Who We Are
Founded in Champaign-Urbana at the heart of the University of Illinois campus, we are a group of faithful Roman Catholics who seek to preserve, promote, and facilitate celebration of the traditional Latin Mass in the diocese of Peoria, particularly within the Champaign vicariate.
Our parent organization, Una Voce America (Latin for "with one voice" --- taken from the Preface of the Most Holy Trinity) is a national association which is part of an international federation of associations that now includes national associations in 17 nations across all continents. Founded in 1966 in Rome, Una Voce International is dedicated to the preservation and use of the Roman Mass codified by St. Pius V as one of the authentic forms of Catholic worship honored in universal liturgical life. Furthermore, Una Voce is dedicated to restoring the use of Latin, Gregorian chant, and sacred polyphony in Catholic liturgy.
Our chapter, like the larger federation, is primarily composed of lay faithful, though membership is open to clergy and consecrated religious. We seek to work with the Church's deacons, priests, and bishops to preserve and expand use of the traditional Latin Mass. Our mission is in union with the Supreme Pontiff of the Church as encouraged through the 2007 motu proprio Summorum Pontificum and the clarifying document Universae Ecclesiae .
What We Do
- We pray for the intention of increasing access and devotion to the traditional Latin Mass.
- We participate in and support local traditional Latin Masses as well as additional traditional devotions and practices.
- We sponsor petition drives to prayerfully request additional Latin Masses in accordance with Summorum Pontificum.
Seeking greater access and devotion to the extraordinary form of the Mass is in full union with the Holy Father. On June 15, 2008, Dario Cardinal Castrillon Hoyos, President of the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei, was asked if the Pope would like to see this rite in "many" parishes. Here is the Cardinal's answer:
"All the parishes. Not many - all the parishes, because this is a gift of God. He offers these riches, and it is very important for new generations to know the past of the Church. This kind of worship is so noble, so beautiful - the deepest theologians' way to express our faith. The worship, the music, the architecture, the painting, makes a whole that is a treasure. The Holy Father is willing to offer to all the people this possibility, not only for the few groups who demand it but so that everybody knows this way of celebrating the Eucharist in the Catholic Church."