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Stop the pretension that "we don't get your message." We get you message alright. We absolutely reject your analysis and your conclusions as we should.

You take some valid complaints (moving or hiding of tabernacles, removal of communion rails, communion in the hand, substitution of Kumbaya musical pablum or worse for chant and polyphony, pink palace seminaries subsidized and encouraged by lavender bishops and enablers, and add to those a group of hysterical and unfactual claims such as "our theologies have been scrapped", "there is not a single sacrament that has not been overhauled," "our Catholic literature has been scrapped" (really? There are numerous Catholic publishing houses in America such as TAN right here in Rockford which seem to have little problem printing or selling reprints of hard-core Catholic classics), and add to those your complete fantasies as to the notion that soon enough nothing will remain of the original rosary, the Mass has been Protestantized (do we know of any actual Protestant faith that believes that it makes the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross immanent upon the altar as does the rubric of both the Tridentine and the Novus Ordo?).

The piece de resistance is the total lapel-grabbing style (Don't you realize, man, unless you agree with UR that JPII is a heretic and a stooge and a marionette of the international Protestant conspiracy, the international Islamic conspiracy and the international pagan animist conspiracy and maybe even a closet Hebrew (?) since he sends not armies to convert them at the point of a sword, all rolled into one, you are going straight to hell?) Your style seems much closer to that of the interminably self-righteous preachiness of many but thankfully not all of our separated brethren of the deformation variety and of the subtype who take it as their mission to save Catholics from the Scarlet Beast or whatever.

In addition to taking your meds more regularly, I offer the unsolicited advice that you ought to realize that one CAN TOO be both Catholic and socially normal, all at once. Really!

The parish (actually the oratory) to which I and my family belong has only Tridentine Masses (I often attend Novus Ordo elsewhere to remain in touch with the more dominant strain of the Church) and sacraments only according to the Tridentine rite, and communion received only on the tongue, only on the knees and (save for extreme age or handicap) only at the altar rail, only orthodox sermons, with all of our kneelers quite intact, thank you very much, with chant and polyphony and nary a rendition of Kumbaya songs, any of them, TAN has book tables in the basement for the parishioners to purchase all manner of orthodox books as well as Tridentine missals, mantillas which are expected attire for the girls and ladies, rosaries, etc. Neither our pastor nor our saintly Bishop Thomas Doran are describable as apostates. Neither the Koran nor the Togo forest appear in our Oratory. Our parishioners are mostly calm, cool and collected p[eople who feel no desperate desire for personal attention. They live Catholic lives and raise Catholic families without all the hysteria exhibited in other quarters. If you cannot find such a facility near you, you are welcome here if you can restrain yourself from the pope-bashing which is NOT welcome here. If Rockford is not your cup of tea, there are many other "faith communities" like it in many parts of the country and the number increases regularly.

You might consider a different tack: kwitcherbellyachin' and take advantage of the opportunities which have grown under the pope you love to deride. Put your life where your mouth or keyboard is. Personally, I don't care if JPII does an Irish Jig in Outer Mongolia as the centerpiece of a hootenanny or folk music concert with a balloon festival and dancing bears and jugglers nearby. I trust his judgment. You should too.

As you ought to realize, it is very, very lonely out there without a pope and trying, Protestant-style to run a do-it-yourself magisterium.

Do we know of any actual Protestant faith that believes that it makes the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross immanent upon the altar as does the rubric of both the Tridentine and the Novus Ordo?

High Church Anglicanism believes in that same sacrifice while trying to reconcile the Mass with Reformed theology. It is invalid, but they believe it all the same.

Many Anglo-Catholic churches in England also celebrate the Novus Ordo, omitting only references to the Pope in the eucharistic prayers.

The problem with the Church is not one of Protestantization per se. The problem appears to be that most dioceses are trying to recreate the Anglican experiment of reconciling fundamentally inconsistent theologies within one Church.

You make some interesting points. But surely you realize that TAN and Ignatius Press sprang up in response to the scrapping of Catholic literature everywhere. Go to any Catholic college library: the shelves are bare of anything published before Vatican II.

As to the protestantizing of the Mass--it is beyond dispute. The altar is now a table facing the people; the text and rubrics suppress acknowledgement of the Real Presence as well as the sacrificial nature of the Mass. The old sacrificial structure has been eliminated. Instead of the oblation (Offertory), immolation (Consecration) and consummation (Communion), we have a Paschal Meal, exactly as with the Lutheran or Methodist Lord's Supper worship service--despite the fact that this had been precisely condemned by Trent. The condemnation, by the way, explains the liturgical animus against the old Mass and against the Council of Trent itself. In fact, the modern liturgists don't even bother with making the language of the text other than Protestant. Open any text for the Lutheran Lord's Supper and it will correspond in great part to the new Catholic Mass. Protestant hymns have been incorporated by Catholics, Protestant vestments are worn by priests, and the Protestant focus on the assembly is identical.

No, I don't believe John Paul II is a heretic, though he most probably has performed materially heretical acts. But these were not deliberately committed in my estimate: hence he is not in a formally heretical condition. But I will admit that more and more it seems a close call. He is, after all, a smart man, a philosopher. He must realize the scandalous nature of his acts when he prays with rabbis and mullahs and animists and places their beliefs on the same level as our own revelation.

As for my "bellyachin", that's not liable to cease as long as this website is available. It's a way for me to get the message out. Too many Catholics are totally unaware of what's actually happening. They, like you, think everything's fine where they're at, so it must be that way everywhere else. Your I'm-okay-Jack attitude doesn't cut it when other Catholics find their kids in parochial schools are being introduced to texts on sado-masochism and oral sex because some bishop wants to justify his "sexual preference". This is happening in many dioceses all over the country despite parental protests and despite the outrageous scandals. So I'm glad you're fine. But unless somebody like me complains, those problems might be on your own doorstep some day. Then I'm willing to bet you will be as outraged and angry about what's happening as I am.

They live Catholic lives and raise Catholic families without all the hysteria exhibited in other quarters. If you cannot find such a facility near you, you are welcome here if you can restrain yourself from the pope-bashing which is NOT welcome here. If Rockford is not your cup of tea, there are many other "faith communities" like it in many parts of the country and the number increases regularly.

1. Simply living Catholic lives has been one of the worst casualties of the post-Vatican II revolution. Of course this is what we should all be doing. Do our jobs, raise our families, create souls to populate heaven. No need for every layman to be an amateur theologian. But I'm sure you're aware that raising Catholic children today is like walking through a minefield. And if you only listen to official church sources, it's like walking through that minefield blindfolded.

2. It is simply false to claim that there are MANY communities like yours. Out of the tens of thousands of parishes in the US, there are perhaps half a dozen. Even among the FSSP parishes, only a few are canonically established, meaning the indult could be withdrawn from the others at a moment's notice. Your parish sounds like heaven. But only a tiny fraction of US Catholics have access to a comparable situation. You seem remarkably unfeeling towards the rest.

3. Not only is your community practically unique in the United States, half the dioceses in the US have never implemented the indult at all. A woman who works for The Latin Mass magazine cannot herself attend the Latin Mass because in the well-populated part of California where she lives, the closest Latin Mass is 3 hours away. Are you telling these people to "quit your bellyaching"? Is every Catholic in the US required to move to Rockford, IL?