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[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] Exclusive from Rome: Pope Leo XIV issues exemption to San Angelo DioceseIn a quiet corner of San Angelo, the past is very much alive. At St. Margaret of Scotland Catholic Parish, the ancient rite of the Traditional Latin Mass (TLM) — also known as the Extraordinary Form — continues to thrive, even as worldwide limitations challenge its practice.“The Latin Mass is a ascent to Calvary where the Lord Jesus Christ reliving essentially the passion in every Latin Mass,” said Father Freddy Perez, Parochial Administrator, St. Margaret of Scotland Parish in San Angelo. In 2021, the Vatican issued a...

[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] The Broad Ocean of the Latin Rite: What True Liturgical Diversity Looks LikeRecent years have seen a surge in curiosity about the classic Rome rite, its forms, symbols, and history. Everywhere neophytes can be heard asking cautiously about “the Latin Mass,” while those who are more versed in the traditional Catholic world may be found disputing the merits and shortcomings of the ’62 missal and the Office of St. Pius X, or extolling the glories of the pre-’55 Holy Week.As rumors of an end to the intolerable régime of Traditionis custodes have begun to circulate, the time is...

[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 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] Vatican under Pope Leo XIV grants Latin Mass in Texas a two-year extensionThe Vatican has granted St. Margaret’s parish in San Angelo a two-year permission to continue offering the Latin Mass despite Pope Francis’ restrictions.The Vatican has granted a Traditional Latin Mass in Texas a two-year extension, the first such reprieve from Traditionis Custodes under Pope Leo XIV.“I’m grateful to @Pontifex and to the Dicastery for Divine Worship and Discipline of the Sacraments for allowing the TLM to continue to exist in our parish church, extending permission for another two years,” announced Father Ryan Rojo on Friday.The extension...

[Catholic Caucus] Cardinal Zen celebrates Latin Mass, leads Eucharistic procession for Corpus Christi in Hong KongCardinal Joseph Zen led a Latin Mass and Eucharistic procession in Hong Kong, showing Chinese Catholics' resilience and sending a message to both Beijing and Pope Leo XIV.Cardinal Joseph Zen celebrated the Traditional Latin Mass (TLM) and led a Eucharistic procession for Corpus Christi.On June 22, 93-year-old Zen, the retired cardinal-bishop of Hong Kong, led a procession through the streets of Hong Kong after celebrating the Latin Mass for the Solemnity of Corpus Christi.“We celebrate the Solemnity of Corpus Christi, a feast the Church established...

[Catholic Caucus] Dr. Kwasniewski and the Honest TruthClose the Workshop: Why the Old Mass Isn’t Broken and the New Mass Can’t Be FixedI imagine very few millennials grew up as traditional Catholics. For most of us, it was a tangled process, or rather conversion, that led from the kitsch and thin Catholicism of our youth—“And if the devil doesn’t like it he can sit on a tack. Ouch!”—to that rich, distant land of Tradition. It took until my late teens before I attended my first traditional Latin Mass. I was sold right from the Asperges. “Eureka!…or whatever that word is...

[Catholic Caucus] His Own University is Now Against Him: Andrea Grillo, Francis' Liturgist and the Father of Traditionis Custodes, Hates the Eucharist and Must Have His Imprint ErasedAndrea Grillo: has any man done more to rekindle the liturgical wars?The detestable Italian professor was introduced by some malevolent Vatican spirit to Francis and created the document that would later be signed by the late pope as "Traditionis custodes", whose aim is explicitly to destroy the Traditional Latin Mass in the long term.But it seems Grillo has at last bitten more than he can chew (or at least at last because it...

[Catholic Caucus] The Pope meets French Bishops -- The Traditional Mass Orders Ignored in Vocation Crisis reportThe gravest crisis in a great part of the Church is that of vocations -- and France is no exception, of course. In Rorate, we have covered it often, including making clear that, with current trends persisting, a huge proportion of active priests in France in a few decades will be those dedicated exclusively or mostly to the Traditional Latin Mass (cf. here, for instance).Leo XIV met with the outgoing board of the French Bishops' Conference (CEF) last week, and, as Silere non Possum...

[Catholic Caucus] ‘Save the Latin Mass’ rally planned at Detroit cathedral following crackdownFaithful Catholics will gather for a “Save the Latin Mass” rally on Saturday, June 28 outside the Cathedral of the Most Blessed Sacrament in Detroit, Michigan.The prayerful protest follows a decision by Archbishop Edward Weisenburger to ban the Latin Mass at all but four churches in the archdiocese.Weisenburger has also prohibited ad orientem liturgies, even though nothing in Traditionis Custodes or any Vatican II or subsequent documents forbid the priest facing the altar during Mass.READ: Detroit archbishop shuts down most Latin Masses, bans ad orientem worshipSaturday’s rally will...

[Catholic Caucus] Cardinal Burke: Doctrinal and Moral Corruption ‘Directly Related’ to Abuse of the LiturgyRecalling the warnings of popes and saints, Cardinal Burke said neglect of liturgical law and tradition has paved the way for widespread confusion about faith and morals.Cardinal Raymond Burke has appealed to Pope Leo XIV to lift the restrictions on the pre-1970 liturgy, stressing that respect for liturgical tradition is critical for the Catholic Church’s mission and that doctrinal and moral corruption shows itself in “divisions and factions” that lead to liturgical abuse. Speaking via video link to a London conference celebrating 60 years of the...

[Catholic Caucus] Diocesan Latin Mass to be suppressed in Tulsa, OklahomaThe only diocesan Latin Mass in Tulsa will be shut down in July, according to a blogger.A diocesan traditional Latin Mass that has been held for 13 years in the Diocese of Tulsa, Oklahoma, is to be suppressed by July, according to parishioners.“I am saddened to report that as of Sunday, June 29th, 2025, A.D., in the Year of Our Lord Jesus Christ, despite my own efforts at a petition, and I am sure other local requests, after 13 years the Latin Mass Community of Ss. Peter and Paul (SSPP)...

[Catholic Caucus] Bishop Schneider: "The TLM enables doctrinal clarity."Drawing from his own experiences under Soviet persecution, Bishop Schneider encouraged Catholics to be willing to suffer and persevere for the sake of the Catholic Faith and the traditional liturgy (pre-Vatican 2), despite facing “liturgical exile” or persecution within the Church. Strikingly, the prelate’s message was one of hope and joy, exhorting the audience to suffer for the Catholic Faith with joy, confidence, and zeal. After all, we have not entered the Barque of Peter “to escape out of it” but to keep the faith under the banner of Christ the King.Bishop...

[Catholic Caucus] Chartres pilgrimage proves young Catholics hunger for traditionWith banners raised and blisters endured, pilgrims on the Chartres pilgrimage proclaimed Jesus' kingship and the beauty of His Church’s ancient traditions.When the “Pilgrimage of Christendom,” as it was officially named at the start, made its first gruelling journey on foot from Paris to Chartres in 1983, it attracted more marchers than the organizers thought possible: some 500 pilgrims joined the pioneers, inspired by the example of the pilgrimage of Our Lady of Czestochowa in Poland, which was still under communist rule at the time.The founding “Centre Henri et André Charlier”...

[Catholic Caucus] The "Mercy" Hammer Comes Down on Traditional Latin Masses in Detroit -- 10 Parish Masses to be Closed [Update: Ad Orientem posture in Novus Ordo also banned][Updated: as the full implementation document at the end makes clear, the ban of ad orientem and other traditional liturgical aspects in the Novus Ordo is not a rumor anymore, but it's fully public.] Ugliness and cruelty dressed up as goodness and obedience. Disgusting.A few notes:1. "Fidelity to the Holy Father's call" - He means Francis; Leo XIV has made no such call yet.2. The "all other sites" for which permission will...

[Catholic Caucus] The Traditional Latin Mass on Mount EverestAb ortu enim solis usque ad occasum, magnum est nomen meum in gentibus, et in omni loco sacrificatur : et offertur nomini meo oblatio munda, quia magnum est nomen meum in gentibus, dicit Dominus exercituum. (Mal. 1:11)From the National Catholic Register:Father Doohan, a priest of the Diocese of Dunkeld, arrived in Nepal on May 2, hauling medical supplies for St. Ignatius’ Church in Kathmandu, then set off with Bishokarma and a small porter team toward Everest Base Camp — 4 vertical miles higher than Scotland’s Ben Nevis. “Heaven has once again come...

[Catholic Caucus] Michigan bishop allows Latin Mass to continue after it was set to end due to Pope FrancisThe Traditional Latin Mass in the Diocese of Saginaw was set to end on June 13 due to Traditionis Custodes.The bishop of Saginaw, Michigan, is allowing the Traditional Latin Mass in his diocese to continue for the time being after permission for it was set to expire on June 13 due to Pope Francis’ Traditionis Custodes.A Saginaw parishioner wrote on Facebook Wednesday morning, “Thanks be to God our wonderful Shepherd Bishop Gruss has said the Latin Mass can continue at Holy Family...