RORATE CÆLI

Threatening Like a Bully - Cardinal Roche and the Traditional Roman Liturgy - by Bishop Mutsaerts

Cardinal Roche's Threatening Language: Do Not Attend the TLM! But Why? The Church Need Not Forbid Its Past to Secure Its Future.

By Bishop Robert Mutsaerts

Auxiliary of ‘s-Hertogenbosch
October 24, 2026

The Catholic Church prides itself on its universality, cherishes an impressive diversity of liturgical traditions, and regards that diversity as an expression of its riches. A Catholic may attend the divine liturgy according to the Byzantine tradition, the Maronite tradition, the Armenian tradition, or the Chaldean tradition. No one finds this in itself a threat to ecclesial unity. But the moment a Catholic wishes to attend Mass as it was celebrated for centuries in Rome, Paris, Amsterdam, and virtually the entire Latin Church, certain ecclesial authorities in Rome begin to grow uneasy.

A prolific author of about fifty books and a thousand articles, Leonardo Castellani (1899–1981) is widely revered as one of the greatest modern Argentine writers in multiple genres.

Three weeks before the Summorum Pontificum pilgrimage, which is in its 15th year and has always ended on the last Sunday in October, Father Claude Barthe, chaplain of the pilgrimage, received the denial.

Diane Montagna reports (main excerpt):

A letter from the Vatican Secretariat of State to the organizers of the annual Ad Petri Sedem pilgrimage, obtained by this journalist, confirms reports that the pilgrims were barred from entering St. Peter’s Basilica in procession to pray at the tomb of the Apostle.

“There was no room for them in the inn.” — Traditional Pilgrims blocked by Vatican from Entering the Holy See

Michael Haynes reports from Rome at this very instant:

NEW: The group was stopped at the obelisk in St Peter’s Square, by order of the Vatican, at the edge of Italian jurisdiction

Traditional Catholic Pilgrims (mind you, plain diocesan priests and faithful) have been banned from entering Saint Peter's Basilica during this weekend's Summorum Pontificum Pilgrimage.

The move was announced to Christian Marquant (of Paix Liturgique), during the liturgical conference that precedes the pilgrimage every year.

From our friends at Messa in Latino:

Romano Guardini visited the basilica of Monreale in Sicily in 1929 and wrote about his experience in his account titled Voyage in Sicily (Sizilianische Reise). In the famous passage, Guardini expressed deep amazement and reflection on the liturgical gaze of the faithful in the majestic setting of a Mass in the Basilica.

A Letter from the Dicastery for Legislative Texts on the SSPX? We have not seen it yet

A few days ago, French website Renaissance Catholique published a text (translation below) stating that a "response" from the Dicastery for Legislative Texts existed implying the documents of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith regarding the canonical status of marriages celebrated and confessions heard by priests of the Society of Saint Pius X were not applicable.

What we can say so far is that this is the only source we have seen mentioning this so far, and no one seems to have this letter. We are not saying that the document is not true or does not exist, but, unlike basically all such letters in the past, we have not seen a single image of the document, and all our sources affirm they have not seen it either. If such a document exists, we will publish it here immediately.

Severe but Imprecise Condemnations of the Society of Saint Pius X

What Are We to Think of the New Composition of the International Theological Commission?

The International Theological Commission: A Reboot - Is It a Compromise Between Pope Leo and Cardinal Fernández?

by Serre Verweij

The International Theological Commission, an important auxiliary body linked to the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, has undergone its customary membership renewal, which occurs every five years. This time, however, it does so while Cardinal Fernández remains officially its Prefect.

(The Massacre of Ruthenian Catholics
by the Russian Army in Drelow, Poland - 1874)

by John Lamont

[An earlier version of the article was printed in the European Conservative. This journal has now disappeared, as a result of being nationalized and then suppressed by the new Hungarian government. The earlier version of the article disappeared with the journal. The article’s contents are still pertinent, so I offer it to readers in this venue.]

Some conservative circles in the West, including Catholic ones, have expressed sympathy for the Russians in their attack on Ukraine.

Father Chad Ripperger, formerly of the FSSP, who became a kind of celebrity online due to his statements and interviews, was ordered by his current bishop, the Archbishop of Denver, to go silent.

This is the archdiocesan statement:

A Problematic New Composition at the Pontifical Theological Commission

by Le Salon Beige

October 19, 2026

[Excerpts:]

Pope Leo has today appointed more than 20 members to the International Theological Commission (ITC), an advisory body to the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF). ...

Although membership in the ITC does not entail a leading executive role, it affords its members considerable influence over the theological work of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith and, consequently, over the work of the Holy See. The appointment of theologians whose views diverge from Catholic teaching on certain questions is therefore noteworthy.

Based on the diaries and notes of Ferdinando Cardinal Antonelli, a pivotal figure in the Catholic Church's liturgical reform movement for over twenty years, Nicola Giampietro's The Development of the Liturgical Reform reveals many important details about the forceful personalities that drove the process from Pius XII to Paul VI, the systems and methods by which decisions were made, and the competing principles invoked, with at times chaotic results.

Like his collaboratores Fr. Louis Bouyer and Fr. Boniface Luykx, Antonelli had an insider's grasp of the personnel, dynamics, and designs. He witnessed firsthand the good, the bad, and the ugly. For example:

“[The Consilium] is merely an assembly of people, many of them incompetent, and others of them well advanced on the road to novelty. The discussions are extremely hurried. Discussions are based on impressions and the voting is chaotic. What is most displeasing is that the expositive Promemorias and the relative questions are drawn up in advanced terms and often in a very suggestive form. The direction is weak." (166-67) "Many of those who have influenced the reform... have no love and no veneration of that which has been handed down to us. They begin by despising everything that is actually there. This negative mentality is unjust and pernicious, and unfortunately, Paul VI tends a little to this side. They have all the best intentions, but with this mentality they have only been able to demolish and not to restore." (192)

"While I would like to be mistaken, I can say that [Bugnini's] greatest lacuna was his lack of any theological training or sensibility. This was a grave defect and lacuna because in the liturgy, every word and every gesture expresses a theological idea. I have the impression that much has been conceded to the Protestant mentality, especially in matters regarding the sacraments." (196)

It's this kind of information that the conservatives and progressives don't want you to see: the admissions, from within, of all that went wrong. No wonder we are still suffering the consequences decades later.

In the interests of transparency, I should mention that this is not really a "sensationalistic" book. It's pretty technical and detailed, a sort of blow-by-blow account of various stages of reform, and Antonelli in the end was not an outspoken critic of the Novus Ordo. But it does contain a lot of valuable information for those who are serious students of the liturgy. Originally published in 2009 by Roman Catholic Books and out of print for some time, Os Justi Press is pleased to add this new edition of Giampietro to its growing Studies in Liturgical History and Reform series, where it joins Le Brun des Marettes, Guéranger, and Hazell.

Available in paperback and hardcover from the publisher or from any Amazon outlet. I talk about the book in a video:

"Mystic Rose in God's Fair Garden Growing": Dr. Kwasniewski's New Book on the Blessed Virgin Mary

In this month of the Most Holy Rosary, I am delighted to announce my new book: Mystic Rose in God's Fair Garden Growing: Our Lady on Prayer, the Mass, and Union with Christ, published by Arouca Press.

The Blessed Virgin Mary is the authoritative guide to living the Christian faith—above all, when it comes to its pulsing heart, the Holy Mass. Mystic Rose weaves together theological, liturgical, and devotional insights into Our Lady, drawing out the subtle splendors of the Holy Rosary and its intimate kinship with the Latin Mass, discovering unsuspected riches in the familiar Leonine prayers, unfolding the meaning of select Marian feasts and apparitions, and specifying the obligations a Catholic has toward approved private revelations.

The Convalescent Pope: October 13th and the Healing of Our Wounds

October 13th and the Healing of Our Wounds

By Roberto de Mattei

Corrispondenza Romana
October 2026

The historian who, fifty or a hundred years from now, wished to capture in a single image the day of October 13, 2026 — the hundred and ninth anniversary of the final apparition of Our Lady at Fatima — would find before him the following picture.

It's Cancer: Pray for the Pope

The Holy Father had the lower lobe of his right lung completely removed today, and the doctors diagnosed adenocarcinoma.

From the Holy See Press Office:

Cardinal Roche, the English head of the Dicastery for Divine Worship, granted an extensive interview to website Ad Vaticanum as he nears the end of his term.

We provide below the excerpts that concern Traditional Catholics, the entire interview deals with several other matters.

...

This year will mark five years since the implementation of Traditionis Custodes, the motu proprio from Pope Francis’s pontificate, which adjusted a previous motu proprio from Pope Benedict’s pontificate. Do you think, in view of these changes from pontificate to pontificate, we are likely to see Pope Leo give his own guidance – particularly as much of the Catholic revival amongst young people seems at least to have a focus on the 1962 Mass? Or do you see something coming from Pope Leo?

AR: No, I do not. He is not going to change Traditionis Custodes. He is not going to go back to Summorum Pontificum.

SSPX General House: The appeal against the decree of excommunication is ongoing in Rome

Communiqué published today:

Further to the communiqué issued by the General House on 13 July 2026, announcing the submission of a preliminary request to the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, the Priestly Society of Saint Pius X wishes to make known that it has since pursued the avenues of recourse provided for by canon law, in accordance with the deadlines and procedures established by law.

A Series of Catastrophic Misfortunes. A Certain Traditionalism and Leo XIV

We publish the following essay from Caminante/Wanderer (original in Spanish here, published Sept. 28) not because we agree with all of it—indeed, it overstates its case, for what it describes is by no means characteristic of traditionalists in general, only of a small yet noisy online subset—but because it expresses an entirely valid criticism of the cottage industry of “naysayers,” self-appointed spokesmen for tradition, who seem to have nothing to do all day but complain about or find fault with Pope Leo XIV and thus squander the energies and weaken the reputation of the traditionalist movement. Indeed, these doomsday writers regularly turn against other trads just as frequently as they turn against conservatives and progressives, because they cannot abide anyone who does not embrace their simplistic pessimism. The author essentially argues that the enormous capital fund that trads raised under Francis are being squandered by them under Leo. To whatever extent the following essay rings true, let us take it to heart and act accordingly. –PAK

Pope Leo XIV announced today that his doctors have identified a pulmonary nodule, and he will undergo a procedure to have it removed. He did not say it, but presumably this might alter the timing of his planned voyage to South America.

From Vatican News:

Liturgical shake-up today at the Vatican:

Appointment of vicar general of His Holiness for Vatican City, archpriest of the Papal Basilica of Saint Peter in the Vatican and president of the Fabric of Saint Peter

I will be giving the following four public talks in Europe between Oct. 24 and Oct. 31, and hope to meet many Rorate readers!

Catholicism in the American Experiment

By guest writer Mark Rose

The American Experiment falters under the weight of an unprecedented moral and philosophical collapse, facing a fundamental crisis unless Catholicism takes its proper place. Within this current secularized landscape, the Catholic faithful encounter an urgent question: Can you be American and Catholic? Guided by a robust sensus fidelium, a steadfast remnant has maintained and insists that the understanding and appreciation of the profound ontological, theological, and historical depth of the usus antiquior and all that it implies is essential to answering this question.

The Theology of History in the Message of Fatima

Roberto de Mattei

De Maria numquam satis Conference
Augustinianum (Rome), October 8, 2026

Christian Theology of History

There is no better place and time than this: the hall of the Augustinianum, under the pontificate of an Augustinian Pope, to speak about the theology of history, placing our words under the patronage of the one who was the first and greatest representative of Christian theology of history: Saint Augustine of Hippo.

The Deceptive Tactics of the Silent Revolution

By Bishop Robert Mutsaerts

Aux. Bishop of the Diocese of 's-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands

The Catholic Church has experienced, over two thousand years, virtually everything that can befall an institution: bad popes, corrupt bishops, heresies, schisms, revolutions, persecutions, decadent monasteries, dissolute clergy, and theologians so determined to be original that ultimately only they themselves understood what they meant.

Gambetti Removed from the Vatican Basilica

Confirming what had been rumored for weeks, the Holy Father today removed Cardinal Gambetti from his Vatican offices, sending him packing to be Archbishop of Chieti-Vasto.

1938: "This person who suffers a hereditary disease has a
lifelong cost of 60,000 Reichsmarks to the National Community.
Fellow German, that is your money as well."

And so it has come to pass once again. Euthanasia, that starts with "consenting" adults (though God only knows how much this "consent" is fabricated each time by family members unwilling to help their relatives to the end), ends up swallowing everything.

The first case in the Netherlands after the approval of the extension of the law happened this week:

Corrispondenza Romana

September 30, 2026

Pope Leo XIV's apostolic journey to France, from September 25 to 28, 2026, proved to be a popular triumph that surprised even the Pontiff himself. France is one of the European nations in which an aggressive secularism manifests itself most visibly.

by Serre Verweij

for Rorate Caeli

Pope Leo XIV has just concluded his apostolic journey to the eldest daughter of the Church. It has instantly become a clear and self-evident success for all to see. The secular Macron had hoped to accompany Leo and was turned down; enormous crowds turned out; young and old were united in a new passion for the faith. A country that has had aggressive secularism as state dogma for over a century — and that is currently confronting the problems of imported radical Islam — suddenly looked as devout as Ireland half a century ago.

A Traditional Latin Mass was celebrated at
the St. Michael Altar of St. Peter’s Basilica today

***

Sermon for the Feast

by Father Richard Cipolla

Connecticut

From the book of Revelation:

Now war arose in heaven, Michael and his angels fighting against the dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought,butthey weredefeated and there was no longer any place for them in heaven. And the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the Devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world—he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him. And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, “Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God.

It is always an occasion of joy for me to celebrate this Mass of St. Michael the Archangel.

"I went to France to preach the Gospel -- the Defense of Life is something that the Church believes very deeply"

Leo XIV answered a few questions from journalists in the customary airplane interview on his return to Rome -- below, his most important point.

[Question:] Your Holiness, good evening. First of all, I would like to thank you for your Apostolic Journey to France. For four days, our country was swept up in the widespread enthusiasm sparked by your visit—which, in France, is quite a feat. Thank you, Your Holiness. I will continue with my question in English. The motto of your Apostolic Journey was that the world may have life. The topic of end-of-life care came up repeatedly in your speeches. Actually, I think you mentioned it in more than half of your speeches in France. I'm thinking in particular of the one in the Élysée Palace and yesterday in Lourdes when you say that what is legal is not necessarily moral, which was a clear reference to the recent legalisation of euthanasia in France. In France, we also have this principle of "laicité," which is a separation between religion and politics. Do you think that when it's important, when the stakes are high, this border, this line should be crossed in the name of the primacy of conscience? And if so, did you cross that line?

Dear brothers and sisters,

Dear friends who are sick,

It is a joy for me to be with you here in Lourdes, where, for more than a hundred and fifty years, pilgrims from every corner of the world have come to entrust their physical, psychological and spiritual sufferings to Jesus through Mary. Indeed, fragility is not hidden here; instead it becomes the place of a sacred encounter.

Catholicism in France is safe. Its future is sound and bright. The one million Catholics lining the streets of Paris for the Successor of Saint Peter show its immense and renewed vitality.

And with a Catholic France in her heart, a Christian Europe is certain, no matter what difficulties may come.

Gloria Patri, et Filio, et Spiritui Sancto!

From the Pope's homily today at the Place de la Concorde:

Dear friends, it is from the Incarnation — “God sent forth his Son” — that the identity of the Church flows, for she is called always to be a Church “going forth”.

Irreversible—the Dictatorship of What Has Happened. When History Becomes a “Magisterium”

Irreversible—the Dictatorship of What Has Happened. When History Becomes a “Magisterium”: Notes on a Statement by Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich. Functional “Facts-Based Politics” Instead of the Holy Spirit.

The impressive figure, which Rorate had foreseen years ago, has now become reality: according to the French opinion pollster IFOP, headed by Jerôme Fourquet, 55% of priests aged 25-34, celebrate the Traditional Mass.*

Sixty Years of Nostra Aetate:

A Ratzingerian Reading of Assisi Prevails over the Spirit of Abu Dhabi

by Serre Verweij

for Rorate Caeli

Pope Leo's Vatican has released A Journey of Hope, a document celebrating the sixtieth anniversary of Nostra Aetate, the Second Vatican Council's declaration on the Church's relation to non-Christian religions. It is signed by three dicasteral prefects — Cardinal Fernández for the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, Cardinal Koch for the Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity, and Cardinal Koovakad for the Dicastery for Interreligious Dialogue — as well as by the secretaries of all three dicasteries (Archbishop Matteo, Archbishop Pace, and Msgr. Kankanamalage, respectively).

The Supreme Destiny of Man

By Roberto de Mattei

Corrispondenza Romana
September 23, 2026

From October 7 to 14, 2026, the announced gathering will take place at the Vatican between Pope Leo XIV, the heads of the Eastern Catholic Churches sui iuris, and the presidents of the Bishops' Conferences. The event is conceived with the aim of "proceeding, in mutual listening, to a synodal discernment on the steps to be taken to proclaim the Gospel to families today, in the light of Amoris Laetitia and taking into account what is being realized in the local Churches."

The Church of the Nihilists – guest article by Vigilius

Rorate welcomes once again a guest article by Vigilius, a traditional priest in Germany. The Anglophone reader will instantly conjure up the "Feiges" within his own local hierarchy... –PAK

The Church of the Nihilists

Vigilius

Magdeburg Bishop Gerhard Feige, along with his colleagues Bätzing and Marx, is one of those figures in whom the spirit of the German Church is particularly evident. More precisely: the spirit of that ecclesiastical establishment that has been at the helm of power for decades and firmly controls all ecclesiastical or church-related institutions, such as ordinariates, seminaries, faculties, educational institutions, and publications. It is remarkable how closely the psychological characteristics, as well as the activity and linguistic profiles, of the relevant officials—whether full-time or honorary—mirror their ideological outlook. To get a sense of their core beliefs, one need only take a look at any of the various religious magazines, such as Christ in der Gegenwart, Herder-Korrespondenz, Stimmen der Zeit, Publik-Forum, or katholisch.de [these would be like America, National Catholic Reporter, Commonweal, Crux, U.S. Catholic - ed.]; if one is familiar with just one issue of any of these magazines, one is familiar with the entire intellectual cosmos of this well-nourished, hermetically self-contained milieu.

Dr. Kwasniewski's Lectures in Chicago (Sep. 30), Pittsburgh (Oct. 1-2), and Indianapolis (Oct. 4)

I am pleased to announce here at NLM my upcoming Midwest Lecture Tour (taking Midwest in a rather broad sense). Click on the images to see the details.

September 30 • Burr Ridge, Illinois (Chicago area): "Why Divine Woship Needs the Power of Non-Verbal Language"

October 1 • Ambridge, Pennsylvania (Pittsburgh area): "Exploring the Common Riches of the Byzantine Rite and the Roman Rite"

October 2 • Catholic Identity Conference (Pittsburgh)*: "The Traditional Latin Mass: What Truly Unites All the Clains"

(To register for the CIC, visit this link.)

October 4 • Carmel, Indiana (Indianapolis area)*: "Not Peacenik and Bambi-Lover, but Mystic of the Mass and Defender of the Eucharist: Discovering the True St. Francis of Assisi" (N.B. This will be the 800th anniversary of the death of the great saint!)

(To register for this event, which includes dinner, go to this link.)

Each event will feature a talk followed by a Q&A and booksigning.

All details are found on the attached posters.

(*CIC and Carmel events require registration; the other two are free & open to the public.)

Papal Letter to the Bishops of Latin America: The Bishops Must Offer Clear Teaching

Letter of His Holiness to the Bishops of Latin America and the Caribbean on the occasion of the Third Centenary of the Canonization of Saint Turibius of Mogrovejo (8 September 2026)

Dear brothers in the Episcopate,

In response to the request of the Bishops of Peru and on the occasion of the third centenary of the canonization of Saint Turibius de Mogrovejo, patron saint of the Bishops of Latin America, I warmly greet you in the Lord and I thank you for the service that you render each day. As I address these words to you, my heart is once again filled with gratitude for the privilege of having exercised episcopal ministry in Peru. There I came to know first-hand the faith of a people from whom I received so much, and I came to understand better what it means to be a shepherd. That experience brought me particularly close to Saint Turibius, who also came from afar to a land that he eventually made his own through pastoral charity.