A recent video was posted on YouTube entitled “Reopening of St. Charles Church” (Cheboygan). The video is of a Traditional Latin Mass celebrated on July 11, 2021, in the now-closed St. Charles church.
To address any questions in this regard, we hope this clarification will be helpful:
St. Charles parish was closed and merged with St. Mary’s in the late 1980’s and is known as St. Mary/ St. Charles. The St. Charles church building was sold first to another church and later to an individual seeking to restore the building as a location for the traditional Latin Mass with no authorization from the Bishop of Gaylord. The St. Mary church site is the parish church for St. Mary/St. Charles parish.
- No permission was sought or granted by the Diocese of Gaylord to reopen the St. Charles church as a Catholic Church, as would be required by canon law.
- No permission was sought or granted to celebrate Mass or other religious services at the St. Charles building.
- No priest requested or was granted authorization to conduct services at the St. Charles building.
- With regard to clergy involved in the July celebration(s), they are part of a group called the Society of St. Pius X who have not been reconciled with Rome. We have no knowledge of who the priests were and no letter of suitability was requested or provided to the bishop as required for all Catholic clergy functioning in the United States.
- St. Mary/St. Charles is the sole recognized Roman Catholic Church in Cheboygan. Masses celebrated by the Society of St. Pius X or others at the St. Charles church site are valid but illicit. These celebrations should be avoided by Roman Catholics.
