RORATE CÆLI

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

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

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

From Vatican News:

Liturgical shake-up today at the Vatican:

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

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

Catholicism in the American Experiment

By guest writer Mark Rose

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

The Theology of History in the Message of Fatima

Roberto de Mattei

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

Christian Theology of History

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

The Deceptive Tactics of the Silent Revolution

By Bishop Robert Mutsaerts

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

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

Gambetti Removed from the Vatican Basilica

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

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

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

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

Corrispondenza Romana

September 30, 2026

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

by Serre Verweij

for Rorate Caeli

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

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

***

Sermon for the Feast

by Father Richard Cipolla

Connecticut

From the book of Revelation:

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

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

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

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

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

Dear brothers and sisters,

Dear friends who are sick,

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

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

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

Gloria Patri, et Filio, et Spiritui Sancto!

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

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

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

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

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

Sixty Years of Nostra Aetate:

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

by Serre Verweij

for Rorate Caeli

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

The Supreme Destiny of Man

By Roberto de Mattei

Corrispondenza Romana
September 23, 2026

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

The Church of the Nihilists – guest article by Vigilius

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

The Church of the Nihilists

Vigilius

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

All details are found on the attached posters.

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

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

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

Dear brothers in the Episcopate,

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

The Church in Crisis — and How We Must Not Save Her

Twelve Issues, Uncomfortable Truths, and a Catholic Way Forward

Bishop Rob Mutsaerts

Auxiliary of 's-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands

September 16, 2026

I have good news and bad news for you. The bad news is that the Catholic Church is in crisis. The good news is that she has been here before. Indeed, anyone with even a passing familiarity with Church history sometimes gets the impression that crisis is one of the few genuinely enduring Catholic traditions. We have had corrupt popes, worldly bishops, heresies, schisms, revolutions, persecutions, and liturgical committees. And yet here we are.

Something is afoot.

What? We, the hoi polloi, do not know.

The Catholic Tradition No Longer Concealed by Memories Denied

Grateful for this insightful analysis via Facebook that aligns closely with many of my own experiences and diagnostics. A bishop’s remonstrance to his young priests urging they never allow the young people to see the “old Mass”, for fear they would prefer it to the new, comes to mind. The denial and concealment the enemies of the Faith used for many years is no longer possible with the collective access and common memory provided by the Internet.

A Marian Minimalism in Accordance with Mater Populi Fidelis:

The Case of Cardinal Müller

By Karen Darantière

for Rorate Caeli

The saddening doctrinal note Mater Populi Fidelis, promulgated a year ago by the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith and approved by Leo XIV, belittles the greatness of the Blessed Virgin by denying her Coredemption — that is, her participation in the acquisition of the graces of our salvation through the merits of her Compassion — as well as her universal mediation in the dispensation of graces. No one is surprised that Cardinal Fernández denies this traditional doctrine, given the lack of doctrinal credibility and moral authority of the Prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, despite the holy office he holds. On the other hand, more than a few Catholics will be surprised to learn that Cardinal Müller, who in recent years has acquired a reputation as a defender of the faith for certain praiseworthy positions on other subjects, has made remarks about the Blessed Virgin that are not in keeping with the perennial teaching of the Magisterium. He has clearly declared himself against the doctrine of Mary's Coredemption, and has written ambiguous pages on the dogma of her Perpetual Virginity.

Two local readers sent reports of the recent restrictions set on Latin Mass locations in the Archdiocese of Toronto, Ontario.

One of the readers sent us the following detailed report:

As announced from the pulpit in a prepared statement, in lieu of the homily on the 16th Sunday after Pentecost: Traditionis Custodes is taking effect at Toronto Oratory parishes effective immediately, including the Modern Roman Rite Mass replacing the Sunday Traditional Latin Mass on successive Sundays once a month at each parish.

Under the cruel regime of gradual annihilation of the Traditional Roman Rite set into motion by Francis' illegitimate motu proprio Traditionis custodes, of 2021, the Dicastery for Divine Worship (DDW) has to give "permission" to some kinds of celebrations, or to extend the "permission".

The DDW has just published the Summarium Decretorum of 2025, and this is the full list of permissions officially granted last year. Here are all the "permissions" granted for celebration according to the 1962 Roman Missal (the Extraordinary Form), extracted from the document and translated:

January 16 — Prot. N. 683/24, Diocese of Kalisz (Poland)
We gladly grant, for a further two years, permission to celebrate according to the Roman Missal promulgated by Saint John XXIII in 1962, in the parish church dedicated to God in honor of Saints Adalbert and Stanislaus, belonging to the Military Ordinariate of Poland, in the city of Kalisz.

January 16 — Prot. N. 10/25, Diocese of Siedlce (Poland)
We gladly grant permission to celebrate according to the Roman Missal promulgated by Saint John XXIII in 1962, in the parish church dedicated to God in honor of Saint Stanislaus, Bishop and Martyr, in the city of Siedlce.

January 16 — Prot. N. 15/25, Archdiocese of Taipei (Taiwan)

Leo XIV abrogates yet another Francis document

Leo XIV is not afraid to completely abrogate the measures adopted by his predecessor when he deems them unnecessary -- in this case, the reduction of stipends in the Holy See, including to Cardinals, and of pay increases, determined by this previous motu proprio.

Motu Proprio of His Holiness Pope Leo XIV

Vatican, September 1, 2026, the second year of the Pontificate

Assisted Suicide and The Despair of Our Time - by Roberto de Mattei

The Despair of Our Time

By Roberto de Mattei

Corrispondenza Romana
September 9, 2026

In recent days, news has surfaced of the approval in Veneto of a regional law regulating assisted suicide. Veneto is the fourth region to pass such legislation, but the first governed by a center-right administration. The fact therefore carries a political and cultural significance that extends well beyond regional borders: it shows how the principle of absolute self-determination has now penetrated coalitions that, at least nominally, are supposed to be committed to the defense of life, the family, and the natural order.

Rome Pilgrimage for Christ the King: No Mass in St. Peter's this year

The final program of the "Summorum Pontificum" Peregrinatio ad Petri Sedem (Rome) was made public today.

What is noteworthy is that, unlike last year, there will not be a Pontifical Mass at the Vatican Basilica; after the pilgrimage and prayers there, the Saturday Mass will be at Saint Mary Major. Also, both pontifical Masses will be celebrated by Bishop Schneider, and not a cardinal, as in the past years.

Sign of the times?...

Schedule of the Pilgrimage
Ad Petri Sedem
which will take place in Rome from october 23 to 25, 2026
(registration is not necessary to participate in the pilgrimage)

Friday October 23, 2026

Persecution and Censorship of Conservative Priest and Professor in Austrian Catholic College

Heiligenkreuz: Theologians Welcome the Exclusion of Father Waldstein

Kathpress

September 4, 2026

[Note: Kathpress is the official news agency of the Austrian Bishops’ Conference, dominated by extreme liberals, so their characterization of Father Waldstein should be read accordingly.]

Austrian theologians have expressed relief at the suspension of Father Edmund Waldstein from his teaching position at the Philosophisch-Theologische Hochschule Benedikt XVI in Heiligenkreuz.

Arouca Press is pleased to announce that they are now accepting pre-orders for their new sewn hardcover edition of Cardinal Bacci's Meditations For Each Day.

Professor Ratzinger Criticizes the Council

The following essay was published in German on July 4, 2020, by Michael Charlier at Summorum Pontificum but the topic is relevant again, so we have made it available in translation.—PAK

For all those who feel committed to the entire Catholic tradition, the Second Vatican Council is a difficult topic. On the one hand, we know that Vatican II could not have turned anything the Church has always taught upside down. On the other hand, we live in an environment where much seems to have been turned upside down—and we are told that this is precisely the will of the Second Vatican Council, which everyone is expected to acknowledge. And this is not being said by just anyone whose views one could easily dismiss, but by many professors of theology, almost all commentators in the Church media—and most bishops say it as well, or at least signal their tacit approval. Opposition to the “spirit of the Council” and what is passed off as such appears to be the ultimate “anathema” in a Church where one can otherwise say, doubt, or demand almost anything.

By François Savy, for Le Salon Beige

In his article À quand la paix liturgique ? (When will there be liturgical peace?), in the July-August 2025 issue (no. 382) of La Nef, Christophe Geffroy raised a question to which the consecrations recently conferred within the Society of Saint Pius X give particular prominence. In it, he championed the equality in "value and holiness" of the two forms of the Roman rite, and reproached the "priests who refuse any celebration of the new ordo" for contesting this value and holiness "because they judge this liturgy to be 'deficient'." However, it turns out that the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith specifically mentioned the "legitimacy of the Novus Ordo Missae" in the preamble to the procedure allowing clerics of the Society of Saint Pius X to return to full communion after the consecrations.

As far as I can judge, this notion of legitimacy applied to the liturgy is of relatively recent use. We were familiar with the classical notions of validity and liceity. It is Pope John Paul II who seems to have introduced it, through the voice of the Congregation for Divine Worship, with Quattuor abhinc annos (October 3, 1984), establishing as a condition for the faculty of using the indult:

Traditional Masses Celebrated or Attended by Archbishops this past Fortnight

This past fortnight, at least two additional diocesan bishops were involved in Traditional Mass activities.

In the new FSSP mission in San Jacinto church, in Guale, the local archbishop, Abp. Eduardo Castillo Pino, celebrated the Traditional Mass:

From Dante’s Inferno to Erasmus’s In Praise of Folly: Papal Magisterium in Support of Satire and Invective Against Popes

We thank Fr. Romano Tommasi, the pen name of a theologian, for this guest article.

Writers on this site often inveigh against hyper-papalism or ultramontanism, evaluated as vices. Pre- and post-Vatican II popes agree in principle and have even taught it magisterially in a way unfortunately overlooked.

Sermon for the 14th Sunday After Pentecost: Do Not Be Anxious

by Father Richard Cipolla

“Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you shall eat or what you shall drink, nor about your body.”

New bishop of West Virginia increases TLM locations from two to four*

By Mark Lambert via Twitter

This is genuinely encouraging news from the Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston. Bishop Evelio Menjívar has appointed Fr Timothy J. Grassi as Episcopal Delegate for Matters Concerning the Usus Antiquior explicitly “to foster greater unity among the Catholic faithful and provide for their various spiritual needs.”