Defending the Traditional Mass with Just Arguments -- Theological and Legal - by Father Claude Barthe

Those who devote themselves to the defense of traditional things (liturgy, catechism, resistance to deleterious doctrines) often hesitate to say that we are currently faced with an atypical ecclesial situation. Especially when it comes to the liturgy. Even if they assert that it is not for reasons of sensitivity but of faith that they attend the old liturgy, they feel they can effectively defend their position against the proponents of the new liturgy as a legitimate free choice. It is true that arguments of this kind can work quite well with Catholic opinion in general, for whom liberalism has become an unsurpassable horizon; but the fact that it is permissible to take tactical advantage of this state of mind does not mean it is justifiable.

Paradoxically, they even sometimes twist traditional doctrine to defend it. One example is the extreme reduction of the doctrine of obedience to ecclesiastical authorities and their teachings. Since, in many respects, submission to the authorities is untenable in conscience today, they practically come to affirm that free examination was the common doctrine of the Church, with each person deciding what is Catholic in the name of the “tradition” of which each is ultimately the custodian. Or they proceed to disembowel the doctrine of Roman infallibility by asserting that the First See has frequently issued heterodox doctrines. In other words, the abnormality of what is happening now is transferred to the Church of old.[1] And the anti-modernists become modernists.

We will deal here only with arguments in defense of the traditional Mass. In particular, we would like to consider two that are often used to justify the free option in favor of the traditional missal:

(1) The invocation of the bull Quo primum of 1570, insofar as it states that the missal it promulgates may be used “in perpetuity”. And 

(2) the fact that the Church has always recognized the legitimacy of a diversity of rites.

Pontifical Mass in Montes Claros, Brazil

 

From a reader:

"Our Lady as New Eve": International Theological Conference in Dundee Scotland (and Online), September 12-14

The Marian Franciscans in the UK have organized a magnificent conference on Our Lady, coming up quite soon. For those who cannot attend in person, an online option is available. Details in posters below.

SAMIZDAT - A Message to our Brazilian Followers Under Attack in their Freedom of Expression and Speech

 

As of tonight, the leftist judicial dictatorship currently in charge of the most populous Catholic nation on earth, Brazil, has banned the access to Twitter (X), which should be implemented in the next few days. What is worse, the judicial tyrant has also determined a complete ban on VPN access, which will inevitably affect ALL users of all applications.

We are used to the practice of Samizdat in our blog, so this is a special message to our our Brazilian readers and followers: 

YOU ARE NOT ALONE.

 

We place our blog, https://rorate-caeli.blogspot.com, and our Twitter profile, @RorateCaeli , at your disposal for all Catholic-related content (including pictures, videos, articles, events, etc) you wish the world to know.

Please, send all items to newcatholic@gmail.com

 

Catholics and the U.S. Presidential Elections: Donald Trump clearly is the choice from a Catholic perspective - by Roberto de Mattei

 

There is a Catholic doctrine of the lesser evil that can be summarized in these terms: 

1. One can never positively and directly commit even the slightest evil; 

 

2. to avoid a greater evil, one may tolerate a lesser evil committed by others, provided one does not approve of it as such and remembers the existence of a greater good to strive for. 

This doctrine is fundamental for orientation in a confused age in which the notion of the principle has been lost: “Bonum ex integra causa, malum ex quocumque defectu”(St. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologiae I-IIae, q. 18, a. 4 ad 3).

New Memoir Recalls Conciliar Turmoil in Parishes and Families

Downside Abbey, where many events narrated in Two Families took place

Those who move in traditional circles in the UK tell me that “everyone has heard of the Bevans.” They are a large and highly musical clan whose members have been singing for decades in liturgies and concerts. Os Justi Press is proud to have just released Joseph Bevan’s book Two Families: A Memoir of English Life During and After the Council.

In running through his eventful life, Bevan vividly describes what the practice of Catholicism was like before, during, and after the Council: he shows the strengths and weaknesses of the preconciliar routine, the confusion unleashed in the 1960s, the collapse of the liturgy and especially of sacred music “in real time,” as it was unfolding.

Public Protest Against Panama City's Interreligious Syncretistic Meeting on Feast of the Assumption

August 16, 2024
Metropolitan Archdiocese of the Panama City
Archbishop José Domingo Ulloa Mendieta
E. S. D.

Dear Metropolitan Archdiocese of Panama City,

On August 15, every year and since time immemorial, the Solemnity of Our Lady in her glorious Assumption is celebrated, in fact the city was founded under the name of Our Lady of the Assumption of Panama on August 15, 1519. This Solemnity demonstrates the crowning success of Mary Most Holy in this life, to such an extent that the Most High kept her away from the corruption of death to be taken body and soul to heaven to reign for all eternity with her Divine Son. The supreme joy in which the whole Christian world was immersed for centuries is incalculable and through the writings of the saints we can learn how sublime this solemnity is. Unfortunately, this brief letter is not an address of congratulations, but a cry that rises from the depths of a faithful that is overwhelmed and outraged by the serious lack of respect that is being committed against Our Holy Mother of Heaven.

Roche and Viola (Dicastery for Divine Worship) Forbid Latin Mass in Helsinki Cathedral (Finland) - celebrated (for the moment) in another Church

 Finland. A land lost by the Church to Lutheranism.

Announcing the National Latin Mass Pilgrimage- Arlington, VA to Washington, D.C.- October 5, 2024

 

BACK BY POPULAR DEMAND- As a response to restrictions on the Traditional Latin Mass announced in Washington, D.C. and Northern Virginia, local TLM attendees organized a pilgrimage between the main cathedral of the Diocese of Arlington (St. Thomas More) and the main cathedral of the Archdiocese of Washington (St. Matthew). This pilgrimage was wildly successful and has now become a yearly tradition. Our goal: full freedom, once again, for the Traditional Latin Mass, and an end to any and all restrictions.

ASSUMPTION! -All Hail the Wife and Mother of God!

Since the mid-fifteenth century it has been performed in the Basilica of Santa Maria and in the streets of the old city of Elche (Elx), situated in the region of Valencia. It is a living testimony of European religious theatre of the Middle Ages and of the cult of the Virgin.

This theatrical performance, which is entirely sung, comprises two acts, performed on 14 and 15 August. These depict the death and crowning of the Virgin in a series of scenes and related paintings: the death of Mary, the night procession that is followed by hundreds of participants carrying candles, the morning procession, the afternoon funeral procession in the streets of Elche, and the enactment of the burial, Assumption and coronation in the Basilica. (Unesco)

Mystery Plays and Passion Plays inside a church were not uncommon before the Protestant revolts, but were severely curtailed after the Catholic Reformation. The Mystery Play of Elx (Misteri d'Elx in Valencian/Catalan, Misterio de Elche in Spanish) was a rare exception after Trent, allowed specifically for the Basilica of Saint Mary in Elx (Alicante, Valencia) by Pope Urban VIII. All participating actors are still today men, not women, as it has been since its inception, most probably in the 15th century.

Below, a version of one of the main compositions of the play, Esposa e Mare de Déu (Wife and Mother of God), and of the processional hymn, with images of the play and its traditional special effects, as well as the procession:

Guest Article: “Is Jorge Bergoglio a Strategist? A Reply to Caminante-Wanderer”

Readers will recall the unparalleled theological analysis of the Francis pontificate by Vigilius, first published here on July 10, 2024. Today, we are pleased to publish a follow-up (in a translation authorized by the author; original German here), in which Vigilius explains why he respectfully disagrees with the eminent Argentinean commentator about the theological program of the present pope. —PAK

Is Jorge Bergoglio a Strategist? A Reply to Caminante-Wanderer

How the Loss of Children and the Demographic Collapse Are Linked to the Loss of Tradition

How the Loss of Children and the Demographic Collapse Are Linked to the Loss of Tradition

J. Melonowska

After Part 1's exposition, I now turn to the connection between the central myth of Europe, namely the Christian myth, and the situation of our societies, specifically the demographic collapse (childlessness, by which I mean the declining birth rate). I will link the myth, the liturgy, and the demographical issue.

The World of the Dead and Childless Wives: A Philosopher of Religion on the Logos, Tradition, and Demographics

The World of the Dead and Childless Wives

A Philosopher of Religion on the Logos, Tradition, and Demographics

J. Melonowska

The Grace of the Present Moment - by Roberto de Mattei

 Roberto de Mattei

Centuries pass, circumstances are different, but God does not change, the Catholic Church is the same, and the struggle continues to be that between the two cities that oppose each other in history like two armies. The theology of Christian history assures us that the City of God is always victorious; Our Lady's apparition at Fatima assures us that the historical triumph of the Immaculate Heart is near; the historical and logical analysis of revolutionary dynamism, assures us of the irreversibility of the counter-revolutionary movement. However, those immersed in the struggle miss the great horizon of the battlefield, which sometimes seems shrouded in fog or the shadows of night. There is a risk of losing our way, but more importantly, of losing sight of the ultimate goal of our battles and our path. For the path is long and it is not linear. We advance along winding paths, with wide curves, sometimes the terrain is steep and impassable, sometimes flat, descending then suddenly rising again. Overall, the certain movement is ascending, but not straight. We climb to the top, but passing peaks, skirting chasms and cliffs, through an uneven path. And the enemies that assail us are of all kinds. Such is the history of humanity, such is our life. And when the night of confusion falls, the darkness of chaos, fear assails us.

The Strange Chapel of Archbishop Celestino Migliore, the Pope's Ambassador to Paris

Paix Liturgique continues to place us all in its debt, even while its websites in various languages remain unaccountably defunct. The following letter 1080 of August 8, 2024, was sent in French to email subscribers, and now we bring it to you here in English. - PAK

Prayer card illustrated by Rupnik

Praying Every Day in Front of Mosaics Created by Top-Ranking Abuser Rupnik Is Strange for a Nuncio Who Is Supposed to Fight Abuse

Eucharistic Congress a Blessing for the Church — Now What Must be Done?

 Father Richard Cipolla

Traditional Mass in Indianapolis during the Eucharistic Congress

The United States Catholic Conference of Bishops recently sponsored a series of events that were meant to be an affirmation of witness to the Catholic belief in the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist. The first was a series of Eucharistic processions from disparate points in the United States whose ultimate goal was the site of the major event of the National Eucharistic Congress in Indianapolis, Indiana. I must confess that when I first heard about the plans for the processions and the Congress in Indiana, my southern Italian quasi-cynical genes kicked in, fed by my experience as a Catholic priest for much of forty years.  Much of those forty years were marked by a severe lack of Eucharistic piety by both clergy and laity.

"The Traditional Mass as a Conclave Issue: An Obstacle for Cardinal Parolin"

[Paix Liturgique published the following reflections on the article by Nico Spuntoni in Il Giornale on July 14, 2024. Translation for Rorate. -PK]

Given the nature of the Second Vatican Council as a kind of new beginning for the Church of all things, opposition to it, especially opposition to the new liturgy, carries a heavy psychological weight in successive conclaves.

The Paris Olympic Ceremony: Not Simply Bad Taste, but an Act of War against Christian Civilization

by Roberto de Mattei

Marie-Antoinette being taken to her Execution (1793), by William Hamilton (1794)

Among the many symbolic events of our time, the grotesque spectacle that opened the Paris Olympics on July 26, 2024, cannot simply be dismissed as a show of bad taste or a cultural provocation.  It is the latest act of war against Christian Civilization that had one of its historical peaks in the French Revolution.  

Marcel De Corte's 1970 Letter to Jean Madiran “On the New Mass” - First Translation into English - "Paul VI is a man full of contradictions"

(The following text was published in no. 140 of Itinéraires, February 1970. It was translated by Gerhard Eger for Rorate Caeli.)

I must admit to you, my dear Jean Madiran, that I have been tempted more than once to leave the Catholic Church wherein I was born. If I have not done so, I give thanks to God and to the good peasant’s common sense with which he has blessed me. The Church—I murmur to myself at this moment—is like a sack of wheat infested with weevils. However numerous the parasites are—and at first glance, they are swarming!—they have not sterilized all the kernels. Some, no matter how few, remain fertile. They will sprout and the weevils will die once they have devoured all the others. Bon appétit, gentlemen, you are eating your own death.

Meanwhile, we suffer from famine, starving for the supernatural. The number of priests who distribute the bread of the soul to us dwindles at an alarming rate. In the hierarchy, things are even worse. And at the very top, whence we might expect some solace, they are disastrous.

"The Little Red Light": New children's book by a priest teaches the Catholic tradition of the sanctuary lamp

Father Benjamin A. Garcia of the Archdiocese of Washington, who is devoted to the traditional Mass, has published a children's book which reinforces the Catholic tradition of the sanctuary lamp, the sign of the real presence of Our Lord in our Catholic churches.

New Front in the Liturgy Wars: Rome Requires Dominicans of the Holy Spirit to Hybridize Novus Ordo and TLM

Almost exactly one year ago, Rorate reported on the plight of the Dominicans of the Holy Spirit, who from their founding adhered with principled consistency to the old liturgical rites. The Vatican sent Novus Ordo apologist Fr Henry Donneaud, OP to "regularize" them in accord with the Vatican campaign against traditional religious life and traditional divine worship.

Now, there is an important update. On July 25, the community issued the following press release, which we translate here:

FOR THE RECORD: Superior of FSSP discusses Synopsis of French Bishops' TLM Survey

Fr. Paul-Joseph, interviewed below, is on the left side

Considering how the Synopsis of the French Bishops' Survey on the TLM is being weaponized against traditional Catholics, it seems fitting to present here, for the record, a translation of the interview that Fr. Benoît Paul-Joseph, the superior of the FSSP's French district, gave to Le Salon Beige on June 7, 2021. Recall that Fr. Paul-Joseph has met now twice with Pope Francis and may be considered to be in possession of the salient facts both at home and in Rome. - PK

Refuting the Exaggerated and Belligerent Claims of the French Bishops’ Survey: Paix Liturgique

Pope Francis with leadership of the French Bishops' Conference, December 2022

EDITOR'S NOTE

Another blog, known for its extreme adulation of Pope Francis, is currently discussing the synthesis the French Bishops' Conference put out in 2021 in response to the Summorum Pontificum Survey. They exaggerate its significance and its pertinence as a document that reflects the true opinion of the bishops. Aside from the forceful misinterpretations, sophisms, and plain exaggeration, the article also shows a desperate attempt to control the narrative on Traditionis Custodes. 

Argentine Blog: The Prohibition Document Arrived in Francis Hands -- but he decided against signing it | The petitions and letters had an influence as well

 From our friends at Argentine blog Caminante Wanderer:

July 16, the feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel and the third anniversary of Traditionis custodes, was the date set for the release of a new document from the Holy See putting an end to the traditional Mass, which, it was said, would be reserved exclusively for the so-called “Ecclesia Dei institutes.” It was, as we called it in this blog, the final solution.

From Pius XII to Paul VI to Cardinal Roche: The Difference One Word Can Make - Article by Paolo Pasqualucci

The current Catholic hierarchy, starting with the Pope, often refers to the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965) as the basis for the “reforms” it continues to carry out in the constitution of the Church (with synodality), in doctrine (with the ecumenical Declaration of Abu Dhabi), in Christian morality (with unprecedented concessions - liturgical and otherwise - to irregular couples of all kinds) and to justify its constant fight against the ancient rite of the Mass, also known as the “traditional Mass”, whose total disappearance it obviously wishes, so numerous are the restrictions and prohibitions now applied to its celebration.

The Wages of Vatican II in Italy: Without priests or faithful, the Diocese left behind by the enemy of the Latin Mass, Abp. Viola, is crumbling

Rorate Note: The diocese left behind by the arch-persecutor of the Traditional Latin Mass in the Vatican, Archbishop Vittorio Viola, is crumbling. He left nothing behind when he left the Diocese of Tortona to torture traditionalists worldwide.

Report from Italian daily Il Foglio:

Manila Alfano

Il Foglio

July 02, 2024

[Glorious, but empty, churches]

From Tortona to Milan, dioceses are grappling with contemporary challenges. Between inventiveness and realism, Ratzinger's prophecy is halfway through

Tortona also yields. Reorganization is the buzzword that from the hallways of the chancery crossed the threshold and quickly spread among the parishes: 313, most in Oltrepo, the others in the Tortona, Piacenza and Genoa areas, four different regions involved. Reorganization, they say, which means getting rid of the superfluous, of everything that is not essential, because the numbers do not add up and you trudge on. People are giving up, starting with the management of residences for the elderly and daycare centers, and sacrificing smaller and less attended churches. There is a shortage of priests and a shortage of worshippers. “This is certainly nothing new, and in the valleys then it is a disaster, and Covid has only accelerated a process that was already under way,” explains the pro vicar general of the Diocese of Tortona, Fr. Francesco Larocca. And so here is the reality: so many churches, chapels, parishes, oratories scattered over a vast territory and only one priest forced to go from one village to another. How can it be done?

Tradition and Traditionalism: Let us not be "men of little faith" - by Father Richard Cipolla

Father Richard Cipolla

In that by now well -read article posted at Messa in Latino just a few weeks ago in which a representative of that web site engaged in a conversation with Andrea Grillo, the famous (or infamous) professor of Sacramental Theology at the Pontifical University of Sant’Anselmo in Rome, I was of course, struck by Professor Grillo’s  un-Catholic statement that “Tradition is the future”.  The image that sprang to my mind is the Mad Hatter’s tea party in Alice in Wonderland.  Or perhaps Professor Grillo has watched the film Back to the Future too many times. That statement is not only a contradiction of the Catholic Church’s understanding of Tradition but also makes nonsense of the very word in Latin traditio, which comes from the Latin verb tradere meaning “to pass on”. (Lest a super-Latin scholar object that this verb can also mean to surrender, I do know that, but in Catholic thought the meaning of handing down or passing on is clear). 

Benedictines of Norcia in today's New York Times

A lovely news article appears on page A4 of today's New York Times, online here, featuring the Benedictines of Norcia and their resilience following a magnitude-6.5 earthquake in 2016.

Elizabeth Povoledo, based in the Times' Rome bureau, wrote the feature article, with photos by Alessandro Penso. Abbot Benedict Nivakoff, OSB, discussed the delicious beer brewed there and how a percentage of the restoration effort has been aided by sales of Birra Nursia.

Fortescue’s Classic Work on Eastern Orthodoxy Republished in a New Edition

As booklovers know from oft-repeated experience, acquiring a long out-of-print classic can be a chore. Old copies, if they are not prohibitively costly, are beaten up and even malodorous; and newer "reprint" companies seem to take no pains either with their facsimiles or with their OCR'd products.

Update: The TLM Suppression Document Remains Unsigned

Our sources assure us that the draft of the document of almost total suppression of the Traditional Latin Mass is ready, and has been for some time - but it that it "remains unsigned." 

Francis seems to hesitate. Maybe Viola - who is a true fanatic - has been trying too hard, and this is making Francis doubtful… Francis has been hearing alternative viewpoints from the hierarchy, and messages from Catholics and non-Catholics. And we always have our prayers...

Cardinal Parolin, Secretary of State, is reportedly also very strongly in favor of the suppression.

Reflections on Pia Fraus in the Church: We must always be disciples of Truth and not of Lies!

Reflections on Pia Fraus in the Church

by Gustave Thibon

(Translated by Gerhard Eger)

[Rorate Note: Gustave Thibon was a French Traditional Catholic writer (1903–2001), and a prolific author, and wrote many essays for Itinéraires. He was known as a "peasant" philosopher. This essay appeared in the June 1970 issue of Itinéraires (Catholic periodical founded by Jean Madiran.]

Louis Salleron has recently put forward valuable insights into the issue of lying within the Church. Without any pretence of exhausting or resolving the debate, I should like to highlight some new points for discussion. I shall do this within the framework of what is nowadays called “interrogative philosophy.” [Note 1]

First question: to what degree can an institution that affirms it is divine in origin and end as well as necessary for the salvation of men fulfil its mission, insofar as it is a human and sociological phenomenon, without resorting to lying?

A pattern on TLM indults being denied and approved

There is an interesting pattern beginning to develop.

Two U.S. dioceses (Baltimore and Richmond) that have the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Peter in them, with personal parishes, will no longer have any diocesan parish traditional Latin Masses offered, despite the noble attempt by the local bishops for renewals of existing two-year parish indults. In the Archdiocese of Baltimore and Diocese of Richmond, no diocesan clergy at diocesan parishes may licitly offer TLMs.

On the other hand, two U.S. dioceses (San Antonio and Arlington, Virginia) that do NOT have the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Peter, or any other TLM personal parishes, have been granted two-year indult renewals, this week, for their existing diocesan parish TLMs offered by diocesan priests.

The Fifth Annual Festival of St. Louis (Missouri), August 23-25, 2024 -- All Dates, Times, Events

The Fifth Annual Festival of St. Louis (Missouri) has announced its schedule. All information in the posters below. It's going to be a fantastic time so if you are anywhere near St. Louis, or even if you're not but can get there for it, it will be well worth your while. I am not aware of any other American city that celebrates its patron with comparable liturgical, processional, cultural, devotional splendor.

Cardinal Sandoval Sends Letter to Pope in defense of Traditional Latin Mass

 

Letter from Cardinal Juan Sandoval Iñiguez to Pope Francis, advocating for the Mass of Saint Pius V, and International Endorsement by Personalities. 

 

On July 6, Cardinal Juan Sandoval Iñiguez, Archbishop Emeritus of Guadalajara, penned a letter to Pope Francis, which he dispatched on Monday, July 8. In the letter, he urged that, amidst persistent rumors of an impending global restriction on the celebration of the Traditional Latin Mass, the Tridentine Mass which has been celebrated for four centuries according to the rite of Saint Pius V, not be suppressed or suspended.

Diverse Catholic associations and news/internet platforms, among them Una Voce México, have called on personalities from around the world to endorse this petition launched by Cardinal Sandoval.

Below is a free translation of the letter sent by Cardinal Sandoval:

"To God Who Giveth Joy To My Youth": Thoughts on the Growing Revolutionary Threat to the Traditional Latin Mass

 by Leo Darroch

John XXIII celebrating Low Mass in his private chapel

One of the marks of revolutionaries is a complete lack of respect or tolerance for anyone who has an opposing point of view. Once they have formulated their opinions then nothing and nobody will come between them and the course of action they intend to follow.  To the revolutionaries, anyone who is not singing their tune must be suppressed and removed as quickly as possible. A current example is the contemptuous way in which the sacred liturgy and its adherents, both clerical and lay, have been treated in recent years, especially from Rome.  There is intrigue on a grand scale and at the highest levels in the Church, and the opinions of the laity, for example, are of no interest to those driving forward their agenda. Examples from history show that the revolution never ends until the revolutionaries are faced down and defeated.

Sign the Petition "Stop the Ban on the Traditional Latin Mass"

You are now able to join the names who wrote the newest "Agatha Christie Letter" petitioning for the Traditional Latin Mass.

Composer Sir James MacMillan has started the Petition here: join it now.

Fifty Reasons Why the Dicastery for Divine Worship Prohibited the Traditional Mass at Covadonga

The following article by Luis López Valpuesta appeared in Spanish on July 12, 2024 at Infovaticana.

Father John Berg Elected as Fraternity of Saint Peter Superior General

 For a new term of six years, bringing with him his past accomplished experience as Superior General.

FSSP communiqué:

Election of the Superior General of the Fraternity

 

Published 11 July 2024

 

Communiqué of the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter

Wednesday, July 10, 2024, Our Lady of Guadalupe Seminary, Denton, Nebraska, USA

Guest Article: “The Great Loss: Or, the Pontificate of Jorge Bergoglio”

The following analysis, originally in German (here) and submitted to Rorate Caeli in an authorized English translation, is the finest synopsis of the pontificate and the theology of Pope Francis that I have yet seen. We are very pleased to present it here. ~ PAK

The "Abrahamic Family House" promoted by Pope Francis

The Great Loss: Or, the Pontificate of Jorge Bergoglio

By Vigilius[1]

Thousands of Spanish Pilgrims to Be Denied Traditional Latin Mass at the Shrine of Covadonga

The Dicastery of Divine Worship notified the Archdiocese of Oviedo that the pilgrims of Nuestra Señora de la Cristiandad are forbidden, at the end of their pilgrimage, to celebrate the TLM in the great historic shrine of Covadonga, as they have peacefully and fervently done the past three years. Here are a couple of photos from last year, showing the large numbers, and the poster for 2024: