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March 16, 2016 (LifeSiteNews.com) -- On March 16, speaking publicly on a rare occasion, Pope Benedict XVI gave an interview to Avvenire, the daily newspaper of the Italian Bishops' Conference, in which he spoke of a “two-sided deep crisis” the Church is facing in the wake of the Second Vatican Council. The report has already hit Germany courtesy of Vaticanist Guiseppe Nardi, of the German Catholic news website Katholisches.info. Pope Benedict reminds us of the formerly indispensable Catholic conviction of the possibility of the loss of eternal salvation, or that people go to hell: The missionaries of the 16th...

Bishop John Doerfler of Marquette, Michigan, has issued directions for all parishes in the diocese to institute programs that will lead to the congregation chanting the Ordinary parts of the Mass. Following up on the work of his predecessor in Marquette, then-Bishop Alexander Sample (who is now Archbishop of Portland, Oregon), Bishop Doerfler has called for the action to carry out the vision of Vatican II, which encouraged the use of Gregorian chant and congregational involvement in the singing. In a pastoral letter released in 2013, Bishop Sample had also called attention to the Council's directives on liturgical music, as...

Two opposing interpretations of the Second Vatican Council divide the Catholic Church. This divide is more complex than the casual observer tends to appreciate. Within the complex divide, however, is a clear, simple divide: the familiar quarrel between the Ancients and the Moderns. Each of the two parties is marked by a definite taste in liturgy, music, architecture, and art. The Eucharist being “the source and summit of the Christian life,” it should come as no surprise that the central object of disagreement between the Catholic Ancients and the Catholic Moderns is the Mass. In the Roman rite, it can...

A Look at the “Actual Mass” of Vatican II: the 1965 Missal By: Msgr. Charles PopeA couple of weeks ago I wrote a cautionary article aimed at my traditionally-minded brethren saying, among other things, that we ought to be careful in identifying the Ordinary Form of the Mass (1970 Missal and beyond) as the “Mass of Vatican II.”  I will not reproduce that whole article here. I will only recall three points:1. The Mass was already undergoing significant changes, beginning in the 1940s and picking up speed through the 1950s. More changes were planned by the Vatican before the Second Vatican...

If the Second Vatican Council Had Never Happened, Would We Still Have a “New Mass?” … Quite Possibly By: Msgr. Charles PopeOne of the unfortunate couplings with those who lament the loss of the “pre-Conciliar” Mass (a.k.a. Traditional Latin Mass (TLM), Extraordinary Form, 1962 Missal, etc.) is the linking of the “New Mass” (a.k.a. Ordinary Form) wholly with the Second Vatican Council. This connection, while understandable given the emergence of the Ordinary Form just after the Council, is too simplistic and is unhelpful for a number of reasons. Without the Second Vatican Council, would the Ordinary Form of the Mass be...

New Coke/New Mass: As the situation in the Catholic Church reaches crisis levels, the lonely stand taken by Traditionalists such as Lefebvre & Davies forty years ago should be fully vindicated. So why is history being rewritten? Why are the traditionalists being 'airbrushed' out of the picture? Ferrara and Matt discuss.

“[O]ften men, deceived by the Evil One, have become vain in their reasonings and have exchanged the truth of God for a lie, serving the creature rather than the Creator. [...] By the proclamation of the Gospel… [the Church] gives [non-Christians] the dispositions necessary for baptism, snatches them from the slavery of error and of idols and incorporates them in Christ…” Sound like something from the superstitious medieval Church? Actually, it’s a quote from the Second Vatican Council (Lumen gentium, 16-17; promulgated in 1964).

The following article (with the university class reference documents) was written with the motive to help my sister and her husband, with seven children, to leave the traditionalist groups SSPX, SSPV and CMRI and to return to the one, true Catholic Church. If you want the reference documents (Ecclesiology.doc, Religious-Freedom.doc, Psy-Cult.doc and Subsists.doc), send an email to: josephdwight@hotmail.com; please specify if you want the documents in plain text format or MSWord format with the footnotes incorporated, or in one document all together in either format. A SIMPLE, COMMON SENSE REBUTTAL to SSPX, SSPV and CMRI When I was younger my...

In 2014, how can grown men write this with a straight face? International Theological Commission of the Catholic Church The Church had one Pentecost. One. The Church does not need new foundations, she is not a country in search of new constitutional orders. Enough is enough: 50 years of collapse of the sensus catholicus, collapse of Catholic life in all countries where the Church was firmly established in Europe and the Americas, near-disappearance of all Catholic communities across the Middle East (in this case, mostly through no fault of the hierarchy, but still indicating that speaking of a "new Pentecost"...

(Barcelona / Rome) Does the Congregation of Religious suffer from a villainous portrait of tradition? This question has hung in the air since last weekend. The Franciscan José Rodriguez Carballo, for a year secretary of the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, participated in a Conference of Religious of Catalonia. In his speech he delivered last Saturday without directly mentioning the Order by name, gave a first official hint as to why the Franciscans of the Immaculate have been reprimanded by his Congregation. The reason implied much to the young religious Order, and is of...

But, wait, there’s more! According to La Stampa, Pope Paul VI has reportedly been penciled in for beatification this coming fall at the conclusion of the Synod of Bishops in Rome. Yes, that’s right—Paul VI! Remember him? That vague, sort of nondescript pontiff who made up for negligible personal magnetism with an almost fanatical penchant for novelty. There is no particular cult associated with his cause, of course, other than among a few aging ecclesiastical hippies inside the Vatican who are evidently bound and determined to nominate their pal Paul for a Halo Award, come hell or high water. Something...

"...My theory is that it is precisely those who have abused Vatican II by continually ignoring or even counterfeiting its teaching who have produced a situation in which the same Council is becoming increasingly distant, wearisome, vexed, and irrelevant. For example, had there been a clear and humble acceptance of the teaching of Sacrosanctum Concilium, and, therefore, had the Church been free from widespread liturgical abuses and the hermeneutic of rupture that is still the modus operandi of most parish communities, there can be no question that the traditionalist movement would have spent far less of its time critiquing Vatican...

Just two little words in a carefully written text of the Second Vatican Council carry tremendous significance in terms of the emphasis that text was meant to convey. Two little words, so easily overlooked, add urgency to the task for evangelization, and usher in a reminder of why the task of the Church in announcing Jesus Christ is so critical.What are these words? Simply these:“But often….”Perhaps you are less than amazed and wonder what they could have to do with evangelization, let alone urgency. These words occur in a critical text of the Second Vatican Council, Lumen Gentium # 16,...

An important letter, from Pope Francis to Archbishop Agostino Marchetto, has just been published. It includes the following: “With these lines I wish to be close to you and join myself to the act of presentation of the book 'Pontifical primacy and epicopate: from the first millennium to the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council.' [The book is a collection of essays, some by Archbishop Marchetto, in his honour]. I beg you to consider myself spiritually present [there]… “You have made your love for the Church manifest in many ways… above all it is manifest in all your purity in the...

THE IMPORTANCE OF THE NEW EVANGELIZATION Cardinal Óscar Andrés Rodríguez Maradiaga SDB Archbishop of Tegucigalpa University of Dallas Ministry Conference Irving Convention Center 1. Introduction: It is not possible to talk about the Church, or about the Church today, without referring to the crucial moment in contemporary history that Vatican II has been for her, both as an event of grace and a paradigmatic reference. The Church is rising. There is a significant increment of the faith in Africa, where the Church has grown tremendously during the 20th century. Such vitality can also be seen in some sectors of the...

The pope’s nearly 11,000 word interview with America Magazine will be debated for months. My contribution to that discussion begins with the following ten takeaways. May I first beg your forgiveness for my failure to hold up for applause every expression offered by the pope that resembles solid Catholic teaching? Nothing personal; that’s just me. I’m not in the habit of alerting my mechanic every time my truck starts either. 1. Pope Francis is very uncomfortable wielding authority. “I found myself provincial (in a position of authority in the Jesuit order) when I was still very young. I was only...

Before attempting to get my hands around the pope’s interview with America Magazine, I’d like to make two preliminary observations: Number one, informal papal interviews are a bad idea. The voice of the pope is the most powerful force on earth. Whenever the Vicar of Christ speaks publicly, it is no exaggeration to say that his words carry the potential to alter the course of human history. This is the truth by virtue of He whom the Roman Pontiff represents, Christ the King who rules over all things, and it remains the truth even for a pope who prefers instead...

Every bishop is called to be “a servant of communion” working tirelessly to overcome divisions so that differences become a treasure and not a source of conflict, Pope Francis has said. The Christian community should be “like a great mosaic in which every small piece joins with others as part of God’s one great plan”, the Pope said yesterdat as he celebrated the feast of Ss Peter and Paul and bestowed the pallium on 34 archbishops from 19 countries. snip Pope Francis said that when he gave the archbishops their palliums as a sign of communion, it was not a...

An interfaith gathering in London to pray for peace has been pronounced a welcome first by the president of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran. The event, held at Westminster Cathedral Hall on 13 June, was the highlight of a four-day visit by the cardinal, who told The Tablet that the gathering was uniquely British and "beautiful". The London gathering was inspired by the Day of Prayer for Peace convened by Pope John Paul II in 1986 at Assisi. Representatives of nine religions delivered prayers and reflections in their own tradition, then placed a pot of white...

It’s ironic to me that my recent article, “Fifty Years Later—Vatican II’s Unfinished Business,” has provoked anger among many traditionalists, because for most of my priesthood I have angered liberals who consider me an arch traditionalist. Nevertheless I want to respond to those traditionalists who include both the SSPX and my fellow Catholics still fully united to the Church. I assure you of my prayers and support for your passionate defense of Church practices through the ages.Nevertheless, I stand fully by my article and support the Second Vatican Council, called by one pope, John XXIII, and brought to a close...