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[Catholic Caucus] Fr. Pavone’s laicization came from Pope Francis himself: canon lawyer The shocking decision to laicize pro-life priest Father Frank Pavone without appeal could only have come from Pope Francis himself, according to a prominent canon lawyer.In an interview Sunday with Catholic News Agency (CNA), canonist Father Gerald Murray, a priest of the Archdiocese of New York and a regular contributor to EWTN’s “The World Over with Raymond Arroyo,” noted that the Pope alone can issue a decision “against which there is no possible appeal.”“Only the Pope, who enjoys ‘full and supreme power in the Church’ (canon 332, 1),...

[Catholic Caucus] Archbishop Gänswein: Benedict XVI’s path “is the right way,” Traditionis custodes “is and remains a mystery to me”Archbishop Georg Gänswein, the former private secretary of Pope Benedict XVI and current nuncio to Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia, recently gave an interview to Athinea Andryszczak, broadcast in two parts (1, 2) on the German Catholic television station K-TV.At the very beginning of part 2 (full German-language video below), he spends some time discussing the liturgical situation in Lithuania and the universal Church. Here are his comments, in English translation, with my emphases:Your Excellency, we were just talking about the different...

[Catholic Caucus] Towards the Francis Dream of an Extermination of Opus Dei?When Summorum Pontificum was promulgated, we had great hopes for a liturgical renewal of Opus Dei, the particular order founded by Josemaría Escrivá and later transformed in the only Personal Prelature, a novel figure created (for them, apparently) in the new Code of Canon Law.We knew many priests of "The Work" loved the Traditional Mass, that Escrivá celebrated until the end of his life. But the order from above, as far as we could discern, was that the priests of Opus should, whenever possible, refrain from the Traditional Mass,...

The Liturgy of the Ages and the Pastoral OptionIn recent months, we have heard a great deal about traditional liturgies being canceled in certain dioceses. Of course, this is nothing new. The tenacity of certain bishops, however, in eliminating not only these liturgies but also the groups devoted to preserving and transmitting the Catholic liturgical treasure cannot fail to worry us.First, it must be said that the core of the heated debate surrounding the right of the Traditional Latin Mass to exist is not liturgical in nature. A certain vision of the evolution and state of the world over the...

[Catholic Caucus] Cardinal Müller criticizes bishops banning Latin Mass, says they should focus on ‘salvation of souls’Cardinal Müller said it is ‘very problematic’ for bishops to crack down on the traditional Mass and that they are ‘not interested first in the salvation of the people.’ Cardinal Gerhard Müller, during a Q&A session at the 2025 Call to Holiness Conference in Michigan with exorcist Father Chad Ripperger, asserted that it is “problematic” and “not pastoral” for bishops to place restrictions on the celebration of the Traditional Latin Mass (TLM).Cardinal Müller was responding to a question about why the Church gives the...

Cardinal Müller says ‘progressivism,’ not tradition, is ‘splitting’ the Catholic ChurchCardinal Gerhard Müller concluded that there is no theology behind Latin Mass restrictions because the Vatican has not and cannot explain what is wrong with the Traditional Mass.Cardinal Gerhard Müller said it is “progressivism,” not tradition, that is dividing the Catholic Church in light of a statement by Pope Leo XIV that the tension between “tradition and novelty” can be a “harmful polarization.”“Progressivism is the ideology that’s splitting the Church,” Müller, former prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF), told EWTN’s Raymond Arroyo on a Thursday...

[Catholic Caucus] The Lie Contained in Article 1 of "Traditionis Custodes"Lex Orandi and Ecclesial Rupture: A Brief Theological and Canonical Critique of Article 1 of Traditionis Custodes(by Simon de Cyrène at the Croce-Via blog; translated for Rorate Caeli)Summary: This short article critically analyzes Article 1 of the motu proprio Traditionis Custodes (2021), which states that the liturgical books reformed by Paul VI and John Paul II constitute “the only expression of the lex orandi of the Roman Rite.”This statement, if interpreted as exclusive and binding, implies an objective break with the organic liturgical Tradition of the Church, contradicts previous magisterium,...

[Catholic Caucus] Full-Length Documentary on Latin Mass Restrictions in Charlotte, North CarolinaFor the background, see our two previous posts:(1) Traditionis Custodes Persecution continues under Leo XIV - Traditional Masses Removed from Parish Churches in the Diocese of Charlotte, North Carolina(2) Rorate Exclusive: The Anti-Traditional and Anti-Liturgical Pastoral Letter to be Sent by the Bishop of Charlotte on Liturgical Norms in His Diocese***Regina Magazine just released a lengthy documentary on the situation of the Latin Mass in the Diocese of Charlotte, North Carolina. We encourage you to watch it below and make it known: Link to video Labels: Anti-Tradition in Charlotte

[Catholic Caucus] Traditionis Custodes: an AutopsyThe CorpseOstriches are among the more wondrous curiosities fashioned by the hands of Our Lord—gaunt, buffoonish knaves who barely made the cut as Noah’s Ark closed its proverbial doors, and who, as a result, now roam the earth with divine indifference. Adorned with chaste plumage and necks soaring to Babelic heights, these birds boast the remarkable talent of eluding the world’s terrors by burying their heads in the sand.That such creatures wander serenely through the ranks of the Church Militant is a fact so well established it scarcely demands proof. Only consider Mike Lewis, author...

[Catholic Caucus] Vatican document leak reignites Latin Mass debateDocuments have emerged, in what appears a leak at the Vatican, which indicate that the majority of Catholic bishops did not support the move by Pope Francis to restrict the Latin Mass.The texts from the Vatican’s doctrine office were posted online on Tuesday by the Vatican correspondent Diane Montagna, who has followed the Latin Mass dispute since Traditionis Custodes, the apostolic letter issued motu proprio by Pope Francis in 2021 that restricted the celebration of the Tridentine Mass of the Roman Rite.It reversed Pope Benedict XVI's previous permission for the Latin Mass...

[Catholic Caucus] Why Did Pope Francis Restrict the Latin Mass?Without basis, without charity, Pope Francis and his advisors stripped that venerable gem away from Catholics almost entirely.Many of the actions of the late Pope Francis, no matter their intention, caused division, confusion, and pain amongst Catholics, especially those most immersed in the traditional teachings and customs of the Catholic Church. One of the most glaring examples of this division, confusion, and pain came in the form of Traditionis custodes. In 2021, Pope Francis issued a motu proprio heavily restricting the celebration of the vetus ordo — the form of the...

[Catholic Caucus] Bishop Schneider calls on Pope Leo to ‘free the Latin Mass’Bishop Schneider urged Pope Leo XIV to ‘protect’ the lay faithful who are being ‘persecuted’ by the suppression of the Traditional Latin Mass.Bishop Athanasius Schneider has decried the suppression of Traditional Latin Masses (TLM) around the world as an “injustice” and called upon Pope Leo XIV to “free” the TLM.In a Sunday interview with the bishop, Christopher Wendt of the Confraternity of Our Lady of Fatima brought up the TLM crackdown prompted by Pope Francis’ document Traditionis Custodes, which triggered a cascade of TLM closures continuing even into...

[Catholic Caucus] Mad Hatter Francis "Liturgist" Andrea Grillo: The Bishops Were All Wrong, I'm Right -- plus a major assessment by Sandro Magister of the Lies on which Traditionis custodes were basedWeeks after mocking soon to be canonized Carlo Acutis for having faith in the Blessed Sacrament -- a public statement that was so shocking that his own university disowned him -- the Mad Hatter of the liturgical world, Andrea Grillo, is again showing his colors. He, who was the man behind Francis document Traditionis custodes, establishing a gradual extinction of the Traditional Latin Mass, now does not deny (as...

[Catholic/Orthodox Caucus] An Interview with Monsignor Bux: "The Bishops weren't responsible for launching the War Against Tradition."Right after the explosive news on the actual positive nature of the global bishops' report on Summorum Pontificum was published last week, Monsignor Nicola Bux, one of the great liturgical names of our times and a major advisor under Benedict XVI, released a book with more details on the event. We now know that Vatican insiders close to Francis lied about it, and Francis himself did not tell the truth about it (on paper, in Traditionis custodes, the restrictions document).Monsignor Bux spoke at length...

[Catholic Caucus] Traditionis Custodes: The Narrative Is All LiesWe must thank God today. Many secret documents in the Vatican will never see the light of day for many years, decades, or even centuries. Think about the following:The papers against Cardinal Rampolla as a member of the OTO, which caused him to be vetoed as Pope in 1903The 1978 dossier of Cardinal Gagnon, which documented the Masonic corruption of the Vatican and possibly caused the murder of John Paul IThe 2013 dossier which documented Vatican corruption which, Pope Francis admitted, was given to him by Pope Emeritus BenedictAlmost four years ago...

[Catholic Caucus] The Shifting Sands of Traditionis custodesFollowing Diane Montagna’s bombshell revelation of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith's summary of the Bishops opinion on Summorum Pontificum, it was wondered by many how the defenders of Traditionis custodes would respond. While the first 24 hours saw a flurry of defenses call into question her reporting (none of them very compelling), defenders have received their talking points and have settled upon a defense. What they do not realize is this defense puts them into an even more precarious position.As a quick refresher, Montagna was given what could be described...

[Catholic Caucus] Official Vatican Report Dismantles Traditionis CustodesA major exposé on Traditionis Custodes leaked a confidential Vatican document summarizing the 2020 global survey of bishops—a document that allegedly influenced Pope Francis’s controversial decision to restrict the Traditional Latin Mass. According to the leaked findings, the majority of bishops did not support limiting the Latin Mass and even warned that such restrictions could worsen tensions within the Catholic Church.Journalist Diane Montagna recently published the report prepared by the Vatican following the questionnaire that, in 2020, the then Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith had sent to the presidents of episcopal...

[Catholic Caucus] Traditionis Custodes "failed": The leak could have been "strategic."The leak could be strategic: For years, only the very negative feedback from the French Bishops' Conference on the survey by the then Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith on the “Old Mass” was known - completely in line with Francis. Now that a new pope is in office, who has repeatedly revived traditions abandoned by his predecessor - from the Corpus Christi procession and the handing over of the pallia to new archbishops to the traditional vacation spot - a new picture is being painted.Francis had justified his...

[Catholic Caucus] Even the German Conference news website concedes: Francis liedIn a piece on the explosive revelation of the generally positive response of the world's bishops to Summorum Pontificum, the news website of the German Bishops' Conference uses the most diplomatic of languages:Pope Francis appears to have ignored the advice of the bishops previously consulted worldwide when he restricted the Traditional Latin Mass. According to documents that have now become public, the responses to a survey conducted by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith on the implementation of the rules for the pre-conciliar liturgy put in place by...

[Catholic Caucus] EXCLUSIVE: Official Vatican Report Exposes Major Cracks in Foundation of Traditionis CustodesPreviously undisclosed documents raise serious questions about the stated rationale for Pope Francis’ 2021 decree restricting the Traditional Latin Mass.A Traditional Latin Mass is celebrated at the tomb of St. Catherine of Siena at the Basilica of Santa Maria sopra Minerva, Rome, Sept. 15, 2017 (Photo: Edward PentinVATICAN CITY, July 1, 2025 — New evidence has come to light that exposes major cracks in the foundation of Traditionis Custodes, Pope Francis’ 2021 decree that restricted the traditional Roman liturgy.This journalist has obtained the Vatican’s overall assessment of...