"The prohibition of the traditional Latin Mass is an abuse of ecclesiastical power and noncompliance with its prohibition does not in fact constitute disobedience"
The prohibition of the traditional Latin Mass is an abuse of ecclesiastical power and noncompliance with its prohibition does not in fact constitute disobedience
"Conceived by an unscrupulous politician": Caminante Wanderer on the Synod and Its "Instrumentum Doloris"
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| Pope in the Paul VI hall, where the Synod will be held |
Last week, the Instrumentum laboris of the Synod on Synodality, which will take place over the course of two years, beginning this October 4, was made public. The Catholic media have already published several analyses of the very long document. I recommend this post from the Missa in Latino blog where you can find links to several of them (in Italian). It is not a question, then, of repeating what has already been said, and well said, but we can propose some additional reflections.
Cathedral of Manila in "Pledge of Loyalty" exalts Pope Francis as "the very personification of the spirit of Vatican II"
Another exhibit for the freakshow known as Hyperpapalism (i.e., ultramontanism on steroids). In Manila, apparently in 2018, Cardinal Tagle started the custom of making a "Pledge of Loyalty" to the Great Leader after the Creed on June 29th. The custom has continued under his successor.
"Is a Synod of Horrors Coming Our Way in 2023/24?"
"Already it is regarded in the media as a 'church parliament' or 'mini-concilium,' and the Synod Secretariat's protestations to the contrary only reinforce this unfortunate impression." A guest commentary by Joachim Heimerl (source in German)
Recently I heard a lady being asked about the "synodal church." Her answer was as succinct as it was accurate: "Please! I'm Catholic, not synodical." I can only agree with this myself, even though talk of the "synodal church" is now so naturally on everyone's lips as if it were a statement of faith.
Bishop Stika Resigns
Bishop Rick Stika of the Diocese of Knoxville has resigned after allegations of covering up sex abuse and complaints regarding his bullying and overbearing manner towards his priests. Notably, in 2021, priests of the Diocese of Knoxville petitioned the apostolic nuncio for "merciful relief" from Stika's leadership. Their petition may resonate with the experiences of traditional priests and laity under the current pontificate:
Confirmations in England
Some good news for a change!
On Saturday I was privileged to be present at the confirmation of 22 children and adults at St Mary's, Warrington, a church belonging to the Fraternity of St Peter (FSSP). The FSSP has the privilege of the use of all the liturgical books of 1962 so this was perfectly licit, and the confirmations were carried out by the local ordinary, Archbishop Malcolm McMahon OP.
Traditionis Custodes and the "Streisand Effect"
In March 2003, an amateur photographer, Kenneth Adelman, posted on his website a series of 12,000 aerial photographs to denounce the effects of erosion and real estate development on the California coast with, to be generous, little impact.
But one of those photographs featured the mansion of actress and singer Barbra Streisand, who considered it an invasion of her privacy and sued Adelman. The result was a lawsuit that was made public, which the Hollywood star lost and which resulted in Adelman's website registering 420,000 visits in just one month. The 'Streisand effect' was born, when the attempt to censor or cover up certain information results in the exact opposite effect.
Traditionis custodes has failed, and it has done so, to a large extent, by a process very similar to the 'Streisand effect'. The adherents to the traditional Mass are a tiny, statistically negligible minority in the Catholic world, but at the time of the publication of the papal motu proprio they were much smaller and, above all, the very existence of this tiny redoubt was virtually unknown to the average practicing Catholic. And that is what Francis' document has put to an end.
Suddenly, the Pope was dealing with an issue that seemed to be of undoubted importance but which the overwhelming majority knew nothing about at all. That alone made it intriguing.
Even more intriguing was to contemplate this pontiff who has made mercy his watchword singling out for censure an insignificant group without being able to justify his restrictions except with vague accusations and suspicions without proof; to observe how a pope particularly fond of diversity, anxious to bring together more or less distant religions, took the trouble to denounce a perfectly orthodox group of the Catholic faithful. God, it seems, wants a plurality of religions, but not of rites.
Even more: the Catholic reader was perplexed by the justification of "unity," when he, or any of the practicing faithful, can see that the rite of the Novus Ordo Mass varies enormously from one parish to another, with flagrant liturgical abuses that few denounce anymore and that never provoke Rome's response. And even more so, repealing a motu proprio that was promulgated only fourteen years earlier, by a Pope who was still alive and inhabiting the same city.
So the motu proprio has caused many take an interest in this ancestral rite, common to Catholic Christianity for centuries, which had somehow become a danger, in the Vatican's view. And the effect was not exactly as expected.
It was said by the unofficial organ of the French episcopate, La Croix, reporting on the extraordinary success of this year's pilgrimage to Chartres, where Masses are celebrated following the 'usus antiquior'. "This year, the pilgrimage attracted a record 16,000 walkers, young people, and this figure could have been higher if the organizers, for logistical reasons, had not closed registrations more than a week before departure. And many observers, including the mainstream media, were impressed by the fervor and faith of the pilgrims, in complete contrast with the general sadness of the Church in France, paralyzed by the abuse scandal," reads the French publication.
Once seen, it is now impossible to deny it. "The question, therefore, is no longer if and when the traditional Mass will be definitively replaced by the 1969 missal," La Croix continues. "The traditional Mass is not going to disappear and everything leads us to believe that it will continue to grow, in absolute terms but above all in relative terms, given the gradual attrition of a certain number of ordinary rite parishes."
"It is a question, then, rather of determining in what modalities and in what framework this continued growth of the traditional Mass will take place, because it is in this aspect that the Church still has a certain margin of maneuver. Now, in this sense, this fundamental movement, of which the Chartres pilgrimage has become a symbol, poses two great challenges to the universal Church, that of the unity of the faithful and that of the legacy of the Second Vatican Council in liturgical matters."
Reasons to Question the Apostolic Visitation of Bishop Strickland
Bishop Joseph Strickland has been one of the few American bishops who has dared to publicly criticize Pope Francis. So the news that he was subject to an apostolic visitation by the Vatican is not entirely surprising, given Pope Francis’s record in retaliating against his perceived critics—right down to ordinary laypeople who attend Traditional Latin Masses.
The Campaign against Bishop Dominique Rey Intensifies; What Is His "Crime"?
Any day now, lightning will strike Mgr Dominique Rey, whom the Pope will probably deprive of his episcopal faculties by flanking him with a coadjutor endowed with "special powers". He is guilty, gravely guilty, of having turned his diocese into a crossroads of traditional and charismatic currents, a haven for young non-conformist priests, with a flourishing seminary, a young clergy of 250 active priests, with parish priests and vicars for every steeple. It's unbearable! At the end of a merciless chase led by Rome, the nuncio, the confraternal bishops and the horns are ready to sound the kill. Perhaps a little too quickly. The Bishop of Fréjus-Toulon is not yet dead.
"The Church Occupied": Article on the Synod by Jean-Pierre Maugendre
There was a time when preachers loved to inflame the hearts of their flocks by evoking the one, holy, catholic, apostolic and Roman Church, the unique ark of salvation. Those days seem long gone. The time has come for the synodal Church.
What is a synodal Church?
Architect of "Traditionis Custodes" Endorses German Synodal Way on "Homosexuality as God's Creation"
Those who have long followed liturgical discussions are well aware of the name of Andrea Grillo, an Italian liturgical thinker (not precisely a liturgical scholar) who, though he denies having had a hand directly in ghostwriting Traditionis Custodes, is at the center of the Sant'Anselmo brigade whose ideas are (and sometimes verbatim) present in its text, as I discussed here. (For more on Grillo's anti-traditionalism, see this, this, and this; for his stance against Humanae Vitae, see here.) In short, it is no exaggeration to say that Grillo is the court-theologian whose ideas have shaped the anti-TLM campaign more than anyone else's. It is therefore highly significant that he approvingly published, at his blog, a text called "Omosessualità: ripensamenti" (Homosexuality: Second thoughts) by Cosimo Scordato, who himself simply endorses the German Synodal Way's radical proposals. Birds of a feather... PAK
[Grillo's introduction:]
St. John the Baptist - Panegyric on the saint (Father Bourdaloue)
St. John the Baptist
Panegyric on the saint
Fr. Louis Bourdaloue, SJ
"There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. This man came for a witness, to give testimony of the light, that all men might believe through him." John 1:6-7
This is the true character of the glorious precursor St. John, whose feast we celebrate today.
A man raised up by God to serve as a witness for Him who, as the Son of God and the Word of God, was the uncreated Light; a man predestined to announce and to make known to the world God Incarnate; a man miraculously conceived by a sterile mother; a man of whom it can be said that the Spirit of God was in him, even in the cradle, and that the hand of the Lord was with him; a man whose mission was authorized by the most striking proof of truth, which is his eminent sanctity: And all this, to render testimony to Jesus Christ.
The Synod of the Anti-Church
The "Instrumentum laboris" (that is, the working draft document) of Francis' "Synod on Synodality" was released today.
It is the blueprint of the Anti-Church.
All you need to see this is to see this point -- and the Apostolic Counterpoint.
"What steps can a synodal Church take to imitate ever more closely its Master and Lord, who walks with all in unconditional love and proclaims the fullness of the Gospel truth? ...6) How can we create spaces where those who feel hurt by the Church and unwelcomed by the community feel recognised, received, free to ask questions and not judged? In the light of the Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation Amoris Laetitia, what concrete steps are needed to welcome those who feel excluded from the Church because of their status or sexuality (for example, remarried divorcees, people in polygamous marriages, LGBTQ+ people, etc.)?"
Now, the words of Scripture and Tradition, as held by the Apostolic Faith since the very first days of the Church:
Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God. (I Corinthians, 6:9-11)
Russia and the invasion of Ukraine: why are so many "Conservatives" agreeing with Extreme Marxists and Communists?
by John Lamont
At the outset of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, opinions in the West were virtually unanimous in condemning the Russian attack and supporting aid to Ukraine. As the war continues, however, dissonant voices have emerged on the conservative side. They have alleged that Russia’s attack was not a pure act of unprovoked aggression but was motivated by legitimate security concerns, and that the military aid to the Ukrainians should cease. This position of some conservatives is a further burden and risk for the suffering Ukrainian nation which is fighting for its life. It is also – a much lesser consideration – a problem for conservatives and for many Catholics, who have given ear to this anti-Ukrainian stance or have even accepted and promoted it. The problem is a problem of moral integrity and moral credibility. Those Catholics who have bought in to the anti-Ukrainian line have lost both. It is for this reason that this anti-Ukrainian line needs to be addressed in a Catholic forum.
The case for this line depends on not addressing or mentioning essential facts. The best way to respond to it is to describe the main features of Russia’s goals and actions in Ukraine.
Book Announcement: “Good Music, Sacred Music, and Silence: Three Gifts of God for Liturgy and for Life”
The first part deals with the corrosive cultural and psychological effects of a lot of modern popular music, contrasted with the numerous benefits of a lifelong apprenticeship to the great music of the Western tradition (including the many excellent composers working today). Here I draw upon such thinkers as Plato, Aristotle, Aquinas, Pieper, and Ratzinger as well as years of interesting interactions with young people, whom I often guided through what might be called their “musical conversion.”
On the 400 Years of the Birth of Blaise Pascal - Pascal Was Right, also on the Jesuits
In those cases in which the State is interested as well as Religion, your apprehension of man's justice has induced you to divide your decisions into two shares. To the first of these you give the name of speculation; under which category crimes, considered in themselves, without regard to society, but merely to the law of God, you [the Jesuits] have permitted, without the least scruple, and in the way of trampling on the divine law which condemns them.
The second you rank under the denomination of practice, and here, considering the injury which may be done to society, and the presence of magistrates who look after the public peace, you take care, in order to keep yourselves on the safe side of the law, not to approve always in practice the murders and other crimes which you have sanctioned in speculation. ... Such is the style in which your opinions begin to develop themselves, under the shelter of this distinction [between speculation and practice], in virtue of which, without doing any sensible injury to society, you only ruin religion. In acting thus, you consider yourselves quite safe. You suppose that, on the one hand, the influence you have in the Church will effectually shield from punishment your assaults on truth; and that, on the other, the precautions you have taken against too easily reducing your permissions to practice will save you on the part of the civil powers, who, not being judges in cases of conscience, are properly concerned only with the outward practice. Thus an opinion which would be condemned under the name of practice, comes out quite safe under the name of speculation.
Blaise Pascal
Provincial Letter n. XIII
September 30, 1656
[Today, Francis published an Apostolic Letter on the 400th anniversary of the Birth of Pascal -- and he mentions Pascal's criticism of the Jesuits as if it applied only to the disciples of Molina. But the criticism was to all Jesuits, and it was enduring. It indicated a Jesuit error that persists to our own age, stronger than ever. If only Pascal had been heard on the Jesuits in his own time!]
The Sacred Heart: Synthesis of All Catholic Doctrine
New TLM Retreat Center in the U.S.
The Institute of Christ the King announced terrific news today, that it will be opening a retreat house in the Archdiocese of Milwaukee, with the blessing of the archbishop there.
"Hell's Vengeance Boils in My Heart, Death and despair burn around me."
Those are the famous first words of the Queen of the Night in one of the most famous arias in operatic history (from Mozart's The Magic Flute) -- and they describe well the feelings of "peace", "dialogue", and "mercy" inscribed in the heart of Jorge Mario Bergoglio when he deals with anyone he deems as an adversary.
In true Peronist fashion, to the enemy, "not even justice."
“Saint Peter’s square is empty while the ancient rite sees a boom”: Luisella Scrosati
The Corpus Christi sneak-procession at the Vatican and the total flop of the event organized by Card. Gambetti: five hours of performances, yet another declaration, and the square as empty as the chatter about "human fraternity," prove that the faithful are looking for something eternal and go to other sources to drink. Such as the realities related to traditional liturgy, whose vitality should raise more than a few questions.
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| St Peter's mostly-empty square for "Human Fraternity Day" |
Saint Peter's Square Is Empty While the Ancient Rite Sees a Boom
Luisella Scrosati
La Nuova Bussola Quotidiana
June 14, 2023
(source)
The Queer Pope - and James Martin
#PopeFrancis has again written to Fr. James Martin SJ, on the eve of pro-LGBT "Outreach" conference, praising Martin for “all the good you are doing.”
Francis promised his “prayers & good wishes” for all those taking part in the LGBT conference.
/ [source]
The personal autograph note in Spanish includes the following: “I send my best regards to the members of the meeting at Fordham University. Thank you for delivering it to them. In my prayers and good wishes are you and all who are working at the Outreach Conference.”
“Hero with the Rucksack”: The Traditionalist Catholic Who Stopped the Knifer in Annecy
The following interview appeared at France Catholique on June 12, 2023. The crime referred to is the horrible recent scene in Annecy in which a Syrian refugee began to stab small children in a park, nearly killing four. Henri confronted him and stopped him with the only “weapon” he had—his backpack. He is being celebrated throughout France for his courageous intervention. And turns out he’s a “tradi” who had just come off the Chartres pilgrimage.
Benedictio Liliorum in Festo S. Antonii Patavini Conf.
V. Adjutorium nostrum in nomine Domini.
R. Qui fecit caelum et terram.
V. Dominus vobiscum.
R. Et cum spiritu tuo.
Oremus. Deus, Creator et Conservator generis humani, sanctae puritatis amator, dator gratiae spiritualis, et largitor aeternae salutis, benedictione tua sancta bene + dic haec lilia, quae pro gratiis exsolvendis, in honorem sancti Antonii Confessoris tui supplices hodie tibi praesentamus, et petimus benedici. Infunde illis salutari signaculo sanctissimae + Crucis rorem coelestem. Tu benignissime, qui ea ad odoris suavitatem depellendasque infirmitates humano usui tribuisti, tali virtute reple et confirma; ut, quibuscumque morbis adhibita, seu in domibus locisque posita, vel cum devotione portata fuerint, intercedente eodem famulo tuo Antonio, fugent daemones, continentiam salutarem indant, languores avertant, tibique servientibus pacem et gratiam concilient. Per Christum Dominum nostrum. R. Amen.
(Translation of the Collect: O God, the Creator and Preserver of mankind, thou Who art the lover of holy purity, the giver of spritual grace, the dispenser of eternal salvation, bless + these lilies we bring on this day in thanksgiving to thee and in honour of Saint Anthony, thy Confessor. Pour out on them heavenly dew by the saving + sign of the most holy cross, O God of love! Thou hast endowed these lilies with delicious fragrance to be a comfort and help to those on their sickbeds. Wherefore, imbue them with so great strength that whether they are used in a home, in a sickroom, or carried about one's person, they may have power, through the intercession of Saint Anthony, to drive out evil spirits, to safeguard chastity, to turn away illness, and to bestow on thy servants peace and grace.)
V. Ora pro nobis, beate Antoni.
R. Ut digni efficiamur promissionibus Christi.
Oremus. Subveniat plebi tuae, quaesumus Domine, praeclari Confessoris tui beati Antonii devote et jugis deprecation: quae in praesenti nos tua gratia dignos efficiat, et in futuro gaudia donet aeterna. Per Christum Dominum nostrum. R. Amen.
(May the devout and constant intercession of Blessed Anthony, thy Confessor, come to our aid, we beseech thee, O Lord, that we may become of thy grace in this life, and merit everlasting joys in the next.)
His dicitis, lilia distribuit.
Fontgombault Sermon for Corpus Christi
Corpus Christi
Sermon of the Right Reverend Dom Jean Pateau
Abbot of Our Lady of Fontgombault
Fontgombault, June 8, 2023
Qui manducat meam carnem, et bibit meum sanguinem in me manet, et ego in eo. (He that eateth My flesh and drinketh My blood abideth in Me: and I in him. -Jn 6:56)
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
My dearly beloved Sons,
This morning’s Gospel is taken from the Discourse on the Bread of life, pronounced by the Lord shortly after the first multiplication of the loaves. After the miracle in Cana, after curing the royal official’s son, then the paralytic of the Bethzatha pool, this miracle is the fourth sign reported by St. John. It was performed by Jesus on the top of a mountain, on the side of the Sea of Tiberias opposite to Capernaum, when the Passover of the Jews was near. A crowd of about five thousand men had followed Jesus. After seeing the miracle, those men said, “This is of a truth the prophet that is to come into the world.”
2023 Paris-Chartres Pilgrimage
Young scouts and leaders filled the church of Saint Sulpice for high Mass early Saturday morning May 27th to begin the three day event. The overflow crowd surrounding the church for the Mass is partly visible in next photo below.
This year the 16,000 mostly young participants broke all previous attendance numbers.
The pilgrims were greeted along the way as we walked through Paris.
Our journey took us through the variety of French countryside: village, forest, field and highway.
The Mass tents on Sunday and Monday morning accommodated 300 priests for daily holy Mass.
On the road to God, led by faith and persevering in hope.
Solemn High Mass for Pentecost Sunday in a natural arena to accommodate the thousands who worshipped.
Pilgrims kneel and pray in thanksgiving at first sight of the yet distant spires of Chartres.
Like the New Jerusalem the spires point heavenward speaking ever of the goal of every pilgrim from here to eternity in the life of faith.
Life is a pilgrimage. Each day’s steps bring us closer to our goal when taken in faith for such always lead to God.
Archbishop Gullickson offers prayers of Thanksgiving in the sacristy after solemn High Mass of Whit Monday which concluded the pilgrimage at Chartres.
Like the Romanesque and Gothic spires of Chartres, tradition blends harmoniously through the ages, faithful to God and leading ever toward Him because built securely on the truth of divine Revelation.
The Archbishop sends his best wishes and prayers to Rorate Caeli visitors.
For more on the pilgrimage read my account in The Wanderer Catholic Newspaper.
Corpus Christi: Loving Christ means putting His invisible Presence ahead of everything that is seen and can be seen in the world.
O divine Manna and true Bread from Heaven! We believe and profess that enclosed beneath these accidents are all the savors and delights of the soul; but anima nostra nauseat super cibo isto, because nihil respiciunt oculi nostri, nisi man. This was the temptation anciently with which God tempted and tested the Israelite people in the manna: Ut tentem eum.
Young Trads: "Bishops Must Seek a New Balance" [beyond the Roman Diktat of Traditionis Custodes]
Young Trads: "The bishops must seek a new balance"
Op-Ed
Christophe Dickès - Historian
La Croix
June 4, 2023
Despite the limitations placed on the traditional rite by Pope Francis, Christophe Dickès believes that all the evidence points to the attachment of younger people to this liturgy, as evidenced by La Croix's survey of young Catholics, and invites us to allow this creative minority to hold its place in the universal Church.
***
In the summer of 2021, in the days following the publication of Traditionis Custodes, drastically reducing the use of the rite of St. Pius V, dozens of young people addressed the Pope and the bishops in a video posted on social networks. Less than two minutes long, the English-language film (view here) firstly acknowledged that there may be a lack of understanding between the younger and older generations. Secondly, these young people from every continent testified to their loyalty to the Pope and the bishops, explaining that they did not question the validity of the new liturgy.
They didn't feel grumpy or old-fashioned, let alone separated. Finally, they explained the reason for their attachment to the extraordinary rite: its transcendence, its verticality and its orientation towards the East. There was no ideology among these young people, nor any desire to diverge: "We are your sheep", they said, addressing the Pope.
Radicalness of the Roman method
“The True Meaning of Our Liturgies” (and the Meaning of Chartres, the Largest Pilgrimage in Europe) - by Fr. Luc de Bellescize
La Nef
June 6, 2023
My grandfather was a Lefebvrist. He was not present at my baptism or ordination.
He had organized dozens of retreats for men. He ran the village choir. Overnight, his parish priest told him not to sing a single word of Latin and ordered work to be carried out to break up the beautiful marble altar and replace it with a roughly squared cube of wood, in homage to Christ the worker against bourgeois oppression. In extremis, the bishop prevented the massacre. The sacred vessels had disappeared, replaced by rough-hewn pottery, and the ornaments were rotting in the empty, moth-eaten confessionals. He spoke to me of those difficult years for the rest of his life, like a wound that never healed. He couldn't bear the violence of the liturgical change. Many had left religious practice. He had found in Archbishop Lefebvre what he had always known.
Christianity, Religious Attendance, True Diversity, and the Considerable Limits of the “Hungarian Model” (Part 1)
For some years, we have read the “Hungarian Model” promoted throughout the world, and particular on some websites (often written by agents financed by foundations kept by the Hungarian government itself).
Now, there’s nothing wrong with the Hungarian Model — but remembering that it applies to the very specific circumstances of Hungary, its history, and its people. Differently from how it is usually portrayed in some “conservative” media, it is a highly secularized society, as well as a very small and limited polity, and its lessons can hardly be transplanted elsewhere.
Some points helped with images.
1. "Hungary is the future of Christianity."
Well, that seems highly unlikely, as Hungary doesn't seem to be even the present of Christianity. The graph below (click for larger view) explains why.
New Preface by Cardinal Burke to French Reissue of the "Ottaviani Intervention"
The Short Critical Study [or Brief Critical Examination] of the New Order of Mass—better known as the "Ottaviani Intervention"—is well known to traditionalists around the world (if you'd like to read more about it, see here and here). Every few years, a new edition appears in some major language. It strikes me as particularly significant that a new French edition has appeared with a Foreword by none other than His Eminence Cardinal Burke. The full French text may be found here; what follows is an automated translation, corrected. —PAK
Rome, Easter Monday 2023
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