Free Republic

Open Letter of Traditional Lay Faithful to the Catholic Faithful of the Whole World - Francis, time to revoke Traditionis Custodes: WE WILL NOT DEPRIVE OUR CHILDREN LETTER OF THE FAITHFUL ATTACHED TO THE TRADITIONAL MASSTO THE CATHOLICS OF THE WHOLE WORLDWhat father, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? (Mt 7, 9)Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,It is with great sadness that we learned of Pope Francis' decision to abrogate the main provisions of the Motu Proprio Summorum Pontificum, promulgated by Pope Benedict XVI on July 7, 2007. After decades of divisions and...

The Pope’s Blast from the PastThe latest blast from Rome about the Tridentine Mass has roused all sorts of justified reactions. Many bishops—ranging from those concerned about souls to those worried about finances—have found various ways of ignoring it or setting it aside—at least for the moment. The more legal-minded have looked at different aspects, ranging from whether or not it is ultra vires in the light of Quo Primum to whether, as it does not exist in Latin, it has any legal force at all. Those more concerned with content have looked into its shrill tone, self-contradictions, and—shall we...

Francis Without Mask: Will Admission to Old Rite Institutes Be Suspended?The Vatican has not officially announced apostolic visitations to the Old Rite communities, “but we have received this information from sources we consider reliable,” Father Benoit Paul-Joseph, the Superior of the French District of the Fraternity of St. Peter, told FamilleChrétienne.fr.He stressed that such visitations are “normal” because those institutes were attached to a new congregation, but he added,“What worries us is the unofficial and unverified information according to which it is possible that, prior to these visitations, admissions to our seminaries and novitiates will be suspended.”This, according to Paul-Joseph,...

[Catholic Caucus] England and Wales Respond to the Motu ProprioEach year the Latin Mass Society of England and Wales organises a High Mass at England’s neo-Byzantine mother church, Westminster Cathedral, to coincide with its Annual General Meeting. This year’s High Mass on the Vigil of the Assumption was as majestic and liturgically sumptuous as ever, with a possibly record attendance of 350 – 400 people (see photo of above from the event). Among the faithful there was a quiet but perceptible air of determined resolution. Despite the promulgation of Traditionis Custodes, devotion to, and interest in, the Apostolic Roman Rite...

Pope at Angelus: Healing of the heart begins with listeningRecalling the today’s Gospel reading which presents Jesus who heals a deaf man with a speech impediment, Pope Francis observed the many actions Jesus took in healing him: putting his finger into the man’s ears, touching his tong with saliva and looking up to heaven and then saying to him “Ephphatha”, that is, “Be opened!”. Perhaps, the Pope suggested, it was because the man’s condition of deafness had a special symbolic value and can say something to all of us, since we all have ears, but “very often we are not...

[Catholic Caucus] New Papal Interview Contains Revealing Remarks on Traditionis CustodesIn a lengthy new interview with COPE, a Spanish radio station, Pope Francis fields questions on a wide range of topics,[1] including his Apostolic Letter Traditionis Custodes (July 16, 2021) that effectively abolished Benedict XVI’s Summorum Pontificum (July 7, 2007) and severely restricts access to the Traditional Latin Mass for priests and laity alike.During the interview, conducted sometime this past weekend (Aug. 28-29) according to COPE’s summary, journalist and broadcaster Carlos Herrera inquired (Spanish audio available here, 22:13 and following):“I don’t know if Pope Francis is a man who likes...

Wherein a priest alumnus of the North American College responds. Wherein Fr. Z rants.From an alumnus of the North American College (US seminary in Rome) … edited so that the style of writing can’t be traced to any one priest by those who might recognize it.As a NAC grad, I read your article [HERE] with interest.I disagree that a student will get in trouble for googling the Latin Mass and related material.Things that will get a seminarian in trouble are wearing a cassock, biretta, or bad mouthing Conciliar theology or the Vatican II liturgy in public.Men who show openly an...

The Bugnini Construction Company Builds Liturgical Fairy TalesEditor’s note: see our Erasmus disclaimer.As we approach fifty days after the motu proprio, it is crucial to repeat this fundamental point: the document is founded on a falsehood so glaring and intellectually unsustainable that it inspires admiration for its audacity and flagrant disregard of reality.“The liturgical books promulgated by Saint Paul VI and Saint John Paul II … are the unique expression of the lex orandi of the Roman Rite.”Article I of Pope Francis’ 16 July declaration enervates and undermines the entirety of what follows. Yet this is not a house built...

Pope says Mass readings in Latin ‘like laughing at the Word of God’ in new interview Pope Francis kept quiet on the German ‘Synodal Way,’ however, claiming there ‘is no ill will in many bishops,’ despite mass ‘blessings’ of same-sex relationships. VATICAN CITY (LifeSiteNews) – In an extensive and wide-ranging interview on Spanish radio, Pope Francis suggested that pronouncing the readings at Mass in a language that is not widely understood, such as Latin, “would be like laughing at the Word of God.” Over the course of the interview, conducted by Carlos Herrera of COPE radio, a broadcasting network owned...

[Catholic Caucus] Ecclesia Dei communities issue official response to Pope Francis’ restrictions on the TLMThe superiors asked the pontiff to heed the promise of the 1988 document Ecclesia Dei that 'all measures would be taken to guarantee the identity of their Institutes in the full communion of the Catholic Church.' COURTALAIN, France (LifeSiteNews) – Superiors from twelve Latin Mass communities have issued a joint official statement to Pope Francis and the French bishops in response to Traditionis Custodes.The priests and abbots have asked for a “humane, personal, trusting dialogue” and promised to “convert if party spirit or pride has polluted...

In Defense of Preserving Readings in Latin In light of Pope Francis’s frivolous and offensive remark about how doing the readings at Mass in Latin would be “like laughing at the Word of God,” it seemed opportune to republish here at Rorate an article first published eight years ago in The Latin Mass magazine (Summer 2013), with slight revisions. Although my thinking on all of these points has developed and deepened, it has done so in precisely the same direction. Those who, moreover, think that Francis’s July 16 motu proprio requires replacing Latin readings with vernacular ones should read...

We shall go into the house of the Lord (Psalm 121) As a priest of the Archdiocese of Oviedo in Asturias, Spain, I have been very blessed to have been offering the Traditional Roman Mass in my home diocese since 2008. When ordained on Pentecost 1996, my hope of being able to celebrate the Vetus Ordo, even once before taking leave of this vale of tears, was rather more wishful thinking at the time.But here I am, celebrating every Sunday and preceptive Holy-day for nearly thirteen years now. And will continue to do so, though having had to switch over...

[Catholic Caucus] COMMUNIQUÉ of the Superiors-General of the "Ecclesia Dei" Communities [on Traditionis Custodes] "The mercy of the Lord is upon all flesh."(Sirach 18, 13)The signatory Institutes want, above all, to reiterate their love for the Church and their fidelity to the Holy Father. This filial love is tinged with great suffering today. We feel suspected, marginalized, banished. However, we do not recognize ourselves in the description given in the accompanying letter of the Motu Proprio Traditionis custodes, of July 16, 2021."If we say we have no sin ..." (I John 1, 8)We do not see ourselves as the "true...

[Catholic Caucus] U.S. Seminary in Rome snuffs out the Traditional Latin Mass and training for seminariansThe craven faculty of the North American College (US seminary in Rome), perhaps under the pressure of their board, has snuffed out the Traditional Latin Mass, which was a regularly scheduled Mass on Saturdays.There was also training for the seminarians in how to celebrate the TLM.I heard about this through several channels, but Rorate published a photo of the publicly posted memo, saying, “Our only options are to resist or to die and disappear.”Thus will it be harder for these men to be fully trained...

[Catholic Caucus] Roman Rite Superiors Have Met in CourtalainThe Facebook page of the association Notre-Dame de Chrétienté which organises the annual Pilgrimage Paris-Chartres, announced that on August 31, the Superiors of the Ecclesia Dei Institutes met in Courtalain, France, where the Institute of the Good Shepherd is based, to discuss the mess created by Traditionis Custodes.The text of the post says, "Following the publication of the motu proprio Traditionis Custodes , the superiors general of the main “Ecclesia Dei" communities met yesterday in Courtalain. For the defence of the traditional Mass, they will not give up on ANYTHING!"

[Catholic Caucus] Francis, in interview: Actually, the Traditional Mass was not abolished, I just wanted a “constructive reordering” of Summorum Pontificum… From an interview granted by Francis to Spanish Catholic radio COPE:[Q.] I don’t know if Pope Francis is a man who likes to bang his fist on the table. Would it be possible that the last blow on the table has been the pontifical document limiting the celebration of the ‘Tridentine Masses’? And I also ask you to explain to my audience what the ‘Tridentine Mass’ is, what is it about the Tridentine Mass that is not mandatory....

[Catholic Caucus] After 14 Years, Pontifical North American College (Rome) cancels all Traditional Latin Masses, and all TLM training Announced today to the NAC community -- the PNAC is the National College of the United States in Rome, and the most influential American seminary in the world. It is under the direction of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB).This is a very important piece of the puzzle of the systemic cultural genocide Francis is imposing on Traditional Catholics. Our only options are to resist or to die and disappear.Please, mention Rorate when reporting this piece of news.

[Catholic Caucus] Revenge of the Rigid: On Rejecting Grillo, Primitivism, and the Electric SlideI often like to imagine how the radical liturgical reforms after Vatican II would have proceeded in the internet age. Certainly the quick availability of information and the means by which to network globally in seeking answers would have made the position of the extreme wing of reformers more precarious, and certainly the analog “fog of war” which the Bugniniites hid behind would have been more easily penetrated. A great example of what things may have looked like come from our own Dr. Peter Kwasniewski, who has...

Dr. Michael Fiedrowicz on Traditionis Custodes: “Frighteningly reminiscent of George Orwell’s 1984” We publish today an English translation of a powerful piece written by Prof. Dr. Michael Fiedrowicz (b. 1957), an expert on church history and liturgy, and author of the best scholarly book on the TLM: “The Traditional Mass: History, Form, and Theology of the Classical Roman Rite” (Angelico Press, 2020). This piece appeared first in the “IK-Nachrichten” of the association Pro Sancta Ecclesia and then on August 30 at CNA-Deutsch. Professor Fiedrowicz teaches at the Faculty of Theology in Trier at the Chair of Ancient Church History,...

[Catholic Caucus] Confraternity Message from Fr. Reiner, FSSPDear members of the Confraternity,The Motu proprio Traditionis Custodes and its accompanying letter from Pope Francis have shocked us all. We have not yet been informed of any definitive decisions regarding the future of the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter and its apostolates. Even though the first reactions of various bishops have been rather reassuring and have not involved any significant restrictions, nevertheless, in the coming weeks various bishops’ conferences will discuss the matter on the occasion of this motu proprio and possibly take decisions that will be groundbreaking for us. The Roman...