The Bishop of Owensboro (Kentucky), Most Rev. William F. Medley, has ordered Fr. David Kennedy to cease celebrating Mass according to the 1962 Missal as of June 30, 2026. In its place, he grants him permission solely to offer the Novus Ordo in Latin and ad orientem—a revealing detail: what is being proscribed is not Latin nor the liturgical orientation, but the ancient rite itself.
What is truly significant is the reason the prelate himself gives, because it confirms in black and white that Traditionis Custodes is not a regulatory norm, but one of extinction. Medley acknowledges that, according to the Holy See’s 2023 instruction, to renew the permission he had to demonstrate “the steps taken to lead the faithful attached to the antecedent liturgy toward the Novus Ordo.” And he confesses: “I am unable to demonstrate that this condition has been fulfilled; I have no standing to request an extension.”
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In other words: the permission is retained only if it can be shown that what is permitted is being dismantled. A community faithful to the traditional rite will never be able to meet that condition, because its very existence proves that the “step toward the Novus Ordo” has not been taken. The lock is one-way.
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