NAMED TO COORDINATE
LATIN MASS IN DIOCESE 
    

Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio has named Father James Massa, who teaches theology at the Immaculate Conception Seminary, Huntington, L.I., to coordinate the celebration of the traditional Latin Mass in the Diocese of Brooklyn.

            Father Massa succeeds Msgr. James W. Asip, who for many years was the principal celebrant of the Mass and provided spiritual care to the congregation who attended. Msgr. Asip, who died in May, celebrated the Mass at Our Lady of Peace Church in Park Slope.

            Our Lady of Peace will continue to host the Mass at 12:30 p.m. every Sunday, with Father Massa officiating on the second and fourth Sundays of the month and visiting priests celebrating on the other Sundays.

            Bishop DiMarzio has also given permission, on an experimental basis, for the Latin Mass to be celebrated in the chapel of St. John’s Cemetery in Middle Village at 9 a.m. on the second and fourth Sundays of the Mass, beginning Sept. 11. Father Massa will be the celebrant.

“It is understood that those who take part in the celebration of this Mass accept the validity of the Roman Missal promulgated by Pope Paul VI in l970,” Bishop DiMarzio said.

The Bishop said he authorized Mass at the new site because of requests he received from people who wished to have one offered at a location in Queens.

            In 1988, Pope John Paul II authorized diocesan bishops to make available the celebration of the Mass according to the l962 edition of the Roman Missal.

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