Editorial: Doctrine can never be bartered (and the indelible influence of Michael Davies)

Editorial: Radicati nella fede, January 2015

Newsletter of the Catholic community of

Vocogno, Diocese of Novara, Italy

It has finally arrived. It came like a kind of unexpected Christmas gift - it was so long in coming. It comes as a beneficial gift for those who want to profit from it. What, you might ask, has arrived? The Italian version of “The Liturgical Revolution - Cranmer’s Godly Order”* by Michael Davies – that’s what’s arrived!

Over the past years we have given ample extracts from it on this bulletin and on our blog, but we needed the complete publication in Italian. Now, thanks be to God, we have it!

This first editorial of the year, is simply a heartfelt invitation for many to take this fine work into their hands and delve into it. Since our encounter with Davies’ writings was fundamental, we urge this in a warm way. We cannot say that they were the only motive for our passing to the Old Rite, but undoubtedly they contributed in clarifying the reasons for it definitively.

10-year anniversary of the death of a legend

Today marks the 10-year anniversary of the death of Michael Davies. For those who have been in the traditional movement for decades, this legend of the fight for restoration needs no introduction. For those who are new to tradition, you may have no idea what this man means for you today, unless you read an account of his life and tireless work on behalf of the Church.

We bring you on this day this special piece that ran in The Remnant years ago -- a paper for which Mr. Davies wrote extensively. The article is written by Editor Michael Matt, who knew and loved Mr. Davies deeply.

Please read this and pray for the repose of the soul of Michael Davies.

The Last Letter from London

   By Michael Matt, The Remnant 

10 years without Michael Davies:II- The Extraordinary Life and Times of Michael Davies, Latin Mass Hero - and a list of his works

Michael Davies – “A Writer to Cherish”

Leo Darroch*

Michael Treharne Davies was born on 13th March 1936.  His father, a Welshman, was a Baptist and his mother, who was English, was a member of the Church of England. On leaving school in 1954 at the age of eighteen he joined the British Army as a regular soldier and served in Malaya, Egypt, and Cyprus. There is one comment in his army service records that is of particular interest.  In August 1957 his commanding officer stated that,

10 Years Without Michael Davies - I - Protestant Liturgical Revolution as Precursor of Catholic Upheaval

Michael Davies in 1959. He was 23 at the time,
and a recent convert from a Protestant background.

Motu proprio notes: Remembering Michael Davies

Remembering a past note, first posted on April 4, 2006:

Some thoughts of Michael Davies (Requiescat in pace) recently crossed our mind. At first, we could not find the link to them -- but it was a sure bet that we would be able to find the piece through the archives of the greatest Catholic news source in English, Seattle Catholic.

Michael Matt, the editor of The Remnant, recalled some of Davies' most controversial convictions near the end of his life:

I make no secret of the fact, for example, that I questioned (and still question) Michael's dogged defense of Cardinal Ratzinger. Over the years and to Michael's dismay, I published criticisms of some of the Cardinal's more perplexing statements. But I can also assure the reader that there was much more to that story. As someone who took issue with him on this very point, I hasten to set the record straight—Michael Davies, through it all, had only the best interest of traditional Catholics at heart. And here's what I mean: He firmly believed (and had been assured on numerous occasions) that Cardinal Ratzinger is "on our side" and would do all in his power, short of touching off a schism in Rome, to gradually turn things in Tradition's favor. All His Eminence required of us was patience and time.

Some of us were (and are) skeptical. But, as Michael saw it, the Cardinal had demonstrated enough good will on our behalf to justify our giving him the benefit of the doubt, i.e., the Cardinal's foreword to Msgr. Gamber's book; the Cardinal's historic rehabilitation of Pat Morely and the Honolulu Six who had been placed under interdict for "formal adherence" to the SSPX; the Cardinal's public celebration of the Tridentine Mass on occasion; the Cardinal's willingness to meet personally with traditionalists, etc.

Whether we can bring ourselves to accept the Cardinal's assurances that he is "on our side" is not at issue. What is at issue is that Michael believed that the Cardinal believed he was our ally. His great "sin", then, was to take his friend, the Cardinal, at his word; but this was very much the British thing to do. There was no conspiracy or dark and dastardly plotting going on behind the scenes. Michael simply believed, based on private meetings with His Eminence (to which none of us was privy, by the way), that the Cardinal would prove an invaluable ally to us all. What of it? Wouldn't it be grand!

As we sit and wait, and see apparent signs, like Caesar across the Rubicon, we must wonder: was Michael Davies right? The die is cast, and there is nothing we can do but pray -- "patience and time" (and prayer) are all it takes.