Charlotte priests submit dubia to Vatican over Bishop Martin’s ban on altar rails, kneelers

CHARLOTTE, North Carolina (LifeSiteNews) — Over 30 priests of the Diocese of Charlotte have submitted questions to the Vatican regarding restrictions on liturgical practices issued by Bishop Michael Martin, including a ban on the use of altar rails and kneelers for Holy Communion.

The dubia, signed by 31 priests who make up about a quarter of the clergy in the Diocese of Charlotte, was submitted to the Dicastery for Legislative Texts on January 5, according to The Pillar, which obtained the letter. Two-thirds of the signatories are reportedly pastors.

Bishop Martin’s recently issued “pastoral” instruction on Holy Communion prompted the dubia, the letter notes. This directive from Martin ordered that ​​“The use of altar rails, kneelers, and prie-dieus are not to be utilized for the reception of Communion in public celebrations by January 16, 2026.” It also commanded churches to remove all “temporary or movable fixtures used for kneeling” for Holy Communion by January 16.

The dubia also references draft instruction from Bishop Martin leaked this past summer in which he condemns the use of Latin, priests praying before and after Mass, kneeling for Holy Communion, ornate vestments, and the use of any traditional acts of reverence by priests in cleansing the sacred vessels.

“Both the leaked letter from this past summer and the pastoral letter of December 17 have caused a great deal of concern amongst the priests and faithful of the Diocese of Charlotte, especially in those parishes that have allowed the faithful to use an altar rail or prie-dieu for the reception of Holy Communion,” said the letter accompanying the dubia.

The letter from the Charlotte priests asks the Vatican whether Bishop Martin can ban the use of altar rails where they are already being used by parishioners to receive Holy Communion.

It also questions “whether a diocesan bishop may prohibit the use of kneelers to assist members of the faithful who, of their own accord, wish to receive Holy Communion kneeling.”

Pointing out that the General Instruction of the Roman Missal (GIRM) expressly permits kneeling to receive Holy Communion, the letter asks, “As a pastoral provision, may a parochus or rector in charge of a church or oratory place a kneeler or kneelers to accommodate the latter option of those who, of their own accord, wish to receive Holy Communion while kneeling?”

The dubia additionally asks whether a bishop may prohibit the erection of altar rails and order the removal of those already in place. It points to the GIRM’s statement that the sanctuary “should be appropriately marked off from the body of the church either by its being somewhat elevated or by a particular structure and ornamentation.” (GIRM 295)

“Attention must therefore be paid to what is determined by this General Instruction and by the traditional practice of the Roman Rite and to what serves the common spiritual good of the People of God, rather than private inclination or arbitrary choice’ (GIRM 42),” the letter continues.

“Since an altar rail is a common and traditional ‘structure and ornamentation’ that marks off the sanctuary from the body of the church within the Roman Rite, it is asked whether a diocesan bishop has the legitimate authority to prohibit the erection of altar rails within churches or other sacred places in his diocese,” the Charlotte priests wrote in their dubia.

The letter also asks, in reference to Bishop Martin’s leaked draft instruction, whether a bishop may ban priests from wearing certain vestments which are not otherwise prohibited by Church law. In the document leaked this past summer, Martin forbade the use of birettas, crossed stoles, maniples, ornate albs, or Roman chasubles, since they “are seen and understood by the faithful as a clear sign of a priest celebrant who prefers the liturgical (and possibly theological) life of the Church prior to Vatican II given that these vestments have not been seen in most churches around the world since the 1960s.”

The priests therefore asked whether a bishop may prohibit liturgical “elements such as prayers, gestures, chants or ornaments on the grounds that such elements are commonly associated with the pre-Vatican II celebration of the Mass,” given that such traditional practices and vestments are supported by the General Instruction and Redemptionis Sacramentum.

Martin’s diocese-wide orders to abandon the use of altar rails and kneelers has stirred up a storm of controversy in part because they help the elderly and those with other physical impediments to receive Holy Communion while kneeling, and these orders will have the effect of forcing some people to receive the Eucharist while standing.

Liturgist Dr. Peter Kwasniewski recently affirmed that “even according to the rules that govern the Novus Ordo, there is absolutely no basis for a bishop to oppose the use or the construction of altar rails in churches.” He shared a catechesis on altar rails showing that they “have a basis in the historical and theological dimensions of the Mass, and may be utilized and even promoted, in light of recent legislation.”

While Martin has claimed that it is “absurd” to “instruct the faithful that kneeling is more reverent than standing,” he admitted in his pastoral letter that certain liturgical practices and “ritual elements” such as “music, vestments,” and “use of incense” can mark Masses with “greater reverence.” He noted this under the title “The Principle of Progressive Solemnity.” 

Most importantly, Scripture itself highlights bending of the knee as a gesture of reverence proper to Our Lord Jesus Christ.

“That in the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those that are in heaven, on earth, and under the earth,” St. Paul wrote in the Letter to the Philippians (2:10).

As God Himself, the Eucharist deserves nothing less than a posture of profound reverence. Whereas the posture of kneeling is proper to worship of God Himself, standing is a posture one uses when interacting with an equal. 

Furthermore, a recent study confirmed that traditional liturgical practices regarding the Eucharist, including the manner in which He is received, increase belief in the Real Presence of Our Lord in the Eucharist.

In fact, Dr. Natalie Lindemann, the author of the study, suggested reinstalling altar rails and offering kneelers during Holy Communion at churches to increase belief in the Real Presence.