September 7, 2007

Latin Mass to be celebrated in Southern Tier

On Sunday, September 16, the Latin Mass returns to the Southern Tier. After years of requests from his parishioners, Father Dennis J. Mancuso will say the first Latin Mass in Allegany County since the late 1960s.

Pastor of St. Patrick Parish, Belfast, and St. Patrick, Fillmore, Father Mancuso said he simply didn’t think he had the time earlier. “At that time, I had three parishes and didn’t think I could fit it in. And, then I got another parish. While Bishop (Edward U.) Kmiec was willing to grant permission to have a Latin Mass in the Southern Tier, with three parishes and later four, it was not really possible.” Now, with juggling only two parishes, and since Pope Benedict XVI published Summorum Pontificum, he thought it was time to address the issue.

The weekly Latin Mass will be held at 12:15 p.m. on Sundays at St. Patrick Parish, Belfast. With the number of requests in the past four years and the nearby parishes from the Diocese of Rochester, Father Mancuso expects the Latin Mass to be popular. “I think we will draw from outside our diocese since I know of no Latin Masses nearby, even in parishes outside our diocese.”

Father Mancuso explained that the readings, as allowed by the pope, will be done in English and other parts of the Mass will be in Latin. Different missalettes will be used and participants will notice the different structure of the Mass.

Father Mancuso admits that the Latin liturgy “is not everyone’s ‘cup of tea,’” so the regular Mass schedule at the Belfast and Fillmore parishes will not be affected and parishioners will see no changes in those Masses.

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