least heavily changed, according to the diocesan communications office – sources attested that it has not stopped him.
The Pillar cited sources revealing that Martin has plans to prohibit the use of altar rails – something that he already enforces in churches as he travels around the diocese – since “that’s his big thing, he’s really focused on that.”
What happens in the diocese now will be a litmus test for much of the U.S. but also for the state of the liturgy under Pope Leo XIV.
Certainly, Martin’s leaked restrictions would violate the call made recently by Leo XIV for the Church in the West to rediscover the “sense of mystery” in the liturgy that he said is preserved in the Eastern rites.
READ: Pope Leo XIV: Catholics need to rediscover ‘sense of mystery’ in the liturgy
Martin was named bishop by Pope Francis and celebrates his first anniversary leading the diocese on May 29.
Some have reported that Martin’s appointment to the diocese is due largely to the lobbying of Cardinal Blase Cupich of Chicago and Father James Martin, SJ, along with Archbishop Gregory Hartmayer of Atlanta – also an OFM, to whose authority the Diocese of Charlotte is a suffragan.
It is also posited that the role of the U.S. Nuncio and the then-prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops – Cardinal Robert Prevost, now Pope Leo – were sidelined by Francis.
Such claims, as yet unverified by LifeSite, would rely upon the sizable influence of Cupich in the Dicastery for Bishops and his lobbying power with Pope Francis, both of which are known. To this end, Cupich may well have had the assistance of the Dicastery’s secretary, Archbishop Ilson de Jesus Montanari, who is rumored to be the one holding key power in the dicastery and was so favored by Pope Francis as to be the late pope’s personal choice to lead the dicastery. Montanari never accepted such a position, leading to Cardinal Prevost assuming the role.
Regardless of the influences of how Martin came to lead the Diocese of Charlotte, his first year has seen no shortage of controversy and discontent, including among the clergy and now the lay faithful.
