Posted on 07/05/2026 7:15:51 PM PDT by ebb tide
Dear Reader: Amazing, isn’t it? I can’t think of another situation which has been so poorly, even disastrously handled, although the East-West schism of 1054 might qualify.
The SSPX maintains that the Church is in a state of extraordinary crisis, and that it is impelled by the duty of fidelity to God to take the actions it has taken. The Holy See seems in denial about that ‘state of extraordinary crisis.’ I find that denial interesting. Just within the last few days of this writing I have read about a London church—a Catholic church—in which a public Mass was celebrated for the fiftieth anniversary of a particular couple. Two bishops were present and concelebrating, the main celebrant was a priest friend of the couple, the homily was preached by a Cardinal of the Holy Roman Church (Timothy Cardinal Radcliffe, the Dominican, created Cardinal by Pope Francis), the congregation was composed of people from various places and even international guests. The celebration was the golden anniversary of a homosexual couple.
The Holy See can issue norms and protocols until the cows come home; this was not a “non-liturgical blessing,” spontaneous and informal, by any means. I have heard nothing about this scandal being addressed.
Frankly, I think we are watching the emergence of a moment of tragically missed opportunity.
Robert Cardinal McElroy, Archbishop of Washington, offered Mass at Georgetown University for 500 attendees of the “Outreach Conference” of “LGBTQ+ Catholics” on June 20th. He cited as a great sign of hope the assertion of Leo XIV, on his Africa trip, that “the unity or division in the Church should not revolve around sexual matters.” And he also cited the controversial report of Study Group 9 of the 2024 Synod which, he said, offered a “new paradigm” (which seems to move away from concentration on natural law principles to focus on ‘lived experience’ of believers).
But, no, we’re not in a state of extraordinary crisis. Nothing to see here. And don’t look over at Germany either…
Frankly, I think we are watching the emergence of a moment of tragically missed opportunity. Instead of endless conversation about Walking Together In Synodality, Just War Theory and Being Nice to Migrants, I wish that the Holy Father would address the whole Church—bishops, priests, Religious and laity—from his pastoral heart and say:
“In light of the recent events in the Church’s life, I would suggest that it is time to stop, take a deep breath, invoke the unfailing assistance of the Holy Spirit and enter into a wide-ranging, profound and honest conversation as a Church about ‘the signs of the times,’ as the Fathers of the Second Vatican urged. You may recall that two of my predecessors, Pope St John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI, expressed awareness of the need for continued examination and interpretation of the Council documents in light of the whole Tradition, particularly of the teaching of previous councils and of previous Popes. The need for this has only grown more acute with the passage of time. Divisions have arisen among us which are all the more painful for being mostly differences between believers in good faith. I wish to apologize to those who have been harmed and dis-edified by the persistence of this situation, and Today, mindful of my obligation to ‘strengthen the brethren,’ I call the whole Church, clergy and Faithful, to prayerful consideration of the crisis in the Church’s life which has been caused by ambiguous and even false teachings and an evident impulse in many places to push for change while neglecting the reverence for Sacred Tradition which must always be a hallmark of faithful Catholics.
“Shortly I will communicate with the College of Cardinals and the heads of the various national episcopal conferences inviting their thoughts on the state of the Church. I will also be reaching out to the Superiors of the contemplative religious communities of the Church urgently asking that they accompany this process with their fervent prayers. I will also be in communication with heads of various groups and associations of the Faithful, inviting their perspective on these matters. Upon receiving and pondering the reflections of the Cardinals and heads of the episcopal conferences and the lay groups I will announce the details of the process of examining and clarifying the need to achieve and strengthen a consistent ‘hermeneutic of continuity,’ to recall the famous phrase of Pope Benedict.
“In the meantime, I recall another phrase of Pope Benedict, in his Letter to the Bishops of 7 July 2007 accompanying the motu proprio Summorum Pontificum: ‘In the history of the Liturgy growth and progress are found, but not a rupture. What was sacred for prior generations, remains sacred and great for us as well, and cannot be suddenly prohibited altogether or even judged harmful.’ It is tragic that the matter of the sacred Liturgy has become a cause of division among us. Conditions in the Church are obviously different from the time of the 16 July 2021 issuing of Traditiones Custodes of my predecessor Pope Francis of blessed memory. Therefore, in the interests of safeguarding the rights of the Faithful, I declare the motu proprio Traditiones Custodes abrogated, along with the Letter to the Bishops which accompanied it, and the motu proprio of Benedict XVI Summorum Pontificum and the Letter to the Bishops which accompanied it reissued in full force. And may it be that we all remember the phrase so often attributed to Saint Augustine : In essentials, unity; in non-essentials, liberty; in all things, charity.“
If the Holy Father did this, I would suggest that finally a long-standing, critical need of the Church could be addressed honestly and forthrightly.
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But, no, we’re not in a state of extraordinary crisis. Nothing to see here. And don’t look over at Germany either…
Ping
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Historical note: The crucified frog isn’t just a bit of impious art, it is a direct reference to a Satanic ritual of literally crucifying a frog performed by Aleister Crowley in 1916,
I'm curious as to whether you might be on a distribution list of negative news items, whether the SSPX has a page on its site of negative news items, or whether you go out and look for them on your own.
It's not a rhetorical question. The internet gives us access to places and news items that were unseen before. A rebellious cleric in the past would have been quietly dealt with in his village parish. Here, the news gets plastered all across the internet with the same, recurring theme pushed by the SSPX: "Our disobedience is justified; can't you see that it's an emergency?"
But I see you are ignoring the elephant in the room.
A rebellious cleric in the past would have been quietly dealt with in his village parish.
Roger, Captain. Just like the homosexual Teddy McCarrick sins were kept under cover for years until exposed to the public.
Give me a break!
I’m curious why every single post of yours on the Religion Forum is an attack on the SSPX.
You have never posted to any Catholic thread that does not concern them that I’m aware of. Nor have you ever posted you own articles, to my knowledge.
Are you on someone’s payroll?
Yet you want to resort to associating him with them.
And it's ironic that you complain about the plethora of negative news in the synodal church while rejecting there is an "emergency".
Hypocrisy in display!
Does the SSPX have a Propaganda Page on its site, where they link to negative news stories about the Church? (It's important that they keep people emotionally-charged.)
Where do you get these stories?
Nobody can be excommunicated for preserving the Catholic faith, nobody.
Bobby Prejean is an Apopestate.
Additionally, Pope Leo missed his opportunity to reverse VATII. All VatII did was to allow the changing Christ’s Teachings even though VATII promotes destruction of the Church of Rome.
The puppet pope’s visit to Lampedusa on July 4 and his embrace of unlimited migration to Europe and White Genocide is far worse than any dogmatic disputes. Catholics need to take matters into their own hands and refuse to acknowledge this Satanic agent of globalists until he is replaced.
The SSPX and other Catholic groups who disagree with Vatican II and offer the Tridentine Mass are the ones who stand in the way of the One World Religion. I guess “Pope” Leo thinks if he “excommunicates” the SSPX, he will have street cred when it comes time for the globalists to choose the leader of the OWR. It’s like he’s auditioning for the part.
Replying to your Post #5.
As someone who recalls, first-hand (I’m old), the reverence and holiness of the Gregorian Rite Mass (as Pope Benedict XVI termed it), particularly in contrast with the Mass of the Novus Ordo Missal, the Pope’s action against the SSPX is alarming. To declare, by imposing the penalty of excommunication, that the Gregorian Rite Mass must be abrogated shows such an abysmal lack of respect for the Holy Spirit, who proceeds from the Father and the Son, that I seriously question the Pope’s sanity. And that the Pope allowed the report from Synodal Group 9 to be published - a report that disputes and seems to reject natural law - is astonishing, and not in a good way.
My question to you is, Do you think Pope Leo XIV is sane?
I do post factual news about all the creeps that are now allowed free reign in the synodal church.
Where do you get these stories?
From the open internet; not from the SSPX.
But apparently you don't want to see, hear, or speak of the truth about the open rot that most faithful Catholics can readily recognize.
The Pope has said no such thing. As someone who has attended licit and valid "Gregorian Rite" Masses for about twenty years, I can assure you that these Masses are allowed in the Church; there is no need to attend illicit Masses in a group whose bishops' disobedience to Peter gets them excommunicated.
The red popes have had no problem with Chinese Catholics attending a schismatic church (CCPA) with Masses offered by schismatic priests and bishops.
CHAPTER I
What Is The Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association?
1. Patriotic Association's Goals and Its Ramifications
Bishop Andrew Tsien, Bishop of Hualian, Taiwan, explained that the objectives of the Patriotic Association are:
Short term: To substitute it for the true Roman Catholic church.
Long term: To eliminate religion in order to achieve a pure materialistic and autocratic society.
In his remark on the pastoral letter on women issued by the Patriotic Association's Bishops Conference, Rev. Matthias Lu, Ph.D., S.TH.L., Director of the St. Thomas Aquinas Center in California, wrote:
"Its (the Patriotic Association's) commitment is to manipulate the mass of the Catholic population in order to integrate them into the Socialist revolutionary movement by submitting them to the leadership of the Communist Party in all things."
To accomplish this goal over the past 45 years, the Chinese government put tens of thousands of Roman Catholic faithful in jail for 10, 20, 30 or more years. Thousands perished in jail. Many were shot in public. All foreign missionaries were banished. As you are painfully aware, this persecution continues even today.
Like the blind man, the Roman Catholic Church in China suffered. History teaches us that from suffering good often eventually emerges. We believe that because God is on our side and because the Catholic faith in China has been so firmly and deeply rooted, the suffering endured since 1949 has not weaken the Roman Catholic population in China, but has increased it from three million faithful then to over eight million now. This is clearly the work of God.
In view of the above statistics, the objective of replacing the Roman Catholic Church with the Patriotic Association has clearly failed so far.
“The Pope has said no such thing.”
You quibble. Pope Francis’ Traditionis Custodes did effectively restrict the Gregorian Rite nearly to the point of oblivion with respect to diocesan opportunities. Actions that effectively abrogate a service without specifically saying so make moot your objection.
I stand by my statement regarding the report from Synodal Group 9 in that it effectively rejects natural law with respect to homosexual acts. And Pope Leo XIV allowed it to be published. It is an insane report.
I'm not quibbling at all. My access to a valid and licit TLM has been completely uninterrupted for the past twenty years.
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