CLEVELAND (LifeSiteNews) — The bishop of Cleveland, Ohio is establishing a diocesan shrine dedicated to offering the Traditional Latin Mass (TLM), meeting the requirements of Traditionis Custodes for the preservation of the TLM in a diocese.

Bishop Edward Malesic issued a decree on July 28 rendering St. Elizabeth of Hungary Catholic Church in Cleveland a diocesan shrine set aside for the Latin Mass and sacraments. Malesic stated that the church is to be used for worship according to the “1962 Missale Romanum and the other liturgical texts in use at that time.”

The decree also ordains that St. Elizabeth of Hungary, the site of the oldest Hungarian Christian community in the U.S., is to promote the “Christian heritage of the Hungarian people.”

Moreover, Malesic revealed in an announcement of the church’s merger with nearby St. Emeric parish that “in the near future,” a religious order will oversee St. Elizabeth’s, but he has not specified which religious order.

According to the merger decree, St. Elizabeth of Hungary “is subsumed into St. Emeric Parish and only St. Emeric Parish remains.” In an additional instruction regarding the establishment of the shrine, Malesic cited Traditionis Custodes in explaining why St. Elizabeth “cannot currently be established as a parish.”

Pope Francis’ motu proprio Traditionis Custodes instructs bishops not to have Latin Masses held in “parochial churches” or to establish new personal parishes at which the TLM is offered.

There are currently about a dozen diocesan-based sites for the TLM in the Diocese of Cleveland. While lay Catholic and TLM attendee Jeffrey Quick has reported that Malesic requested that all TLMs be preserved, uncertainty remains as to whether the Vatican will approve his request.

Traditional Latin Mass times in the Diocese of Cleveland can be found at a website of the group “Cleveland TLM Friends.”

The decree establishing St. Elizabeth of Hungary as a shrine is to take effect on August 15, the feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

St. Elizabeth was the first Catholic parish created for Hungarians in the U.S. It currently hosts Latin Masses on the second, third, and fourth Saturday of the month. On Sundays, priests offer Masses in Hungarian and English.

LifeSiteNews contacted the Diocese of Cleveland for further information on the decree and is awaiting a response.