As a Catholic who wears a veil, kneels for communion, and longs for the transcendent beauty of Latin chant to permeate every element of the Novus Ordo Mass, the recent actions of Bishop Martin of the Diocese of Charlotte have left me devastated for my fellow Catholic faithful. His abrupt termination of the Traditional Latin Mass (TLM) at four parishes, banishment of the TLM to a Protestant center, and a leaked memo revealing radical liturgical reforms feel like a direct assault—not only on the traditions I cherish but on the very heart of our faith: the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist. Perhaps we should not be surprised by Bishop Martin’s progressive agenda: a year ago, Pope Francis overrode the Nuncio and the Prefect of the Dicastery of Bishops to install him as bishop of Charlotte, a move that spoke volumes about his alignment with a modernizing vision for the Church. Recently on War Room with Steve Bannon, it was reported Bishop Martin was a known proponent of Project 2030, a radical plan to align with a secular, globalist framework that poses a threat to the Church’s traditional mission and doctrines, and that his earlier moratorium on kneeling at the altar and placing crosses on the altar foreshadowed the current crisis.
Now, as of June 3, 2025, his actions threaten to alienate a generation of young Catholics who yearn for the reverence and vertical orientation of traditional worship, leaving many of us wondering what the future holds under his leadership. Is it any wonder why nearly 16,000 Catholics in the Real Presence Survey—the largest Catholic survey of its kind—found the root cause of disbelief in the Real Presence was a lack of humility and reverence in the presence of the Eucharist and the clergy’s casual attitude toward it? Bishop Martin’s reforms, delivered with a tone of seething hostility in his memo, only deepen this crisis, belittling those of us who simply want to worship God and our Eucharistic Lord with reverence.
Continue reading at CUP