OP-ED: "To Ross Douthat, With Affectionate Correction", by Fr. Richard Cipolla - Church Crisis, the True Battle, and Sacred Liturgy

To Ross Douthat, With Affectionate Correction

Fr. Richard G. Cipolla, DPhil

Paolo Veronese - The Wedding Feast at Cana (1563) - Musée du Louvre

It is certainly true, as has been observed on Rorate Caeli, that Ross Douthat’s Erasmus Lecture for First Things has caused quite a stir in traditional Catholic circles.  Msgr. Pope’s article bemoaning the lack of growth in the presence of the Traditional Mass in the Church has also gained the attention of Traditional Catholics, but that article lacks the depth and urgency that is contained in Douthat’s lecture. Many of us have admired his Op-Ed pieces in the New York Times, often wondering how he achieved his position amidst the quintessential Liberal Establishment embodied by that paper of record.  His skirmish with the Catholic theologians (and I have refrained from putting theologians in quotation marks out of some sense of objectivity, despite my belief that there may no longer be any Catholic theologians, for Catholic theologians have to be immersed in the Tradition, and there do not seem to be any who are so today) is an example of the proper role of the laity in the Church as encouraged by the Second Vatican Council. 

For the record: full text of Ross Douthat's "A Crisis of Conservative Catholicism" now online.

In recent days two articles have provoked much discussion about the true state of both Catholic Traditionalism and Catholic Conservatism. The first is Msgr. Charles Pope’s article “An Urgent Warning About the Future of the Traditional Latin Mass” which argues, on the basis of anecdotal evidence, that not only are the numbers attending the TLM not growing, but that these might soon decline. I hope to find time to say something about this in the coming days. 

"The Next Synod is a Battle between Christ and the Antichrist: - On whose side will you stand?"

Luca Signorelli
Preaching and Deeds of the Antichrist (c. 1500 - detail)
Orvieto Cathedral, Cappella Nuova

Alessandro Gnocchi continues to be one of best commentators on the present state of the Church.  The following excerpt from his column in La Riscossa Cristiana is an example of his determination to see things as they are.  Gnocchi uses strong words that provoke thought:

Quaecumque sunt vera . . . .

Cardinal O'Connor, the Pharisee

Cardinal O'Connor, Archbishop of New York - New York Post, January 11, 1993