This Is How We Do It, part 2

Newly ordained priest exercises his right to celebrate the ancient Mass.

This Is How We Do It

Congratulations to and blessings upon His Excellency Bishop Robert Finn, who has recently ordained 5 subdeacons for the FSSP. By so doing, His Excellency has upheld the rights of the clergy and faithful against the invalid attempt to restrict the ancient Mass and sacramental forms.

What I really like is not only is this a thumb in the eye to Bergoglio’s evil TC and Roche’s dubious dubia, but also a reminder that the traditional order of subdeacon also remains a reality, as traditional orders have been ordaining subdeacons continuously all the way back to the SSPX when Paul VI attempted to squash it.

Good for Bishop Finn, who was railroaded out of Kansas City largely for being too Catholic. See, once they “cancel” you, they can’t do it again. A lesson we all may learn soon enough.

The Institute usually ordains priests, deacons and subdeacons in July. I look forward to Cardinal Burke, Bishop Finn, or some other brave bishop ordaining another large group of young men to serve Christ and His Mystical Body the Church.

Just by doing what they have every right to do— bishops ordaining, priests offering the Mass, laity assisting at these and supporting their clergy— they are making Traditiones Custodes the dead letter it is.

Have Total Confidence in Mary

No matter what, she will triumph. God will glorify His Mother.

Sunday is the Day in Chicago

If you live in Chicago, go to your local Traditional Latin Mass. Cardinal Cupich has no authority to prohibit a priest from celebrating it, nor a layman from assisting at it. None. Not on the first Sunday of the Month, the Third Sunday, the Tenth Sunday or any other day.

Go to Mass. If you can, there is also a Rosary Rally at 11am in front of Holy Name Cathedral.

If you don’t live in Chicago, consider going to the traditional Mass in Chicago in solidarity with the beleaguered Catholics there.

Because it all starts this Sunday. The ICRSP, FSSP, IBP and other groups are on the clock. If they stand firm for Christ and His Holy Sacraments in the rites handed down by our forefathers– rites protected by Papal Bull and immemorial custom under principles of canon law– they will have won. Or at least begun to win. Why?

Because either Cardinal Cupich will 1) purport to punish them; or, 2) he wont.

Any such punishments arising from the former would be void, being themselves invalid and illegal. And after that, there really isn’t anything else he could do. Problem solved. Sure, there may be a number of very inconvenient, practical problems. But the law and the Faith and the Church, and most importantly, Christ Himself, are on the side of the Mass. We need to be prepared to go all the way to Calvary with Our Lord to defend the Mass. What is the Mass anyway, but Calvary?

And if no punishment follows, then the tyrant is defeated straightway.

Priests, you have the right to the Mass. Faithful, you have the right to the Mass. All of us have the duty to defend it. Stand!

May Our Lady protect us all in the times to come!

A Personal Note from the Rome of the West

There are all sorts of obvious conclusions one could and should draw from the need of many dioceses in the West to consolidate parishes. There are fewer people, as we have contracepted them and aborted them out of existence. There are fewer Catholics, as the Faith whole and entire is rarely taught or reinforced in any meaningful way in most parishes. There are fewer Mass-goers and Sacrament-recipients, as the liturgical devastation has left behind an anemic, ambiguous, minimally-Catholic husk that does not nourish or motivate. And even that husk is rarely celebrated according to the norms. Any Catholic may, publicly or privately, espouse and advance rank heresies that would have made them exceed room temperature by an exponential amount in better times. And for the last two years people have been (first) prohibited from going to Mass, (then) excused from going to Mass, and (finally) conditioned habitually into missing Mass.

But that is not the point of my post.

I happened to read this story in the Post-Dispatch that included interviews with parishioners of Our Lady of Sorrows Parish. My wife and I were parishioners there for many years. This Southside Parish was a major mainstay in city Catholicism for its entire existence until recently. This very beautiful and large basilica-style Church can comfortably hold 800 people, and I have on many occasions seen it basically full. There used to be 5 weekend Masses there, and all were well-attended–and not in the long past, but even in the first decade of this century and entering the second. I can attest through personal knowledge that the parish school as late as 2010 or 2011 had more than 500 students. Then came a sudden frost, a quick decline to 200ish students, then an ill-conceived consolidation with another school, an attempt to revive the school with fewer than 100 students, then consolidation with other schools at a different location. In practical terms, the school closed.

I write this post while being blessed to be in a vibrant Catholic church with more than a thousand people assisting at Sunday Masses, Masses that are holy, nourishing, and beautiful. Baptisms far outpace funerals. Young people. Old people. Middle-aged people. Lots of big, Catholic families. And Sorrows is at this stage so quickly? I feel for these people; no amount of after-the-fact analysis should make us lose sight of the fact that these are children of God who have been deprived of the vibrant Catholic Faith they should have, and have had. Yes, we all suffer from our own miscues often enough. But man, this is the Rome of the West, and Sorrows gets 25 people at one of their two Sunday Masses? That is tragic. We should weep.

From the article:

__________________

‘On Sunday, at Our Lady of Sorrows in south St. Louis, 25 people gathered between enormous Corinthian columns for the 8 a.m. Mass. The Rev. Sebastian Mundackal, originally from India, told them that he, too, had concerns about the changes ahead.

‘“Of course, like you, I have my own worries, my own concerns, but let’s be open to the Holy Spirit,” he said, encouraging parishioners to be part of the restructuring process by filling out an upcoming survey of their concerns.

‘On the way out after Mass, Donna Katke, 70, said she saw the good in the effort, officially touted as “All Things New.”

‘“We have to change and evolve to meet the needs of the people in this world,” said Katke, a retired teacher in the St. Louis Public Schools. “We have to do things better. It’s long overdue. They don’t have a choice.”

‘The smaller number of Catholic baptisms hits close to home for Katke. Only the oldest of her three grown children is a practicing Catholic. Her middle child is a nonbeliever. The third, even if she had children, says she wouldn’t raise them in the church because of the clergy sex abuse scandal.

‘“I don’t have the words to fight that,” said Katke, eyes welling with tears.

‘As for Katke, though, she said: “I am in it for the duration.”’

______________________

You can decide for yourself what motivates Traditiones Custodes.

Cardinal Burke, You Testified that God “saved me for some work now that He has for me to do.”

You spoke rightly. may Our Lady and Her Son Be with you and strengthen you to do that work.

Traditional Confirmations Canceled in England and Wales

Cruelties in Chicago in the unjust effort of Cardinal Cupich to kill the Mass

Statement of Cardinal Burke on Traditionis Custodes

Oh, and the seemingly unrelated matter of the suspicious hit job on Pope Benedict XVI coming out of Germany

We Are Approaching Our Lefebvre Moment— But Not the One You Think

In 1988, despite having failed to secure papal authorization to consecrate new bishops for his priestly society, an aged Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre defied the the threat of excommunication and consecrated 5 bishops— 4 for the SSPX, and 1 for the Diocese of Campos, Brazil. As a result he and the other bishops were all excommunicated. Or not. The SSPX argued against the validity of the excommunication decree until Pope Benedict XVI declared them void (possibly ab initio) prior to issuing Summorum Pontificum. [As an aside, please note the way a truly humble pope brings peace to a contentious situation. The way Pope Bendict phrased the ‘lifting’ of the excommunication decree, he left room for the interpretation that it never really was valid at all, thus allowing all parties who acted in good faith in 1988 to save face.]

Though I have always understood the SSPX’s position on why they thought the Lefebvre excommunication was invalid, and while I believe their position was held in good faith, I admit that it sometimes wearied me whenever an SSPX attendee would go on about how Lefebvre saved the Traditional Mass by consecrating the bishops, ensuring the SSPX would continue to have priests. I recall many conversations where I simply posed the question, “What better good might not have come from obedience? We’ll never know.”

As it turns out, the claim that Lefebvre saved the traditional Mass (which retains its obvious merit) makes way more sense to me now. Not because of 1988. But because of 1976. Wait, 1976, you ask? Let me explain.

The issue involved the ability of a bishop of the Catholic Church being able to ordain priests in an approved Catholic rite of priestly ordination. The traditional Mass had not been abrogated, nor had the rite of priestly ordination. But Pope Paul VI forbade Lefebvre from ordaining the priests in the traditional rite. He didn’t forbid their ordinations, but just the use of the traditional rite of ordination.

Does this sound familiar?

Archbishop Lefebvre judged that he had the right to ordain these priests in the traditional manner. As Pope Benedict confirmed in Summorum Pontificum, he did indeed. But Pope Paul VI declared him and his priests suspended a divinis. Because he judged he was in the right legally and morally, Archbishop Lefebvre continued to ordain traditional priests and always maintained that the suspensions were illegitimate and invalid. It was this action, much more than in 1988, that one can claim that Lefebvre saved the Mass, in a manner of speaking (Our Lord is Sovereign and responsible for all good). He died without knowing whether his position would be vindicated.

You could say that it is 1976 again for traditional societies and institutes previously under the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei. The Vatican has said traditional priestly ordinations are no longer possible. The FSSP, ICRSP and others have lots of vocations and of course have ordinations scheduled this year. And some bishops, like the odious Cardinal Cupich, have forbidden even traditional societies from celebrating the traditional Mass on the first Sunday of every month and on high holy days, beginning February 6. A watershed moment awaits.

One thing you could say for the Vatican’s position in 1976 was that there was an uncontestedly legitimate pope who ordered Lefebvre to refrain from the traditional ordination of priests. The same cannot be said for 2022.

Even if Bergoglio were pope, his orders to block the traditional Mass and sacraments are just as invalid, assuming for a moment they were drafted in accordance with the law. His censures are equally invalid should they be issued for a priest, prelate or layman making use of his right to the Mass and Sacraments. Lastly, Bergoglio’s motives are so more obvious in their hatred for the Mass, the Sacraments, the faithful, and Him of Whom he claims to be vicar.

Fr. Laguerie of the IBP stated it very well that we must simply persevere in our lawful adherence to the traditional Mass and sacraments. That there must be a continuation of everything the traditional societies have been doing already. Father notes what lots of us sense— he hears of none of his confreres who will cave into the unjust forcing of the novus ordo onto traditional priests. The traditional laity have their back and will not betray faithful priests. There is a large traditional community.

We are in the right.

This is 1976. But really it isn’t. A Lefebvre moment is being forced on us in 2022. it starts in Chicago on February 6. It will occur worldwide by Midsummer. Let us remain faithful to Christ and to His sacraments. Let us respond with at least as much courage as Lefebvre showed in 1976.

This is the reality, whether Bergoglio or Pope Benedict XVI is pope. That question need not divide us nor cause us to waver. The prohibition against the Mass is invalid either way. But I would add this could very well be the perfect time to bring that question to a head for the good of souls. The time has come to acknowledge, and come to the aid of Pope Benedict XVI. That would save the Mass, and so much more.

This Must Simply Be Defied

Cardinal Cupich in Chicago has issued a diktat that purports to prohibit the Traditional Mass throughout the Archdiocese of Chicago on the first Sunday of the Month, during Triduum, and at Christmas. He demands a scad of other restrictions on the Mass, sacraments, priests and faithful. Actual document here. Fr. Z analyzes it in a good post at his blog.

To all the dear readers out there who used to like to say that I am too likely to jump the gun on things that may never happen, can I assume that you see that, now, THIS IS IT. THIS IS HAPPENING. ONE OF THE WORST OF THE MANY HORRIBLE BISHOPS INFESTING THE CHURCH IS TRYING TO ELIMINATE THE CELEBRATION OF THE TRADITIONAL MASS FOR ABOUT 1/4 OF THE YEAR,, AND ALSO ON OUR HIGHEST HOLY DAYS. NOT TO MENTION AXING THE OTHER TRADITIONAL SACRAMENTAL FORMS.

There is only one Catholic way to respond to this anti-Catholic, anti-Christ, invalid and illegal “policy”.

DEFY THIS POLICY AT EVERY STEP AND RESIST HIM TO HIS FACE.

Let us reiterate our premises, so that one can clearly see the consequences of letting these people get away with outrage after outrage, hoping it will somehow all work out:

1. Pope St. Pius V in Quo Primum guaranteed the right of every priest in the Roman Rite to celebrate the TLM; he stated that nobody could force a priest to do otherwise. He guaranteed the faithful, therefore, the right to assist at this Mass, which he prohibited anyone from attempting to abrogate. Ever. He made Quo Primum perpetual.
2. The TLM cannot be abrogated due to its antiquity alone which, aside from more theological considerations best left to theologians, gives the priests and faithful the right to it by force of law.
3. The non-abrogation of the TLM was confirmed by Pope Benedict XVI in Summorum Pontificum and its accompanying instruction letter. Note he did not exercise any act of power to “resurrect” the TLM, he merely confirmed a preexisting fact.
4. If no Pope can abrogate the TLM, then no antipope can abrogate it, and no bishop or cardinal can do so either.
5. Moreover, even if a real pope could abrogate the TLM, no bishop or cardinal on his own could do it.
6. Furthermore, even if a real pope could abrogate the TLM, and even if a real pope issued Traditionis Custodes, the hate-ball that is Traditionis Custodes did not abrogate the TLM because of the incompetence of its writers, who failed to use the type of specific legal language necessary under canon law in order to take the extraordinary step of abrogating laws established via immemorial custom.

All of the above leads to the following conclusion regarding Cardinal Cupich’s new policy: IT IS COMPLETELY INVALID AND ILLEGAL. IT DOESN’T BIND. IT DOESN’T MATTER. IT MUST BE DEFIED.

There is no indication in the policy that it does not apply to Societies of Apostolic Life or other groups whose charter grants them the right to the TLM. In the policy document itself, it states that priests who request permission to celebrate the TLM in the Archdiocese of Chicago must include “a statement of agreement to abide by the norms set forth in this document” and also states that “in the churches oratories, or chapels” in which there are already groups celebrating the TLM, the priest ministering to these groups can request to continue this practice “except for the days noted”.

Oh, and by the way, all other traditional sacraments are out. Case-by-case exceptions can be requested, but not for ordinations or confirmations.

It is no coincidence that Bergoglio’s favorite toady in the U.S. is issuing this, and it is no coincidence that the U.S. headquarters of the Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest is located in Chicago. How will they respond to this outrage to Christ the King? People have speculated for years about what would happen when the Ecclesia Dei communities were pushed over a line that could not be crossed, consistent with their charisms. We may soon find out.

As an aside, I don’t see how, without pointing to Quo Primum, the Canons Regular of St. John Cantius (which celebrates both the TLM and N.O. in their beautiful church in Chicago) can celebrate the TLM on the proscribed days. Their reaction will be most interesting. I am not hopeful, but would be glad to post how wrong I was should they hold the line.

Finally, and this is only my opinion, but I believe this attack on the TLM and the Sacraments is an existential crisis for the TLM communities. A present crisis. Here, now, taking place in Chicago but affecting the whole, long before any Bergoglio thug comes to “visit”. If the faithful who desire the ancient Mass aren’t given it by one group, they will go elsewhere as long as there is an “elsewhere”. If there is no “elsewhere”, those who would be willing to assist at the N.O. would likely go to the closest halfway-decent parish near them. If these groups will not ordain their priests according to the traditional forms, then their vocations will likely also dry up. To put it mildly, it may be hard for a group without charism, priests, faithful, or money to exist.

Yes, Bergoglio and his cabal know this very well. If he is not stopped, these groups will cease to exist. Whether this occurs by unjust discipline and censures, or by the abandonment of their charism hardly matters.

Cardinal Burke has splendidly led by example in the wake of Traditionis Custodes by publicly celebrating the TLM. It sends a visible message that people will rally around. I pray His Eminence will continue to lead by ordaining priests in the traditional ritual. I think it only takes one Cardinal, or perhaps a few bishops, to render this attack a dead letter.

If any of the former Ecclesia Dei communities simply ignores the invalid orders of this anti-Catholic cabal and just– simply, resolutely– celebrates the Mass of the Ages as before, it would render this attack a dead letter.

Please, dear Catholic priests and bishops, stand!

Our Lady of Fatima, pray for us!

Judas Was an Apostle. He Has His Successors, Too

Diocese of Quebec cancels Mass for Christmas and Epiphany. Appalling.

What should the Catholics of Quebec do? Go to Mass, God deserves our worship, and we need His Sacraments. Go to brave priests who love God more than they fear persecution from hirelings.

Support these brave men. Don’t just sit there and let the Church’s enemies abolish the Mass!

Bishops denied their flocks all over the world Easter Mass last year. At that time, we didn’t know what we know now. I thought it was outrageous then, but in charity one might have been able to chalk their decisions up to a good faith mistake in judgement, or possibly a greater mistake in overvaluing physical health over the health of souls.

Not now. The Scam has been exposed. No Bishop has an excuse to deny Christmas and Epiphany Mass to their flock in fear of an eminently proven-to-be-treatable bad cold. You have people afraid to come? Make it so they are excused from their obligation.

But to deny Mass to those who are willing to assume whatever risk there might be to their health— to deny them access to Sacraments to which they have a right— is in my view a DENIAL OF CHRIST.

So, Quebec today. Readers, will it be your diocese tomorrow? What are you prepared to do?

GO TO MASS.

Sorting through Fetid Garbage for the Half-eaten Eclair [Update: It Ain’t There]

By now you have no doubt heard of the excrement-on-paper from the Bergoglian mockery of the Congregaation for Divine Worship that attempts to kill the traditional Sacraments. I wrote on the useful response to such a poo-flinging here.

Well, like George Costanza finding something edible in the trash can, one thing worth noting, assuming we all pretend this document has any authority whatsoever (HINT: IT DOESNT):

These dubia responses (oh, the irony!) issued by the CDW do not apply to the traditional societies or personal parishes. [UPDATE: Well, it does in part. In my eagerness to deplore the execrable document, I failed in my legal training to read carefully. The sacraments in the Pontificale Romanum are putatively not allowed to be celebrated, but one ones in the Rituale are. In short, confirmation and ordination are putatively unavailable. But, as said before, this document and the other fecally loaded missive of Bergoglio himself are both illegal and invalid and must be resisted. We are allowed and required to resist them under Natural Law, canon law, and by the love we owe to Christ’s indefectible Church and to His Vicar on earth. The time to stand is now. So armageddon awaits yet another day. But let’s not kid ourselves, Bergoglio’s diabolical pansy cabal will come for us soon enough.

And when they do they will have just as much authority as they do now.