Free Republic

German priest: Pope Francis’ fight against the Latin Mass is ‘a fight against the Church’‘Francis is concerned with the rejection of Church tradition as a whole’ with his rejection of the Latin Mass and his approach to the liturgy, Fr. Joachim Heimerl said.Cardinal Burke offering a Latin Mass at the Guadalupe shrine December 11, 2021, La Crosse Wisconsin, 2021.This essay by Fr. Joachim Heimerl was originally published in German on the blog of Italian journalist Marco Tosatti. It has been translated and reprinted by LifeSiteNews with the permission of Marco Tosatti.(LifeSiteNews) — Anyone who has wondered why Francis not only...

[Catholic Caucus] Sister Wilhelmina’s Strong Determination to Do God’s Will As Evil Tries to Destroy the ChurchIn God’s Will: The Life and Works of Sr. Mary Wilhelmina, Foundress of the Benedictines of Mary, Queen of Apostles, Sister Wilhelmina’s religious community wrote of her “marching song”:“She developed a deep and trusting abandonment to Divine Providence. As an old nun, she would walk the halls of the convent, beating time with her cane and chanting her ‘Marching Song’: God’s will, God’s will, God’s will be done! Praise be the Father! Praise be the Son! Praise be Divine Love, Lord Holy Ghost! Praised...

[Catholic Caucus] Modern US Religious Vocations PlummetingTraditional liturgy flourishingReligious vocations across the United States are plummeting, a new report shows, with 87% of religious communities reporting nobody taking perpetual (lifelong) vows in 2023. Fewer individuals are entering the age range typically associated with discerning a religious vocation.Compounding the issue, aging religious communities are increasingly faced with the challenge of sustaining their ministries while also providing care for their older members. The dwindling number of younger members entering these communities exacerbates the difficulty of providing this care.Tradition on the RiseStill, some traditional organizations dedicated to the priesthood are demonstrating greater success...

[Catholic Caucus] German diocese led by head of bishops’ conference ordained zero priests in 2023It is the first time in the history of the Diocese of Limburg — since 1821 — that no priests have been ordained in an entire year.LIMBURG, Germany (LifeSiteNews) — A diocese in Germany led by the head of the nation’s bishops’ conference ordained zero priests for the first time in history in 2023.The Diocese of Limburg in western Germany is led by Bishop Georg Bätzing, who has spearheaded the “Synodal Way” of the German bishops’ conference, and is known for his heretical stances on moral...

[Catholic Caucus] Panama Bleeds: A Story of Tradition Persecuted and RestoredA traditional Catholic activist in Panama sent me the following report on what is happening in his country. It was first published at my Substack, Tradition & Sanity, on December 11, 2023. It’s important for those of us who live in countries where the Latin Mass is more plentifully available to learn about the hardships of our brethren who are suffering under bishops even more cruel and heterodox than our own, and to pray for them.—PAKDecember 13, 2020: First Holy Mass with the SSPX, in an apartment into which more...

[Catholic Caucus] “The Principle of Tradition in the Liturgical Life of the Church”: Lecture by Bishop Athanasius SchneiderSt Clement & St BasilLecture given at the Pax Liturgica Meeting at the Augustinianum in Rome, October 27, 2023, by Bishop Athanasius Schneider, Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of St. Mary in Astana. The lecture was given in English; Rorate is grateful to His Excellency for sharing the transcript. The video may be found here. - PAKThe Roman Church is the mother and teachers of all other particular churches because of the primacy of St. Peter and his successors, the Roman Pontiffs. From...

[Catholic Caucus] Brazilian priest accused of schism faces canonical proceedingsA Brazilian priest is facing canonical proceedings after his archdiocese said he had made schismatic statements and ignored restrictions on the use of pre-conciliar liturgical rubrics.The Archdiocese of São Paulo announced Nov. 29 that it would open a preliminary investigation into the priest’s alleged schismatic activity, and at the same time, remove Fr. Fábio Fernandes from Our Lady of Sorrows church in the Barra Funda district of the city of São Paulo, where he serves as pastor.A Nov. 23 decree signed by Cardinal Odilo Scherer, the Archbishop of São Paulo, said...

[Catholic Caucus] Sacrosanctum Concilium Turns 60IntroductionTurning 60 can be traumatic: all of a sudden retirement looms on the horizon, less than optimal physical fitness or even the prospect of bad heath beckons—if it has not already caught up with us in one way or another. Our busy lives may still be filled with activity, but turning sixty raises the inevitable question: for how much longer?But what of the Second Vatican Council’s Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, Sacrosanctum Concilium—the much-vaunted first-born child of the Council, as it were, and certainly the one which has had the greatest impact on the lives...

[Catholic Caucus] St. Louis Archdiocese Closes Thriving Traditional Latin Mass ParishIt has been months since more than a dozen parishes in the St. Louis Archdiocese submitted appeals to the Vatican in the hopes of keeping their doors open, and now Rome has agreed to hear the appeal of two parishes: St. Elizabeth Mother of John the Baptist Parish and Sts. Philip and James Parish.Back in May, St. Louis Archbishop Mitchell Rozanski announced that 178 individual parishes are being consolidated into 134. The archdiocese is also preparing to assess the future of nearly one-third of its elementary grade schools. The archdiocese...

Why is Whoopi Goldberg praising Pope John XXIII and bashing the Latin Mass?The radical feminist's comments after visiting Pope Francis were strange considering her history of abortion and her contempt for the Catholic Church.Oddly enough, Goldberg thanked the late John XXIII, who died in 1963, for his efforts to change the church as well.“For me as a little kid, [John XXIII] allowed the sisters to come out of the very heavy, big habits that they were wearing so that they looked like people — so you could talk to them,” she told Vatican News.“And he loved music that different people...

[Catholic Caucus] Prof. de Mattei backs Fr. Murr’s claims about the 1978 Vatican investigation into Freemasonry'I know some of the facts and knew some of the main characters described in Don Murr’s book and can confirm the absolute historical accuracy of the events the author himself witnessed,' de Mattei wrote in the forward to Fr. Charles Murr's book.Professor Roberto de Mattei, a well-respected Italian historian and traditional Catholic, has written a preface (see full text below) to the Italian edition of Father Charles Murr’s book on the 1978 Vatican investigation into ecclesial freemasonry, confirming the essential elements of Murr’s account....

The "Unique Expression of the Roman Rite" in the Wild: New Zealand Priest Ad-libbing Eucharistic PrayerRecently a priest in New Zealand offered a NOM where he completely ad-libbed the Eucharistic Prayer at the funeral Mass for a religious Sister of Mercy. This happened in the Palmerston North diocese, which, in a moment of supreme irony, recently had its only diocesan TLM (apart from the SSPX) suppressed by the modernist Cardinal John Dew and retired bishop Peter Cullinane. The Roman Rite was canceled, and in its place, the "unique..." something or other is allowed to express itself.The Funeral Directors site livestreamed...

The 1978 Investigation into Vatican Freemasonry, pt. IIAbove: Albino Luciani, John Paul I.Read part I here.Some light at the end of the tunnel shone with the more positive reception of Archbishop Gagnon’s evidence, with the next Pontiff, John Paul I. The new Holy Father did not waste time and did not put off Gagnon’s request to present his report. Unlike the previous Pontiff, the new Holy Father cut to the chase and said what needed to be said, after seeing Gagnon’s evidence:Freemason bishops? Any Catholic—lay or cleric—who enters Freemasonry, incurs automatic excommunication. Canon 2335.The following are more excerpts to illustrate...

The 1978 Investigation into Vatican Freemasonry: Discovering the Smoke of SatanIn its foreword, Murder in the 33rd Degree by Father Charles Murr, stipulates that since 1738 with Pope Clement XII’s encyclical, Eminenti Specula, the church’s condemnation of Freemasonry had remained the same, best expressed in the 1917 Code of Canon Law, Canon 2335: “Those giving their name to masonic sects or other associations of this sort that machinate against the Church or legitimate civil powers contract by that fact excommunication simply reserved to the Apostolic See.” The author of the foreword, an unnamed, “friend and brother priest,” concludes, “Thus, if...

Dominican Theologian Attacks Catholic Tradition (Part 3): Getting Our Dogmatic Facts Straight(See Part 1 and Part 2.)Third argument: the Novus Ordo is nothing other than a revised Roman riteFr. Donneaud writes:The missal of Paul VI is simply a revised and reformed version of the Roman rite that has always existed. The changes to the missal introduced by Paul VI were no more than a return to earlier features of the Roman rite. Dr. Kwasnieswki’s assertion that the missal in use prior to the missal of Paul VI cannot be suppressed because it contains the immemorial Roman Rite is therefore baseless,...

[Catholic Caucus] Dominican Theologian Attacks Catholic Tradition (Part 2): On the Novus Ordo as the “Sole Form” of the Roman Rite"One missal to rule them all..."(See Part 1.)(II) Fr. Donneaud on the Novus Ordo as the sole form of the Roman RiteIn addition to his general theological case against traditionalism, Fr. Donneaud argues in support of Pope Francis’s actions in Traditionis custodes and against Dr. Kwasniewski on the basis of specific factual assertions about the Novus Ordo. These arguments, which form a large part of his case, do not depend on his general theological position, and are very commonly made...

[Catholic Caucus] Neocatechumenal Way: Thanks God Benedict XVI Is Gone“The only solution was for the Pope to die. He did not die, he resigned. Thank God” - Kiko Argüello told Archbishop San Juan de Puerto Rico Roberto Octavio González Nieves during a meeting on vocations.The words of the founder of the Neocatechumenal Way are immortalised in a 2017 video. On other occasions, Kiko has referred to Benedict XVI’s resignation as a "gift from Our Lady".Argüello added that it was Bergoglio’s election that saved him, because Benedict XVI had asked his group to eliminate liturgical abuses, but – not surprisingly -...

[Catholic Caucus] Sacrilegious Disaster: the Opening Mass for World Youth DayAbove: the “carefully crafted spirituality itinerary” graphically depicted from the WYD website. After a brief hiatus due to “COVID” (which I prefer to pronounce by its traditional spelling, communism) the World Youth Day (WYD) is back!This year it is taking place in Lisbon, Portugal and the opening Mass was celebrated on August 1 with a crowd of tens of thousands of pilgrims. Before I dive into all the fruits of the New Springtime that were on display, I would like to accentuate the positives.In the first place, it is edifying...

[Catholic Caucus] Latin and Liturgical ParticipationWhen told his movie The Producers was vulgar, Mel Brooks quipped “It rises beneath vulgarity.” That anecdote came to mind in reference to one of the most telling attempts to defend the restrictions placed on the Tridentine Mass over the past two years—an attempt which rose beneath ignorance to reveal that the foundation of the anti-Tridentine position is incompatible with Catholic dogma.In their now-notorious series of articles, Father Thomas Weinandy, John Cavadini and Mary Healy gave the game away in two simple sentences: “Without the vernacular, the active, vocal, intelligible participation [making responses together with...

[Catholic Caucus] French traditional Dominican nuns being forced to embrace Novus Ordo; community suffering lossesThe organization Paix Liturgique has been following the drama in France concerning this community of traditional Dominican nuns, who, it appears, are being forced to embrace the Novus Ordo and who, as a result of community instability, are faltering and suffering. Translation of Letter 946bis (source) by Dr. John Pepino. - PAKThis time it's certain: the new Mass—"celebrated worthily," course!—is coming, discreetly but surely, into all the houses of the Institute of the Dominican Sisters of the Holy Spirit, i.e. the mother house in Pontcallec (diocese...