The annual Summorum Pontificum pilgrimage will return to Rome this October, but its principal Traditional Latin Mass will not be celebrated inside St. Peter’s Basilica, marking a change from last year’s highly attended gathering.
Organizers released the official program for the 15th edition of the pilgrimage on Sept. 9. According to LifeSiteNews, the Vatican Secretariat of State informed organizers that permission would not be granted for the Pontifical Mass at St. Peter’s Basilica this year.
“The Secretariat of State sent the organizers a letter explaining that, at least for this year, permission for the Pontifical Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica will not be granted,” a source close to the pilgrimage organizers told LifeSiteNews.
The reason for the decision has not been officially disclosed.
Bishop Athanasius Schneider will instead celebrate the Pontifical Mass at 3 p.m. on Oct. 24 at the high altar of the Papal Basilica of Saint Mary Major.
According to LifeSiteNews, organizers were contacted by Cardinal Rolandas Makrickas, Archpriest of Saint Mary Major, who offered to welcome the pilgrims to the basilica.
“Despite the bitterness of this prohibition, we were consoled by being contacted by the Archpriest of Saint Mary Major, the Lithuanian cardinal Rolandas Makrickas, who expressed his willingness to welcome us into the important Roman church,” the source told LifeSiteNews.
Although the Mass will take place elsewhere, pilgrims will still enter St. Peter’s Basilica as part of their pilgrimage.
Participants are scheduled to gather Saturday morning at the Church of Saints Celsus and Julian before departing at 11 a.m. for St. Peter’s. There, they will pray and venerate the tomb of St. Peter at the Altar of the Confession before continuing to Saint Mary Major for the afternoon Mass.
“The organizers insisted on obtaining at least a moment of prayer in the Basilica, which is the heart of Catholicism,” the source told LifeSiteNews. “It seemed the bare minimum.”
The decision is particularly notable because the 2025 Summorum Pontificum pilgrimage included a Traditional Latin Mass inside St. Peter’s Basilica. Cardinal Raymond Leo Burke celebrated that Mass at the Altar of the Chair.
That celebration drew significant attention because the pilgrimage had gone several years without its principal Mass being held inside St. Peter’s following Pope Francis’ 2021 motu proprio Traditionis custodes, which imposed new restrictions on celebrations using the 1962 Roman Missal.
According to LifeSiteNews, the 2025 pilgrimage saw record participation and was interpreted by some Catholics devoted to the traditional liturgy as a possible indication of greater openness under Pope Leo XIV.
LifeSiteNews also cited reporting from the Catholic outlet Ad Vaticanum suggesting that reaction to last year’s celebration may have contributed to difficulties obtaining permission in 2026. According to that report, people within the Pope’s “circle” and members of the St. Peter’s Basilica staff perceived aspects of the response to the 2025 Mass as “gloating.”
“That perception was not well received,” a source told Ad Vaticanum, according to LifeSiteNews.
No official Vatican explanation for the denial was provided in the source material.
The 2026 pilgrimage is scheduled to begin Friday, October 23, with the “Pax Liturgica” meeting at the Augustinianum. Bishop Schneider will then preside over Pontifical Vespers at the Pantheon.
The following day will bring the pilgrimage to St. Peter’s Basilica for prayer before the faithful travel to Saint Mary Major for the Pontifical Mass.
The Summorum Pontificum pilgrimage has taken place annually in Rome since 2012. It was established as an expression of gratitude for Pope Benedict XVI’s 2007 motu proprio Summorum Pontificum, which expanded access to the celebration of the traditional Roman liturgy.
This year’s pilgrimage will therefore still bring Catholics attached to the Traditional Latin Mass to the tomb of St. Peter — but unlike last year, the ancient liturgy itself will be celebrated outside the Vatican basilica.
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