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[Catholic Caucus] Two Pilgrimages, Two Bans: Traditional Catholics Shut Out of Rome and Lourdes In the same weekend, traditional Catholics were denied their customary prayer service inside St. Peter’s Basilica and barred from public liturgies and processions at Lourdes. Two pilgrimages. Two holy places. And one unforgettable witness to a faith that no ecclesiastical restriction can extinguish. During the “Christ the King” pilgrimage organized by the Society of St. Pius X (SSPX) in October 2026, I learned more vividly than ever that a pilgrimage’s true success does not rest on a basilica, a sanctuary, or even an official authorization from...

Vatican Welcomes Islam While Traditional Catholics are Rejected: What Happened to the Faith? Why are Catholic leaders welcoming Muslims while traditional Catholics face growing restrictions? Robert Morrison traces the controversy from Vatican II to today’s Church, contrasting the religious outlook of influential postconciliar theologians with Archbishop Lefebvre’s uncompromising defense of the Catholic Faith.In his recent interview with Michael Matt, Bishop Athanasius Schneider spoke of the way in which some bishops in Europe praise and promote Islam:“Many bishops in Europe say this religion is fine, we support this religion, because they believe in one god . . . and by this...

[Catholic Caucus]Newly Published Letters Refute Vatican Claim That TLM Pilgrimage Failed to Specify Its Request MiL also publishes the text of a June 12 letter to Pope Leo XIV requesting permission to celebrate Mass.(Pilgrims gather in front of the Obelisk to sing the Credo; Photo: Diane Montagna)New letters have emerged concerning the Vatican’s refusal to let the fifteenth annual Summorum Pontificum pilgrimage Ad Petri Sedem enter St. Peter’s Basilica in procession. They confirm reports on the organizers’ Sept. 8 request and directly refute the Vatican’s claim that the request was not specific enough.Today the Italian blog Messainlatino (MiL) published three...

Rome picks a side: LGBT ‘pilgrimage’ welcomed, Latin Mass shut out OpinionTo oppose the traditional Mass is to oppose the Mass, and to oppose the Mass is to oppose the Catholic faith itself.Catholics who love the traditional Latin Mass (TLM) have now been forcefully shut out from St. Peter’s Basilica. Pro-sodomy “pilgrims” have been deliberately welcomed. All within the span of just a little over a year, under the helm of Pope Leo XIV. A line has been drawn in the sand.The latest move against traditional Catholicism from the Vatican is so remarkable because it is so concrete and clear,...

[Catholic Caucus] The TLM Pilgrimage in Rome & the Call for “Liturgical Peace” Above: the traditionalist pilgrimage in Rome. Photo by the author.Throughout the highs and lows experienced by the traditional movement in the last fifteen years, one event has remained key in the calendar, and this year was no exception. The 2026 edition of the annual Ad Petri Sedem pilgrimage once more served as the siren call for Latin Mass devotees across the globe to descend upon Rome on this last weekend of October. Once in the city though, it is fair to say, that the pilgrimage faced more...

[Catholic Caucus] Bishop Mutsaerts: Why is ‘liturgical diversity’ good except for Latin Mass? A Catholic can attend the Divine Liturgy according to several traditions. But as soon as a Catholic wishes to attend a Latin Mass, suddenly liturgical diversity becomes a problem.The Catholic Church prides itself on its universality, cherishes an impressive diversity of liturgical traditions, and regards that diversity as an expression of its richness. A Catholic can attend the Divine Liturgy according to the Byzantine tradition, the Maronite tradition, the Armenian tradition, or the Chaldean tradition. No one considers this a threat to ecclesial unity in and of...

[Catholic Caucus] The Lepers: Letter from the Secretariat of State blocking entry of Traditional Pilgrims to Saint Peter’s Basilica Three weeks before the Summorum Pontificum pilgrimage, which is in its 15th year and has always ended on the last Sunday in October, Father Claude Barthe, chaplain of the pilgrimage, received the denial.Diane Montagna reports (main excerpt):A letter from the Vatican Secretariat of State to the organizers of the annual Ad Petri Sedem pilgrimage, obtained by this journalist, confirms reports that the pilgrims were barred from entering St. Peter’s Basilica in procession to pray at the tomb of the Apostle.The letter,...

[Catholic Caucus] The Vatican's “speech of inclusiveness and tolerance is not true, it is ideological and selective,” Bishop Athanasius SchneiderThe Vatican's “speech of inclusiveness and tolerance is not true, it is ideological and selective,” Bishop Athanasius Schneider told AdVaticanum.com following the Vatican’s ban on the Summorum Pontificum pilgrimage procession entering St. Peter’s Basilica today.Schneider criticized the contradiction between the Church’s promotion of synodality and its exclusion of traditional Catholics.“A group of Catholics who are in good standing and recognize the Pope, pray for the Pope, for the bishops — exactly this group was banned,” he said.Schneider suggested that accusations of...

[Catholic Caucus] Roche falsely claims Summorum Pontificum’s goal was SSPX ‘returning’ to Church Pope Benedict XVI has said it is ‘absolutely false’ that the ‘reauthorization’ of the Latin Mass was ‘primarily a concession’ to the SSPX.Anti-traditionalist Cardinal Arthur Roche has repeated the false claim that Pope Benedict XVI issued Summorum Pontificum to “smooth the way” for the Society of St. Pius X (SSPX) to “return to the Church.”The prefect of the Dicastery for Divine Worship told AdVaticanum in an interview published Tuesday that “Summorum Pontificum was created to accommodate, and also to smooth the way for, the Society of Saint...

Exclusive interview: Cardinal Roche to traditionalists: ‘You are edging yourself away from the centre of Catholicism’ In an exclusive interview with AdVaticanum, the Prefect of the Dicastery for Divine Worship speaks about his dicastery, the controversy over an Islamic chant at a Belgian university Mass, the future of Traditionis Custodes, the validity of SSPX sacraments and whether there was an appetite among bishops for change from Summorum PontificumCardinal Arthur Roche is one of the most senior churchmen in the Vatican. He served as Secretary of the then Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments for almost a...

Interview with Cardinal Roche: the Pope is not going back on Traditionis Custodes, Summorum Pontificum will not returnCardinal Roche, the English head of the Dicastery for Divine Worship, granted an extensive interview to website Ad Vaticanum as he nears the end of his term.We provide below the excerpts that concern Traditional Catholics, the entire interview deals with several other matters.... This year will mark five years since the implementation of Traditionis Custodes, the motu proprio from Pope Francis’s pontificate, which adjusted a previous motu proprio from Pope Benedict’s pontificate. Do you think, in view of these changes from pontificate to...

[Catholic Caucus] “We Demand the Latin Mass”: CIC 2026 Statement to the Vatican “Give Us Back the Mass of Our Fathers!” Michael Matt delivers the extraordinary closing statement of the 2026 Catholic Identity Conference—a direct appeal to Pope Leo XIV, a warning against the continued suppression of Tradition, and a declaration that faithful Catholics will not be silenced or driven from the Church. The message is clear: Restore the Latin Mass—or face the resistance of Catholics determined to defend the Faith.Your Holiness:We address our Holy Father as loyal sons of Holy Mother Church, “with burning concern” for the souls of...

[Catholic Caucus] Latin Mass Persecutor Viola Named to Saint Peter’s - And What Happens Now in Divine Worship Liturgical shake-up today at the Vatican:Appointment of vicar general of His Holiness for Vatican City, archpriest of the Papal Basilica of Saint Peter in the Vatican and president of the Fabric of Saint PeterThe Holy Father has appointed Archbishop Vittorio Francesco Viola, O.F.M., hitherto secretary of the Dicastery for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, as vicar general of His Holiness for Vatican City, archpriest of the Papal Basilica of Saint Peter in the Vatican and president of the Fabric...

[Catholic Caucus] Bishop Mutsaerts: Go to Latin Mass instead of trying to fix your own parish 'If there's a bad Novus Ordo Mass, you can't improve those priests, I'm afraid. So just go anywhere else,' Mutsaerts told LifeSite at the Catholic Identity Conference.Bishop Robert Mutsaerts said that Catholics who attend parishes with irreverent Novus Ordo Masses should find a Traditional Latin Mass (TLM) or another reverent liturgy instead of attempting to transform their home parish.During a brief October 3 interview with LifeSite after his talk at the 2026 Catholic Identity Conference (CIC), Mutsaerts responded to a question about whether the...

[Catholic Caucus] No Response to Traditional Pilgrimage’s Papal Audience RequestPilgrims process towards St Peter’s Basilica during last year’s Ad Petri Sedem pilgrimage in Rome, Oct. 25, 2025 (Photo: Edward Pentin)Is Pope Leo XIV missing an opportunity to heal wounds felt by traditional Catholics by not meeting with a large representative group of them next month?The Holy Father has so far not responded to a request for a papal audience from the leaders of an annual traditional Catholic pilgrimage to Rome — despite the request having been made nine months ago and the Pope saying last year he would like to...

[Catholic Caucus] BREAKING: Toronto Oratory’s Latin Masses to be curtailed Sept. 20: reports Weekly Traditional Latin Masses at the Toronto's Holy Family and St. Vincent de Paul churches will no longer continue, according to two long-established blogs, and traditional-form sacraments will end immediately. Beginning Sunday, September 20, the weekly Traditional Latin Masses (TLM) at the Toronto Oratory’s Holy Family and St. Vincent de Paul churches will no longer continue as weekly celebrations of the 1962 Missal, according to two long-established Toronto blogs with deep ties to the churches in question.Each parish would instead be required to offer one Novus Ordo...

[Catholic Caucus] They Won’t Let Bishop Schneider Offer the Latin Mass in St. Peter’s Cardinal Burke was allowed to celebrate the Latine Mass in St. Peter's Basilica for the Summorum Pontificum Pilgrimage in 2025. For this year's event, Bishop Athanasius Schneider will celebrate the Traditional Latin Mass at St. Mary Major instead. Rome’s decision to deny him the Altar of the Chair raises uncomfortable questions about the Church’s current treatment of Catholics attached to Tradition.The Vatican’s move to deny Bishop Athanasius Schneider permission to celebrate the Traditional Latin Mass (TLM) in St. Peter’s Basilica for this year’s Summorum Pontificum pilgrimage...

[Catholic Caucus] Vatican denies Bishop Schneider Latin Mass at St. Peter’s Basilica 'It seems very strange that today the so-called LGBT Catholics can obtain a special Mass in St. Peter's more easily than Catholics attached to the Church’s Tradition,' a source told LifeSite.The Traditional Latin Mass will not be celebrated in St. Peter’s Basilica during this year’s Summorum Pontificum pilgrimage.On September 9, the organizers of the 15th edition of the traditional Summorum Pontificum pilgrimage at the Tomb of St. Peter released the official program of the event. Unlike last year — and as already happened during Francis’s pontificate — the...

Letter from a Catholic Mother About the TLM Which clergy will defend real Catholicism as the stakes increase? Below is a letter I received from a mother of a large family. She and her husband gave me permission to publish it. I am keeping them anonymous, as well as their bishop and diocese.The TLM community in my diocese is suffering greatly. We are still mourning the loss of our Latin Mass; that school of holiness, valor, beauty, and love. It was our identity; the light of our families and the means of constant conversion in which we were all deeply...

[Catholic Caucus] The Church ‘Cannot Declare War’ on Latin Mass Devotees, Cardinal Robert Sarah Says The cardinal praised Pope Benedict’s 2007 decision to allow the faithful greater access to the Latin Mass but called Pope Francis’ 2021 decision to restrict it neither ‘sensible’ nor ‘respectful.’“We, as a Church, cannot declare war on those who devoutly attend Mass simply because they prefer one form over another; this is a shortsighted and entirely ideological stance and, therefore, neither pastoral nor Christian,” Cardinal Robert Sarah said on Aug. 27. “It is harmful and destructive to the Church.”Cardinal Sarah, the former prefect of the...