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IMPORTANT STUDY—“From Traditionis Custodes to the Responsa ad Dubia: On the Hermeneutics of Our Holy Father Francis’s Legislation” The following article by Padre Federico, first published on December 21 by InfoCatholica, represents a unique approach to the crisis unleashed by the motu proprio and the CDW responses: namely, the author advocates consistently employing, for their interpretation and application, the principles repeatedly enunciated by Pope Francis himself. We express our thanks to Gerhard Eger for the translation.INTRODUCTIONOn 18 December 2021, His Holiness Pope Francis approved Responsa ad dubia (RAD) to his motu proprio Traditionis custodes (TC).Some consider the Responsa a...

[Catholic/Orthodox Caucus] “What if Rome no longer wants to be Roman?”: Interview with Martin Mosebach The following interview appeared in the German newspaper Welt am Sonntag in its December 26, 2021 issue. It has been translated for Rorate Caeli.—PAKSince Pope Francis issued a decree in July consistently scaling back the celebration of the old Latin Mass, all hell has broken loose on the international scene of Catholic traditionalists (or “trads”). The writer Martin Mosebach is an icon of the movement, not least thanks to his trad pamphlet Heresy of Formlessness (2002). He receives us for a talk in his...

[Catholic Caucus] “Very Instructive Paradoxes”: Fr. Laurent-Marie Pocquet du Haut Jussé, SJM Paix Liturgique (Letter n°840 of December 24) opened its columns to Reverend Fr. Laurent-Marie Pocquet du Haut Jussé, former superior of the Servants of Jesus and Mary (SJM), who gives us an enlightening testimony. English translation for Rorate Caeli.The responses made by the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, as well as the liturgical crisis provoked by the motu proprio Traditionis custodes, bring to light a certain number of very instructive paradoxes for pastors, theologians, and canonists.Moral paradox: Since 1988 the Church has...

Henry Sire Backs Rumours: Francis Seriously Ill“As the New Year approaches, I should mention that many Vatican insiders say that Francis is ill with cancer and has limited time left,” the historian Henry Sire wrote on Twitter.com (December 27).LifeSiteNews.com journalist Maike Hickson has also heard these persistent rumours from her Vatican contacts,“Cardinals are said to be meeting in preparation for a future conclave. God finally is the author of life, and He will decide. We keep praying for Francis and resist his errors,” she comments.

[Catholic Caucus] Francis Has Already Lost Although this article appeared prior to the CDW responses, the content remains incisive and hopeful. It was published in German at the website Summorum-Pontificum.Francis Has Already LostMichael CharlierDecember 16, 2021With which particular measures Francis wants to force the end of the traditional liturgy and when these steps will take place is still uncertain in the details—there is no doubt that he is pursuing this goal with all his might. But we also have no doubt that he will fail miserably in doing so.At present, Francis and his accomplices are pursuing a kind of...

[Catholic Caucus] At St Germain (France), Catholics celebrate Christmas before the closed doors of a church because of the obstinate will of Pope Francis “Mary gave birth to her firstborn son. She wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn. Now there were shepherds in that region living in the fields and keeping the night watch over their flock…” – St Luke.In Saint-Germain-en-Laye in Yvelines (France), Catholics celebrated the birth of the Savior in front of the door of a church closed because of the obstinate...

[Catholic Caucus] Hundreds Flock to Bishop’s Latin MassFor the fifth year in a row, Catholic tradition made a quiet but profound appearance in an unsuspecting setting: before dawn, early on a Saturday morning on the campus of a public university.However, for the first year, it was led by a successor of the apostles.As was previously posted here on OnePeterFive, before dawn on December 11th, Bishop Conley, ordinary of Lincoln, Nebraska offered a Pontifical Solemn Rorate Mass at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s Newman Center.Many woke early that Saturday morning to worship in so sublime a way — totaling four hundred faithful,...

[Catholic Caucus] Make my Christmas, Grinch! Years ago, I had a priest friend who rose through the clerical ranks of his diocese, to become rector of the Cathedral. He was favored by his bishop, and rightly so, for his priestly zeal and competence. But then, along came a pharaoh who knew not Joseph, and the next bishop despised this priest, because he had been favored by his predecessor. And so, he bided his time, until just the right moment, to inflict pain upon the innocent priest. On Good Friday, precisely at 3:00 pm, the bishop sent an email to...

The End of History and the Last MassBut one in the council rising up, a Pharisee, named Gamaliel, a doctor of the law, respected by all the people, commanded the [apostles] to be put forth a little while. And he said to them: Ye men of Israel, take heed to yourselves what you intend to do, as touching these men … And now, therefore, I say to you, refrain from these men, and let them alone; for if this council or this work be of men, it will come to naught; But if it be of God, you cannot overthrow...

What is behind the papal strangulation of the old Mass? By Fr Christopher Basden, Parish Priest of Ramsgate, England. Since the Pope’s recent brutal and unmerciful constriction of the traditional Latin Mass, many have been shocked by its unusual severity and questioned what motivates it. Liberal Catholic friends respond that it lacks the inclusivity that a broad Church demands. Friends from beyond the confines of Catholicism scratch their heads; this is the classic Roman ritual which for 1 ½ millennia was the inspiration of countless works of music, literature and art. One of the loveliest personal memories I have...

[Catholic Caucus] Important Declaration of the Superior of the Fraternity of St. Vincent Ferrer: "The Supreme Authority of the Church cannot go back on its word given to the members of the Ecclesia Dei communities: it is impossible for the members of our institutes to abandon our liturgical customs." The Fraternity of Saint Vincent Ferrer, dedicated to the preservation of the traditional practices (including liturgical ones) of the Dominicans, is one of the oldest of the so-called "Ecclesia Dei" communities founded under John Paul II with the solemn contractual commitment by the Holy See that they could dedicate themselves...

An Evil Edict from Pope FrancisBISHOP ROB MUTSAERTS Auxiliary Bishop of ‘s-Hertogenbosch, The Netherlands Pope Francis promotes synodality: everyone should be able to talk, everyone should be heard. This was hardly the case with his recently published motu proprio Traditionis Custodes, an ukase [imperial edict] that must put an immediate termination on the traditional Latin Mass. In so doing, Francis puts a big bold line through Summorum Pontificum, Pope Benedict’s motu proprio that gave ample scope to the old Mass.The fact that Francis here uses the word of power without any consultation indicates that he is losing authority. This was...

[Catholic Caucus] Dirty Game: Archbishop Sabotages Mass By Appointing Hostile CelebrantNaples' Catholics will not have a Christmas Mass which had been celebrated for over 20 years in San Ferdinando di Palazzo Church, reports Ansa.it (December 21).The organisers asked Naples Archbishop Domenico Battaglia, 58, for the continuation of the Masses in accordance with Traditionis Custodes. Those attending the Mass include members of ancient Neapolitan families, professors, students and entrepreneurs.Battaglia granted the request but nominated Monsignor Lino Silvestri, the Church's rector, as the celebrant. When the faithful contacted Silvestri, he declined to celebrate saying on the phone that “there is no more...

Motus in fine velocior (2) - "With a Divisive, Useless, and Unjust Persecution, the Francis Crisis is Gathering Even More Speed" - by Roberto de Mattei by Roberto de MatteiOn February 11, 2014, one year after the day on which Benedict XVI made known his decision to resign from the pontificate, I published an article entitled Motus in fine velocior to signal the beginning of a dizzying acceleration of time’s pace, starting with the resignation of Benedict and the election of Pope Francis on March 13, 2013. Benedict XVI reigned from April 19, 2005, to February 28, 2013, seven...

[Catholic Caucus] IMPORTANT ARTICLE: LEGAL CONSIDERATIONS ON THE RESPONSA ON TRADITIONIS CUSTODES - "Congregation cannot make authoritative interpretations. Juridical status of document highly questionable, does not have legally binding force." On 18 December 2021, the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments (CDWDS) issued a peculiar document, a "Responsa ad dubia" regarding the 16 July 2021 motu proprio of Pope Francis, Traditionis Custodes. At the outset, some formal considerations on this document must be stressed. The main lines of the competencies of the CDWDS can be found as sketched in Pastor Bonus, the 28 June 1988...

“When the shepherd becomes a wolf, the flock must defend itself”: Dr. Michael Fiedrowicz The following essay by the eminent patrologist and scholar of the Roman liturgy, Michael Fiedrowicz, discusses classical theologians on the right of resistance to the abuse of ecclesiastical authority. It was written prior to the release of the CDW document but in anticipation of it. First published in IK-Nachrichten of Pro Santa Ecclesia, December 2021/January 2022, the translation appears exclusively at Rorate Caeli.—PAKSaints Athanasius & Cyril“When the Shepherd Becomes a Wolf, the Flock Must Defend Itself”Prof. Dr. Michael FiedrowiczExpect the worstIt is part of the...

EXCLUSIVE: Bishop Schneider on Latest Vatican Crackdown on Tradition ROME, December 22, 2021 (The Remnant)—In his first print interview since the release of the Responsa ad dubia (“Response to doubts”) on certain provisions of Pope Francis’ Traditionis Custodes by the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, Bishop Athanasius Schneider has said the new document “needlessly reopens” old wounds in the Church, “borders on mockery,” and betrays a “hostile inflexibility” towards Catholics attached to the traditional liturgy of the Roman Rite. “Remarkably, we are witnessing an intransigent Inquisition-like method being employed in a pontificate that has...

[Catholic Caucus] The Latin Mass Society’s Canonical Notes on the Responsa ad dubia You can read the Latin Mass Society's discussion of the Congregation for Divine Worship's Responsa ad dubia, point by point, here.Many canonists on the internet and off it have noticed that the Responsa issued by the CDW seem to be making demands on bishops and priests which go beyond the authority of a Roman Congregation to make. In some cases they seem to be taking away prerogatives from bishops which they are explicitly given by Canon Law, and even the Second Vatican Council. The Supreme Legislator,...

[Catholic Caucus] Assertions without reasons: A Statement in Protest of the CDW Responses from Pro Missa Tridentina Veni, veni, Emmanuel! Statement of the Lay Association "Pro Missa Tridentina" on the implementation of the regulations of the Motu proprio Traditionis Custodes (of 7/16/21) published on 12/18/21: The form and content of these restrictions cannot be accepted by traditional Catholics. With stunned horror, the faithful attached worldwide to the Roman tradition take note of the document that Archbishop Roche, with the consent of Pope Francis, addressed to the Presidents of the Episcopal Conferences, which was made public on Saturday, December 18,...

[Catholic Caucus] Without Reason: Despotic Archbishop Expels CommunityThe secularised Curitiba Archbishop José Antônio Peruzzo, 61 (left picture), Brazil, published a decree "prohibiting" to Father Thiago Bonifácio (right picture) any ministry. Bonifácio belongs to the Roman Rite Institute of The Good Shepherd (IBP).Father Daniel Pinheiro, the Latin America Superior of the community, informed in a December 20 press release, about this abuse of power, and stated that “we consider the decree invalid and null according to canon law and natural law.”Pinheiro informed that the Institute filed a canonical appeal which suspends the decree. The decree is also a slap in Francis'...