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Leo XIV-Appointed Bishop Ends Diocese’s Only Latin Mass After 20 Years - Stone - 08-09-2026
Leo XIV-Appointed Bishop Ends Diocese’s Only Latin Mass After 20 Years
gloria.tv | August 9, 2026
Bishop Mark A. Eckman, 67, of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, will bring an end to the traditional Latin Mass at St. Titus Church in Aliquippa after nearly 20-years.
Bishop Eckman was appointed Auxiliary Bishop of Pittsburgh in 2021. In June 2025, Leo XIV promoted him to Bishop of Pittsburgh.
In a letter dated 7 August (see below), Monsignor Eckman announced that the final Mass to be held at St. Titus using the 1962 Missal is scheduled for 4 September.
The remaining two traditional Latin Masses in Pittsburgh are offered by the Institute Christ the King in Brighton Heights and by the Priestly Fraternity of St. Pius X in the West End.
Bishop Eckman said his predecessor, Bishop David A. Zubik, received Vatican permission in 2022 to continue the Mass at St. Titus. The initial two-year authorization was extended in September 2024 for another two years.
The Bishop didn't seek another extension, “The permission to celebrate according to the older ritual in a parish church was only ever meant to be temporary,” he wrote.
He added that the Vatican expected Catholics to be brought toward the Novus Ordo.