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The Post-Conciliar Ecumenism and the Great DiscontinuityThere is no other error (or, rather, sum of errors) as specifically (neo)modernist as the so-called “ecumenism.” This is why rejecting it and the relativism and indifferentism it generates is absolutely necessary.One of the most debatable directions inaugurated by the Second Vatican Council is that in favor of ecumenism. In blatant contradiction to the Church’s constant Magisterial position regarding the positive reception of religious pluralism, this new teaching has become the dominant feature of post-conciliar Catholicism. Things have gone so far that, in addition to the formation of a special dicastery for the “promotion...

[Catholic Caucus] THE FUTURE OF TRADITIONIS CUSTODES -- AND OF THE TRADITIONAL MASSTraditionis custodes is back in the news. Following DDW Prefect Arthur Cardinal Roche’s interview with The Catholic Herald, even non-traditionalist commentators are wondering: does Traditionis custodes have a future? (One of the individuals interviewed was RC contributor Joseph Shaw.) In considering this question, I would like to take a slightly different approach, and also directly answer one of the stated justifications for it in the article.The Zone is FloodedOne of the biggest threats to the survival of Traditionis has been the ability of traditionalists to dominate the discourse...

[Catholic Caucus] The Pope, the Poor, “Pageantry and Prominence”When the pope warns against “pageantry and prominence,” I want to know how he will also protect against tacky and tawdry because the latter has often been the practical upshot of post-Vatican II liturgical choices.Pope Francis sent a message February 28 to participants in a course at Rome’s Anselmianum for bishops’ masters of ceremony. The message was one of those usual ones dispatched for an event of which the Holy See somehow wants to take note, either because it likes the idea or somebody involved had a friend in the Curia. According...

Reply to Matt Gaspers: Public heresy gives certainty that Francis isn’t the popeIn this first article I will respond to the objections Gaspers poses to the more common opinion of theologians that all public heretics, including those whose sin is material, are severed from the Church.For not every sin, however grave it may be, is such as of its own nature to sever a man from the Body of the Church, as does schism or heresy or apostasy.— Pope Pius XII, Mystici Corporis Christi, No. 22(LifeSiteNews) — In a recent article I called for charitable debate over the question of...

[Catholic Caucus] The Pope and Tradition - Op-Ed by Abp. Héctor Agüer Archbishop Héctor AgüerEmeritus of La Plata, ArgentinaBuenos Aires, March 11, 2025[Author's note:] This article was written before illness led the Supreme Pontiff to hospitalization. Like all the faithful, I too offer my prayers for the physical and spiritual health of Francis. What I write below is valid for the orientation of his pontificate, which is still true today, as can be seen in the recent suppression of the Miles Christi Religious Institute, announced on Thursday, the 6th of this month.*** The current Pontificate is distinguished by a true...

A British cardinal seen as the Pope’s “enforcer” in cracking down on the use of the traditional Latin Mass in Catholic churches has said it is an “overly elaborate” form of worship, in a rare comment on the controversy. Cardinal Arthur Roche, 75, who was born in West Yorkshire, has been prefect of the Dicastery for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments since 2021, placing him in charge of policing the restrictions reintroduced by the Pope on the use of the Tridentine or traditional Latin Mass. He said that his critics may be surprised to learn that he...

[Catholic Caucus] Catholics thank Bishop Strickland with billboards, newspaper adA digital billboard reading ‘Thank you Bishop Strickland!’ appeared in the city of Tyler, Texas, this month, and a full-page ad saying the same has been published in the Tyler Morning Telegraph.TYLER, Texas (LifeSiteNews) — A group of Catholics are honoring Bishop Joseph Strickland in a very public way.A digital billboard reading “Thank you Bishop Strickland!” appeared in the city of Tyler, Texas, this month, and a full-page ad saying the same has been published in the Tyler Morning Telegraph. Another billboard thanking the former ordinary of the Diocese of Tyler...

[Catholic Caucus] Tradition or AnnihilationIf we want to avoid the Church's effective annihilation, we must return to Tradition, in everything from liturgy to catechesis to public morals and even modesty in dress.Recently, Crisis Magazine Editor in Chief Eric Sammons published an article outlining the dire state of the Catholic Church in America. He showed that for every 100 new Catholics, more than 800 people leave the Church. In addition, he proved that it is even worse than the numbers suggest when we do a deep dive into sacramental participation and the like. Simply put, the Church in America—and abroad because...

[Catholic Caucus] HISTORY'S VERDICT: After 60 Years, Vatican II Was a DisasterIs the Catholic Church better off today than it was in 1965? Back in 2013, Pope Benedict XVI admitted that the Second Vatican Council had been co-opted and made into what he called the "Council of the Media," which led to "so many calamities, seminaries closed, convents closed, and the liturgy was banalized." So, what really happened and why must every Catholic on earth remain forever loyal and true to Vatican II? And, for that matter, WHICH Vatican II -- the real one, or Benedict's "Council of the Media"...

[Catholic Caucus] Cardinal Roche Repudiates Traditionis CustodesEver since Traditionis Custodes was issued more than 3½ years ago, its defenders have struggled to come up with a rationale for why it was issued at all. This is hardly surprising. The motu proprio Summorum Pontificum, in repudiation of which it was written, was the fruit of decades of careful meditation on the Church’s liturgy problem, on the part of one of the finest minds of our times. And the theological and pastoral problems which Benedict XVI addressed with such wisdom and sensitivity are not one whit less real and serious now than...

[Catholic Caucus] Lawyer for Catholic archbishop accused of blasphemy denies priesthood of ChristMODENA, Italy (LifeSiteNews) – A lawyer for the Archbishop of Modena, the prelate currently under investigation for his part in a blasphemous art exhibit, has denied in court that Jesus Christ was a minister of the Catholic Church and concluded that He could not be an injured party.The second hearing before Modena’s Preliminary Investigations judge, Andrea Scarpa, regarding the charge of vilification for the blasphemous “Gratia Plena” art exhibition in Carpi, took place on March 3. Among the accused are the Archbishop Erio Castellucci and the artist Andrea...

Cardinal Roche: ‘Nothing wrong’ with Latin Mass but Church needed to ‘move away’ from itCardinal Arthur Roche, a leading enforcer of Pope Francis’ restrictions on the Latin Mass, has said there is ‘nothing wrong’ with the traditional liturgy but insists the Church deliberately moved ‘away from’ it for ‘very good reasons.’After vigorously implementing Pope Francis restrictions on the traditional Mass, Cardinal Arthur Roche has said there is “nothing wrong” with the Latin Mass but that the Church wished to “move away from what had become an overly elaborate form of celebrating the Mass.”Prefect of the Dicastery for Divine Worship and...

[Catholic Caucus] Bishop Strickland: ‘Modernist reinterpretations’ bear false witness against true Church teachingOn this week's episode of A Shepherd's Voice, Bishop Joseph Strickland leads us through all the various ways one can violate the Eighth Commandment, 'Thou shalt not bear false witness,' accusing some in the Church of failing to uphold it.Let us begin in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.Thank you for joining me again for A Shepherd’s Voice as we begin the eighth episode. We have been looking at the Ten Commandments, and we are up to the Eighth...

[Catholic Caucus] French Catholics are flocking to the Latin Mass and this archbishop is alarmed by itArchbishop Jordy has not limited himself to merely expressing concerns about the growth of the Traditional Latin Mass; he has also taken concrete measures to limit its spread.In recent years, participation in the Holy Mass in the Archdiocese of Tours has increased significantly. According to statements by Archbishop Vincent Jordy, the president of the Commission for Catechesis and Catechumenate for the French Episcopal Conference, the number of faithful attending Mass in Tours has doubled in four years. However, his observations are not limited to...

[Catholic Caucus] Story of a Cristero: Enrique GorostietaIt is foolish and wrong to mourn the men who died. Rather, we should thank God that such men lived. -General George Smith Patton Jr. (1885-1945)“I am Enrique Gorostieta,” stammered the downed soldier, struggling, blood oozing from the hole where a bullet had ripped open his chest.With callous contempt, the enemy pointed a 7mm machine gun and pulled the trigger, delivering a fatal shot to the head of the wounded warrior, on June 2, 1929, at the San Jose del Valle Hacienda, in the Highlands of Jalisco.A swift, unexpected end to the brilliant,...

[Catholic Caucus] What Is the Path Forward for the Church? The Church Lives by Her TraditionThe Future Course of the Churchby Archbishop Héctor AgüerEmeritus of La PlataBuenos Aires, March 3, 2025 When a Pontificate lasts for many years, it is natural to think about what will happen when it ends. Catholics look to the future of the Church. What, then, is appropriate for the time to come? The Church lives by Tradition, she must always return to it, especially when she has been indifferent to it or has distanced herself from it, fascinated by the worldly agenda. Tradition is not...

Vatican calls Islamic Ramadan a ‘time of prayer and reconciliation for the good of Creation’The Vatican's in-house news outlet described the Muslim period of Ramadan as 'a time of prayer and reconciliation for the good of Creation' and for 'interreligious collaboration.' But the Islamic understanding of God is irreconcilable with Catholicism.The Vatican’s in-house news outlet has described the Muslim period of Ramadan as “a time of prayer and reconciliation for the good of Creation” and for “interreligious collaboration.”In an article published on Saturday, Vatican News presented the Muslim period of Ramadan as yet another instance to be used for interreligious...

It’s a Bible verse that has puzzled Christians and been used by critics to attack the trustworthiness of Christ Himself. When Jesus, speaking of His return, said, “Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place” (Matt. 24:34), did He believe His second coming would happen before those hearing Him would die? At first blush, it sure looks like it. Skeptical philosopher Bertrand Russell thinks so. In his essay “Why I am not a Christian”, he argued that Jesus got it wrong, saying: “For one thing, he certainly thought that his second...

Pope Francis’s Decade-long Reign Removes Church From Crucial Moral DebatesIntellectual rigor and coherence have given way to emotivism.Alas, eleven years later, things have turned out quite differently. Over the course of Francis’s pontificate, the Church has become decidedly self-referential. Since the end of 2013, it has been consumed by endless attempts to relitigate questions that are effectively settled matters as far as doctrine is concerned, from who may be ordained a priest to issues surrounding sex. Segments of the Church — or at least the progressives who dominate those parts in visible decline — are keen to relive the chaos...

USCCB guidelines for immigration reform confuse Church doctrine with policy preferencesLast month, the USCCB issued guidelines for immigration reform, encouraging lawmakers to safeguard communities in a 'targeted, proportional, and humane manner.'Last month, the USCCB issued guidelines for immigration reform, encouraging lawmakers to safeguard communities in a “targeted, proportional, and humane” manner. In analyzing the U.S. bishops’ guidelines, it’s essential to distinguish between binding Church doctrine and prudential judgments. The Catholic Church upholds the dignity of every human person and acknowledges the right of nations to secure their borders and enforce immigration policies. These teachings are complementary, not contradictory. Misrepresenting them...