Ecclesiology of the Sun and the Moon: the Church’s greatness comes from God, and it cannot be diminished

by Fr. Joannes Petrus

for Rorate Cæli

  

 “At that time, when Jesus entered into the boat, His disciples followed Him: and behold a great tempest arose in the sea, so that the boat was covered with waves.” (Matt. 8:23-27)

To reach the eternal shores of Heaven we have to cross the sea of this world. His Majesty taught us that the world will be against us. That is why the Gospel indicates that the disciples followed Him into the barque of St. Peter, which symbolizes the Church, after which a storm arose. Our journey to Heaven is very much like a sea voyage, meaning there will be moments of up and down on the high seas… times of calm and times of storm… times of hot and times of cold… enemies lurking about (even inside the barque itself) trying to sink or corrupt the ship… sharks circling in the waters… and so on. 

Spaghetti and Windmills: A Reply to Brother Linus on the Canonical Status of the SSPX

This guest article has been contributed by Kennedy Hall, replying to “The Canonical Status of the Society of Saint Pius X: A Theological and Canonical Assessment,” published here on July 28, 2026. As always, views are those of the author and do not represent the official stance of Rorate Caeli.

 

Introduction

 

On 29 July 2026, Rorate Cæli published a lengthy guest piece on the canonical status of the Society of Saint Pius X, written under the pen name “Brother Linus Pio” and presented as the fruit of several years of research. It is offered as a monograph. It concludes that the Society is schismatic, that its sacraments are criminal and sacrilegious, that its Masses do not satisfy the Sunday precept, and that Archbishop Lefebvre taught heresy.

 

New Fundamental Law of the Vatican City State, fully replacing Francis' 2023 version - Full English Translation

Fundamental Law of Vatican City State

31 July 2026

LEO XIV

The need to take into account new requirements of governance and certain important normative modifications that have occurred over the course of recent years prompts the issuance of a new Fundamental Law.

The Anti-Nice Faction is Fading in Rome: Archbishop Cordileone's Interview and the Need to Restore the Rights of the Latin Mass ("I don't know how well Cardinal Roche knows the mind of the Holy Father")

Archbishop Cordileone Celebrating the Traditional Mass

Good and proper American bishops are once again being recognized in Rome, and the nomination of Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone, of San Francisco, to the supreme tribunal of the Catholic Church, the Signatura Apostolica, by Pope Leo XIV last Saturday is just such an example.

The Avant-Garde Champion of Tradition: In Honor of Martin Mosebach on His 75th Birthday

The Avant-Garde Champion of Tradition:

In Honor of Martin Mosebach on His 75th Birthday

by Jan-Heiner Tück for Communio (original in German here)

The writer Martin Mosebach is a novelist of extraordinary worldly experience and descriptive skill, but also a Catholic intellectual who has made a name for himself through his public interventions. His most influential theological book, Häresie der Formlosigkeit (in English, The Heresy of Formlessness), is more than just a contribution to the liturgical debate. In it, Mosebach develops the thesis that form is not an external accessory, but rather the manifestation and vehicle of truth. The liturgy leads people into a reality greater than themselves: the mystery of the sacred. Where forms are experimented with recklessly, where sacred texts are replaced based on criteria of comprehensibility, Mosebach argues that not only the beauty of the liturgy but ultimately its theological substance is at risk of erosion.

Divine Worship Prefect Roche: “Leo will not change Traditionis or go back to Summorum.”

 From his interview to British Catholic periodical “The Tablet,” the words of Cardinal Roche are peremptory: 

“But no, Pope Leo is not going to change Traditionis Custodes, and he’s not going back to Summorum Pontificum.”

Meaning, the Traditional Latin Mass will remain in the Egypt of Captivity (Traditionis) and never return to the Promised Land of Liberty (Summorum).

The Last Communion of St. Jerome - a Book to be Reckoned With

by Fr. Richard Cipolla

for Rorate Cæli

Saint Jerome, El Greco (1590)
The Frick Collection

 The Frick Museum in New York City is not too far from the Metropolitan Museum of Art. And yet the venues are radically different. The Met is a large art museum with many rooms and lofty corridors and grand staircases.  But the Frick building was once a home, a large and lovely home indeed, one of the great mansions in New York City. The Frick mansion was built for the industrialist Henry Clay Frick in the mid 1920s in the Beaux Arts style. Frick built the home to house his art collection, mainly paintings, and planned for it to be an art museum after his death, which directive his wife and daughter fulfilled some years after his death.  The collection is amazing, including paintings from the late medieval period through the nineteenth century. My favorite room is the Living Hall, which includes paintings by Holbein, Giovani Bellini and Titian.  Above the fireplace in this room is the portrait of St. Jerome by El Greco. The artist paints St Jerome in full Cardinal’s robes. His face is somewhat gaunt, his hair and long beard are white, his cheek bones stick out, and his dark eyes gaze intently at someone or something just to his left. His face is a face of someone to be reckoned with. 

The recently published book on St. Jerome, written by Dom Basil Nixen, OSB, of the monastery of San Benedetto in Monte in Norcia, Italy, certainly “reckons with”  St. Jerome but in an unusual way. Its title is The Last Communion of St. Jerome.

The Canonical Status of the Society of Saint Pius X: A Theological and Canonical Assessment

[As usual, Rorate publishes different views and perspectives, in order to promote healthy debate. Publishing a guest piece does not mean editorial agreement, or disagreement, with it.]

The Canonical Status of the Society of Saint Pius X: A Theological and Canonical Assessment

by Brother Linus Pio (pen name of a Religious Brother)

Introduction

Justified, Schismatic, or Neither — The SSPX Consecrations and the Future

Justified, Schismatic, or Neither — The SSPX Consecrations and the Future

A guest article by James Baresel. 

James Martin's Gay Priest Moment: Yet We Remember the John Jay Report that identified 81% of the Abuse Victims as Boys

 

He did it. At last he did it. James Martin, the "LGBT"-obsessed Jesuit, has made a true encomium of "gay priests." 

They are everywhere in his newest propaganda piece: they are good, they are generous, they are kind. And, he emphasizes, they are "celibate" (God only knows how he would know that...)

Unlocking the Mysteries of the Song of Songs Through the Heart of Jesus Christ

If you’ve ever read the Song of Songs (also called the Canticle of Canticles) in the Old Testament, you probably had more than a few questions about it! What is this very sensuous book about a lover and a beloved doing in the canon of Scripture? 

Cardinal Fernández’s Opera Omnia (dissertationibus haud repertis): An Initial Report

A guest article by Fr. Romano Tommasi.

In 20 Years, 91 Monasteries Have Closed in France — None Among Those Whose Office Is Exclusively in Latin

 In 20 Years, 91 Monasteries Have Closed — None Among Those Whose Office Is Exclusively in Latin

 

By Michel Janva

Le Salon Beige

July 22, 2026

In 2026 alone — a year not yet finished — the Grande-Trappe de Soligny (Orne), the Carmel of Compiègne (Oise), and Notre-Dame du Port du Salut (Mayenne) have all closed.

A Vatican II Moment in Mexico

 1969? 1975?

No, this is the Year of Our Lord 2026, and this is still going on in the New Mass of Paul VI -- the liturgy that Francis called, "the sole expression of the lex orandi of the Roman Rite." (Traditionis custodes).

The July 18th Appeal of the French Faithful to the Bishops of France: Summorum Pontificum must be restored

Appeal of July 18, 2026, to the Bishops of France 

Lex Orandi Union

July 15, 2026

On July 18 [recte: 16], 2021, Pope Francis published the Motu Proprio Traditionis Custodes. Five years later, numerous voices are calling for the revision or suppression of that document, or are pleading for the restoration of Benedict XVI's Motu Proprio Summorum Pontificum. The urgency of such a measure is no longer in doubt, at a time when the Society of Saint Pius X has been struck by sanctions from the Church for having proceeded with the consecration of four bishops without a pontifical mandate. In France, however, the bishops are approaching this question with great caution. The Lex Orandi Union today calls upon them to abrogate the effects of Traditionis Custodes through concrete acts.

The Challenge of a Synod That Walks Away from Christ

The Challenge of a Synod That Walks Away from Christ

 

A guest article by the Canon of Shaftesbury. [This contribution expresses the opinions of its author and does not represent the official position of Rorate Cæli.]

 

Introduction

 

The superiors of the Society of Saint Pius X have argued that there exists a state of emergency in the Catholic Church. Those who deny this claim, who insist that all is well, that the concerns of the Society are exaggerated or unfounded, have, to employ a metaphor, buried their heads in the sand. The evidence is not obscure; it is visible in parishes, in chanceries, in synodal assembly halls, and in the documents these assemblies produce.

Facta Sunt Potentiora Verbis: Words and Deeds in the Law of the Church - Rome and the Écône Consecrations | Roberto de Mattei

By Roberto de Mattei

July 2026

It is the duty of every Christian to maintain coherence between words and deeds. But what happens when deeds contradict words? When, for example, one publicly proclaims respect for and obedience to the Roman Pontiff and then, in fact, publicly defies him before the entire Christian people — as occurred at Écône with the episcopal consecrations of July 1, 2026?

Quo Vadis, Domine? - "Lord, whither goest Thou?": Rome and the Society of Saint Pius X

 

by Côme de Prévigny

for Renaissance Catholique

July 16, 2026

On June 16th, Pope Leo XIV made a statement outside his residence at Castel Gandolfo concerning the Society of Saint Pius X, which was then preparing to consecrate four bishops without a pontifical mandate. The Pope affirmed that this decision grieved him, while concluding that he intended to press forward. "If they make that choice," he said, "it saddens me deeply, but we must move forward."

Move forward toward what?

Event: Pilgrimage in Manhattan With Traditional Mass Tomorrow

 There will be a pontifical high at the traditional pilgrimage of Our Lady of Mount Carmel in East Harlem July 18th. 

More details below:

Your Holiness, Tear Down This Wall ! It's time for Traditionis Custodes to fall.

Traditionis custodes, the cruel document of Francis that aimed to completely (even if gradually) annihilate the Traditional liturgy of the Latin Church, was promulgated on the Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, exactly five years ago.

Some Notes on Cardinal Fernández’s Mariology: “Ignorance of Scripture is Ignorance of Christ”[1]

Some Notes on Cardinal Fernández’s Mariology: “Ignorance of Scripture is Ignorance of Christ”[1]

 

A guest article by a priest who writes under the name Fr. Romano Tommasi.

 

The current prefect of the formerly known Roman Inquisition (Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith) has publicly highlighted his biblical studies and promoted his reputation as an academic, based upon his asserted thesis work at the Gregorian University.

Facing God, Rooted in Christ: The Latin Mass, Tradition, and Orthodoxy - by Abp. Agüer

Facing God, Rooted in Christ: On Tradition and Orthodoxy

By Archbishop Héctor Aguer

 Emeritus of La Plata, Argentina 

Buenos Aires, Monday, July 13, 2026

The always remembered Pope Benedict XVI — whom it is quite possible will one day be declared a Doctor of the Church — sought, through his Motu Proprio Summorum Pontificum of July 7, 2007, on the two uses of the one Roman Rite in its ordinary and extraordinary forms, to liberalize the celebration of the Mass commonly called "traditional," "Tridentine," "of Saint Pius V," or "the Mass of all time." He did so with the aim of contributing to liturgical peace and out of the respect owed to an ancient and venerable usage. In this way, any priest could celebrate the "Latin Mass" without need of special permissions and without risk of ideologically motivated reprisals from certain bishops.

Important - Communiqué: SSPX Files Appeal Against Excommunication Decree

 

The Society of Saint Pius X  (SSPX) filed an appeal against the decisions of the Prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF) -- a canonical possibility which we mentioned here the day following its publication.

Here is the Communiqué of the SSPX General House:

Communiqué of 13 July 2026.

Traditional Benedictines of Le Barroux Breathe New Life into Millenary Bellefontaine Abbey

 

Notre-Dame de Bellefontaine Abbey Finds a New Community: The Benedictines of Le Barroux Breathe New Life into a Thousand-Year-Old Monastery 

Philippe Marie 

Tribune Chrétienne

July 11, 2026

This Saturday, July 11th, Notre-Dame de Bellefontaine Abbey officially receives a new monastic community. For Dom Louis-Marie, Abbot of Le Barroux, the decision is above all the fruit of spiritual discernment: "From the beginning, it has been a matter of following the signs of heaven and the signs of the Lord."

Contribute to the Reconstruction of Church Burned Down After Overturning of Roe

 

On June 24, 2023, feast of the Nativity of Saint John the Baptist, and coincidentally* the first anniversary of Dobbs, the Supreme Court decision overturning the aberration of Roe v. Wade (which had made abortion a constitutional right), a Catholic church was the object of the wrath of arsonists in Orlando, Florida.

It was the Incarnation Catholic Church, a parish in the Ordinariate of the Chair of Saint Peter that came into the full communion of the Catholic Church after Anglicanorum Coetibus. 

Archbishop Pozzo, former head of Ecclesia Dei and Chief Negotiator: In 2018, It Was the Society That Refused the Agreement

 Archbishop Pozzo: In 2018, It Was the Society That Refused the Agreement 

By Stefano Chiappalone

La Nuova Bussola Quotidiana

July 7, 2026

The rupture at Écône is "a grave wound to the Church that could have been avoided" eight years ago: it was not the Apostolic See that closed the door, but the Society that demanded Rome acknowledge its own errors and rejected a Declaration that was "the fruit of common work," recalls the former Secretary of the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei.

The SSPX's Ecclesiology of Substitution: Part of the Whole, or a new Whole? — And the Problem with a Crisis that Never Ends.

 This long work by Father Clément Barré, a priest of the Archdiocese of Bordeaux, was published on May 28, 2026, not long before the episcopal consecrations of the Society of Saint Pius X (July 1st, 2026), but months after they had been announced. We post an English translation here for the record of events.

***

The SSPX's Ecclesiology of Substitution 

From the Distinction Between "True Rome" and "False Rome" to the Justification of Consecrations Without a Pontifical Mandate Based on Primary Sources of the SSPX (La Porte Latine, FSSPX Actualités, DICI)

by Father Clément Barré

Archdiocese of Bordeaux

Author's note: This article draws extensively on the work of Father Albert Jacquemain, whom we cite in the introduction. It is from him that we receive the thesis this study seeks to demonstrate.

Introduction

The Society of Saint Pius X, founded in 1970 by Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, presents itself officially as a work in the service of the Catholic and Roman Church, not as an alternative to it. 

Defiant SSPX Declares: "We are neither schismatic, nor disobedient."

 Well, the Pope might have a slightly different opinion on that...

A long article by their priest Fr. Daniele de Sorco on several aspects of current events:

Neither Schismatic Nor Disobedient

July 8, 2026

Faced with the profusion of statements, articles and interviews which present the Society of Saint Pius X as responsible for a fracture within the Church, for a very serious disobedience towards the Holy Father, or even for a real schism, it seems appropriate to write a few lines in order to provide some clarification.

Saint Hildegard of Bingen and the Ecclesiology of the FSSPX

by Raniero da Fiore, published at El Wanderer, July 3, 2026

from the visions of St. Hildegard of Bingen

The episcopal consecrations of the FSSPX and all the arguments for or against them have once again brought to the fore an old ecclesiological conviction held by Lefebvre’s followers: the opposition between a supposed “Eternal Rome”—traditional and orthodox—and a “Conciliar Rome”—modernist and heretical. This expression is hardly compatible with Catholic doctrine on the unity and indefectibility of the Church. No matter how great and profound the present crisis may be, it requires some serious theological juggling to justify it. However, it is not entirely without foundation. Its strength stems from a true intuition that, unfortunately, is often trapped within an inadequate doctrinal framework.

Écône: A Sign of Contradiction? - by Côme de Prévigny

 Écône: A Sign of Contradiction?

by Côme de Prévigny*

It has been repeated with evident satisfaction over the past few days: "The matter is settled. The schism is consummated. There is nothing more to expect from the SSPX." Very well. Granted. We should have turned the page by now. And yet the file stubbornly refuses to close and continues to occupy a prominent place in the news.

Nobody in Rome is Happier with the SSPX Consecrations than the unhinged Andrea Grillo

 

Andrea Grillo: the nemesis of the eucharistic innocence of St. Carlo Acutis -- and of the Traditional Latin Mass. The liturgy professor in the Anselmianum is widely considered the ghostwriter of the Francis document that shut down (with gradual pressure) the Traditional Mass, Traditionis custodes.

Newly Published Study of Vatican II Implementation Breaks New Ground in Historical Research, Answers Crucial Questions

People today often ask questions like: “What in the world happened at the time of Vatican II, that the Church seemed in such an unholy hurry to change? Why were the changes so drastic and so sudden? What were the causes, the motives, the expectations, the assumptions about reform and its expected fruits? Who were the main actors? Was it planned out or random? Who benefited (cui bono)? How responsible were the bishops for it, versus the middle managers, versus the laity?” and so forth. It can be very hard to disentangle so many threads. 

On the 19th Anniversary of Summorum Pontificum: State of Necessity

 by Paix Liturgique 

July 7, 2026

There is a topic that is rarely discussed by canonists or theologians, and even less so by pastors: Do the faithful have needs that the Church has failed to address?

Rome and the Econe Consecrations: a Dispassionate Analysis of What is at Stake

 Polarization and Isolation: 

What Can Be Expected of the Relationship Between Rome and the SSPX

by Serre Verweij

for Rorate Cæli

Leo XIV in Castel Gandolfo (July 5, 2025)

Orthodox Catholics are radically split over the Society of Saint Pius X, the consecration of its new bishops, and the excommunications that followed from Rome. Rather than adding yet another polemical perspective to an already heated debate, this analysis focuses on two key questions: how these events appear within the dynamics of Vatican politics, and what they can be expected to mean for the future of the SSPX, a future that, unfortunately, appears rather bleak at this juncture.

Whatever one's position on whether the excommunications were just or unjust, one thing has become indisputably clear: Rome is now treating the Society as a whole as engaged in schism. 

A Lifelong Catholic's Appeal to Bishops: Aren't We Trying to Square the Circle?

A Catholic from New Zealand sent a letter to the bishops of his country some time ago, hoping for a response. Having received nothing, not so much as a polite acknowledgment, he sent the letter to me and asked if I might publish it. I am pleased to do so, as this humble layman speaks for a million others who could have written the same thing. Until the bishops choose to unstop their ears and listen to the cry of the poor, the Church’s decline will be credited to them as unrighteousness on the day of judgment, when the Lord judges the quick and the dead.—Dr. Kwasniewski

Your Excellency:

I know you can’t tell us how the works of the Holy Spirit will unfold, but I write to you in a constructive and synodal spirit as a faithful yet confused Catholic, wondering what to think of the crisis in the Church of today, sixty years after the Second Vatican Council closed.

Bishop of Oslo on SSPX Consecrations: I understand you the faithful want the Latin Mass, I will expand its availability

Announcement from Bishop Fredrik Hansen on the "SSPX" and the Excommunications 

Diocese of Oslo

July 3, 2026

Dear brothers in priestly ministry,

Dear faithful,

(1) "By unity with the bishop of Rome, in fellowship and in the profession of the true faith, the Church of Christ is one flock under the supreme shepherd. This is the teaching of Catholic truth, and no one can depart from it without endangering his own faith and salvation" (Vatican I, Pastor Æternus, ch. III).

Editorial: Institutional Breakdown and the SSPX: In Negotiations, Both Sides Must Cede Some Ground

 [Posted on July 3rd]

Negotiations only reach successful results when both sides cede some ground.

The more vulnerable side also must recognize the imbalance of power: when the dominant party is generous, this should not be misinterpreted as weakness.

After the 1988 consecrations of four bishops, 12 long years were spent by the Society of Saint Pius X (SSPX) mostly ignored by the Holy See. There were contacts, but subdued.

1988 Address of Cardinal Ratzinger to the Bishops of Chile: On the Attitude of the Holy See Regarding the Lefebvre Movement

 Address to the Bishops of Chile: Unity in the Tradition of the Faith 

Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger

Wednesday, July 13, 1988

Caritas Retreat House, Santiago

(Cardinal Ratzinger at the Catholic University of Chile, July 12, 1988)

Dear and beloved brothers,

First of all, I wish to thank you most warmly for your kind invitation to visit your country, and also for offering me this occasion of fraternal encounter and dialogue. I harbor no illusion that one can come to know a country in a stay of only a few days; nonetheless, the opportunity to see the places where you labor, and to have in some measure the experience of the atmosphere of the Church's life in this land, is of great importance to me.

Active Participation and Stability – "Ars Celebrandi" Workshops Have Started in Licheń, Poland

The thirteenth edition of the Ars Celebrandi liturgical workshops started on Thursday, July 2, 2026, at the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Sorrows, Queen of Poland, in Licheń. These unique workshops, dedicated to the traditional liturgy of the Roman Catholic Church, are intended for priests, altar servers, and singers practicing Gregorian chant. Participants will learn all the skills necessary to celebrate Holy Mass in the classical Roman Rite, the Divine Office, devotions, sacraments, and sacramentalia.

Canonical Analysis: The 2026 DDF Decree on the SSPX

By the Canon of Shaftesbury, a judicial vicar in a major archdiocese. [This contribution is of the sole responsibility of its author; it does not represent the official position of Rorate Cæli.]

The question is whether the Decree and Explanatory Note issued by the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF) on July 2, 2026 actually accomplished what many have said, namely, the excommunication of six bishops, over seven hundred priests, and an unspecified number of the faithful. The short answer, reading the documents against the Code of Canon Law, is that they did not.