RORATE CÆLI: September 2025

“I am come to cast fire on the earth. And what do I want, but that it be enkindled?” – Sermon for the Feast of the Holy Archangel Michael

The following sermon was preached at a traditional Mass today in the USA.

“I am come to cast fire on the earth. And what do I want, but that it be enkindled?”

The breaking of the seventh seal from the Book of Revelation depicts a scene of a certain angel. Seven angels surround God’s presence in Heaven. One angel then steps forth before the celestial altar in Heaven, bearing a golden thurible in his hand. This angel, a celestial thurifer, is given ‘much incense’ to offer to God. Such incense, as the text states, is in fact the ‘prayers of the saints.’ (Rev. 8:3)

For the Record: TLM back at upper church of Saint Peter's Basilica on Michaelmas (End of March 2021 Ban)

[Important update (3 pm EDT): We've been told by a Roman priest in the know that this same Michaelmas mass was also announced for the same altar at the same date, at 7 am, in the two previous years. However, it was celebrated very discreetly under the previous pontificate.]

September 29, 2025

In March 2021, we published a very sad post regarding the end of the Traditional Latin Mass in Saint Peter's Basilica:

Charlotte Bishop's New Insult: Please, don't go to the new TLM spot all at once, it won't fit everybody

The letter announcing the final closure of the 4 Traditional Latin Mass venues in Charlotte is quite astounding -- the Bishop even recognizes the new single place far from everywhere is not big enough for everyone, so people can just alternate Sundays, perhaps...

What a monster.

Letter posted by the Charlotte Latin Mass Community (click for full view):

From a reader in the Diocese of Brooklyn, in New York City, another violent suppression of a Traditional Latin Mass:

Leo XIV makes his first major Curial appointment: Iannone for Bishops -- a Rorate Analysis

ARCHBISHOP FILIPPO IANNONE, O.Carm, PREFECT OF BISHOPS

A Rorate Analysis of the Pope's First Prefect

by Serre Verweij

Celebrating a mass of Paul VI at Isola del Liri, Latium, in 2018

After four and a half months, Pope Leo XIV has finally announced his own replacement as prefect for the Dicastery for Bishops. Rather than an obscure outsider from the peripheries, he appointed the current prefect of the Dicastery for Legislative Texts, Archbishop Filippo Iannone (age 67), a native of Naples, Campania, as the new prefect. Both the secretary of the Dicastery for Bishops, Brazilian Archbishop Ilson de Jesus Montanari, and the undersecretary, Bosnian Fr. Ivan Kovac, have been confirmed for new five year terms, suggesting a desire for gradual reform over revolutionary shakeups on the part of Pope Leo.

News sent by our friends at Texas A&M in College Station:

College Station, Texas – In a stunning intervention, the Diocese of Austin has forced the cancellation of a scheduled Traditional Latin Mass at Texas A&M University, silencing one of the most vibrant and growing expressions of Catholic faith among young people in America.

Families and Children – Another View

Innocence

Nothing warms my heart more than the sight of a happy child! Visiting a Chinese restaurant in London some time ago, I observed on a nearby table a mum and a dad surrounded by five young children. The whole family was up to their elbows in duck, pancakes and hoisin sauce, whilst the children chatted merrily together. At the end of my own meal, I made a point of going up to the family and addressing the parents. “God bless you for your large family!” I said. They smiled back at me, obviously slightly embarrassed, as nobody had said that to them before. I always make a point of congratulating the parents of large families in this way and this is because I feel so warm-hearted when I see them surrounded by children who are happy and cheerful. Children who are innocent are always happy and content. They may be very poor, or suffer tragedies and illnesses, and yet innocence radiates through their sparkling eyes.

Pontifical Mass in the Cathedral Basilica of Sts. Peter and Paul, Philadelphia

It seems obvious to those of us attached to Traditional Catholicism, but Dr. Natalie Lindemann, at William Paterson University (Wayne, New Jersey), actually went to the trouble of conducting the social research to prove it and of publishing a detailed analysis of the results in the article "Liturgy Matters: Traditional Liturgical Practices Predict Belief in the Real Presence."

Interesting excerpt:

The Glow of the Ember Days: Ember Week in September

We all need it -- the Church needs it.

May you all have a fruitful week, with our repost of our text for this Ember Week in Autumn.

__________________________________________________________

THE GLOW
OF THE EMBER DAYS

By Michael P. Foley

A potential danger of traditionalism is the stubborn defense of something about which one knows little. I once asked a priest who had just finished beautifully celebrating an Ember Saturday Mass about the meaning of the Ember days. He replied (with an impish twinkle in his eye) that he hadn’t a clue, but he was furious they had been suppressed.

Traditionalists, however, are not entirely to blame for their unfamiliarity with this important part of their patrimony. Most only have the privilege of assisting at a Sunday Tridentine Mass, and hence the Ember days—which occur on a weekday or Saturday—slip by unnoticed. And long before the opening session of the Second Vatican Council, the popularity of these observances had atrophied.

So why care about them now? To answer this question, we must first determine what they are.

The Four Seasons

NCR, the National "Catholic" Reporter, the bastion of extreme liberalism in America. It is the epitome of Boomerism and cringy radicalism, as out-of-date as a felt banner.

So we were very pleasantly surprised with the guest article they accepted to publish today, authored by Roxie Beckles (also known as "That Black Catholic Chick"), part of a series they are running on "Views on the First U.S. Pope"), with strong praise for the Traditional Mass and its attraction to the faithful -- and the hope that the Pope Leo XIV will understand that it is reverence and holiness that will keep attracting young people to the Church.

An excerpt fom the piece:

Christian Marquant, the chairman of the organizing committee of the Traditional "Summorum Pontificum" pilgrimage to Rome (which will include this year once again the Mass in Saint Peter's, celebrated by Cardinal Burke), is happy that Pope Leo XIV indicated, in his book-interview, that he wants to "listen" to Traditional Catholics.

But how can we be heard if very few want to listen to us? And if the main office for dialogue with Traditional Catholics, the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei, was dismantled by Francis, and nothing put in its place?

Marquant is interviewed by Paix Liturgique regarding a "dialogue" with no Roman or diocesan interlocutors:

PAIX LITURGIQUE – Dear Christian, how do you interpret the Holy Father's remark?
Christian Marquant – First, we must thank Pope Leo for his interest in us and in this matter. Then, if you allow me, we must turn ourselves to the concrete current reality.

PAIX LITURGIQUE – And what is that reality?

LEO IN HIS OWN WORDS: THE KEY POINTS OF THE INTERVIEW - Part V in the Series "The First Year of Leo XIV"

This fifth part of our ongoing series dedicated to the First Year of Leo XIV, written by Rorate contributor Serre Verweij, is a little different from the previous ones. It is dedicated to a point by point analysis of Pope Leo XIV's interview to Crux, published as the second part of the book "Leo XIV: Citizen of the World, Missionary of the 21st Century".

Series: The First Year of Leo XIV

V - LEO IN HIS OWN WORDS

Excerpts from the first real substantial interview of Pope Leo have been published. He gave the honour to Crux Now. The fact that he chose to give the interview to a traditionally centrist (though arguably centre-left) site that had become more centre-right in the last few years, might itself be quite indicative.

Outgoing Bishop Kills Traditional Latin Mass in Monterey (California) -- Poor Catholics of Austin, Texas!

Bishop Daniel Garcia was named by Leo XIV for the huge diocese of the Texan capital, Austin, in July -- transferred from Monterey, California, to which he had been named by Francis in 2018.

As a parting gift to the faithful of Monterey, he decided to kill the 17-year-old Traditional Latin Mass in the diocese. Could something be more petty, more pathetic, and more ridiculous?

LEO AND THE LATIN AMERICANS - Part IV in the Series "The First Year of Leo XIV"

This is the fourth of several analyses written for Rorate by our contributor Serre Verweij on Leo XIV's first year.

Series: The First Year of Leo XIV

IV - LEO AND THE LATIN AMERICANS

[Part I - Leo and the Germans.]

[Part II - Leo and Synodality.]

[Part III - Leo and the Radicals.]

I warmly greet all the bishops of Latin America and the Caribbean, joined in a collegial spirit to discern together the current challenges to the church in Latin America and to seek, in affective and effective communion, pastoral initiatives that lead to solutions in accordance with the criteria of the Sacred Scripture, Tradition, and the Magisterium.

With these words, Pope Leo XIV began his message to the bishops of the Conference of the Latin American Episcopate (CELAM), on the 70th anniversary of their foundation, at the Rio de Janeiro Conference of 1955.

For the Record: extracts from a recent interview with Cardinal Robert Sarah: Fiducia supplicans, a document to be forgotten; it is not possible to prohibit a rite that is over a thousand years old.

Synodality, the Mass in the ancient rite, the blessing of homosexual couples, Africa: a conversation with the Prefect Emeritus of Divine Worship. Reprinted from Secretum meum mihi, since reproduction from Avvenire is forbidden. *

by Giacomo Gambassi, Rome,

September 12th, 2025

Your Eminence, Leo XIV frequently refers to the unity of the Church. Would this be an urgent matter ?

From an excerpt of the new book-interview with Elise Ann Allen, of Crux, released today -- a direct quote from the Pope's response:

[Elise Ann Allen]: Regarding the study group on liturgy, what is being studied? How much of the reason for establishing this was related to divisions surrounding the Traditional Latin Mass, for example, or issues such as the new Amazonian rite?

[Leo XIV]: My understanding of what the group came out of is primarily from issues that have to do with the inculturation of the liturgy. How to continue the process of making the liturgy more meaningful within a different culture, within a specific culture, in a specific place at any given time. I think that was the primary issue.

Cardinal Mauro Gambetti has been the main administrator of the Vatican Basilica since 2021, after being named by Francis for the triple position of Archpriest for Saint Peter's Basilica, Vicar General for the Vatican City State, and President of the Fabric of Saint Peter.

Giotto, Saint Francis Receiving the Stigmata
Musée du Louvre (1295)

On September 17, we celebrate the memory of the awesome impression of the Holy Stigmata of Our Lord Jesus Christ on Saint Francis on the Tuscan hill known as Mount Alvernia (La Verna), in 1224.

Brother Ugolino tells the story in detail in his Fioretti (Little Flowers), and we encourage reading it for the feel of the place, the times, the people -- and how it is all connected with the feasts and flows of the Traditional Liturgical Year and the Breviary, including the period that goes from the Feast of the Holy Cross to the Feast of Saint Michael the Archangel:

As the Feast of the Holy Cross then drew nigh, in the month of September, Brother Leo went one night at his accustomed hour to say Matins with St Francis.

The Death of Europe | Will Leo XIV visit Lampedusa? A Grave Mistake -- and the Lampedusans themselves would not be happy

Very few things made European Catholics more unhappy with Francis than his tone-deaf approach to the criminal enterprise bringing millions of illegal migrants to Europe, and deeply changing the demographics, religion, and criminality of vast areas of the Continent.

And the main early symbol of that attitude was Francis' visit to one of the most popular destinations used by the people-smuggling gangs: the small island of Lampedusa, in Sicily. Lampedusa was, for instance, the first spot in Europe visited by the terrorist responsible for the Nice attacks (our post regarding it here). As we said at the time:

"Dei" is the genitive for God (Deus) in Latin. That is, "of God."

It is also, coincidentally, the English abbreviation for the movement/ideology known as "Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion" (DEI), an affront to both God and the equality before the law that is the basis of modern Western Law. It is a complete corruption of all that is good and noble in both Christianity and the Law, and it should be abhorred by all good Catholics. And, of course, it is simply pronounced D, E, I -- not "day-ee" (as Dei is, in Latin).

Anyway, this mere coincidence of letters was enough to prompt what must be one of the most astonishing texts ever published on the website of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), by one Bishop Roy Campbell, Auxiliary of the Nation's capital, Washington.

Main excerpt below:

Charlie Kirk's widow, Erika, raises a rosary to wellwishers

Main excerpts from the latest piece from the Harvard Salient:

[Kirk] could also be unexpectedly, almost annoyingly, moderate: a man who prized argument over obliteration, outreach over insularity, whose modus operandi was to cross campus thresholds and address anyone curious enough to ask a question. He exhorted a generation, plainly and insistently, to love God, love their family, and love their country. That was enough to get him killed.

Perrella, an ambiguous appointment bordering on scandal

Tommaso Scandroglio

La Nuova Bussola Quotidiana

September 11, 2025

Pope Leo XIV has appointed Cristiana Perrella as the new president of the Pontifical Academy of Fine Arts. This appointment raises some critical issues, as demonstrated by some of her past work in the LGBT field. Are rainbow lobbies forcing the Pope's hand? At what price must the truth be silenced for the sake of unity?

Pope Leo XIV has appointed Cristiana Perrella as the new president of the Pontifical Academy of Fine Arts. This appointment raises some critical issues. In 2019, Perella curated the exhibition Night Fever: Designing Club Culture 1960–Today, which, among other things, supported LGBT claims, particularly those of the queer community. In an interview with Sleek, Perrella explained that clubs “were places where people could be themselves and publicly affirm their identity,” including the so-called queer identity.

Once again this year we will hold a full weekend of sung liturgy in the ancient Roman Rite, in the beautiful medieval Dorchester Abbey in Oxfordshire.

The Sons of the Most Holy Redeemer of Papa Stronsay Island in Scotland (the "Transalpine Redemptorists") have just made available a beautiful video of their fishing season for the year.

"The last few weeks have seen us put out into the open sea around Papa Stronsay for our winter supply of fish. We thought to share this beautiful video which our Rector, Fr Martin Mary, has so painstakingly put together and narrated of such a day-in-our lives."

Watch and enjoy the video below:

Andrea Grillo is such a detestable character. But, unfortunately, we are forced to return often to covering him because of the outsized influence he was given by the late Francis. As Rorate mentioned in the earlier words about this matter,

The detestable Italian professor was introduced by some malevolent Vatican spirit to Francis and created the document that would later be signed by the late pope as "Traditionis custodes", whose aim is explicitly to destroy the Traditional Latin Mass in the long term.

Last month, we covered the first consequences of his tirades against the (now newly canonized) Carlo Acutis, when his own university disowned him.

There are criticisms to be made of the Acutis canonization, but mostly regarding (as often in recent decades) an accelerated procedure, not the person himself. By all accounts, Acutis was really a fine boy who, despite growing up in a secularized, barely nominally Catholic, family, was saved by a supernatural love for the Blessed Sacrament.

Roberto de Mattei - The Fr. Pompei Affair: Another Painful Episode of the Consequences of Boisterous Proclamations

Rorate note: Traditionalism did not start in 2025, or even during the Francis years. It is necessary to be truthful, but also prudent. Wise as serpents, gentle as doves, in the words of Our Lord and God Jesus Christ (Mt 10:16).

***

A new painful episode: Father Pompei's choice

Roberto de Mattei

Corrispondenza Romana

September 10, 2025

After the “cases” of Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò, Father Alessandro Minutella, and Father Giorgio Faré, now comes, in Italy, the no less serious and painful case of Father Leonardo Pompei, a priest who had been appreciated until now for his orthodoxy and moral conduct.

Leo XIV: the Mine-Clearing Pope

by Vaticanist Luis Badilla (former editor of Il Sismografo)

published by Messa in Latino

By now, Pope Leo XIV's style of government seems quite clear. Above all, it seems clear that this style is his method. Nothing revolutionary. Every pontiff has had his own style, his own method, and this has been the basis on which their pontificates have been characterized. Francis's method, in the perception of public opinion, immediately distanced him from the papacy of Benedict XVI, and now the difference that is gradually taking shape, without conflict or emphasized contrasts, between the Argentine pontiff and the American one is clear.

The Argentine archdiocese of San Juan de Cuyo has sent a protocol to parish priests, parish vicars, Catholic school administrators, and catechists in which, in view of First Communions and Confirmations, it decrees that “catechumens (of any age) will receive Holy Communion only standing and in the hand.”

Report from Spanish website InfoCatólica:

The time has come for a serious conversation about the pre-1955 Roman Rite. Not as something eccentric, marginal, quixotic, but as the normative baseline for the sane “reset” of liturgical praxis so necessary after a century of wild experimentation.

Confirmation of Anti-Liturgical actions of the bishop of Charlotte, North Carolina

On Thursday, we reported on the new liturgical directives which Bishop Michael Martin of Charlotte has imposed for the Masses celebrated in the Catholic high schools of his diocese. These directives are very much in keeping with the absurd “liturgical norms” which he proposed in order to radically de-catholicize the Mass in his entire diocese, as we reported in May. For obvious reasons, we are not able to disclose our sources, and because of that, some people questioned the veracity or authenticity of the report. Unfortunately, but not surprisingly, it has now been confirmed in every detail in an official announcement made by the chaplain of one of the schools.

(Click for larger view below)

(Mass in the Altar of the Cathedra, in St. Peter's Basilica, in 2021)

In 2024, the Traditional pilgrims of the Summorum Pontificum Pilgrimage (Last Sunday in October - Christ the King) were not allowed to celebrate the Traditional Mass on an altar of the main nave on Saturday of the last weekend in October: they just entered as pilgrims, with scheduled prayers, but the main masses were all in Churches that already have the Traditional Latin Mass regularly in Rome. The same had happened in 2022 and 2023.

The new Polish president, the conservative and devout Catholic historian Karol Nawrocki, visited the Vatican for the first time as President this week.

With him was one his advisors, also a historian, National Security Advisor Dr. Sławomir Cenckiewicz, who pleaded with the Curia regarding "Traditionis custodes":

I paid filial homage to the Vicar of Christ.

“Simon, Simon, behold Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat: but I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and thou, being once converted, confirm thy brethren.” (Lk 22:31-32).

We have stated, on a previous occasion, that the Bergoglian pontificate, with all its inflatedness, could well constitute, if not the terminal phase of the post-Vatican II era, at least the approach of its end. Provided, of course, that there are Churchmen with the determination necessary for making a clean break. Failing that, and in the meantime, we can hope for the adoption of a kind of realistically transitional stage, by virtue of which whatever remains of vital forces within the Church would be allowed to thrive. Ultimately, however, there must needs be a return to the magisterial order to which the Church of Christ aspires, and for which its pastors must prepare.

Cardinal Cupich, an Expert on "Dead Faith"

Who would you want writing about "Dead Faith" more than an expert on dead faith, dying parishes, and general societal decay?

That is why we know we can fully trust the Archbishop of Chicago, Cardinal Cupich (once referred to by a friend as 'Ugly on the outside, uglier on the inside'), to speak about the "dead faith" of Traditionalism. It's hilarious that he starts his piece by quoting Pelikan, a known revert to devout Eastern Orthodoxy, who would have no good words for the destruction of the ancient rites of the Church. Latin Traditionalism, whatever one wishes to call it, was always quite alive and vibrant in its prayers and arts and music and practices because it was never separate from Western culture (so in a sense quite different from the Byzantine options).

It is also hilarious that Blase "Dead Faith" Cupich would quote Newman of all people, whose faith was nourished by the Traditional Latin Mass and Divine Office more than by any other thing.

Let these be Cupich's parting words.

Tradition vs. traditionalism

We have received a report of the new liturgical directives which Bishop Michael Martin of Charlotte wishes to impose on the masses of Paul VI celebrated in the three Catholic high schools under his jurisdiction. The goal is apparently the decatholicization of the new liturgy in the schools under his authority.

Unfortunately, but not surprisingly, they are exactly what we would expect, given what we have previously seen of his ideas about “liturgical norms.”

Very Topical Considerations on the Life, Character and Thought of Saint Pius X

Marcel De Corte

Itinéraires, No. 87 | November 1964

I HAVE JUST READ a few biographies of Saint Pius X. The marvellous ascent! From the humble seed of vocation planted by the Spirit in the soul of this little peasant to his constant concern for the priests entrusted to his care as bishop and pope, his whole life was organized around the defense and illustration of the sacred, indelible character of the priesthood, without which the called could never continue the work of redemption. More than any other successor of Peter, Saint Pius X saw, felt and understood that the threat posed to man by the modern world is aimed above all at the priest.

To Hand on What Has Been Received? The Mission and Challenges of the SSPX in Our Times

A guest article by Charles Bradshaw.

The SSPX’s recent pilgrimage to Rome has been the cause of some media attention not least because of mounting expectations regarding future Episcopal Consecrations. The inevitable skeletons have come out of the cupboard again alongside those who claim to have insight into just about everything Archbishop Lefebvre did or didn’t do. However, whilst the future consecrations remain a vitally important and pressing issue, what has been overlooked is how the Society of St Pius X is meeting its own future and how she is handing down her “management” to a new generation.

The Past of Leo XIV - Mere Catholicity: the Prosper Grech-Prevost-Müller Connection

by Serre Verweij

for Rorate Cæli

The year 2012 seems to be a century ago. It was not the year the world ended, instead it was the last year where Pope Benedict XVI led the Catholic Church. He was no Pope Pius XIII, no traditionalist. But he was clear on ethical matters, opposed the radical modernists, tried to respect traditionalists, was supportive of more pro-traditional cardinals, tried to makes the Novus Ordo more reverent.

The ongoing devastation inflicted upon the sacred liturgy is by no means unique to our time. Since the earliest days of the Church, the liturgy has suffered from the attacks of heresy, schism, and human caprice. Through the ages—whether from the blasphemous Vigilantius, the radical Waldensians of the Middle Ages, the Protestant reformers of the sixteenth century, or the rationalist infiltrators of the Enlightenment—there has always been a persistent, corrosive impulse to undermine, distort, or dilute the sacred rites entrusted to the Church.

In the nineteenth century, Dom Prosper Guéranger (1805–1875), the abbot of Solesmes and founding father of the modern liturgical movement, stood resolutely against a virulent strain of this anti-liturgical spirit.

When the blogmaster (I suppose there is such a word) of Rorate Caeli, who is a personal friend of some years now, wrote to me recently to ask, with some astonishment on his part, why I had not written an article for publication immediately after the announcement by Pope Leo XIV that St. John Henry Newman was declared a Doctor of the Church, I replied that despite my love for Newman, I could not respond at once, for I needed time to think about not merely the declaration itself but also what this means for the Church today, as she (not it) seems to be emerging, Deo gratias, from the dark years after the Second Vatican Council that were marked by iconoclasm, denial of the Catholic Tradition and worst of all--sentimentality, the acid of religion.

"The Holy Father Received This Morning in Audience... Fr. James Martin, SJ"

From today's Bollettino:

Il Santo Padre ha ricevuto questa mattina in Udienza: