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The traditional perspective on Vatican Council II Interview with Fr. Gabet, Msgr. SchmitzBrian Mershon April 4, 2006 This is the third and final part of a series of articles, taken from interviews with Msgr. Michael Schmitz, who is vicar general and provincial superior of the Institute of Christ the King, Sovereign Priest (ICKSP) in the U.S., and Fr. George Gabet, the North American District Superior for the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter (FSSP). As the previous articles have shown, much attention has been focused on the eventual plight of the Society of St. Pius X, especially in light of the...

Vatican II "in the Light of Tradition"? Pastoral Letter by Bishop Mark A. Pivarunas, CMRI Feast of Ss. Peter and Paul June 29, 1994 Dearly Beloved in Christ, In the past few years, there has been a rise in the number of conservative publications which attempt to excuse the chaos and confusion in the modern Church of Vatican II by the erroneous argument that there is nothing theologically wrong with the decrees of the Second Vatican Council and that the problems supposedly are caused by misinterpretations on the part of liberal priests, religious and laity. These publications enumerate the abuses...

Is the New Mass Really a Return to Patristic Sources? by Fr. Romano Thommasi When a man such as His Excellency Bishop Piero Marini finds himself in a unique position of authority, every action and every word that he speaks is normally seen as symbolic or indicative of an ideology held by the same man. In drafting a response to the interview granted by His Excellency Bishop Piero Marini to John L. Allen Jr. of the National Catholic Reporter, some first impressions and observations ought to be expressed before critiquing some very troubling phrases that supposedly issued from the good...

The Pius X and John XXIII Missals Compared Most Rev. Daniel L. Dolan Missal of St. Pius X Missal of John XXIII 1.Promulgated by a canonized saint who condemned Modernism, and composed with the collaboration of absolutely orthodox priests both learned and pious. 1. Promulgated by a pope who admitted that he was suspect of Modernism, the same pope who called Vatican II to "consecrate ecumenism" and open up the windows of the Church to "renewal". Composed under the direction of Ferdinando Antonelli, who signed the document promulgating the New Mass, and under the direction of Annibale Bugnini, the "Great...

SSPX Head Meets with Cardinal Castrillon Hoyos Remnant Press Release www.RemnantNewspaper.com Remnant Editor’s Note: The following is our translation of a press release of sorts which appeared on a web site operated by Una Voce Venice ( http://www.unavoce-ve.it/panorama08-12-05.htm). The news of a 5-hour meeting between Bishop Fellay of the SSPX and Cardinal Darío Castrillón Hoyos certainly suggests that something significant is afoot with respect to the ongoing negotiations between the Society of St. Pius X and the Vatican. We post it here sans further comment, other than that we look forward to an official statement from the SSPX on this...

Open Letter to Catholic Family News on Sedevacantism by Joseph C. Maurer August 30, 2005 OPPOSITION TO THE ANTI-SEDEVACANTISTS As a long time subscriber to Catholic Family News (CFN) I was both shocked and puzzled by the lengthy article by Christopher Ferrara in the August ’05 issue attacking sedevacantists—or, the “Enterprise”, as he calls them collectively. It is understandable that there might be differences of opinion and spirited debate on the subject of sedevacantism but I never imagined I would see an article in CFN that exhibited such a steady stream of personal disparagement, insult and mean-spirited hectoring. What ever...

JOHN Howard is thinking about his legacy. This week he commemorated the 60th anniversary of VP Day, laid the foundation for the final sale of Telstra and intensified his crusade to reform Australia's industrial system, a 20-year-old mission. It is a striking mixture of past and future. Howard is a cultural traditionalist and an economic liberal, a champion of the settled order and an advocate of a new economic vista. He invokes the old Australia and imagines a new Australia, a duality that still confounds his critics. Last Monday at our finest building, the Australian War Memorial, Howard invoked the...

WASHINGTON - (KRT) - When President Bush and his political allies say they want a Supreme Court justice who will "interpret" the law rather than "make" it, they mean one thing: a conservative. There are, however, different types of conservative philosophies in the legal world - including original intent, traditionalist and libertarian or "Constitution-in-exile" strains. The candidates rumored under consideration by the White House to replace retiring Justice Sandra Day O'Connor can't necessarily be pigeonholed in any one category. Still, the overall direction Bush sets could help determine how difficult the nominee's confirmation will be. Original intent conservatives, perhaps best...

As I have noted in several brief commentaries in the past three weeks since the election of Pope Benedict XVI, each Catholic must pray fervently for the Successor of Saint Peter. We are neither pessimists (sad idiots) or optimists (happy idiots). Catholics are called to grow in the Supernatural Virtues of Faith, Hope, and Charity with every beat of their hearts, consecrated as they must be to the Immaculate Heart of Mary and the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Although we must be concerned about the state of the Church in her human elements at present, we have to understand that...

We exhort young people, born into this society of audio-visually conditioned robots, to rise up against the reign of untruth. Leave television to its willing slaves; read the masters of your religious and national culture, read your mystics, your thinkers, your poets. Seek after truth, obey it as you would a sovereign, don’t let yourself be closed in by worldly or ecclesiastical conformity. To bind oneself unconditionally to an ideology or a religion, beyond what is just and unjust, is a properly satanic aberration. Totalitarian states that alternate between lies and violence (lies to cover up the violence, and violence...

I BIT MY TONGUE AND RESISTED the urge to fire off an angry email. Reading through an on-line discussion board for budding Catholic apologists like myself, I had come across a message written more with an excess of zeal than with a correct understanding of canon law. Granted, the offending message was written with the best of intentions, and I also admired the offending author as a competent biblical apologist when it came to defending the Catholic faith against Protestant challenges. Nevertheless, this apologist’s competency with the Bible didn’t extend to the Code of Canon Law. And the question had...

Dear pilgrims of Notre-Dame, [snip] The Christian life is a pilgrimage, often painful, which passes through Golgotha, but is illumined by the splendours of the Spirit. And which leads to glory. Oh! We may well be persecuted, but I forbid that we be pitied. For we belong to a race of exiles and voyagers, gifted with a prodigious power of invention, but refusing—that is its religion—to be distracted from the things of Heaven. [snip] If we seek to pacify the earth, to beautify the earth, it is not in order to replace Heaven, but so that the earth be Heaven’s...

Una Voce Federation Announces Support of Juventutem Festival 2005 In response to the invitation of His Holiness, Pope John Paul II, youth attached to the traditional Latin liturgy (Mass of St. Pius V) will organize a festival in Cologne, Germany as part of World Youth Day 2005 (WYD) between August 10-21. The Juventutem festival will consist of a delegation of youth led by Mgr. Fernando Rifan, Apostolic Administrator of the Union of St John Vianney and Bishop of Campos, Brazil. Young people from more than 20 countries are expected to join the bishop. Chaplains to the delegation will be provided...

Though many think traditionalist Catholics are "stuck in the Dark Ages," "old fashioned," or whatever similar label that will be used, two new daily Missals are about to be released that used state-of-the-art typsetting technology in the production process. Both use the 1962 juxta typica (typical edition) of the Missale Romanum, the last edition released before the Novus Ordo. The first one that will be released is the 1962 Roman Catholic Daily Missal, which is published by Angelus Press, which is based in Kansas City, Missouri, USA. Angelus, which is affiliated with the Society of St. Pius X, has produced...

On Papalotry by Dr. William Marra Editor's note: This is edited transcript of a portion of the speech “Alternative to Schism” given at the Roman Forum Conference in August, 1995. In this presentation, Dr. Marra presents a clarification that will help Catholics to think critically and correctly, when confusing and contradictory statements emanate from even the highest authorities in the Church. Belief and Obedience My great teacher, Dietrich von Hildebrande wrote four outstanding books on the present crisis in the Church. Recently, his latest book, The Charitable Anathema was published. I wish we could mail a copy to Rome. A...

New Book Makes Canon Law Accessible to Laity FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Catholic PRWire From time to time, all Catholics have them: nagging questions about church life, often prompted by some personal encounter or challenging situation: Is a layperson allowed to preach a homily? Is a pastor required to report to someone regarding parish finances, or is he on his own? It seems like the parish council is running your parish. Does it have the authority to do so? Must a child be baptized in a church, or may the baptism take place at home? If I obtain an annulment, does...

In his formation as a Jesuit Martin received three earned doctorates in Semitic languages, archaeology and Oriental history and was subsequently made Professor of Semitic Languages at the Pontifical Biblical Institute in Rome . Ordained in 1954 Martin was a top-level advisor to Popes John XXIII and Paul VI as well as working closely with the Jesuit Cardinal Bea. Martin worked in the Vatican ’s intelligence division and conducted secret missions into Eastern Europe to fund the oppressed Church which suffered under Communism . Martin left the organizational Church in 1964 and resigned from the Society of Jesus but he...

Intro: Qui vivra, verra I DEFENCE OF ROMAN RITE II POLEMON OR PEACE? III REALITY OR LEGALITY? Concl: Devotion Intro: Qui vivra, verra I am grateful to be invited to speak publicly in my native land, this being my first opportunity as little of my adult life has been spent in England. I am all the more grateful in that the subject requested is that of the traditional Latin Mass, to wit, the Roman Rite ever old and ever new. The Novus Ordo, on the other hand, is an innovation which is, as yet, too amorphous to be regarded as...

Traditionalist crisis draws cautious Vatican response Vatican, Sep. 13 (CWNews.com) - Responding to a crisis within the schismatic Society of St. Pius X, Vatican officials are declining to make any official statement, but quietly reminding traditionalist priests that they can reconciled with the Holy See. Divisions within the Society of St. Pius X (SSPX) in France reached a peak on September 5 when the traditionalist group's leader, Bishop Bernard Fellay, announced the expulsion of two French priests who had criticized the Society's leadership. The expelled clerics-- led by Father Philippe Laguérie, the pastor of a large French traditionalist community-- had...

September 10, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) - A study by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life says that the relationship between religious affiliation and political views is more complex than at first appears. Evangelical Christians, Mainline Protestants and white Roman Catholics were polled for their opinions on a variety of political issues for Pew's Fourth National Survey of Religion and Politics. In general the results show what pro-life activists have known by experience. What are referred to as 'religious traditionalists,' those who adhere closely to the official teachings of their religions, are more likely to hold similar beliefs between religious...