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[Catholic Caucus] Conclusion of Major New Economic Research Paper: "Vatican II, in 1962-1965, triggered a decline in worldwide Catholic attendance relative to that in other denominations." From the summary of a major new paper just published by the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER), in Cambridge, Massachusetts, authored by some of the greatest names in Economic research, including the famous Dr. Barro, of Harvard University, Dr. Dewitte, of the University of Oxford, and Dr. Iannaccone, of Chapman University:Looking Backward: Long-Term Religious Service Attendance in 66 CountriesRobert J. Barro, Edgard Dewitte & Laurence IannacconeIssue Date July 2025The attendance rate at religious...

Here Are the Vatican II Passages That the Church’s Enemies Demand We AcceptAs Diane Montagna highlighted in her report on Francis’s fraudulent promulgation of Traditionis Custodes, Rome’s battle over the Traditional Latin Mass continues to hinge on the question of whether Traditional Catholics “reject the Second Vatican Council”. The Vatican II passages below did not “cause” the crisis in the Church, but they and others like them have been used by the Church’s enemies to offend God, lead souls to hell, and cause inestimable harm in the world.As Diane Montagna highlighted in her report on Francis’s apparently fraudulent promulgation of...

[Catholic Caucus] Why Ambiguity Was the Most Lethal Weapon of Vatican II’s ArchitectsEvery single ambiguity of Vatican II tended to undermine Catholic teaching in precisely the way against which the pre-Vatican II popes emphatically warned. This is not mere coincidence. Moreover, the presence of so much ambiguity fundamentally undermines the Catholic Church’s role as truth-teller. The Church obviously knew how to speak clearly and unambiguously on all of the matters that have become so contentious after the Council.In his 2024 book Flee From Heresy: A Catholic Guide to Ancient and Modern Errors, Bishop Athanasius Schneider provided the following question and...

We dive deep into the controversial case of Blessed Carlo Acutis and the troubling evolution of the Church's canonization process. Since Pope John Paul II removed the adversarial "devil's advocate" role, canonizations have exploded in number, with one priest lamenting, "We're becoming a factory here." Friends of Carlo share surprising revelations that cast doubt on the narrative around his extraordinary sanctity, raising uncomfortable questions about manufactured devotion versus authentic veneration.

... In a podcast interview with US chat show host Joe Rogan, Mr Gibson explained his scepticism about reforms of the Second Vatican Council of the 1960s by saying: “We’ve got a pope that brought a South American idol into the church to worship.” He said a religious ceremony was performed in the presence of the idol which, he said, “constitutes an apostasy”. “It’s a falling away,” he explained at about half an hour into the two-hour interview. “The very nature of apostasy is that you have to be part of it to fall away from it. It’s an inside...

The Spirit of Paul VI Is a False Spirit and, like All False Spirits, It Is Unconsciously CruelIn 1970, the Belgian philosopher Marcel De Corte (+1994), who taught at the University of Liège, wrote a letter to the French publisher Jean Madiran (+2013) about the Novus Ordo- "I confess that for a long time I was deceived by Paul VI. I thought he was trying to preserve the essential".- But there is no example in history of a deceiver who does not eventually expose himself.- "How dare Paul VI proclaim that there is no 'new Mass', that 'nothing has changed',...

Marcel De Corte's 1970 Letter to Jean Madiran “On the New Mass” - First Translation into English - "Paul VI is a man full of contradictions"(The following text was published in no. 140 of Itinéraires, February 1970. It was translated by Gerhard Eger for Rorate Caeli.)I must admit to you, my dear Jean Madiran, that I have been tempted more than once to leave the Catholic Church wherein I was born. If I have not done so, I give thanks to God and to the good peasant’s common sense with which he has blessed me. The Church—I murmur to myself...

The Biden administration's agendas may have fundamentally changed the country for decades, if not longer—and will require tough remedies that may be almost as unpopular as the wreckage they wrought. Most Americans believe it is unhinged to deliberately destroy the border and allow 10 million illegal aliens to enter the country without background audits, means of support, any claims to legal residency, and definable skills. And worse still, why would federal authorities be ordered to release repeat violent felons who have gone on to commit horrendous crimes against American citizens? Equally perplexing to most Americans is borrowing $1 trillion every...

How Do We Combat the Catholic Itching Ears Syndrome?There is a perpetual battle between two sides: on the side of God are sound doctrine and truth; and on the side of Satan are fables and the desires of those with itching ears. How did we get to this point at which sincere Protestants offer us their condolences for the Francis scandal, while wayward Catholics — including the most powerful bishops and cardinals — denounce us for rejecting obvious heresies? St. Paul’s words about itching ears give us some guidance in evaluating this question:“Preach the word: be instant in season, out...

[Catholic Caucus] The Lefebvre/Mindszenty ConnectionEditor’s Note: I am pleased to present Father Wilson’s crucial historical observation about the context of Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre’s reservations where trusting the Vatican in 1988 was concerned. With rumors flying today that Francis is allegedly claiming the “SSPX is not in schism” and that he may even be planning to confirm a SSPX bishop or two, I can’t help but to ask the obvious question: Do those celebrating this rumor somehow imagine that the Vatican hadn’t offered Lefebvre the same deal in 1988? I lived through that drama. I remember it well. It wasn’t that...

[Catholic Caucus] Reposting: A most important historical document: the 1969 Institutio Generalis Missalis Romani (the original GIRM) - "The Lord's Supper, or Mass, is the sacred meeting or congregation of the people of God assembled, the priest presiding, to celebrate the memorial of the Lord..."Eleven years ago, in 2011, we in RORATE were proud to be the first to make available online, for the first time, a document that had then become extremely rare: the very first GIRM (General Instruction of the Roman Missal), published together with the 1969 Novus Ordo Missae.From our post:***7. Cena dominica sive Missa est sacra...

Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre and the 1976 Audience with Pope Paul VI The Sources and Their StatusWith the publication of Mgr. Sapienza’s book on May 16, 2018, we now have two sources that reproduce the famous meeting between Pope Paul VI and Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre on September 11, 1976, in Castel Gandolfo.The first source to tell of the event was Archbishop Lefebvre himself, who immediately told the story to the seminarians in Econe in two conferences recorded on September 12 and 18, 1976. They served as the basis for the account given by his authorized biographer, Bishop Tissier de Mallerais.The...

[Catholic Caucus] The Most Precious Blood of Jesus: A Feast Added, Withdrawn & ReturningEACH YEAR, AS we turn the corner from the month of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus into July, the height of summer in the northern hemisphere, we fittingly start off with the feast of the Most Precious Blood of Jesus that bathes the rest of the month in its vermilion glow. Like so many feasts in the calendar, this one owes its origin to an act of thanksgiving for a military victory: its inscription in the general calendar was Pius IX’s act of thanksgiving for the...

[Catholic Caucus] The 1963 Vatican Enthronement of Lucifer: A 'Windswept House' UpdateKathy Thompson's article about the late Fr. Malachi Martin's book Windswept House (The Remnant, April 30) was very interesting, but its chronology regarding the enthronement of Lucifer in the heart of the Vatican needs clarification. I am able to contribute some personal testimony of my own about this matter that I believe will interest Remnant readers. Also, it will add to what is publicly known about a reported event which, if indeed it took place, was very probably a significant factor in exacerbating that 'smoke of Satan' which has...

Abp. Viganò: Abolition of anti-Modernist Oath is ‘a desertion, a betrayal of unheard gravity’In a wide-ranging response to LifeSite, Archbishop Viganò not only covers the history of the 1910 Oath Against Modernism and its abrogation and replacement by another formula of profession of faith, but he also discusses the influence of Jacques Maritain upon Pope Paul VI, the Gramscian-Communist method of cultural infiltration and subversion of the Catholic Church, and the person of Joseph Ratzinger as such.January 6, 2021 (LifeSiteNews) – In a new statement, Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò presents the history of Pope Saint Pius X's Oath Against Modernism,...

[Catholic Caucus] "A pope would be schismatic... 'if he if he were to change all the liturgical rites of the Church that have been upheld by apostolic tradition'." (Francisco Suárez / Klaus Gamber) Only four years had passed since the publication of the new Missal when Pope Paul VI surprised the Catholic world with a new Ordo Missæ, dated April 6, 1969. The revision made in 1965 did not touch the traditional liturgical rite. In accordance with the mandate of Article 50 of the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, it had been primarily concerned with removing some later additions to...

The Modern Church WANTS to be Nonessential Remember the Amazon Synod? Seems like a lifetime ago, and yet it was the last thing anyone saw before the lights went out.Francis says the Covid pandemic is Pachamama's response to climate change. I would argue that it's actually God's response to Pachamama. But who am I to judge? One good thing about the pandemic? It put the Francis Road Show to Perdition on hold. The humble pontiff was right in the middle of building his new Tower of Babel when God stepped in: No "Global Education Pact," no Economy Francesco, no World...

Nuns Perform Hindu Ritual During Doxology at Cdl. Cupich Mass ROME (ChurchMilitant.com) - Catholics all over the world have been scandalized by nuns performing a distinctive Hindu ritual during the elevation of the Holy Eucharist at a Mass celebrated by Cdl. Blaise Cupich in Rome.       The "arati" ritual is one of twelve Hindu symbols, rituals and ceremonials approved by the Vatican for the "Indian Rite Mass" and has led to widespread syncretism, liturgical abuse, confusion among the laity and a moratorium on evangelization in India.  A trio of Indian nuns, who had completed their diploma in safeguarding at the Gregorian Pontifical University's Center...

Archbishop Bugnini: The Man Behind the Post-Vatican II Mass The concept of “living and prayerful assembly” looks tragic in retrospect; it led to a collapse on every front. And soon after the “New Mass” was promulgated, a 1971 petition in the London Times, signed by high-profile personalities such as Jorge Luis Borges, Graham Greene and Yehudi Menuhin, called for the survival of the Tridentine Mass. The response of intellectuals and artists is forgotten now, but at the time, it must have stung the reformers. The exile of the average laity, however, seems to have never given the reformers a second’s remorse;...

ROME - Pope Francis today begins a two-month period largely dedicated to outreach to Islam, bookended by a trip to United Arab Emirates now and one to Morocco in late March. If Francis holds to form, and there’s no reason to think he won’t, it’ll be a largely irenic effort premised on friendship and cooperation on shared values.In a recent interview with Crux, Bishop Paul Hinder, the apostolic vicar for Southern Arabia, asserted that Francis’s Islam strategy is a success, citing among other things new interest in the Vatican within the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) composed of the UAE, Bahrain,...