31 Charlotte priests query Vatican about legitimacy of bishop’s liturgical directives
January 07, 2026
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CWN Editor's Note: A group of 31 priests in a North Carolina diocese have submitted to the Dicastery for Legislative Texts a series of dubia about liturgical directives enacted or considered by their bishop, The Pillar reported.
Two-thirds of the 31 priests of the Diocese of Charlotte who are questioning the legitimacy of directives of Bishop Michael Martin, OFM Conv, are current pastors, according to the report. The diocese has 75 parishes, 107 priests in active ministry in the diocese, and 141 total diocesan priests, according to the 2025 edition of The Official Catholic Directory.
In a pastoral letter released last month, Bishop Martin called for the routine distribution of Holy Communion by extraordinary ministers and banned the use of “altar rails, kneelers, and prie-dieus” during the distribution of Holy Communion.
The prelate also wrote that the distribution of Holy Communion by intinction “should not be considered an option in the Diocese of Charlotte,” even though a 2004 Vatican document forbids bishops from restricting intinction (n. 103).
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