DETROIT (LifeSiteNews) — More than 30 faithful Catholics gathered recently to pray in front of the Cathedral of the Most Blessed Sacrament in Detroit, Michigan, for a reversal of the crackdown on the Traditional Latin Mass (TLM) in the Archdiocese of Detroit.

The prayerful Saturday protest follows a decision by Archbishop Edward Weisenburger to ban the Latin Mass at all but four churches in the archdiocese. At least 17 churches regularly offered the Latin Mass prior to the crackdown.

Weisenburger has also prohibited ad orientem liturgies, even though nothing in Traditionis Custodes or any Vatican II or subsequent documents forbid the priest facing the altar during Mass, as previously reported by LifeSiteNews.

The rally “was very respectful,” attendee Joseph VanAssche, a father of eight kids, told LifeSiteNews via email.

“We gathered along the sidewalk and steps of the cathedral and prayed the rosary, litany to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, and Divine Mercy Chaplet,” VanAssche said. “After praying, we processed along the sidewalk on Woodward Ave in front of the cathedral singing Latin Hymns beginning with Salve Regina.”

Some trouble occurred when the cathedral security kept telling the faithful to stay off the steps of the church (which belongs actually to all Catholics in the archdiocese, and not to the archbishop). A security guard even called the police on the faithful Catholics – but they just told them to stay on the sidewalk.

READ: Catholics kneel to receive Communion on tongue at Mass with Charlotte bishop, other bishops present

“I attended for a couple reasons. Number one, I’m a father of 8 and we love the Extraordinary form of the Mass,” VanAssche said. “I want to teach my kids that you always fight for what you love. And even if it means calling out the bishop himself.”

VanAssche also said “it’s our duty as faithful Catholics to lift the clergy up in prayer. They are being spiritually attacked all the more because of their vocation.”

The crack down on faithful Catholics who worship the Latin Mass is part of a broader attack on tradition by several bishops, including Bishop Michael Martin in Charlotte, North Carolina. Bp. Martin, according to a leaked letter, planned to institute a ban on altar rails and kneelers. It followed a decision by the bishop to restrict the Latin Mass to a single location in the growing diocese.

Restrictions on the Latin Mass have come due to Pope Francis’ directive in Traditionis Custodes which claimed that a survey of bishops found a majority said the Latin Mass was causing problems in their diocese. Specifically, the survey asked about the implementation of Pope Benedict XVI’s Summorum Pontificum, which generally liberalized the use of the TLM.

However, new reporting from Diane Montagna suggests the opposite is true – the “overall assessment” of a majority of bishops who responded was that the TLM was beneficial. In fact, a suggestion was reportedly made that seminaries should teach both forms of the Roman Rite.

“The majority of bishops who responded to the questionnaire stated that making legislative changes to Summorum Pontificum would cause more harm than good,” the report said.