RORATE CÆLI

Retreat for Priests with Fr Armand de Malleray FSSP - October 5-9 in England

Clergy Retreat on 5-9 October 2026, Stonyhurst, England

Topic: The priest at the altar as sacrificer

In this retreat, Fr de Malleray will reflect on the liturgical role of the priest and the sacrificial nature of his ministry at the altar.

Drawing on the Church’s long-standing liturgical tradition as expressed in the Traditional Rite of the Roman Church, the retreat will offer a deeper awareness of the Mass as making present the Sacrifice of the Cross.

The retreat will be an opportunity to gain a further understanding of this central aspect of the Mass and of the structure of the Traditional Rite, serving also as an enrichment for the celebration of the New Rite.

For: Any priests and (male) religious, friars, seminarians.

Schedule: Silent retreat with two conferences per day, holy hour with confessions, Latin Compline, private Masses, table readings, and time to rest or go for walks.

About the preacher: Fr Armand de Malleray is the superior of the English apostolate of the Priestly Fraternity of St Peter, the chaplain to the youth movement Juventutem, and the author a dozen books on the priesthood, the Eucharist, the Blessed Virgin Mary, the liturgy, the fine arts, and fiction (cf malleray.com). Videos of earlier retreats and homilies by Fr de Malleray are available on https://www.youtube.com/@FSSPLiveMass/featured.

Location: Stonyhurst is the oldest Catholic school in England, started in 1593. The beautiful architecture and grounds provide inspiration during our retreat, with access to the stunning St Peter’s Chapel. JRR Tolkien stayed there on several occasions, hence the “Tolkien trail”, a two-hour walk along the Ribble Valley starting from Stonyhurst. The college includes a museum with many significant relics such as the episcopal ring of Cardinal St John Fisher, which we venerated on a previous clergy retreat.

For more information or to book, visit this website.

SSPX July 1st Consecrations: The Only Variable is what the Vatican will do.

You will have noticed that Rorate has covered all sides and most aspects of the July 1st, 2026, Consecrations of four new bishops for the Society of Saint Pius X (SSPX), in Écône, Switzerland.

Bishop Schneider is well known to friends of Rorate, and Tradition around the world, and he has a different perspective on the SSPX Consecrations -- one of balance and, shall we say, understanding.

Diane Montagna posted this text by him in her page, and we paste it here for the ongoing record of debates on current events.

*****

THE CORE QUESTION REGARDING THE SOCIETY OF SAINT PIUS X

By Bishop Athanasius Schneider

"The Performative Contradiction of the Society of St. Pius X" - Guest Article by Vigilius

Recently, this blog published the now widely-discussed essay titled “The Kingship of Christ and the Aporias of the Roman Church.” Now the author applies the analysis of the “total Pope” and the corresponding concept of obedience to the Society of St. Pius X. Needless to say, the following text reflects the personal opinion of its author and is not a Rorate editorial position; rather, it may be seen as part of our ongoing coverage of the SSPX dilemma. - PAK

The SSPX Consecrations: "Separatism Is Not a Catholic Solution" - article by Dom Louis-Marie de Blignières

Dom Louis-Marie de Blignières, a founder and, for a long time, superior of the Fraternity of Saint Vincent Ferrer (FSVF), in Chéméré-le-Roi, France, needs no introduction. He has been a heavyweight figure in French Traditional Catholic intellectual circles for decades.

Mother Angelica's Sweet Revenge

("I am so tired of you, Liberal Church in America!")

Today, Pope Leo XIV named the head of EWTN News, María Montserrat (Montse) Alvarado, as new Prefect of the Dicastery for Communication:

The Holy Father has appointed Dr. Maria Montserrat Alvarado, President and Chief Operating Officer of EWTN News, as Prefect of the Dicastery for Communication. Dr. Montserrat Alvarado will take office on 1 November.

Britain is full of monastic ghosts. Street names carry them: Monks Lane, Priory Road, Abbey Close. The landscape, too, still bears the imprint of communities that shaped it for a thousand years. The ruins of Fountains, Rievaulx, Tintern, and dozens of lesser houses stand in fields and valleys across England, Wales, and Scotland, drawing visitors who admire their picturesque qualities while knowing almost nothing of the civilization that produced them.

The Traditional Mass, Recovered — and The Power of Tradition - Op-Ed by Abp. Hector Aguer

The Recovery of the Mass

by Archbishop Héctor Agüer

Emeritus of La Plata, Argentina

June 1st, 2026

The media and, especially, social networks point out that in several European countries, particularly among young people, the "Traditional Mass" is being lived with fervor, accompanied by numerous processions and pilgrimages. The youthful crowds that revived the traditional Paris - Chartres pilgrimage have drawn widespread attention, with an average age of 22. It is a recovery of Catholic tradition, which had been suffocated in those countries by liberalism, progressivism, and atheism.

by Serre Verweij,

for Rorate Caeli

Pope Leo Has Finally Released His First Encyclical, Magnifica Humanitas

Pope Leo has finally released his first encyclical, Magnifica Humanitas, to the world. As expected, it deals with AI and technological innovation. Surprisingly, however, it also deals extensively with a variety of other social topics and tips Pope Leo's hand just a bit on multiple divisive issues.

SSPX Announces Names of Four Priests to be Consecrated on July 1st

The General House Announces the Names of Future Bishops

Published May 26, 2026

Communiqué from the General House

On this octave of Pentecost, Fr. Davide Pagliarani, Superior General of the Society of Saint Pius X (SSPX), has the joy of announcing the names of the priests of the Society who have been chosen to receive episcopal consecration on July 1st at Écône.

Liturgy conference in Leuven, Belgium - October, 2026 | Tradition and Reform in the Roman Rite: The Usus Antiquior in Contemporary Catholicism

Tradition and Reform in the Roman Rite: The Usus Antiquior in Contemporary Catholicism

Thursday 22nd – Friday 23rd October 2026

This conference aims to provide a rigorous, interdisciplinary investigation of the tensions between tradition and reform within the Roman Rite, with particular attention to the renewed interest in the pre‑Vatican II liturgy (usus antiquior) in contemporary Catholicism. Moving beyond ideological polarizations, the conference accepts papers that deepen scholarly understanding of how liturgical forms function historically, socially, and theologically in the life of the Church.

First Encyclical of Pope Leo XIV, on the 135th Anniversary of Rerum Novarum

ENCYCLICAL LETTER

MAGNIFICA HUMANITAS

OF HIS HOLINESS

POPE LEO XIV

ON SAFEGUARDING THE HUMAN PERSON

IN THE TIME OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

INTRODUCTION

Pope Leo XIV assures Coptic Patriarch there is no such thing as "blessings" to same-sex "couples"

And just like that, in a phone call between Pope Leo XIV and Coptic Tawadros II, the atrocious Francis-Tucho document "Fiducia Supplicans" was filed away in a drawer of non-issues.

From the Holy Synod of the Coptics:

Discord in the Bergoglian Camp - The Crux of the Matter: the Lefebvrian Ordinations

By Americo Mascarucci

For Marco Tosatti's Stilum Curiae
May 19, 2026

The Bergoglian camp is in chaos over the Society of Saint Pius X and the episcopal consecrations it has announced for July 1st, with the consequent threat of excommunication from the Vatican.

There was nothing about it in the Vatican text and news -- but in the Armenian language release by the Patriachate we find this gem:

On Monday, 18 May, 2026, the two heads of Churches held a private meeting where they addressed the following issues: the establishment of a common date for Easter, a day of commemoration for all martyrs, and the convening of a Third Vatican Council.

Full text:

by Serre Verweij

for Rorate Caeli

Pope Leo XIII is a widely known but not widely grasped Pope. Pope Leo XIV took his name (in part) as a tribute to Leo XIII. This instantly resulted in a renewed focus on Pope Leo XIII as the Pope who started addressing so called social issues with Rerum Novarum in 1891 and who cared about dealing with new developments in the world. This basic picture is true, but much is missing or misinterpreted in how Leo XIII is often described nowadays.

The first International Fátima Gregorian Chant Workshop will take place form 17^thto 20^th September, 2026, with days filled with practical and theoretical lessons in chant for beginner and advanced participants, vocal coaching, daily sung Mass the participants rehearse for, plus a tour of the Shrine of Fatima’s organ - the largest organ in the Iberian Peninsula, with shrine’s principal organist Sílvio Carreira Vicente.

Fr. Albert Jacquemin, formerly of the SSPX: "The SSPX Is Explicitly Developing an Ecclesiology of Substitution Foreign to Catholic Tradition"

The SSPX Is Explicitly Developing an Ecclesiology of Substitution Foreign to Catholic Tradition

Interview granted to French website Le Salon Beige

Having been a member of the Society of Saint Pius X until the consecrations of June 1988, Father Albert Jacquemin subsequently joined the Diocese of Paris. A doctor of both legal history and canon law, he is a lecturer at the Faculty of Canon Law of the Institut Catholique de Paris and has presided since 2022 over the National Canonical Penal Tribunal of the French Bishops' Conference. He has just published The Choice of Rupture: Archbishop Lefebvre, Rome, the Consecrations, 1974–2026.

The SSPX has just launched an official website for their 2026 episcopal consecrations, in Écône, Switzerland.

It's here -- and, in order to view it in different languages, you may just switch the language icon on the top.

Preparing for the Pontificate’s First Encyclical: Catholic Social Teachings before Vatican II

Catholic Social Teachings before Vatican II

by Serre Verweij

Pope Leo XIV's first encyclical is due to be released and almost certain to become a valuable addition to the collection of papal encyclicals dealing with social issues. This was to be expected, as he took the name Leo XIV as a reference to Pope Leo XIII, who became famous as the Pope who established Catholic Social Teaching (CST) through his encyclical Rerum Novarum in 1891. Pope Leo's teachings, and the tradition based on it, have unfortunately been frequently misunderstood or misrepresented, especially since the Second Vatican Council.

SSPX Superior publishes "Declaration of Catholic Faith", addressed to Pope Leo XIV

[Cf. Vatican statement, May 13, 2026]

Declaration of Catholic Faith addressed to His Holiness Pope Leo XIV by Fr. Davide Pagliarani Superior General of the Priestly Society of Saint Pius X

May 14, 2026

Most Holy Father,

For more than fifty years, the Society of Saint Pius X has endeavoured to set before the Holy See a matter of conscience in the face of the errors that are destroying Catholic faith and morals. Regrettably, all the discussions entered into have remained without result, and none of the concerns expressed have received any truly satisfactory response.

“You shall receive the power of the Holy Ghost coming upon you, and you shall be witnesses unto me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and Samaria, and even to the uttermost part of the earth.

There were many reasons for Summorum Pontificum, the motu proprio document by Benedict XVI that gave back full rights of citizenship to the Traditional Liturgies of the Latin Church in our age.

Justice, for one. The then-Cardinal Ratzinger had written extensively on the mistakes of the Pauline liturgical reform. But also, and very importantly, the situation of the Society of Saint Pius X (SSPX).

The SSPX had long defended the full freedom of the Traditional Mass as one of its conditions for a final settlement with the Apostolic See. Then, Benedict XVI accomplished the other condition: the lifting of the excommunications of the four SSPX bishops consecrated by Abp. Marcel Lefebvre in 1988; and the German response to the lifting of one of them (that of Bp. Richard Williamson) created one of the gravest storms of the Ratzinger Pontificate. The reaction gave rise to one of the most traumatic writings ever composed by a Pontiff in the modern age:

Statement of His Eminence Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, Prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith

May 13, 2026

The bravely orthodox auxiliary of Den Bosch, Netherlands, Bp. Robert Mutsaerts, was injured in a car accident on Saturday evening.

The Scandal of "Safe Environment Training": Diocesan Bureaucracy as a Violation of Childhood Innocence

The following letter was sent by a father to his local diocese. He has offered it for publication and I am only too happy to publish it, because I agree with every word. Having been forced to sit through such trainings myself, I have first-hand experience of what he is speaking about. —PAK

To Our Catholic Leadership and Fellow Catholics, Especially Parents:

Leo XIV - The First Anniversary: Pope's Brother Says Leo XIV and the President Have Much in Common - Full Interview

The Roman Pontiff's oldest brother granted a special interview to Spanish daily ABC speaking about his brother and also his thoughts on the President of the United States.

HOW CAN WE VIEW THE FIRST YEAR OF THE PONTIFICATE OF LEO XIV?

One Year of Pope Leo XIV

by Serre Verweij

for Rorate Caeli

It has been a year since our new Pope appeared on the balcony, after the election of Robert Francis Prevost as Pope Leo XIV was announced. Initially, he was largely unknown to most of the world. Not a progressive star like Tagle, nor the candidate many had pegged as the counterrevolutionary choice, Cardinal Peter Erdő. Many did not know what to expect, though two mainstream narratives soon emerged: that Pope Leo XIV represents a return to normalcy, and that he is a moderate. The idea was that Leo is more institutionalist and more reserved than Francis, but that he will preserve — even if he will not double down on — at least some of Francis's key reforms, especially the much-touted concept of synodality.

One Year of Leo XIV: Back to the Substance of Faith - a German Perspective

One Year of Leo XIV: Back to the Substance of Faith

By Richard Meusers von Wissmannfor Die WeltMay 7, 2026

Pope Leo XIV has now been in office for one year. He is less interested in the socio-political hot-button issues of the West. Instead, his focus is on the unity of the Church and the proclamation of the Gospel.

For the Record - Dom Jeremias Schröder, Abbot Primate of the Benedictine Confederation: "The Traditional Latin Mass Can No Longer Be Pushed Out Entirely."

This major interview was published in German by the official news website of the German Bishops, Katholisch.de, last week. It has essential content for Traditional Catholics, and we post the translation here for the record of current events.

Abbot Primate: The Old Mass Can No Longer Be Pushed Out Entirely
"I am very curious to see how Pope Leo will approach the problem"

Ludwig Ring-Eifel, for KNA
April 30, 2026

Amid the dying of monasteries and the challenges of digital transformation, Abbot Primate Jeremias Schröder sees opportunities for religious life. In this interview, he also speaks about the liturgy dispute and the Benedictine perspective on it.

On Excommunication and the SSPX: A Canonical, Theological, and Pastoral Defense Against the Proposed Excommunication of the Society of Saint Pius X

By the Canon of Shaftesbury

Introduction

In July 2026, the Society of Saint Pius X (SSPX) is expected to proceed with the consecration of new bishops without a pontifical mandate; an act that Rome has signalled may result in automatic excommunication under canon law. The argument here is that, if imposed, would be not be canonically sensible, theologically coherent, nor pastorally sound. Drawing upon the Church’s own legal tradition, historical precedents, and the pastoral imperatives consistently invoked by the current and previous pontificates, one can contend that the proposed excommunication is arbitrary, inconsistent, and counterproductive to the unity and mission of the Catholic Church.

LEO XIV - One Year, by Roberto de Mattei

Leo XIV: One Year of Pontificate

by Roberto de Mattei

May 6, 2026

One year ago, on Monday, May 8, 2025, the pontificate of Leo XIV began — Robert Francis Prevost, the 267th pontiff of the Catholic Church, the first American Pope, and the first member of the Order of Saint Augustine.

Abandoned Shepherds: Fear, Fatherhood, and the Crisis of Episcopal Support in the Contemporary Catholic Priesthood

by the Canon of Shaftesbury

Introduction

On the traditional feast of Saint Pius V: “Quo Primum”

APOSTOLIC CONSTITUTION

Important - Vatican told German Bishops to Stop Blessings of Same-Sex “Couples” and Irregular Couples - Full Translation of Letter from the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith

The Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith sent the following letter to the then-President of the German Conference of Bishops, Bishop Bätzing,* making clear the Vatican's position on the German proposal on blessings for same-sex "couples."

The letter, from November 2024, was made public today. It makes Cardinal Marx's move last month even more egregious. Our translation of the Italian original is below:

***

DICASTERIUM PRO DOCTRINA FIDEI
00120 Città del Vaticano Palazzo del S. Uffizio

November 18, 2024
Prot. N. 731/2023 – 102543
Your Excellency,

New Winds: Apostolic Nuncio to Poland Confers Traditional Rite Confirmation

Archbishop Antonio Guido Filipazzi, Apostolic Nuncio to Poland, conferred the Sacrament of Confirmation according to the Traditional Latin Rite this past Saturday, May 2nd, 2026, in Warsaw.

20 Deacons were ordained for the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Peter (FSSP) this spring -- 8 in Nebraska, and 12 yesterday in Bavaria.

The 13th Edition of the "Ars Celebrandi" traditional liturgy workshops will take place in Licheń, on July 2-9, 2026.

The Fifth Annual Catholic Choral Symposium will take place this July 2 - 5 at St. Peter's Church, New Hamburg, ON.

Get Ready: Traditional October Pilgrimage to Rome again this year, with Mass in Saint Peter’s

The Mass inside Saint Peter’s Basilica is assured this year once again.

Schedule of the Pilgrimage Ad Petri Sedem which will take place in Rome from October 23 to 25, 2026 (registration is not necessary to participate in the pilgrimage) Friday October 23, 2026