Rome is living these days in an atmosphere of unreality. The sentiment conveyed in the Eternal City, in the midst of the pre-conclave period, is a mixture of bewilderment, discretion, and silence.
Limited to its essential tasks. The head of the Church is not the Pope, but Christ. Let the new Pontiff's motto be John the Baptist's words about Jesus, “He must increase, I decrease.”
May it be a minimal Papacy. A Papacy like the Minimal State theorized by liberal philosopher Robert Nozick, that is, limited to its essential tasks. Few things, but done well. Not only because the vain loudness of an overwhelming Papacy, and an idolatrous and unbelieving Papolatry, disturb my ears. Especially because “the head of the Church is Christ, not the Pope” (Pope John XXIII). Because “the figure of the Pope is praised too much. One risks falling into the cult of personality” (Pope John Paul I). Because “the Pope is not an oracle, he is infallible only on very rare occasions” (Pope Benedict XVI). Let us begin again with the beautiful Gregorian title “Servus servorum Dei.”
From Italian blog Silere non possum:
Today, at the fifth General Congregation, the Cardinals assembled in the Vatican during the sede vacante period have established that the Conclave for the election of the new Supreme Pontiff will start on May 7th, 2025.
[Source, in Italian]
One needs lots of destruction to fit humility in. Performative humility, that is.
With so many crypts and modest places to be interred in Rome, the humblest pope ever, possibly one of the humblest men ever to inhabit the earth, had a massive and beautiful doorway, including all surrounding precious inlaid stones, destroyed in order to place his humble gigantic tomb
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In our church of Saint Francis de Sales in southern Maryland we have erected a catafalque in memory of His Holiness Pope Francis.
The catafalque, derived from the Italian word catafalco, literally means a scaffold or elevation, but in its strictly liturgical sense the word is employed to designate the cenotaph-like structure which is used at the exequial offices of the Church and takes the place of the bier whenever the remains are not present. It is covered with a black cloth or pall, is usually placed immediately outside the sanctuary, and is the centre of the ceremonies of that part of the exequial office known as the absolution, receiving the same attention as the corpse would if present.
[Read our previous piece on the Conclave here.]
The spectre of the coming conclave hangs ever over the heads of more than 130 cardinal electors and 1.2 billion Catholics. Speculation is rife. Will the next Pope be like Pope Francis or more ‘conservative’, like Pope Benedict?
This question is crucial. The Vatican is dealing with grave financial problems. Pope Francis has not been able (or willing) to solve this problem, in spite of the fact that it was part of the reform mandate he received in 2013. The Vatican has also become rather discredited on the foreign policy level. Even worse is the risk of schism resulting from the radical German bishops and their allies in Belgium and Switzerland The Anglican church was torn apart by disagreements over homosexuality. Only an orthodox Pope can ensure this doesn’t happen to the Church of Christ.
The stakes are even higher due to the extension of the Synod on Synodality. The ‘ecclesial assembly’ in Rome in 2028 risks (further) disempowering the bishops of the Catholic Church and creating a new governance structure, where the Pope and (handpicked) laymen and laywomen (and activists) call the shots. Early in Francis’ pontificate progressives, and even some moderates, were hoping for greater collegiality between Rome and local bishops’. Instead, the opposite happened. Francis’ divisive policies and unfinished curial reforms have destabilized the Curia itself and raise the possibility of laywomen serving as prefects and providing dictates to the bishops of the world.
The next Pope will need knowledge of canon law, theology and the inner workings of the Curia. Who is up to the task? What heretics or corrupt figures might be put forward? Rorate Caeli has previously warned of a repeat of the 2013 conclave, where false candidacies and rumours were used to distract from the real progressive candidate, Jorge Bergoglio. Who could the real candidates be and who are the false leads?
Unlikely progressives
Cardinal Müller granted the following interview to Iacopo Scaramuzzi, for Italian daily Repubblica, and published yesterday:
“The future pope is not a successor of his predecessor but a successor of Peter": thus German Cardinal Gerhard Ludwig Müller, a member of the conservative wing of the College of Cardinals.
Your Eminence what are your feelings at this moment?
Resolution of the Whole Conference [of German Bishops], April 4, 2025 [released April 23]
News of the papacy and the upcoming conclave dominate every media website, newspaper and social media outlet right now. Here is how to tell if you are reading a balanced article. Are the only quoted sources in it from the left? Villanova’s Massimo Faggioli. Father Thomas Reese, LGBTSJ. Father James Martin, LGBTSJ. Georgetown’s John Carr. Former USCCB official John Gehring. If a reporter consistently features these men, without balance from a conservative or traditional viewpoint, it is called Media Bias.
Argentina
April 23, 2025
Shortly after the death of Pope Francis, the Vatican was a hornet's nest, in every sense of the expression. In other words, it was and is chaos. It could not be otherwise when those who are at the head of the most delicate mechanisms of the Church are useless people placed there at the whim of the tyrant.
Fribourg, April 21, 2025
Having learned of the passing from this world of Pope Francis today, April 21, 2025, the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter is ardently praying for the repose of his soul. As the Servant of the Servants of God, he often humbly asked to be remembered in the prayers of those who met him. We are indebted to him for being a Father toward our Fraternity in particular by his decree of February 11, 2022, clearly reaffirming the practice and charism that the Fraternity has had from its foundation.
What we do have in mind is what happened in the 2013 conclave, a conclave that should have never taken place and was caused by the absurd and indefensible decision of Benedict XVI to resign the papacy instead of remaining in office until his natural death.
It is quite possible that Benedict had in mind a specific successor: Cardinal Scola. If so, he did not make any effort to have him elected. But the greatest manipulation, both in the news and in rumors, regarded the election of Cardinal Bergoglio. Despite being already over the age of retirement, he had been the progressive candidate in the 2005 conclave, and therefore was a plausible candidate.
Miserando atque Eligendo
In the Name of the Most Holy Trinity. Amen.
As I sense that the twilight of my earthly life is approaching, and with firm hope in Eternal Life, I wish to express my final wishes regarding my burial place.
How to describe such a unique pontiff? Coming from "the end of the world," as he said, he truly represented a peculiar voice.
At 9:45 AM on Easter Monday, Cardinal Kevin Farrell, Camerlengo of the Apostolic Chamber, spoke these words at the Casa Santa Marta:
From the Acts of the Apostles: They killed him finally, nailing him on a tree, only to have God raise him up on the third day.
What we celebrate here today is indeed that Mystery that lies at the very heart of our faith. Without Christ’s resurrection, our faith, St. Paul tells us, is in vain. Christmas would be meaningless, the sacraments could not exist except as mere reminders of something that happened in the past, the whole Faith falls apart if Christ did not rise from the dead. But that is precisely what we come here to do: to affirm and celebrate our Faith. And that faith can never be a mere product of intellectual investigation, can never be a product of gathering information or data. In the account of the Resurrection in the gospel according to St. John, Peter and John run to the tomb, look inside, saw what they saw—and they believed. Surely what they saw—no body, the linen cloths folded—could have another explanation: someone stole Jesus’ body; someone moved the body. But they saw and they believed.
In Britain, a revival of Catholicism, especially among young men -- making it the most popular Christian affiliation for the first time since the Anglican revolt.
In France, a record number of adults and young adults baptized this Easter.
Traditional-minded young people are seeing that the survival of European civilization, and the salvation of their souls, depend upon the return to the Source: Our Lord Jesus Christ and His Church.
For this, we say: Deo Gratias -- and Happy Easter!
The Archdiocese of Detroit is blessed to have settings exclusively dedicated to the Traditional Latin Mass -- the most famous being the Saint Joseph Shrine. Thankfully, this one is safe.
However, the several other Traditional Masses celebrated in regular parishes, pursuant to the generous implementation of Summorum Pontificum, and kept by the generosity of Abp. Vigneron, are about to be abolished by the newly appointed Archbishop, Edward Weisenburger.
The news comes from the Facebook page of one of those parishes, Our Lady of the Scapular, in Wyandotte:
Pope Francis has been suffering from chronic health problems for over three years now and was in the hospital for over a month. Bishops and cardinals have been increasingly acting as if he were incapacitated, some trying to quickly promote new projects with his alleged approval. Cardinals have been maneuvering for the next conclave, which could be both a referendum on the legacy of Pope Francis and synodality, as well as the so-called ‘spirit of the Second Vatican Council’.
Fr. Richard G. Cipolla
“My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?"
How did this all begin? It began with a unique ceremony that is like a Mass without a consecration: There is an introit, an opening prayer, an epistle, a tract, a gospel, which is the Gospel of the Palms, a preface, a Sanctus, and then the blessing of the palms with five prayers, each of which refer to the procession that follows and which are among the most glorious prayers in the Missal, and finally the procession itself. The purpose of the procession is not to re-enact Jesus’ entrance into Jerusalem, the end of which would be his Passion and Death. The antiphons that were just sung in the procession today are hymns of praise to Jesus the Redeemer King. It is a triumphal procession that leads back to the entrance to the church. But then, on the way back to the church, climbing up the steps, there is a pause, for the front door of the church is closed shut. And then comes that strange but wonderful back and forth singing of the choir inside and the priest and people outside. Then the deacon takes the processional cross and bangs on the base of the door three times for the doors to open and allow the procession to go into the church.
The Pope's Health
Francis was hospitalized for 38 days at the Gemelli Hospital in Rome for treatment of a double pneumonia. Thanks be to God, he got better and returned to the Vatican, to his usual place in Casa Santa Marta.
Francis X. Rocca, who wrote many good pieces about or mentioning the TLM for the Wall Street Journal as its Vatican correspondent, has a new article today in the Atlantic.
Below is an excerpt. To read Frank’s full article click here.
Perhaps counterintuitively, this return to tradition seems to be led by young Catholics, who make up a disproportionate share of Latin Mass devotees. According to a recent survey that Cranney and Bullivant conducted of parishes that offered the traditional Mass, 44 percent of Catholics who attended the old rite at least once a month were under the age of 45, compared with only 20 percent of other members of those parishes. Patrick Merkel, a senior at Notre Dame who attends Latin Mass on campus, believes that the traditional rite appeals to young people because, unlike most things in their lives, it doesn’t change. “A Latin Mass in small-town Wisconsin is the same as in London or New York,” Merkel told me. “It is always the same consoling home to return to.”
A great opportunity for those interested in matters of Sacred Music in the Traditional Roman Rite, in New Hamburg, Ontario -- halfway between Buffalo, NY, and Detroit, MI, so a great summer outing during what is a vacation week for many for the national holidays of both Canada (July 1st) and the US (July 4th).
From the organizers:
"Master, we know that thou art true, and teachest the way of God in truth, neither carest thou for any man: for thou regardest not the person of men. Tell us therefore, What thinkest thou? Is it lawful to give tribute unto Caesar, or not?" But Jesus perceived their wickedness, and said, "Why tempt ye me, ye hypocrites Shew me the tribute money." And they brought unto him a penny. And he saith unto them, "Whose is this image and superscription?" They say unto him, "Caesar's." "Then," saith he unto them, "Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's; and unto God the things that are God's."
The Holy Gospel according to Saint Matthew, ch. xxii
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For many years, the United States Government was a major funder of the "charitable" actions of the charitable institutions of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), and Catholic dioceses. The recent actions of the current U.S. administration to reduce immigration and refugee programs has meant a considerable reduction of the transfers of this government money.
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| McCarrick as a priest with one of his victims, James |
James, one of his many victims, was baptized by McCarrick himself, and the then-priest was a very close friend of the family -- Ted abused him later, repeatedly, as a 13-year-old boy: more details in the 2018 New York Times article.
In face of the decrease in the number of priests and the free fall in the number of seminarians.
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| Courtyard of the Metropolitan Seminary of the Immaculate Conception Buenos Aires, Argentina (Villa Devoto) |
On numerous occasions I have referred to a crucial issue for the Church: the formation of candidates for the priesthood. Today, I do it once again, without pretending, of course, to exhaust the subject, with this article. And I do so on the twentieth anniversary of the departure of St. John Paul II, who lived his seminary life “clandestinely” because of Nazism and Communism that ravaged his native Poland. And who, as Pope, together with the then Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger -later his successor, Benedict XVI- did so much to repair, in part, the mess of the post-conciliar period.
Today we mark Laetare Sunday, so called because of the first words of the Introit of the Mass, “Laetare, Jerusalem”, rejoice O Jerusalem. This day marks mid-Lent and so Mother Church allows the use of rose vestments, flowers on the altar, use of the organ, as a time of anticipating the joy of Easter even amidst the penitential practices of Lent. The joy of this day is a subdued joy, but this subdued joy is really what Christian joy is all about. Christian joy is not ever immediate or sharp or of the moment. We all know that life is full of moments of great joy, and we know that life has moments of sadness and disappointment. What Christian joy is based on is not the good things that happen to us in this life that cause our eyes to brim with the tears of joy. Christian joy is based on the person of Jesus Christ. When John the Baptist leapt in his mother’s womb when Mary greeted his mother Elizabeth, he did so because he recognized Jesus in Elizabeth’s womb. His own life would at least by the standards of the world not be one of joy. And he would suffer a violent death at the hands of drunken king involved in a sacrilegious marriage. The joy in that embrace of Mary and Elizabeth: of course, the joy of two pregnant women is present and the wonder of those pregnancies is part of this. But the heart of the joy is in Elizabeth’s words: But who am I that the mother of my Lord should come to me? The mother of my Lord. Elizabeth’s joy is grounded in the person of Jesus in Mary’s womb. And when Mary sings the Magnificat her joy comes from the child she carries in her womb, whose name will be called Jesus, the one who saves.
The Glorious Sacrifice of the Lamb. The Mass and Christian Life
(Portsmouth: Mary House Press, 2024).
Review by Myriam Tothill
Glory is not a word often associated with sacrifice. In the very title of his work, Fr. Serafino presents us with what is, to modern ears particularly, an unusual concept, something to make us think, to use a much overused phrase, outside of the box. Glorious is often used to describe beauty and achievement. On the other hand, we live in a society which abhors pain of any kind, preferring to die rather than endure it and even to kill rather than watch others endure it and the word sacrifice is associated almost exclusively with pain and suffering. The juxtaposition of these terms brings to mind Simeon’s prophecy concerning Christ: He will be a sign of contradiction...So we know right from the beginning, before we have even opened the book, that this will be a work challenging us to think about the Mass in unaccustomed ways.
A decision of the Bishop of Saint Petersburg, Florida; the Institute of Christ the King will staff the shrine:
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People frequently ask me, "Where can I go on a traditional Catholic retreat with a sound retreatmaster and the TLM?" There are not a huge number of options but one of the very best options out there is Edelweiss. Highly recommended. Below are the 2025 retreats. More info here: https://edelweisshouse.org/
Also bear in mind the retreats offered in Ohio by the Benedictine monks of Tasmania (see here).
