Rorate Caeli

The Paulists, on life support

Ten years ago Rorate shared the news that the Paulist Fathers were selling their seminary. As we noted, according to the order's website, "The Missionary Society of St. Paul the Apostle, known as the Paulist Fathers, is the first community of Catholic priests founded in the United States."


Fast forward a decade and "is" will soon be "was".



The Paulists announced a massive downsizing, including leaving colleges, closing offices and cutting priests at remaining Paulist locations -- including their infamous Paulist Center in Boston.


Good Friday Buses for D.C. and Fredericksburg Area Trads

 



Traditional Holy Week is the highlight of the Catholic liturgical year. Unfortunately, there will be no traditional Triduum liturgies in the Washington, D.C. or Fredericksburg area this year. 

Mass of the Ages Showings in D.C. (April 9) and Front Royal (April 10), Including live Q&A with Dr. Joseph Shaw!

 


Mass of the Ages Part III is showing at the Miracle Theatre in Washington, D.C. on April 9 at 7:00 PM. There will be a live Q&A afterwards with Dr. Joseph Shaw of the UK Latin Mass Society, one of the most insightful speakers and writers on traditional Catholicism active now, along with Mass of the Ages producer Cameron O'Hearn. 

Bishop Burbidge Visits the St. Rita TLM

 


For Laetare Sunday, Bishop Burbidge of the Diocese of Arlington sat in choir for the 9:15 AM Traditional Latin Mass at St. Rita in Alexandria, VA, next door to Washington, D.C. As reflected in the pictures above and below, he was eager to learn, generous with his time, and gave wonderful homily. He met with TLM parishioners for over an hour after Mass.

In Defense of the Moderate Position on Papal Jurisdiction: John Lamont Replies to José Ureta

In Defense of the Moderate Position on Papal Jurisdiction: A Reply to José Ureta
John Lamont

My article “On the Papal Deposition of Bishops,” published at Rorate Caeli, was occasioned by Mr. José A. Ureta’s article at OnePeterFive, “Why a Good Bishop Should Not Ignore but Obey his Unjust Deposition by the Pope.” There, Ureta advanced an historically standard view among Catholic theologians to the effect that because all bishops receive their jurisdiction immediately from the pope, they can be removed from their diocese at the will of the pope, regardless of the justice of this removal. His argument was a topical one, because it was applied by him to Bishop Joseph Strickland of Tyler, Texas, who was first asked to resign from his diocese by Pope Francis and then, having refused to do so, was removed from the diocese without a just cause. I had argued that this theological position was wrong in itself and was no longer an option for Catholic theologians, because of its rejection by the Second Vatican Council. Mr Ureta endeavored to refute me in two responses, also published at Rorate Caeli (here and here).

Because of the importance of the subject, an answer to Mr. Ureta seems to be called for. At the same time, many of the arguments he advances in his response are in fact addressed in my original article; when this is the case, the reader is best advised to compare this article and Mr. Ureta’s response and decide for himself. This answer will limit itself to new questions that arise from Mr. Ureta’s response, while referring the reader to the original article to complete the exposition of the position being argued for here. The reader may find some of the necessary but detailed rebuttals of Mr. Ureta’s claims to be less than enthralling, but it is hoped that some substantial contribution to this important issue will be achieved.
 

Not only “blessings”: Now Francis voices approval of the need of “legal recognition” of same-sex “unions”

 In yet another set of declarations, included in his “autobiography” to be published in a few days by HarperCollins.


From the excerpt made available by Italian daily “Corriere della Sera”:

A Neverending Talker and Expert on All Subjects: Pope Francis calls on Ukraine to surrender - by Roberto de Mattei

Catholic Church: Pope Francis calls on Ukraine to surrender?


In an interview with Swiss Radio & Television, anticipated by agencies on March 9, Pope Francis called on Ukraine to have the courage to raise the white flag and negotiate. "I believe," he said, "that it is stronger of who sees the situation, who thinks of the people, who has the courage of the white flag, to negotiate. And today you can negotiate with the help of international powers. The word negotiate is a brave word. When you see that you are defeated, that things are not going forward, it is necessary to have the courage to negotiate. You are ashamed, but how many deaths will it end with? Negotiate in time, look for some countries to mediate. Today, for example in the war in Ukraine, there are many who want to mediate. Turkey has offered to do that. And others. Don't be ashamed to negotiate before it gets worse." 


The Pope's statement provoked immediate critical reactions, to the point that on the same day the director of the Holy See's Press Office, Matteo Bruni, intervened to explain that the Pontiff used the term "white flag" only because the interviewer had suggested it and that in reality Francis, with this image, only meant to say "negotiate." But negotiate on what basis? If words have meaning, the expression "white flag" is unequivocal: it evokes unconditional surrender, a negotiation, if one wants to call it such, on the terms of the adversary. 

MARCH 13, 2013 - MARCH 13, 2024: ELEVEN INTERMINABLE YEARS OF HORROR

"So he came with the king's mandate, bringing nothing worthy of the high priesthood, but having the fury of a cruel tyrant, and the rage of a savage beast." 

 

 2 Maccabees 4:25

***

Bad news. We knew from the instant of the announcement of the name of the elected cardinal in the 2013 Conclave that we were in for very, very bad news. For some bizarre reason, the inexplicable decision of Benedict XVI to resign the papacy (a resignation he thought he could somehow manage by having his chosen successor elected) backfired stupendously. 


Never had the Jesuits been this heretical: yet, now they managed to get one of them elected pope. Never had the Latin American church been this problematic: yet, now the cardinals thought it was a good time to elect a first Latin American pope, and from the most secularized nation in that continent.


At the very moment of the announcement of the name in the loggia, we asked an Argentine friend for his comment. "The Horror" was our most read post up to that time, and it caused us immense grief, for people simply didn't want to believe the evidence. If anything, it sounds almost too positive today, when Traditional Catholics are under intense official persecution, while the greatest heretics and perverts are free to roam about to destroy souls: but, in any event, it was a highly prophetic text.


Time to recall it:

***

The Horror! A Buenos Aires journalist describes Bergoglio

Rorate Caeli
March 13, 2013


We have many friends around the world, including in the dear Argentine Republic. And we asked a cherished friend, Marcelo González, of Panorama Católico Internacional, who knows the Church of Argentina as well as the palm of his hand to send us a report on the new pope. Here it goes:

The Archbishop of Buenos Aires kneels down to receive the "blessing"
of Protestant ministers and Fr. Raniero Cantalamessa - Buenos Aires, 2006

 

The Horror!

 


Of all the unthinkable candidates, Jorge Mario Bergoglio is perhaps the worst. Not because he openly professes doctrines against the faith and morals, but because, judging from his work as Archbishop of Buenos Aires, faith and morals seem to have been irrelevant to him.

Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church Statement on Francis: “ Ukrainians will continue to defend themselves. They feel they have no choice.” - Synodality in Action

Statement of the Permanent Synod of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church In light of the interview of Pope Francis Conducted by Radio Télévision Suisse

We do not yet have a full version of the interview given by Pope Francis to the RTS (Radio Télévision Suisse) that apparently will be published only on March 20. According to the Holy See Press Office, the reference to a “white flag” in the interview is a summons to negotiations not to a surrender by Ukraine. In the conversation, the Holy Father speaks not only about the Russian war against Ukraine but also the war between Israel and Hamas. As he has done repeatedly, Pope Francis calls for negotiated settlements of armed conflicts.

The 750th birthday of St Thomas Aquinas into eternal life

Today, 750 years ago, Friar Thomas d'Aquino of the Order of Preachers breathed his last, at a Cistercian monastery in Fossanova, en route to an ecumenical council (Lyon II) that his friend and colleague, the Franciscan Bonaventure, would reach but where he, too, would die.

Before dying, Thomas received the Viaticum with tremendous devotion and submitted all his writings, especially on the Blessed Sacrament, to the judgment of the Church. The Church's judgment has been clear: for over 700 years, the magisterium has held up St Thomas Aquinas's writings as the norm and measure of studies in the Catholic Church. At the Council of Trent, alongside the Bible was placed the Summa theologiae as a trustworthy reference. And why? As the early biographers relate, Thomas heard one day the voice of Christ saying to him: "You have written well of me, Thomas. What reward would you have?" To which the friar replied: "Only yourself, Lord." This was the reward he always sought, and it was the reward given to him.

“On the Papal Deposition of Bishops” — Second Reply to Dr. Lamont’s Study José Antonio Ureta

“On the Papal Deposition of Bishops”—
Second Reply to Dr. Lamont’s Study
José Antonio Ureta

Audience with Pope Francis -- Superior-General of the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Peter (FSSP)

Audience with Pope Francis



Published 1 March 2024

Official communiqué of the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter – Fribourg, March 1st, 2024.


Following a request from the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter, Pope Francis invited Fr. Andrzej Komorowski, Superior General of the FSSP, to meet with him. He received him in private audience at the Vatican on Thursday, February 29, 2024, accompanied by Fr. Benoît Paul-Joseph, Superior of the District of France, and Fr. Vincent Ribeton, Rector of St. Peter’s Seminary in Wigratzbad.

Francis’s Work of Destruction Continues: Traditional Latin Easter Triduum Services in the Archdiocese of Westminster cancelled

Traditional Latin Easter Triduum Services in the Archdiocese of Westminster cancelled


The Latin Mass Society is grieved to announce that the Cardinal Archbishop of Westminster, Vincent Nichols, will not give permission for the celebration of the major services of the Sacred Triduum (Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, Holy Saturday) according to the liturgical books in use before the Second Vatican Council: the Traditional Latin liturgy or Vetus Ordo.


There has been a celebration of the Traditional Triduum in the Archdiocese, with the permission of successive Archbishops, since the 1990s: first in Corpus Christi Maiden Lane, and then in St Mary Moorfields in the City of London. In recent years these services have been attended by up to 200 people.


His Eminence places this decision in the context of his ongoing dealings with the Dicastery for Divine Worship in Rome, writing ‘My approach to these matters is to be within the parameters laid down by the Holy See while waiting for the judgment of the Holy See on which, if any, parish church may be used for the celebration of Mass according to the Missal antecedent to the reform of 1970.’


His decision, he explains, was made ‘for the sake of the wider provision’.


Comment from the Latin Mass Society

The Liturgical Rosary - once again available from Arouca Press



The 2nd edition of The Liturgical Rosary: Meditations for Each Hour, Day & Season of the Liturgical Year is now available. We know many of our readers enjoyed the first edition of this modern classic that joins the beauty of the traditional liturgy and the Holy Rosary. Many have told us it has made daily recitation of the Rosary easier for those who have a hard time keeping the practice individually or in a family setting.


The new edition has some new features such as soft imitation-leather cover, "bible-like" paper, and gilded pages. It is only available at: https://aroucapress.com/the-liturgical-rosary 

The Church and Freemasonry: the Secret February 16 Meeting in Milan -- by Roberto de Mattei


On Feb. 16, 2024, representatives of the main Italian Masonic lodges and a number of influential Catholic prelates gathered in Milan for a day of study. The seminar, sponsored at the Ambrosianum Foundation by the Gris (Group for Socio-Religious Research and Information), was attended by the three Grand Masters of Italian Freemasonry: Stefano Bisi for the Grand Orient of Italy (GOI), Luciano Romoli for the Grand Lodge of Italy of the ALAMs (GLDI,  and Fabio Venzi (in connection) for the Grand Regular Lodge of Italy (GLRI). On the Catholic side, Archbishop Mario Delpini of Milan, Cardinal Francesco Coccopalmerio, former president of the Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts, Franciscan theologian Father Zbigniew Suchecki, and Bishop Antonio Staglianò, president of the Pontifical Academy of Theology, participated in the meeting. Archbishop Delpini gave the opening address and Cardinal Coccopalmerio the closing one. The meeting was behind closed doors, but the relevance of the participants leaked its contents, which Riccardo Cascioli first brought to light in The New Daily Compass on Feb. 19.

“Ultramontanism and Tradition”: A New Anthology on a Controversial & Timely Subject

It gives me great joy to announce, on this feast of the Chair of St. Peter, the latest book from Os Justi Press: Ultramontanism and Tradition: The Role of Papal Authority in the Catholic Faith.

A Vatican II Moment: The Chicken Dance Mass

 From Germany -- of course. And during Communion...



Active Participation is just so much fun! At least it isn't that horrifying "Traditional Latin Mass", no sir. (Diocese of Passau)

Possibly the best individual bishop's statement yet on Fiducia Supplicans

To Bless or Not to Bless: On the Vatican Declaration Fiducia Supplicans
Most Reverend Liam Cary, Bishop of Baker
9 February 2024

LITURGY - Pope Francis: the Master of Irony

Pope Francis:  the Master of Irony




I read with great interest the remarks of Pope Francis to the members of the Dicastery for Divine Worship and the Discipline before their annual plenary assembly.  What particularly struck me were Pope Francis” words:  “Without liturgical reform there is no reform of the Church.”



As I pondered these words I was overtaken by a sense of confusion. Was the Pope referring to the document Sacrosanctum Concilium promulgated by the Second Vatican Council and the reform of the Liturgy that occurred in the years after the Council?  And if so, what is the precise meaning of the word “reform” here?  How are we to understand the use of the word?

The “Whore Funeral” in Saint Patrick’s Cathedral: The Inevitable End Game of Vatican II and the Ideological Novus Ordo Rite

Mr. Gentili, born in Argentina (where else?) in 1972,
was celebrated as a "puta"(whore) and "travesti" (transvestite),
and also as a haloed "blessed" "mother" in a
funeral novus ordo service held this week
in Saint Patrick's Cathedral, New York


 Perhaps no accusation against the rite of the Latin Church for over 17 centuries (the naturally developing Traditional Latin Mass), in its various local and order-specific rites and uses, is more ridiculous than that it is “ideological”, or that the people who attend it are “ideologically motivated”.


No, they are just people who want to worship Almighty God as He had been worshiped in the West basically since Mass started being celebrated in Latin. They are the very opposite of ideological: they are humble enough to want to be part of a very long line of Catholics.


The committee-created pseudo-liturgical concoction known as the “New Order of the Mass”: now THAT is something else, something clearly motivated by a man-centered ideology, falsified history, and a myriad of modernist causes. 


And it reached its inevitable end game in the most symbolic Catholic building in what still is the most powerful country in the world, the city that is the headquarters of the very United Nations whose existence filled with a false hope for a “better future” the conciliar fathers of Vatican II.


In the Cathedral of this “capital city of the modern world”, the venerable Saint Patrick’s on Fifth Avenue, the epitome of Vatican II and the Novus Ordo: the Whore Service ("Funeral de las Putas"). The New York Times had a good summary of the event:

Event: March 2nd - Traditional Lenten Pilgrimage - Port Arthur, Texas

 


Putin, the United States elections, and the upcoming Conclave - by Roberto de Mattei

 [Rorate Note: Hours after the original Italian article was published by Professor de Mattei, Washington was abuzz with the news that there is a severe, though not imminent, national security threat posed by Russia regarding nuclear developments in space, in defiance of standing treaties. House Republican leadership has urged the White House to make as much information available as possible on this grave matter.]

***


PUTIN, THE UNITED STATES ELECTIONS, AND THE UPCOMING CONCLAVE 



Roberto de Mattei
February 14, 2024


A mantle of concern looms these weeks over the decision-making centers of the Western world.  On Jan. 24, General Patrick Sanders, chief of staff of His Majesty's Army, said that British nationals may be called upon in the not-too-distant future to fight against Russia (https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-68086188). For Dutch Admiral Rob Bauer, head of the NATO Military Committee, it is also necessary to prepare for an imminent conflict (https://www.standard.co.uk/news/world/russia-war-nato-military-exercise-admiral-rob-bauer-brussels-cold-war-b1133399.html). In the same days, the Swedish Minister of Civil Defense, Carl-Oskar Bohlin, said that everyone must prepare for the worst-case scenario, such as a war with Russia, before it is too late (https://www.anews.com.tr/world/2024/01/19/could-russia-go-to-war-with-sweden).

“On the Papal Deposition of Bishops” – A First Reply to Dr Lamont’s Study, by José Antonio Ureta

On December 18, 2023, the same day that the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith released Fiducia supplicans, Dr. John Lamont published a study “On the Papal Deposition of Bishops” at Rorate Coeli.[1] It was an attempt to refute my article titled “Why a Good Bishop Should Not Ignore but Obey His Unjust Deposition by a Pope,”[2] about Bishop Joseph Strickland’s removal from the Tyler, Texas diocese. The Christmas and New Year festivities and the follow-up to the debate surrounding Cardinal Fernandez’s bombshell document explain the relative lateness of this rejoinder.

Fontgombault Sermon for Ash Wednesday 2024: Let us go through the lessons of each Sunday in Lent

Sermon of the Right Reverend Dom Jean Pateau
Father Abbot of Our Lady of Fontgombault
Fontgombault, February 14, 2024


Miserere mei, Deus.

Have mercy on me, O God.

(Ps 56:2)


Dear Brothers and Sisters,

My dearly beloved Sons,


The habit does not make the monk. St. Benedict was well aware of that fact when he wrote in his Rule:


The life of a monk ought always to be a Lenten observance. However, since such virtue is that of few, we advise that during these holy days of Lent he guard his life with all purity and at the same time wash away during these holy days all the shortcomings of other times. (Rule, ch. 49, “On the Keeping of Lent”)

Austin Cathedral TLM Cancelled

The very well-established, and by current standards almost ancient, Traditional Latin Mass celebrated in the Austin (Texas) Cathedral of Saint Mary has been cancelled. The last Mass will be on March 18th -- they couldn't even wait until Easter...


The cruelty of Francis and Nuncio Pierre will end one day -- leaving behind so many orphans. In Austin alone, hundreds of families attended that Mass. 


Lord, have mercy.

Three Major New Resources for the Old (pre-1955) Holy Week

The momentum behind rediscovering and restoring tradition has not abated; on the contrary, I would say it is intensifying. Those who care, care more; and those who know and love will not be deterred by those who are indifferent to or full of hatred for tradition. With that as a prefatory remark, here are three new publications for the pre-55 Holy Week, which continues its quiet conquest.

The Masses of Holy Week & Tenebrae

Francis speaks to the Liturgy Dicastery about liturgical reform - by Michael Charlier

This week, the Roman liturgical authority held its annual plenary assembly, which was held under the theme "Liturgical formation from Sacrosanctum Concilium to Desiderio desideravi". Concrete decisions have not yet been made public. But we have learned of a speech that Francis gave to the participants on Thursday, February 8, which provides some insight into the pontiff's understanding of the liturgy. The source of all the reports is an article written by CNA's Roman correspondent Matthew Santucci, from which we also take our quotes from the speech.

MARIA: MATER MEA, FIDUCIA MEA — Confidence in Mary

by Roberto de Mattei
February 5, 2024

 


In Rome, in the chapel of the Pontifical Major Seminary at St. John Lateran, an image of the Blessed Virgin Mary known by the title Our Lady of Confidence (Madonna della Fiducia) has been venerated for more than two centuries. This small picture, in which Our Lady lovingly holds the Child Jesus in her arms, has great theological and spiritual significance. 

TLM in the Fifty States, a Thread: An Ode in Images to a Traditional Catholic Renaissance that is Blossoming in America

 

North America: between the arid deserts and deep volcanic valleys of Mexico and the rugged mountains and vast cold expanses of Canada, lies a geographic wonder that begot a geopolitical powerhouse, the United States of America.


The third most populous nation on earth, and her most prosperous, the United States is both benefited and threatened by its location: constantly in the news for curious weather events, it truly has the most extreme climate in the world.


From Saint Augustine in the Atlantic to the Junipero Serra foundations in the Pacific, and from the English refugees of Maryland and the Italians and Irish of New England to the Damien de Veuster colonies in Hawaii, Catholicism has had an eventful history in the Nation: all started and sustained since the beginning by the Traditional Latin Mass.


Despite the collapse since the Council, and the relentless persecution of Tradition under the current pontificate, Traditional Latin Catholicism is undergoing a Renaissance in America. We tried to document a little bit of it in this Twitter thread:



YOUR CONTRIBUTION IS IMPORTANT: Making a List of Traditional Catholic Schools in the United States


 

Dear readers,


About three years ago we tried to assemble a list of Traditional Catholic schools in the United States. At the time, due to other ongoing issues, the list couldn't be finished.


So now we are trying again: your contribution is essential. For the purpose of this list, we are defining a Traditional School as one which offers the Traditional Latin Mass for the student body at least ONCE a week.


Schools that offer the Ordinariate Mass or an Eastern Catholic liturgy will also be included.


Please, help us to finally assemble this list: any school for any age is acceptable, as well as different settings (including boarding and non-boarding settings).


Please, send your contribution to NEWCATHOLIC at GMAIL dot COM, with the subject: "CATHOLIC SCHOOL LIST".


Include name, website, address, if the school is co-ed or not, and frequency of mass.


Thank you!

"Fiducia Supplicans and the Meaning of Faith" - Major treatment of problems in Declaration by Fr Emmanuel Perrier, OP

(From the highly-esteemed Revue Thomiste: source.)


The "Fiducia supplicans" declaration of December 18, 2023 has caused quite a stir. In this article, we give the main reasons why.

As sons of the Church founded on the apostles, we cannot but be alarmed at the turmoil among the Christian people caused by a text coming from the Holy Father's entourage[1]. It is unbearable to see Christ's faithful losing confidence in the word of the universal shepherd, to see priests torn between their filial attachment and the practical consequences this text will force them to face, to see bishops divided.

This far-reaching phenomenon is indicative of a reaction in the sensus fidei. The "sense of faith" (sensus fidei) is the Christian people's attachment to the truths of faith and morals[2]. This common, "universal" and "indefectible" attachment stems from the fact that every believer is moved by the one Spirit of God to embrace the same truths. This is why, when statements concerning faith and morals offend the sensus fidei, an instinctive movement of distrust arises that manifests itself collectively. It is necessary, however, to examine the legitimacy of this movement and the reasons behind it. We will confine ourselves here to the six reasons that seem to us the most salient.

Statement From Suspended Kentucky TLM Priests

As some readers may be aware, two Missionaries of Saint John the Baptist priests who celebrate (exclusively) the TLM at Our Lady of Lourdes Church in Park Hills, Kentucky, had their faculties removed by the bishop of Covington.


I met both of them a few years ago, impressed these former Fathers of Mercy were able to start a new religious community that -- unlike the Fathers of Mercy -- uses the traditional Latin books, while preserving the parish mission and homiletics apostolate their former community is known for within the conservative novus ordo world. They are good men.


In the interest of presenting their side of the story, the following is their news release on the matter:

 

Statement on behalf of Missionaries of Saint John the Baptist, Inc., On the Sudden Loss of the Public Celebration of the Mass and Sacraments at Our Lady of Lourdes Church

 

Park Hills, KY (1/25/2024): Missionaries of St. John the Baptist, Inc., release the following statement concerning Fr. Shannon Collins, MSJB, and Fr. Sean Kopczynski, MSJB, and the sudden loss of their faculties to perform public ministry as priests at Our Lady of Lourdes Church.

  • The Missionaries, Fr. Shannon and Fr. Sean, are veteran Roman Catholic priests in good standing and consecrated religious members of a religious community known as the Missionaries of St. John the Baptist and were the priests that staffed the Traditional Latin Mass Parish of Our Lady of Lourdes, under the headship of His Excellency, Bishop John Iffert, the current prelate of the Diocese of Covington, Kentucky.
     
  • The Missionaries seek to be teachers of truth and have never, to the best of their knowledge, promoted any errors in regard to the Holy Faith or taught anything contrary to the perennial Catechism of the Catholic Church.
     

African, Belgian, and Dutch Bishops before the challenge of Fiducia Supplicans - by Roberto de Mattei

Roberto de Mattei
January 24, 2024

The Bishops' Conference of the North African Region (Cerna) meeting in Rabat, Morocco, Jan. 11-15, approved the Declaration Fiducia supplicans (see here), stipulating, regarding the "pastoral practice of blessings," that it is possible to give the blessing not only individually, but also to people "in an irregular situation" who present themselves together requesting it, provided this "does not create confusion for those concerned themselves or for others." This stance cracked the unanimity that had been created around the communiqué of the Symposium of Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar, signed by Cardinal Fridolin Ambongo, in which the African bishops expressed clear opposition to Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández's document (see here).

Traditional Latin Mass celebrated in the United States Capitol - January 23, 2024



A temporary altar set up Jan. 23 in the U.S. Capitol, ahead of a Mass offered according to the 1962 Roman Missal. Credit: Ed Condon/Pillar Media.


Heartfelt thanks to Speaker Mike Johnson for his support for this act of Worship that was highly symbolic of the appreciation conservatives in the House have shown to Traditional Catholics following the recent acts of persecution.

More details from the exclusive Pillar report:

"On Fiducia supplicans: Anonymous and Anomalous Blessings" - By Fr Serafino M. Lanzetta

 Fr. Serafino Lanzetta
for Rorate Caeli


With the declaration Fiducia supplicans (FS) of 18 December 2023, the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, with some haste compared to the fresh synodal outcomes, asked Pope Francis ex audientia to approve new blessings, created ad hoc “for couples in irregular situations” and “couples of the same sex” The emphasis is on the 'couple' in both cases. In order to approve it at the level of principle, thus justifying its moral acts, an attempt is made to separate the liturgical aspect of the blessing from its previous, 'theological' but not ritual stage. With what results? 


Bene-dicere without saying it

"Vatican II and the new liturgy have invented a new magisterial mode: dogmatic regression": Interview with Claude Barthe

On the occasion of the revised and expanded reissue of his book "Trouver-t-il encore la foi sur terre [Will He still find faith on earth?]," we interviewed Abbé Claude Barthe.

Michel Janva: The title of your book is a quotation from the Gospel. In view of the current evolution of the Catholic religion (growth in Africa and Asia, decline in Europe...), is it possible that it could disappear in Western Europe, and therefore in Rome, just as it was practically eliminated from North Africa at the beginning of the Middle Ages?

Abbé Claude Barthe: Note that Christ's question concerns the faith that could disappear, not the number of people who call themselves Catholics. It's perfectly possible to be a Catholic by identity card, so to speak, and have been shipwrecked in the faith.

Upcoming Lectures of Dr. Kwasniewski in Syracuse NY and in Florida (Tampa, West Palm Beach, and Miami)

I'll be speaking in Syracuse, NY, on February 4; in Tampa on February 12; in West Palm Beach on February 15; and in Miami on February 16. All details in the posters.



Reaction of Cardinals and Bishops to Fiducia Supplicans: “ God can providentially turn evil into a greater good.”

 Father Claude Barthe
Le Salon Beige/Res Novae


God can providentially turn evil into a greater good. The declaration Fiducia supplicans from the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, which states in its n. 31 that it is possible to bless “couples in irregular situations and couples of the same sex”, created a new situation: an important number of bishops around the world, sometimes entire episcopates, have said that they would not receive this official teaching that they find in complete rupture with the constant teaching of the Church and therefore have forbidden their priests to give such blessings. It is a sign of hope at a time of immense dereliction for a flock who often feels without a shepherd.


Two observations are necessary:

Bp. Schneider's "Prayer for Imploring Holy Popes"

Praised be Jesus Christ!

Dear faithful Catholics, especially those who suffer as they witness our Holy Mother Church live through an unprecedented crisis. Dear Catholic fathers and mothers of families! Dear Catholic young people! Dear innocent Catholic children! And especially dear religious contemplative Sisters, the spiritual gems of the Church! Dear Catholic seminarians! Dear Catholic priests, who are “the love of the Sacred Heart of Jesus”!

Panama Bleeds: A Story of Tradition Persecuted and Restored

A traditional Catholic activist in Panama sent me the following report on what is happening in his country. It was first published at my Substack, Tradition & Sanity, on December 11, 2023. It’s important for those of us who live in countries where the Latin Mass is more plentifully available to learn about the hardships of our brethren who are suffering under bishops even more cruel and heterodox than our own, and to pray for them.—PAK

December 13, 2020: First Holy Mass with the SSPX, in an apartment into which more than 100 people tried to fit.

There is a famous movie for children where one of the characters says “Look beyond what you see.” This brings the audience to reflect on what it might mean to see further than what is in plain sight or obvious within our surroundings. This advice can be applied to any part of our lives, but specifically it has a Counter-Revolutionary meaning, since the Catholic is obligated to see further than the false panorama the Revolution has implanted as our usual, typical, and constant environment.