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[Catholic Caucus] The “Suicide of Altering the Faith” Took Place Before We Heard of FrancisThe Church had already reached the point of crisis before Jorge Bergoglio was even ordained to the priesthood (on December 13, 1969).Most of us understand that the Catholic Church is currently undergoing a profound crisis and that Francis seems to be doing everything in his power to make it worse. While Catholics justifiably consider how to best counteract the frequent outrages from Rome, it is worth considering the broader context of the crisis. To that end, the following milestones paint a picture that we may sometimes...

[Catholic Caucus] A Funeral Fit for Vatican II: Francis’s Funeral ReformsEven in death, Francis seems intent on mocking the papacy.In what is erroneously described as yet another act of humility, the Vatican announced this week that the rubrics for pontifical funerals are being “simplified.”The reforms are intended to “emphasize even more that the Roman Pontiff’s funeral is that of a shepherd and disciple of Christ and not of a powerful man of this world,” Archbishop Diego Ravelli, the Vatican’s Master of Ceremonies, has said. They are meant to “better express the faith of the Church in the Risen Christ.”The previous...

[Catholic Caucus] Chapter 4: Practice and BeliefEditor’s note: we continue our weekly serialisation of Dr. Edward Schaefer’s new book A Simple Man’s Case for Tradition. This book is an excellent introduction to Traditionalism and provides an easy way for Trads to introduce the movement to fellow Catholics who are seeking deeper answers to today’s questions. Proceeds from the book sale also help promote the Collegium Sanctorum Angelorum, one of only two traditional Catholic colleges in the United States. Read the IntroductionRead chapter 1: Equally Valid and HolyRead chapter 2: the New MassRead chapter 3: LatinThe year is 1966. It is...

[Catholic Caucus] The "Mayan Rite" and Papal Progressivism - by Abp. Héctor AgüerAbp. Héctor AgüerEmeritus of La PlataBuenos Aires, November 27, 2024 The Liturgy represents the intimate life of the Church, its essence: the worship of the Triune God, in which the First Commandment is fulfilled; the reproduction of the Paschal Mystery of Jesus Christ; the communication of the Grace of the Holy Spirit in the celebration of the Sacraments. The Liturgy is carried out according to various Eastern and Western rites. The Roman Rite includes the Ordo of the Latin Mass, which originated around the 6th century and has...

The Key to Understanding the Synod: “It Is a Continuation of Vatican II”Above: Cardinal Wilton Gregory and Fr. Vimal Tirimanna of Sri Lanka. (CNS/Vatican Media) Fifty years ago, in November of 1974, Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre penned a brief but powerful Declaration — a manifesto against “the Rome of neo-Modernist and neo-Protestant tendencies which were clearly evident in the Second Vatican Council and, after the Council, in all the reforms which issued from it.”“This Reformation,” he wrote (alluding to the Protestant revolt), “born of Liberalism and Modernism, is poisoned through and through; it derives from heresy and ends in heresy, even...

[Catholic Caucus] Do Catholics Need to Flee from Vatican II and Its “Reforms”?Vatican II and its aftermath has demonstrated to us that we must always fight for the immutable Catholic Faith, especially when false shepherds are attacking it.In his March 26, 1961 pastoral letter from Dakar, Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre began by echoing a message from John XXIII:“His Holiness Pope John XXIII’s Christmas Letter to the world this year was on the subject of ‘Truth.’ I should like to re-echo for this diocese the Holy Father’s most timely message, and to draw your attention, my dear people, to the necessity to...

Pope Francis: Mission AccomplishedAbove: when Time Magazine named Pope Francis person of the year in November 2013. On May 9, 2019, I argued that the way to wreck the institutional Catholic Church would be to use the Church’s own weapons against herself, especially the power and primacy of the pope.The Catholic Church, of course, is indefectible; but I argue now that Francis has accomplished the mission of ruining the temporal manifestation of the Church. As Archbishop Fulton Sheen had foreseen, we now have the “ape of the Church… emptied of its divine content.”“That’s a bit dramatic,” you’re thinking. “Did Francis...

If We Want to Promote the Kingship of Christ, We Must Dethrone False EcumenismNo rational observer familiar with Vatican II or its implementation can truthfully deny that the Council’s ecumenical movement was condemned by Pius XII and his predecessors.“If they elect Roncalli, everything would be saved; he would be capable of calling a council and of consecrating ecumenism.” (Dom Lambert Beaudin, quoted in Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre’s They Have Uncrowned Him, p. 160)Pope Pius XII’s 1950 encyclical “concerning some false opinions threatening to undermine the foundations of Catholic doctrine,” Humani Generis, was the last forceful condemnation of anti-Catholic errors prior to...

[Catholic Caucus] From Doomsday 1959 to Dire Straits 2024When most Catholics hear of revelations, they are understandably skeptical. After all, they say, do we not already have the teaching of Christ, the inspired word of God in the Scriptures, and the dogmatic teaching of the Church? What need do we have of revelations? They are, of course, right. But what happens when the teaching of Christ that may still be alive in the mind goes dead in the heart, as did the love of God when Jansenism was rife in the Church? Christ Himself appeared to St. Margaret Mary—not to...

'Amazon' Eucharist 'Approved' for MexicoThe retired bishop of San Cristóbal de Las Casas, México, Felipe Arizmendi, 84, announced on 13 November on Exaudi.org that the Dicastery for the Novus Ordo Liturgy had "finally" approved some "liturgical adaptations" for the Eucharist in the Tseltal, Tsotsil, Ch'ol, Tojolabal and Zoque ethnic groups of his former diocese.Arizmendi is responsible for the doctrine of the faith at the Mexican Bishops' Conference (CEM) and appears also to be a Cardinal. San Cristóbal de Las Casas has 1.6 million Catholics and 135 priests.The prelate writes that "ritual dances" have been approved at the offertory, in the...

The Unholy Synodal Church Can Help Us Reject the Vatican II Cockle Sown by the EnemyAlmost by definition the Synodal Church’s “faith” becomes the lowest common denominator of Christian beliefs. In this way, the path is cleared to eliminate almost everything about Catholicism that stands in the way of the Christian unity championed by John XXIII and Cardinal Bea. No serious Christian would find this appealing, but the Synodal Church is not for serious Christians anyway.In his February 14, 2013 address to the clergy of Rome, Benedict XVI spoke of the tremendous evils caused by Vatican II:“We know that this...

TwitterPope vs. Master Catechism?A new catechism tool could help even Vatican officials better understand the Catholic Faith.It remains anyone’s guess as to whether sainted pontiffs of the past would have descended into the mire of the Twitterverse or other social media. What’s quite certain, however, is that they would never have employed such tools for the dissemination of false or ambiguous teaching—something which, alas, is repeatedly done by the current bishop in white. Just last month, @Pontifex gainsaid the teaching of Jesus Christ that divine power over human life is legitimately entrusted to civil authorities (see Jn 19:11), instead claiming...

After Fifty Years, Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre’s “1974 Declaration” Is More Vital Than EverAlmost fifty years ago, Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre wrote his famous “1974 Declaration,” a brief defense of the immutable Catholic Faith which was so powerful that the liberals in Rome realized they must immediately attack the archbishop. In his Apologia Pro Marcel Lefebvre, Michael Davies described the difference between how orthodox Catholics and Rome’s anti-Catholics saw the 1974 Declaration: “It is difficult to see how any orthodox Catholic could possibly disagree with Mgr. Lefebvre concerning this. It is all the more significant, therefore, that the Commission of Cardinals subsequently...

Catholic Numbers Tank GloballyBefore Vatican II, numbers of Catholics across the globe were exploding. Consider just a few stats regarding American Catholics as listed in the Index of Leading Catholic Indicators:In 1930, the USA had 27,000 priests, but by 1965 that number nearly doubled, bringing the total number of American priests to 58,000.In 1930, the United States had 20,203,702 Catholics. By 1965, that number had sky-rocketed to 45,640,619. This means Catholics were not just reproducing, but making many converts.By 1965, American priests, nuns and lay people had built the world’s largest conglomerate of hospitals, universities, high schools, grade schools and...

[Catholic Caucus] In Rome, theologians reflect on ‘reception’ stage of Synod on SynodalityTheologians and others involved in the October gathering of the Synod on Synodality met this week to offer their expert opinions on the synodal process as it moves into the “reception” or implementation phase.The academic congress — “From the Council to the Synod: Rereading a Church’s Journey, 60 Years on Since Lumen Gentium (1964–2024)” — was hosted by the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome from Oct. 28–30.“We are still in this synodal process, and with the approval of the final document, in fact, the third phase of the...

On Synodality...It has been brought to light that there is a commission of 14 members which dictated the Synod's final document; 7 of which represent a given earthly continent. The Continental Delegate from North America was announced as Catherine Clifford, Professor of Systemic and Historical Theology at Saint Paul University in Ottawa. She is the founding director of the Center for Research on Vatican II and 21st Century Catholicism there. Ms. Clifford has composed pieces with many and varied titles, including, "Receptive Ecumenism as Transformative Ecclesial Learning: Walking the Way to a Church Re-formed," "The Priority of Social Justice at...

[Catholic Caucus] Pope Francis closes Synod saying Church needs to ‘get its hands dirty to serve the Lord’Closing the Synod, Pope Francis rebuked the Church for being ‘seated in blindness’ and urged the Church to ‘take up the cry of the world’ and be ‘a Church that gets its hands dirty to serve the Lord.’Closing the Synod, Pope Francis rebuked the Church for being ‘seated in blindness’ and urged the Church to ‘take up the cry of the world’ and be ‘a Church that gets its hands dirty to serve the Lord.’ Accusing the Church of already being unable to...

[Catholic Caucus] Trusting in God’s providence is the Catholic answer to our times of crisisEven though we know with certainty that God wins in the end, and that He will give us everything we need to serve Him faithfully in this time in which He created us to live, it is easy to lose heart in our increasingly chaotic world.Even though we know with certainty that God wins in the end, and that He will give us everything we need to serve Him faithfully in this time in which He created us to live, it is easy to lose heart...

[Catholic Caucus] Cardinal-Elect Timothy Radcliffe Reveals the Synod’s Revolutionary DNAMost faithful Catholics fortunately have little reason to know much about Fr. Timothy Radcliffe, even though Francis recently named the pro-LGBTQ Dominican priest on the list of Cardinals to be created at the December 8 consistory.However, it is worth examining Radcliffe’s October 21 meditation delivered to the participants on the ongoing Synod on Synodality because it offers us one of the most honest and accurate statements of what is truly going on in Rome today. We can get a clear picture of how the Synodal Church differs from the Catholic Church...

[Catholic Caucus] A Jacobin “Synodality”Don’t be fooled. Just because hot-button issues are not on the Synod's agenda, it doesn’t mean that the revolution is not in full swing.Is it any coincidence that the leaders of the Catholic Church discovered in 1962 that the Catholic Church must be more “participatory” and less “clerical”—in other words, more democratic? After 2,000 years the Holy Spirit, we are to believe, came upon Holy Mother Church and decided that it was time for this ancient institution to reflect modern political trends? We are being told the same thing today, that the Church must continue on...