The Progressive Pandemic

It is astonishing when you think about it now, more than 60 years after the close of the Second Vatican Council. Immediately following the Council, the Church commenced a devastating decline, one that still continues today – yet not once has there been a concerted effort by the leadership of the Church, the Popes and the Bishops, to determine the root causes of the catastrophe. A recent study documents the correlation between the Council and the steady decline in Catholic Mass attendance after the Council:

” . . . we find that rates of religious-service attendance in predominantly Catholic countries started to decrease relative to those of all other countries and to those of other Christian countries precisely in the aftermath of Vatican II. This result holds for adult and child religious-service attendance and also holds when using the share of a country’s catholic adherents as a continuous measure of a country’s exposure. Overall, the Catholic relative attendance rate fell by four percentage points per decade between 1965 and 2015.” [1,2]

That the Church has now reached a state of severe crisis is not in doubt. Reporting is continuing and consistent on this issue. [3, 4, 5, 6] I commend to you Darrick Taylor’s recent summary of the condition of the Church as a particularly cogent assessment. [7]

While it is clear that Catholic practice suffered a momentous negative impact in the wake of the Council, the underlying causes are not quite so obvious. [8, 9] There were many possible factors around the time of the Council that could have contributed substantially to the crisis. The theological debates about Modernism and the New Theology that played out in the Council and its documents remain controversial, as we witness with the recent SSPX excommunications. However, I doubt that the specific texts of the Council documents had much effect in the daily lives of ordinary Catholics. Much more immediately relevant was the general perception that something fundamental had shifted in the Church, defined by the so-called “Spirit of the Council.” A thing difficult to pin down, but nonetheless important because it seemed to signal a general relaxation of Catholic discipline. I remember my Mom telling me one day when I was a teenager and beginning to become aware of the wider Catholic world that the Church “had been too strict.” Then there was the generally chaotic environment of the 1960’s, when the sexual revolution was engulfing society.

That same study mentioned above attributes the decline to the extent and magnitude of the reforms of the Council:

“The unanticipated, major reforms that resulted from the Council (perhaps the most famous being the end of the Latin-only mass) profoundly affected Catholic faith and practice, to the point that sociologists refer to the event as ‘the most significant example of institutionalized religious change since the Reformation.’ “[10]

However, I believe it can be more accurately said that the alterations
in the liturgy of the Mass were not only the most famous but by far the most consequential affecting Catholic practice after the Council. For Catholics, the most frequent and potent exposure to their Church, and to the things the Church teaches, and to God Himself, is the Holy Mass. And that applies to the diocesan and religious clergy as well. Therefore, when the liturgy changed significantly, it delivered a major impact to the faith held by Catholics. It is actually an understatement to say that the liturgy was changed significantly. That is not the case. The liturgy of the Mass was butchered, enduring pervasive, comprehensive mutations. In the entire history of the Church, there has never been a transformation of the Roman Rite like that undertaken following the Council. Dr. Kwasknieski’s description of the destruction is shocking:

“From the 1950’s through the 1970’s, literally nothing was left untouched – and the changes were usually on a large scale, such as the wholesale rewriting of the rites of the Mass, of baptism, priestly ordination, extereme unction, the dedication of a Church, the consecration of virgins, the blessing of water; everything. This was not a revision but a rejection; not a reform, but a revolution. [11]

Think about what this means. We are not just another generation of Catholics trying to follow Jesus in a dangerous world, but confident in our faith, as our ancestors were before us. No – we are a generation of Catholics who have had the very foundations of our faith and worship shaken and severely undermined. This has never happened before – ever – in the entire history of the Church that Jesus gave to us. Throughout all of those long centuries in which the great saints arose to fight, suffer, and die for the faith – never has the Church faced an ordeal like this.

Recall the famous phrase “Lex orandi, Lex credendi.” Let me cite the U. S. Catholic bishops as to the meaning of this phrase:

“Literally translated, it means “the law of prayer [is] the law of belief.” This axiom is an adaptation of words of Prosper of Aquitaine, a fifth-century Christian writer and a contemporary of St. Augustine. The original version of the phrase, ut legem credendi lex statuat supplicandi (“that the law of praying establishes the law of believing”), highlighted the understanding that the Church’s teaching (lex credendi) is articulated and made manifest in the celebration of the liturgy and prayer (lex orandi). We understand this to mean that prayer and worship is the first articulation of the faith. The liturgy engages belief in a way that simply thinking about God or studying the faith does not naturally do. [emphasis added] In other words, in an act of worship, the faithful are in dialogue with God and are engaged in an active and personal relationship with Jesus Christ.” [12]

The obvious conclusion here is that a radical alteration of the Mass is very likely to affect the faith held by the people. So let’s take a look at how the Traditional Mass shapes the faith of the people, in order to understand the impact of the Novus Ordo. Consider first the general atmosphere, the environment in which we place ourselves, when attending the Traditional Mass. Since we humans are made in the image and likeness of God, we are created with an inherent hunger for the things of God, even though we have the freedom to ignore that hunger. The Traditional Mass has been fashioned over the centuries, via the process of Sacred Tradition, abounding with the attractions of God. When we come to Mass, we are not just walking into a building where some prayers are said and songs are sung and we may manage, if we try hard, to recall afterwards something of what the priest talked about during the sermon. No, for Catholics, we are coming to meet God Himself, our creator. If we could see Him, all of us would no doubt fall to our knees or bellies as we approach to worship Him. Therefore, from our very first step inside the door of that Church, the Traditional Mass is formed to offer Him our very best. There isn’t any chatter. Perhaps a rosary is being said before mass, but otherwise there is silence, and there is no need to fill that silence before Mass or the periods of silence which occur within the Mass – because He is there. The prayers and actions of the Mass, carefully honed over the centuries, present a ritual of worship that is fitting for the King of Kings. Latin, the language of that Mass, is nothing other than the language of Tradition itself, and so there is an immediate and powerful sense of our connection to the foundations of our faith. In the solemn version of the Mass, certain prayers are offered in the music most beautiful and fitting for adoration, Gregorian Chant. The Mass incorporates every possible opportunity to express reverence and humility and adoration in the presence of our Creator. The priest leads the people in worship, all facing Jesus, ad orientam. We are acutely aware of our Lord’s Real Presence in the tabernacle, at the center of the altar, the unmistakeable focus of our worship. Holy Mass is not a place where we must be busy doing things – rather it is a place where we can allow ourselves be carried along as in a spiritual river with a strong current that envelopes and saturates us with the presence of Jesus. The Holy Eucharist is received on our knees, directly on our tongues and only from the consecrated hands of an ordained priest. How else would we approach the King of Kings, the Lord of the Universe, other than on our knees?

An environment such as this simply does not exist in the Novus Ordo Mass. Yes, there are Novus Ordo parishes which attempt to recapture that sense of profound worship by implementing Gregorian Chant, or by admonishing the congregation to silence when entering the church, or by the recitation of certain prayers in Latin. An altar rail may even be installed in some churches. But such efforts do not begin to capture the roots of the orientation to God found in the Traditional Mass. I suspect that the revival of Eucharistic Adoration we see in the Church today is motivated in large part by the natural desire in Catholics for adoration that is not satisfied by the Novus Ordo.


Consider the prayers.

The prayers of the Traditional mass were shredded by the the commission established after the Council to implement the revisions to the Mass proposed by Sacrosanctam Concilium. Only a very small percentage of the original Orations, certain special prayers of the Mass among those proper to each Mass, survived the ravaging. I found the characterization of the modifications in the prayers by Dr. Edward Schaefer especially compelling, [13] but you don’t have to be a scholar to understand the importance of these prayers. Open the St Andrew Daily Missal, one of the versions of the Traditional missal available today, and you will find detailed explanations of every Sunday Mass, including the intended Catholic teaching for that Mass, referencing Divine Office readings and the Old and New Testament readings, and showing us how the teaching is reflected in those special Orations. That carefully constructed guidance of Sacred Tradition via the liturgy of the Mass, the work of centuries, was destroyed virtually overnight by the “reforms.”

The Ordinary prayers of the Mass were similarly scoured. There are common themes present in these prayers, acting almost like a litany woven throughout the Mass, forming our attitudes and perceptions appropriately for our encounter with God, expressing our penitence, and our utter dependence on Christ’s sacrifice for our salvation. Here are a few examples of prayers which were either completely deleted or replaced: [14]

“Take away from us our iniquities, we beseech Thee, O Lord, that with pure minds we may worthily enter into the holy of holies . . . ” [15]

“We beseech Thee, O Lord, by the merits of thy Saints, whose relics are here, and of all the saints, that Thou wouldst vouchsafe to forgive me all my sins.” [16]

Receive, O holy Father, almighty and eternal God, this unspotted host, which I, Thy unworthy servant, offer unto Thee, my living and true God, for my innumerable sins, offenses, and negligences, and for all here present; as also for all faithful Christians living and dead, that it may avail both for my own and their salvation unto life eternal.” [17]

“We offer unto Thee, O Lord, the chalice of salvation, beseeching Thy clemency, that it may ascend in the sight of Thy divine majesty with a sweet savour, for our own salvation and for that of the whole world. ” [18]

“Come, O Sanctifier, almighty and eternal God, the Sanctifier, and bless this sacrifice prepared for Thy holy name.” [19]

“May Thy Body, O Lord, which I have received, and Thy Blood which I have drunk, cleave to my inmost parts, and grant that no stain of sin may remain in me, whom these pure and holy sacraments have refreshed.” [20]

It is as if the designers of the Novus Ordo thought that the repeated invocation of subjects like our sinfulness, or the sacrifice that Jesus made to atone for our sins, or our expressions of penitence and appeals for salvation, were unnecessary for modern Christians in our enlightened age. The two prayers now associated with the Offertory in the Novus Ordo are particularly unfortunate, where the profoundly humble and penintential language of the Traditional Mass offering “ this unspotted host” and the “chalice of salvation” for our salvation, have been reduced to feeble references to the “work of human hands” and no mention of salvation at all.

People need their faith to be something solid, something real, something that speaks to the very depths of their heart, something that allows them to acknowledge the reality of their need for Him, and the solace to be found in Him. A simplified liturgy that fails to express the essential things – like sacrifice, and sin, and humble reverence toward God – is of little interest to those who are looking for something that will speak to their souls, as the psalmist so eloquently describes:

“I have stretched forth my hands to thee: my soul is as earth without water unto thee.”

Psalm 142:6 Douay Rheims Bible

The prayer that is the Traditional Mass is not the same prayer that is the Novus Ordo. Francois Savy, in an article posted recently at Rorate Coeli on the distinction between validity and legitimacy versus deficiency of the Novus Ordo, crystallizes the issue:

“The Novus Ordo Missae prepares souls less well to receive all the fruits of the divine sacrifice; it diminishes the testimony of Faith and the manifestation of the glory of God required by any liturgical action, by leaving the door open to a Protestant interpretation. Anthropocentric, focused on the presence of the faithful, it expresses less the sacrificial, propitiatory, and cultic dimensions of the Mass and the adoration of God to whom the sacrifice is offered . . .” [21]

Jesus, in the Blessed Sacrament, can now be handled by anyone – and kneeling to receive Him is apparently beneath our dignity. So it should be obvious as to why a large percentage of Catholics do not believe that the Holy Eucharist is God Himself. [22] The Novus Ordo teaches by omission that penitence, and penance, are of minimal importance. No wonder the confessional lines have disappeared. Recall that fundamental truth embodied in the words “Lex Orandi, Lex Credendi.” There is a third phrase that fits here, “Lex Vivendi.” [23] As we worship, so we believe, and so we live. There is no better or more accurate description for what has happened to the Catholic Church since the Council. The prayer of the Church was purposefully, radically altered – and that drove differences in what Catholics believe – and that in turn influenced Catholic behavior. What better explanation could there be for the precipitous decline in Mass attendance over the last several decades?

While the despoiling of the Mass was the primary cause of the collapse in the Church immediately after the Council, additional factors now in place are accelerating the devastation. Clear examples now exist of magisterial instruction directly contradicting that of a prior magisterium. [24, 25, 26] The faithful are thereby put in an untenable situation – admonished to assent with full submission of mind and will to contradictory teachings. Then there is the advance of “synodality,” which apparently seeks to throw open the doors of the Church to any and all influences swirling about in the secular domain. [27, 28,29, 30, 31, 32, 33] Another scourge is besieging the Church as well – the troubling and deliberate placement of blatantly pro-homosexual individuals and other openly heterodox persons to various positions of authority in the Church, even at the very highest levels. [34, 35, 36]

In my judgment there is nothing much in the near term that can be done at any level that would likely turn things in the right direction. The die has been cast, the revolution has been underway for many decades now, and the decline will continue for the foreseeable future. The crisis grinds inexorably forward, creating chaos, confusion, and an extremity of diversity – where every parish has its own liturgical customs and practices, where every Bishops’ Conference applies its own doctrinal guidance, and where morality is a slippery thing.

But there is one thing that we cannot fail to accomplish as the Church stumbles into an uncertain and dangerous future. No matter what happens, no matter what decree might come down from Rome or the local Bishop, a means must be found to guarantee the continued well-being and health of our most precious resource – the community of traditional priests who will preserve the Traditional Mass throughout these desolate times.

References.

1. Barro, Robert J. et al “LOOKING BACKWARD: LONG-TERM RELIGIOUS SERVICE ATTENDANCE IN 66 COUNTRIES.” Working Paper 34060. NATIONAL BUREAU OF ECONOMIC RESEARCH. 1050 Massachusetts Avenue Cambridge, MA 02138. July 2025. https://www.nber.org/system/files/working_papers/w34060/w34060.pdf

2. Lawler, Phil. “Data show: Vatican II triggered decline in Catholic practice.” Catholic Culture. Jul 28, 2025. https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/data-researchers-conclude-vatican-ii-triggered-decline-in-catholic-practice/

3. Mangiaracina, Emily. “More people have left Catholicism than joined in most countries: report.” Lifesite News.
Apr 24, 2026. https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/more-people-have-left-catholicism-than-joined-in-most-countries-report/

4. Quinlan, Michael. “Revival in the pews, crisis at the altar: Why churches are closing amid a Catholic comeback.” FOXBusiness. April 4, 2026. https://www.foxbusiness.com/politics/revival-pews-crisis-altar-why-churches-closing-amid-catholic-comeback

5. Allman, Myles. “Vatican statistics reveal stunning collapse of Catholic Church in France.” Lifesite News. September 18, 2026. https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/vatican-statistics-reveal-stunning-collapse-of-catholic-church-in-france/

6. “Weekly “Mass Attendance Is Up” Again by Catholics in the US, CARA Reports.” uCatholic. February 10, 2025. https://ucatholic.com/news/weekly-mass-attendance-is-up-again-by-catholics-in-the-us-cara-reports/

7. Taylor, Darrick. “Waiting for a State of Emergency.” Crisis Magazine. May 5, 2026. https://crisismagazine.com/opinion/waiting-for-a-state-of-emergency

8. Lawler, Phil. “Let’s stop pretending: something DID go wrong after Vatican II.” Catholic Culture. Aug 23, 2017. https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/lets-stop-pretending-something-did-go-wrong-after-vatican-ii/

9. Hitchcock, James. “Was Vatican II a Mistake? Crisis Magazine. June 2004. https://crisismagazine.com/opinion/was-vatican-ii-a-mistake

10. Barro, Robert J. et al “LOOKING BACKWARD: LONG-TERM RELIGIOUS SERVICE ATTENDANCE IN 66 COUNTRIES.” Working Paper 34060. NATIONAL BUREAU OF ECONOMIC RESEARCH. 1050 Massachusetts Avenue Cambridge, MA 02138. July 2025. https://www.nber.org/system/files/working_papers/w34060/w34060.pdf

11. Kwasniewski, Peter. The Once and Future Roman Rite. Gasconia, NC: Tan Books, 2022, pp 68-69.

12. “Lex Orandi, Lex Credendi: The Word of God in the Celebration of the Sacraments.” USCCB. Resources. Sep 20,2009. https://www.usccb.org/resources/lex-orandi-lex-credendi

13. Schafer, Edward. “A Simple Man’s Case for Tradition Chapter 2: the New Mass.” One Peter 5. Nov 16 2024. https://onepeterfive.com/chapter-2-the-new-mass/

14. “A COMPARISON BETWEEN THE TEXTS OF THE TRADITIONAL MISSAL AND THE NEW MISSAL OF 2011.” The Latin Mass Society of England and Wales. Accessed October 8, 2026. https://lms.org.uk/missals

15. Dom Gaspar Levebre O.S.B. of the Abbey of St. Andre. The St Andrew Daily Missal. Great Falls, Montana: St. Bonaventure Publications. July 1999, Page 956.

16. The St Andrew Daily Missal. July 1999. Page 957.

17. The St Andrew Daily Missal. July 1999. Page 964.

18. The St Andrew Daily Missal. July 1999. Pages 964-965.

19. The St Andrew Daily Missal. July 1999. Page 965.

20. The St Andrew Daily Missal. July 1999. Pages 985-986.

22. Bukurus, Joe. “New Study shows that now almost two-thirds of US Catholics believe in Real Presence.” EWTN News. Sep 29, 2023. https://www.ewtnnews.com/world/us/new-study-show-that-now-almost-two-thirds-of-us-catholics-believe-in-real-presence

23. Fournier, Keith. “Lex Orandi, Lex Credendi, Lex Vivendi. As we Worship, So we Believe, So we Live.” Catholic Online. Nov 8, 2010. https://www.catholic.org/news/hf/faith/story.php?id=39029

24. McCusker, Matthew . “Key doctrinal errors and ambiguities of Amoris Laetitia.” Voice of the Family. 7 May 2016. https://voiceofthefamily.com/key-doctrinal-errors-and-ambiguities-of-amoris-laetitia/

25. Buscemi, Georges, President of Campagne Québec-Vie, member of the John-Paul II Academy for Human Life and Family, et al. “Open letter to the bishops of the Catholic Church.” Easter Week, 2019. https://onepeterfive-wp.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Open-Letter-to-the-Bishops-of-the-Catholic-2019.pdf

26. Dominic J. Grigio. The Disastrous Pontificate. Lincoln, Nebraska: Os Justi Press. 2025.

27. Mangiaracina, Emily. “Bishop Schneider: Synodality is a ‘code word to undermine Catholic doctrine.’” Lifesite News. Sep 11, 2026. https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/bishop-schneider-synodality-is-a-code-word-to-undermine-catholic-doctrine/

28. Delaney, Patrick. “Cardinal Burke: Synodality ‘has to be stopped’ and thoroughly reexamined.” Lifesite News. July 16, 2026. https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/cardinal-burke-synodality-has-to-be-stopped-and-thoroughly-reexamined/

29. Eijk, Willem. “Cardinal Eijk: Same-Sex Synod Report Must Be Forcefully Refuted .” National Catholic Register/Commentaries. May 14, 2026. https://www.ncregister.com/commentaries/the-synods-dangerous-departure-study-group-9s-report

30. Pentin, Edward. “Courage Director: Synod Report ‘Wounds the Church.’” National Catholic Register/Interviews. May 11, 2026. https://www.ncregister.com/interview/courage-director-synod-report-wounds-the-church

31. Miller, Monica. “Paradigm Shifts and the End of Catholic Moral Doctrine.” Crisis Magazine. June 5, 2026. https://crisismagazine.com/opinion/paradigm-shifts-and-the-end-of-catholic-moral-doctrine

32. Canon of Shaftesbury. “The Challenge of a Synod That Walks Away from Christ.” Rorate Coeli. July 19, 2026. https://rorate-caeli.blogspot.com/2026/07/the-challenge-of-synod-that-walks-away.html

33. Lifesite News Staff. “Synod reports call for ‘gender equality’ in Church governance.” Lifesite News. Sep 12, 2026. https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/synod-reports-call-for-gender-equality-in-church-governance/

34. Westen, John-Henry. “A look back at Pope Leo XIV’s heterodox bishop appointments in his first year.” Lifesite News. May 8, 2026. https://www.lifesitenews.com/blogs/a-look-back-at-pope-leo-xivs-heterodox-bishop-appointments-in-his-first-year/

35. Cambria, Antonino. “Pope Leo appoints consultors who back women’s ‘ordination,’ WEF agenda.” Lifesite News. Aug 22, 2026. https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/pope-leo-appoints-consultors-who-back-womens-ordination-wef-agenda/

36. Masciullo, Gaetano. “Pope Leo appoints pro-female ordination consultors to religious life dicastery.” Lifesite News. August 10, 2026. https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/pope-leo-appoints-pro-female-ordination-pro-lgbt-consultors-to-religious-life-dicastery/

The Pope and the FBI

As one of those traditional Roman Catholics who has somehow fallen under the baleful scowl of both the FBI and the Supreme Pontiff at the very same time, I have to admit I find myself somewhat stupefied as to how this could have happened. After all, even with the catastrophic decline in Catholic practice in the wake of the Second Vatican Council, [1] the Roman Catholic faith itself has not changed. The average U. S. Catholic of 70 years ago – who today would be labeled as extreme – would never have been deemed a threat to either Church or State simply for wholeheartedly accepting the tenets of his faith. Yet today’s most loyal disciples of that faith are actually regarded as threats to the well-being of the Church and the nation. This is hard to fathom.

But here we are, under edict from the pope, [2, 3] and under investigation by the FBI. [4] This very strange juxtaposition of accusers has to be recognized as an extraordinary circumstance. I am not proposing conspiracies – but I am suggesting a remarkable convergence of views between the pope and the FBI. The whole thing is troubling: what possible activities could certain traditional Catholics be engaged in which both violate their religious beliefs and at the same time cause them to be suspected of potential criminal violence?

The infamous recent FBI intelligence document is built around a theory proposing the existence of an inimical subset of Catholics designated as Radical Traditional Catholics (RTCs), who embrace something called the “RTC ideology.” These RTCs are assessed to be so radical that they have even attracted the interest of violent domestic extremists, a species of dangerous folk about whom the FBI seems to know quite a bit. But there is no hard evidence cited to substantiate the existence of said RTCs, or their ideology, and the whole RTC concept seems to have been borrowed from a patently non-credible source, the rabidly progressive group known as the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC). The SPLC defines RTCs as “the largest single group of serious antisemites in America,” [5] since apparently these Catholics have committed the unpardonable sin of questioning the teaching of the Second Vatican Council regarding the Jews. This is simply absurd: concerns with the Council document at issue, Nostra Aetate, have to do with that document’s failure to address the true status of the Jewish religion – not the Jewish people:

“ . . .Nostra Aetate fails to make a crucial distinction between Jews as individuals and the Jewish religion. True, Jews are not under a curse that precludes their salvation, since our sacred history is rife with Jewish converts who left the religion of the synagogue and embraced the Catholic Church. What is today called the Jewish religion, however, is not of God, since it is based on a rejection of the Messiah. Our Lord warned the Jews of His day, “Therefore I say to you, that the Kingdom of God will be taken away from you and will be given to a people yielding its fruits. (Matt: 21: 43)” [6]

That SPLC web page entitled “Radical Traditional Catholicism” goes on to identify several conservative Roman Catholic organizations as hate groups, and also accuses these Catholics of another unforgiveable sin, that of harboring “extremely conservative social ideals with respect to women.” The FBI document goes even further, embellishing its portrayal of the nefarious “RTC Ideology” by attributing an assortment of sinister attitudes and beliefs to RTCs in various places throughout the document, such as:

• Rejection of Vatican II
• Harboring disdain for post-Vatican II popes
• Demonstrating anti-Semitic, anti-immigrant, white supremacist, and anti-LGBTQ ideologies
• Demonstrating hostility toward abortion rights activists
• Using “Crusader”references
• Opposing affirmative action

This is quite an eclectic and impressive list of aggravated faults for one single wayward group to have achieved. It seems a little too impressive. One wonders, for example, what “rejection of Vatican II” and “disdain for post-Vatican II popes” has to do with white supremacy, or anti-LGBTQ ideology, or anti-abortion hostility. And what might possibly be considered criminal about using Crusader references?

Since the FBI characterization of RTCs does not clearly indicate likely criminal activity by Catholics of any stripe, then we are left with the question as to what the actual FBI interest is in probing traditional Catholic parishes. The answer to that question can be found in the FBI document’s references to moral issues which are legitimately relevant to orthodox Roman Catholic doctrine and to which traditional Roman Catholics remain faithful, unlike the majority of Catholics today. The FBI accusations that traditional Catholics are adamantly opposed to abortion and the various forms of sexual perversion, otherwise known in the pagan parlance of the day as “LGBTQ+ . . .”, are accurate. However, both the SPLC and the FBI have conflated Catholic opposition to particular immoral behaviors with Catholic hatred of the persons committing those behaviors. This deception brands Catholics who are loyal to their Christian faith and steadfast in their love of God and neighbor as, instead, malevolent people who are likely to commit violence. Thus Catholic opposition to the immoral progressive sexual agenda is recast as hatred.

The FBI intelligence analyst emphasizes that ordinary traditional Catholics are not being fingered, just the radicals – while at the same time recommending the infiltration of ordinary traditional Catholic parishes. But it is easy to foresee the outcome of that approach: the FBI spies who insinuate themselves into these parishes will find ample evidence of exactly what they are looking for – opposition to the various LGBTQetc sexual perversions and abortion. And that evidence – that the FBI sees as hatred – will be the springboard used to justify further investigation and then persecution of traditional Catholics.

This sort of activity by the FBI is by now no longer a surprise. The progressive agenda demonstrated here is consistent with the other ongoing forms of government torment of those who hold traditional values, including the bizarre and excessively forceful arrests of abortion protesters at their homes, [7] or the investigations of parents who publicly oppose school boards. [8] And even though the FBI officially retracted the problematic intelligence document, the erroneous content was not repudiated – the FBI merely stated that it “did not meet the exacting standards of the FBI.” [9] As the government accrues ever more power to itself, and constitutional protections continue to be further degraded, a reasonable expectation is that the oppression will accelerate. Secular ferocity toward Catholics has reccured throughout history in various eras, as with the French Revolution, or the Spanish Civil War, or the persecution of Catholics in Mexico in the early 20^th century. It may even be that another period of wholesale martyrdom like that experienced under the Roman emperors is approaching. Given the rapidity of the cultural degradation in the U.S. over the last few decades, it is certainly within the realm of possibility. But that should not unduly disturb Catholics – the blood of martyrs has been a fruitful part of the Catholic life and faith over the centuries, and the saints we revere frequently sought the opportunity to give their lives for the faith.

While government maltreatment is nothing new to Catholics, what is novel and startling and significant is the pope’s aggression toward part of his flock for the sin of fidelity both to the traditional liturgy and the doctrines of the Church. I know that Cardinal Mueller distinguishes between “material” and “formal” heresies in order to defend the legitimacy of the papal office, but I doubt that such a fine distinction matters much to the ordinary Catholic scandalized by the words and actions of this radical pope. [10] The really intriguing thing is that the pope’s resentment of traditional Catholics is very similar in its substance to the FBI’s displeasure with those same Catholics. The pope has railed about traditional Catholics on multiple occasions, accusing them of dangerous “rigidity,” and of harboring “backwardist” tendencies. [11, 12] And what is it that those testy traditional Catholics are so rigid about in the eyes of the pope? Precisely the same convictions that the FBI finds so offensive: those involving morality, especially sexual morality. There is no doubt that the pope wants to relax the “rigid” code of Catholic sexual morality. His words are tricky and slippery, hovering always on the edge of legitimacy. John Daniel Davidson of the Federalist states it well:

“He is intentionally vague about matters that should be clear-cut, and this vagueness sows confusion. Why would he want to sow confusion? To open up room for change. Indeed, one way to interpret the pope’s muddled remarks about blessing homosexual unions is that he’s opening the door to radical change in Catholic practice without technically changing Catholic doctrine (something the pope, in any case, cannot do).” [13]

Catholics who consciously bind themselves to that which the Church has consistently taught over the course of two millenia have become a threat to the new Church that the pope is attempting to forge – while at the same time they constitute a threat to the aggressively progressive social order that the government, in concert with all of the other elites in U.S. society, wants to establish. It should grab our attention and make us think hard that these two powerful entities – one in the secular realm and one in the spiritual – are pursuing the same objective, the destruction of the moral order laid down by Jesus Christ. It speaks of the tremendous breadth and scope of this current attack on truth and the Church, an onslaught which may well rival that of the Arian heresy.

However, of the two assaults, the one which really matters to Catholics is the spiritual. The government and its various instruments of power, while fully capable of making our lives miserable, are really irrelevant in the battle for the faith. The real threat is coming from within the Church. Admittedly, the outlook is grim at the current time. The papal agenda grinds forward, with little opposition from the bishops. The “Synod on Synodality” threatens to disgorge a flood of distortions of the faith. [14, 15] In all likelihood, the devastation and winnowing of the Roman Catholic Church precipitated by Vatican II will accelerate and proceed unabated, and we can realistically expect a far smaller orthodox Catholic Church in the future, as foreseen by Cardinal Ratzinger in 1969. [16] While the continuing loss of souls implicit in this culling is a terrible tragedy, it is still not grounds for despair – rather, it should rally us to fight for the pure and unadulterated vision of life that Jesus has given us. We must do everything we can to preserve the foundational moral doctrines of Christianity, because the sacramental pillars of our daily life depend on them. The sanctity of marriage, for example, is meaningless if marriage is redefined in accordance with some perverse view of human sexuality. What is the meaning of the Sacrament of Penance, if the Commandments are not accepted as the criteria by which we identify sin? And then there is the Holy Eucharist, the worthy reception of which requires recipients to possess the state of grace. It should be unimaginable that the Church would endeavor to systematically and purposely and routinely violate the Holy Eucharist – yet today we face that very prospect.

It is difficult to foresee anything but adversity ahead for the Church in the 21^st century, and in the near term there isn’t much that can be done to forestall the impending trials. The forces of the wicked that have been unleashed have been building for a long time and will run their course. As Bishop Strickland stated recently:

“‘But we have to acknowledge there are tremendous and powerful forces at work in the world,’ he stressed. ‘Saint Paul reminds us that we’re not fighting against human beings, flesh and blood; we’re fighting the powers and principalities of evil.’” [17]

Taking Bishop Strickland’s words to heart, we can prepare ourselves for that spiritual combat, and intensify our use of prayer, fasting, almsgiving, and the sacraments. Imagine the impact if ordinary Catholics put aside the nominal practice of their faith, and became fervent Catholics. Then perhaps the turmoil so obviously heading our way will eventually result in a stronger Church, because we the faithful will have fought for her, once again, as in many prior centuries.

References.

1. Masci, David and Smith, Gregory A. “7 Facts about American Catholics.” Pew Research Center. October 10, 2018 https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2018/10/10/7-facts-about-american-catholics/

2. Francis. “Traditionis Custodes. APOSTOLIC LETTER ISSUED “MOTU PROPRIO” BY THE SUPREME PONTIFF FRANCIS On the Use of the Roman Liturgy Prior to the Reform of 1970.” The Vatican. July 16, 2021. vatican.va/content/francesco/en/motu_proprio/documents/20210716-motu-proprio-traditionis-custodes.html

3. “Letter of the Holy Father Francis to all bishops worldwide to present the Motu proprio “Traditionis custodes” on the use of the Roman liturgy prior to the Reform of 1970.” The Vatican. July 16, 2021
https://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/en/bollettino/pubblico/2021/07/16/210716c.html

4. Seraphin, Kyle. “The FBI Doubles Down on Christians and White Supremacy in 2023.” UncoverDC. February 8, 2023. https://uncoverdc.com/2023/02/08/the-fbi-doubles-down-on-christians-and-white-supremacy-in-2023/

5. “Radical Traditional Catholicism.” Southern Poverty Law Center. Accessed November 15, 2023. https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/ideology/radical-traditional-catholicism

6. “Judaism & the Church: before & after Vatican II.” Society of Saint Pius X, District of the USA. January 24, 2013. https://sspx.org/en/news-events/news/judaism-church-after-vatican-ii-1342

7. von Spakovsky, Hans A. and Stimson, Charles “Cully.” “FBI, Justice Department Twist Federal Law to Arrest, Charge Pro-Life Activist.” The Heritage Foundation. September 28, 2022. https://www.heritage.org/crime-and-justice/commentary/fbi-justice-department-twist-federal-law-arrest-charge-pro-life

8. Poff, Jeremiah. “FBI opened multiple investigations into protesting parents, GOP lawmakers say.” Washington Examiner. May 12, 2022. https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/restoring-america/fairness-justice/fbi-opened-multiple-investigations-into-protesting-parents-gop-lawmakers-say]

9. Arnold, Tyler and Bukuras, Joe. “FBI retracts leaked document orchestrating investigation of Catholics.” Catholic News Agency. February 9, 2023. https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/253600/fbi-retracts-leaked-document-orchestrating-investigation-of-catholics

10. Wailzer, Andrea and Hickson, Maike. “Cardinal Müller: Some statements by Pope Francis could be understood as material heresy.” Lifesite News. November 9, 2023. https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/exclusive-cardinal-muller-says-francis-has-uttered-material-heresy-but-is-still-the-pope/

11. Haynes, Michael. “Pope Francis says new council unnecessary as Vatican II ‘has not yet been implemented.’” Lifesite News. August 4, 2023. https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/pope-francis-says-new-council-unnecessary-as-vatican-ii-has-not-yet-been-implemented/

12. Brockhaus, Hanna. “Pope Francis Laments When ‘Ideology Replaces Faith’ in Segment of U.S. Catholics.” Catholic News Agency.August 28, 2023. https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/255206/pope-francis-laments-when-ideology-replaces-faith-in-segment-of-us-catholics

13. Davidson, John Daniel. “All Christians, Not Just Catholics, Should Be Worried About Pope Francis’ Synod.” The Federalist. October 9^th 2023 https://thefederalist.com/2023/10/09/all-christians-not-just-catholics-should-be-worried-about-pope-francis-synod/

14. Haynes, Michael. “Pope Francis’ ‘synodal process’ is opening the gates of unrestrained heterodoxy.” LifeSite News. November 6, 2023. https://www.lifesitenews.com/analysis/pope-francis-synodal-process-is-opening-the-gates-of-unrestrained-heterodoxy/

15. Pentin, Edward. “Cardinal Müller Says Synod on Synodality Is Being Used by Some to Prepare the Church to Accept False Teaching.” National Catholic Register. October 276, 2023. https://www.ncregister.com/interview/cardinal-mueller-says-synod-on-synodality-is-being-used-by-some-to-prepare-the-church-to-accept-false-teaching

16. Warner, Tod. “When Father Joseph Ratzinger Predicted the Future of the Church.” Aleteia. June 13, 2016. https://aleteia.org/2016/06/13/when-cardinal-joseph-ratzinger-predicted-the-future-of-the-church/

17. Wailzer, Andreas. “Bishop Strickland: I was removed because forces in the Church want to change the teaching of Jesus.” Lifesite News. November 13, 2023. https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/bishop-strickland-i-was-removed-because-forces-in-the-church-what-to-change-the-teaching-of-jesus/

While many hail the recent Supreme Court decision returning abortion law to the states as a landmark victory for unborn children, it must be recognized that this decision did not find abortion to be immoral, or even illegal – it merely determined that there was no federal constitutional right to abortion. And it therefore must be admitted that a decisive victory in the debate over abortion has not yet been won – the case against abortion has not yet been made. An honest assessment of the debate would consider, for example, the following discouraging statistics regarding Catholics and abortion from May 2022:

“Overall, about three-quarters of U.S. Catholics (76%) say abortion should be illegal in some cases but legal in others. Just one-in-ten say abortion should be illegal in all cases, with no exceptions, while a similar share (13%) take the position that abortion should be legal in all cases, without exceptions.” [1]

This is an astonishing set of statistics. The thought that something so violent as the deliberate destruction of an infant within the womb of a mother can be thought to be legal and just by a strong majority of those who count themselves as faithful members of the Church founded by none other than Jesus Himself is almost unbelievable. It is one thing for statistics like these to be discovered among the pagan and the unchurched, but for Catholics themselves to be found so corrupt in their faith is a sign of moral decay that cannot be ignored.

Our Catholic leaders should ask themselves why there is such a failure to accept a fundamental teaching among even Catholics themselves. Are we experiencing a period of such concerted evil everywhere that the teaching of the Church is simply overwhelmed? Or is there something wrong with how the Church has attempted to assert its views on this subject, despite the intent of the Second Vatican Council to make the Gospel accessible to modern man? What exactly has the Church taught on this issue?

It may seem trivially obvious, but the words that are chosen in taking a position on a particular issue are critically important. I experienced this in the course of a long career working in every aspect of the systems engineering process for a major military system. The development of system requirements is a prime example. These requirements are written down and debated and sometimes fiercely fought over at successively greater levels of detail. The government must obtain the right product – and the contractor must meet the requirement while remaining profitable. I recall the comment of a very wise old engineer, who had fought the battles over computer program development requirements with a particular prime contractor for a very long time:

“All we have are words.”

That is, if we failed to construct our requirements with carefully reasoned language that fully reflected our actual intent, the end product we had envisioned would not be achieved.

There is a remarkable paucity of such precise language these days in the statements of the Catholic Church.

The expression of the Catholic position on abortion suffers from just this condition. A comment by Pope Francis from a November 2022 interview exemplifies the weakness of the Church’s message to the world on abortion. When asked whether abortion should be treated as a priority for the bishops in comparison to other social issues, the Pope responded with the following discussion:

“In any book of embryology it is said that shortly before one month after conception the organs and the DNA are already delineated in the tiny fetus, before the mother even becomes aware. Therefore, there is a living human being. I do not say a person, because this is debated, but a living human being. And I raise two questions: Is it right to get rid of a human being to resolve a problem? Second question: Is it right to hire a “hit man” to resolve a problem? The problem arises when this reality of killing a human being is transformed into a political question, or when a pastor of the church uses political categories.” [2]

It is interesting to me that the Pope ignored the question that was actually asked. It is, I suppose, one way of avoiding a question with a faulty premise. But he could have also answered directly, and set this question in its proper context. He could have said that abortion is not just one social issue among many. He could have said that abortion is uniquely evil, because it involves the cooperation of a mother in the death of her own child, and it therefore attacks the heart and soul, the very foundation, of human life and society.

The Pope goes on to make several confusing comments about abortion. He likens abortion to a murder for hire contract, a contract undertaken to solve a “problem.” This is not an apt analogy. Abortion is the murder of an innocent child – a child who, as a gift from God, is most decisively not a problem. The problem exists with the mindset of the mother and the society which deem it necessary to reject that which God has done. And also, again quite unlike a murder for hire contract, abortion requires the direct physical participation of the mother in the killing of the unborn victim. The Pope’s analogy fails to acknowledge the monstrously destructive impact of abortion, as it literally tears apart that most intimate of human relationships, that of a mother and her unborn child. By calling the unborn child a problem, the Pope has submitted to the secular paradigm framing the abortion issue.

The Pope’s comment about abortion as a political question has me flummoxed. What comes to my mind is that politics is the means by which we govern ourselves. Of course we should want to implement fundamental Christian values into the core of our governance – which necessarily involves politics, and political parties.

These comments are generally indicative of weak and ineffective teaching about the evils of abortion. However, with his comment about personhood the Pope has exposed a serious problem with the Church’s teaching on abortion.

The Pope stated that the science of embryology indicates that a living human being exists within a month after conception, but at the same time he mentioned that he could not confirm that an unborn child is a person. This statement unfortunately leaves in doubt the humanity of the unborn child in the first month of existence, but even worse, fails to make any argument for the personhood of the unborn child. Compare this to the position put forth by the U. S. Catholic bishops on abortion:

“Given the scientific fact that a human life begins at conception, the only moral norm needed to understand the Church’s opposition to abortion is the principle that each and every human life has inherent dignity, and thus must be treated with the respect due to a human person.” [3]

The bishops here apply their arguments to the status of the child from the moment of conception, and do not leave out the first month of life as does the Pope. And they state that the unborn child must be treated as a person. However, the bishops’ statement falls short as well. Despite their argument that the unborn child should be treated as a person, they do not actually state that the unborn child is a person. This is a significant distinction and the question naturally arises: Why not? Why can we Catholics not bring ourselves to use language that states specifically that the unborn human being is fully a person?

The history of the church’s position on abortion reflects a debate over the centuries concerning when exactly the soul enters the body of a new human being:

“In the course of history, the Fathers of the Church, her Pastors and her Doctors have taught the same doctrine – the various opinions on the infusion of the spiritual soul did not introduce any doubt about the illicitness of abortion. It is true that in the Middle Ages, when the opinion was generally held that the spiritual soul was not present until after the first few weeks, a distinction was made in the evaluation of the sin and the gravity of penal sanctions. Excellent authors allowed for this first period more lenient case solutions which they rejected for following periods. But it was never denied at that time that procured abortion, even during the first days, was objectively grave fault.” [4]

And according to an unnamed theologian cited by John-Henry Westen of Lifesite News, the Church has never declared the unborn child to be a person:

“I checked with the best theologian I know and learned that the Church has never defined the unborn child as a “person” but has always said the unborn has personal dignity. The medieval theologians did not know about the development and genetics of the child in the womb, so they debated things like when the soul enters the body. Given modern genetic understanding, it seems clear now, but there has been no dogmatic declaration.” [5]

“It seems clear now, but there has been no dogmatic declaration.” That, apparently, is the best we can do. The Church has addressed this issue of the personhood of the unborn multiple times – but in every instance does not quite actually state unequivocally that the unborn child is a person from the moment of conception. Examples of such statements include the USCCB position on abortion mentioned earlier in this article, as well as the recent USCCB Amicus Brief filed for the Dobbs decision [6], and paragraphs 2274 [7] and 2319 [8] of the Catechism of the Catholic Church. The Church’s argument in general is that human life in itself, whether or not personhood has been established at conception, deserves the rights of personhood. Donum Vitae reflects this position:

“Thus the fruit of human generation, from the first moment of its existence, that is to say, from the moment the zygote has formed, demands the unconditional respect that is morally due to the human being in his bodily and spiritual totality. The human being is to be respected and treated as a person from the moment of conception; and therefore from that same moment his rights as a person must be recognized, among which in the first place is the inviolable right of every innocent human being to life”. [9] [emphasis added]

Other magisterial documents on this subject provide more insight into the rationale for the Church’s position to date. Here is a key passage from Evangelium Vitae of 1993:

“Even if the presence of a spiritual soul cannot be ascertained by empirical data, the results themseves of scientific research on the human embryo provide a valuable indication for the use of reason of a personal presence at the moment of the first appearance of a human life: how could a human individual not be a human person?” [10]

Why is “empirical data” implied here to be the standard by which truth must be assessed? Why does the Church attempt to make this argument based purely on scientific evidence?

A fairly recent statement reflecting the ordinary magisterium of the Church on abortion is the Instruction by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Dignitatis Personae of September, 2008, which updated Donum Vitae (1987), and referenced both Veritatis Splendor (1993) and Evangelium Vitae (1995). Interestingly, Dignitatis Personae claims right at the outset that “ . . . the Catholic Church draws upon the light both of reason and of faith and seeks to set forth an integral vision of man and his vocation . . .” [11] Yet despite that assertion, Dignitatis Personae refers back to and endorses Donum Vitae’s statement which did not quite declare the unborn embryo to be a person:

“If Donum Vitae, in order to avoid a statement of an explicitly philosophical nature, did not define the embryo as a person, it nonetheless did indicate that there is an intrinsic connection between the ontological dimension and the specific value of every human life.” Although the presence of the spiritual soul cannot be observed experimentally, the conclusions of science regarding the human embryo give “a valuable indication for discerning by the use of reason a personal presence at the moment of the first appearance of a human life . . .” [12]

Here we see the limits inherent in the Church’s reasoning on abortion. Neither theological nor philosophical arguments are considered to be useful, apparently, and the Church attempts to convince using only reason based on science. The Church should use the full arsenal of reasoned arguments at her disposal: it is a mistake to assume that the secular world is amenable only to explanations employing “scientific” evidence. The perceived limitations of the secular mindset should not be allowed to shape the battleground over how morality is to be defined. Andrew Greenwell points out why arguments with such limitations are inadequate:

“Only persons are made in the image of God, have a capacity for God, and have supernatural destinies. Remove God from the picture, therefore, and invariably the concept of person becomes unintelligible. The dignity of man, the concept of personhood, cannot be built upon agnostic, much less atheistic, foundations. True, it is a philosophical concept, but it is intimately theological at its foundation.” [13]

Dr. Jeff Mirus has made the argument for personhood with the necessary clarity, avoiding the “as a person” characterization:

“The Church has always held that the human person is a union of a body and a rational soul, and that each soul is created individually by God. But over the centuries there have been theological debates over exactly when the soul is created and infused into the human body. Revelation does not answer this question, but the Church has always answered philosophically in this way: The soul is created in the same instant in which it is infused into the body, and that happens as soon as the matter is suitable. In other words, biology plays a key role in answering this question. This is why, in the medieval period, most theologians held that the soul is created and infused at the time of “quickening”, which is essentially when we become aware of the movement of the baby in the womb. However, we now know that the “matter”—the body—is distinctively human from the moment of conception, when the sperm and egg unite to form the zygote. There is no time after successful fertilization that the embryo is or can be anything other than human. Consequently, Catholics can now confidently state that the soul is created by God and joined to the body at the precise moment of conception.” [14] [emphasis added]

Dr. Mirus does not back away from using the argument that the soul is joined to the body when the matter is suitable in conjunction with the biological evidence to draw the conclusion that the soul, and thus personhood, arrive at the moment of conception.

The insistence that the unborn child is fully a person from conception is vitally important to the abortion debate. Unfortunately, the approach that the Church uses leaves an opening for the abortionists to attack. Since personhood has not been established to commence at the moment of conception (nor at any time during gestation for that matter), then abortionists can claim that the unborn are not persons. If the unborn child is not a person, then it is not a person that is being destroyed in the act of abortion. Human dignity and human rights are not a concern if that human is not a person. Only a person has rights. The Church should not be afraid to do battle and counter this falsehood with the hardcore abortion advocates, those progressive movers and shakers who are leading and shaping our society and culture today.

The significance of the unborn child’s personhood in making the case against abortion is clearly borne out in the U. S. Supreme Court’s deliberations on the matter. In the original decision legalizing abortion throughout the United States, the Court’s inability to recognize the personhood of the unborn child was a key aspect of the argument supporting abortion. The 1973 Roe Court’s actual words summarizing their conclusions about the personhood of the unborn speak volumes:

“We need not resolve the difficult question of when life begins. When those trained in the respective disciplines of medicine, philosophy, and theologians are unable to arrive at a consensus, the judiciary, at this point in the development of man’s knowledge, is not in a position to speculate as to the answer.” [15]

The Court further said that if personhood had been established for the unborn child, then that would have guaranteed that child’s right to life under the 14^th Amendment. [16] The Casey decision on abortion [17] following on twenty years later did nothing to change the Court’s view of the unfortunate absence of the personhood of the unborn, and now, fifty years later, neither has the Dobbs decision:

“Our opinion is not based on any view about if and when prenatal life is entitled to any of the rights enjoyed after birth.” [18]

The Court in Dobbs determined that abortion is not a right guaranteed by the Constitution, and therefore should be a matter to be be decided by the individual States. And those States may still determine that an unborn child does not enjoy the rights of personhood, and is therefore still subject to abortion. Reliable legal protection for the unborn child, regardless of the circumstances of his birth – such as rape or incest or the health of the mother – circumstances for which that innocent unborn child has absolutely no responsibility – still does not exist in the United States.

The lamentable fact that the Catholic Church, the most steadfast of anti-abortion institutions, has not yet seen fit to unambiguously declare the unborn child a person does not help in the fight against abortion. If even the Catholics won’t declare that the unborn are persons, then why should anyone else believe that the unborn are persons – from the moment of conception?

We should not think that the derelict reasoning of the U. S. Supreme Court regarding the personhood of the unborn is an antiquated relic of the outdated thought of 50 years ago. Abortion proponents still today employ that very same thought process. An article written by an academic in response to the first occasion on which Pope Francis (2018) made the argument about hitmen and abortion [19] takes exactly that position, assigning eligibility for the rights of personhood to those who have “moral status,” which is defined as:

“. . . a philosophical term which means they are morally significant, and harms and benefits to them must be considered when making decisions.” [20]

The author made the point that an execution by a hitman involved a human victim who possessed unquestioned moral status, while an abortion did not involve a victim with that same level of status:

“It’s not clear whether foetuses have moral status, or at what stage of their development they might acquire it. Some insist that foetuses attain moral status at conception. Others insist that moral status is acquired once the foetus becomes “viable”, which means it could survive outside the womb. Others still contend that moral status isn’t acquired until birth.” [21]

The Church’s failure to firmly and clearly declare the unborn child a person from the moment of conception allows brutally arbitrary reasoning such as this to go unchallenged. The Church must hasten to resolve this unfortunate gap in its moral teaching to the world on abortion. Even in this era of growing evil, what the Church says to the world matters. While we await a decisive magisterial declaration, the murderous deviltry of abortion remains the worst scourge perpetrated upon the most innocent among us. There should be no doubt at all that the world’s foremost Christian religious authority adamantly and emphatically declares that the unborn child has a soul and is a person from the moment of conception.

References.

1. Smith, Gregory A. “Like Americans overall, Catholics vary in their abortion views, with regular Mass attenders most opposed.” Pew Research Center. May 23, 2022.
   https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2022/05/23/like-americans-overall-catholics-vary-in-their-abortion-views-with-regular-mass-attenders-most-opposed/

2. “Exclusive: Pope Francis discusses Ukraine, U.S. bishops and more.” America Magazine. November 28, 2022.
   https://www.americamagazine.org/faith/2022/11/28/pope-francis-interview-america-244225

3. “Respect for Unborn Human Life: The Church’s Constant Teaching.” USCCB: Fact sheet by the USCCB Committee on Pro-Life Activities. Accessed 7 April 2023.
   https://www.usccb.org/issues-and-action/human-life-and-dignity/abortion/respect-for-unborn-human-life

4. “Declaration on Procured Abortion.” The Vatican:Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. November 18, 1974.
   https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/documents/rc_con_cfaith_doc_19741118_declaration-abortion_en.html

5. Westen, John Henry. “Pope Francis just said he won’t comment on unborn children as ‘persons.’” Lifesite News. November 28, 2022.
   https://www.lifesitenews.com/blogs/pope-francis-just-said-he-wont-comment-on-unborn-children-as-persons/

6. Brief for the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops and Other Religious Organizations, Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, 597 U.S. _ (2022)
   https://www.usccb.org/about/general-counsel/amicus-briefs/upload/Dobbs.final_.pdf

7. United States Catholic Conference, Inc. Libreria Editrice Vaticana. Catechism of the Catholic Church, San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1994, paragraph 2274. http://www.vatican.va/archive/ccc_css/archive/catechism/p3s2c2a4.htm

8. United States Catholic Conference, Inc. Libreria Editrice Vaticana. Catechism of the Catholic Church, San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1994, paragraph 2319. http://www.vatican.va/archive/ccc_css/archive/catechism/p3s2c2a4.htm

9. “Instruction on Respect for Human Life in its Origin and on the Deignity of Procreation: Replies to Certain Questions of the Day.” The Vatican: Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. No. 1. February 22, 1987.
   https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/documents/rc_con_cfaith_doc_19870222_respect-for-human-life_en.html

10. “Evangelium Vitae,To the Bishops Priests and Deacons, Men and Women Religious, Lay Faithful and all People of Good Will on the Value and Inviolability of Human Life.” The Vatican: The Holy See. No. 60. March 25, 1995.
    https://www.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/encyclicals/documents/hf_jp-ii_enc_25031995_evangelium-vitae.html

11. “Instruction Dignitas Personae on Certain Bioethical Questions.” The Vatican: Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. No. 3. December 8, 2008.
    https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/documents/rc_con_cfaith_doc_20081208_dignitas-personae_en.html

12. “Instruction Dignitas Personae on Certain Bioethical Questions.” The Vatican: Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. No. 5. December 8, 2008. https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/documents/rc_con_cfaith_doc_20081208_dignitas-personae_en.html

13. Greenwell, Andrew. “Catholic Social Teaching: The Human Person is Made in the Image of God.” Catholic Online: News: Home and Family: Living Faith. December 1, 2011.
    https://www.catholic.org/news/hf/faith/story.php?id=43859

14. Mirus, Jeff. “Original Sin: What is it really and why does it matter?”
    Catholic Culture: Commentary. May 16, 2017.
    https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/original-sin-what-is-it-really-and-why-does-it-matter/

15. Roe v Wade, 410 US 113, 159, (1973)
    https://tile.loc.gov/storage-services/service/ll/usrep/usrep410/usrep410113/usrep410113.pdf

16. Roe v Wade, 410 US 113, 156-157, (1973)
    https://tile.loc.gov/storage-services/service/ll/usrep/usrep410/usrep410113/usrep410113.pdf

17. Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania v. Casey, 505 U.S. 833, 913-914, (1992).
    https://tile.loc.gov/storage-services/service/ll/usrep/usrep505/usrep505833/usrep505833.pdf

18. Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization (2022), 597 U. S. __, Opinion of the Court, 38, (2022).
    https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/21pdf/19-1392_6j37.pdf

19. Mares, Courtney. “Pope Francis: Abortion is like hiring a hitman.” Catholic News Agency. October 10, 2018.
    https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/39600/pope-francis-abortion-is-like-hiring-a-hitman

20. Shahvisi, Arianne. “Abortion is Nothing Like Hiring a Hitman, Whatever Pope Francis Says.” The Conversation: Politics and Society. October 11, 2018.
    https://theconversation.com/abortion-is-nothing-like-hiring-a-hitman-whatever-pope-francis-says-104741

21. Shahvisi, Arianne. “Abortion is Nothing Like Hiring a Hitman, Whatever Pope Francis Says.” The Conversation: Politics and Society. October 11, 2018.
    https://theconversation.com/abortion-is-nothing-like-hiring-a-hitman-whatever-pope-francis-says-104741

It is particularly disturbing during these unstable times that as the nation continues its abandonment of traditional Christian values and principles and steadily persists in its descent into chaos, a corresponding collapse is underway within the Catholic Church. At the precise time that the secular world could most benefit from a Church standing its ground on the teachings of Jesus, the same evils bedeviling the world are taking root within the Church. It is so anomalous now to witness bishops and cardinals supporting the homosexual and transgender perversions, [1, 2, 3] and members of the Vatican’s Pontifical Academy for Life, appointed by the Pope himself, advocating for abortion. [4] And the aberrations in the direction of the Church are not limited simply to questions of morality: the Vatican is now actively championing dangerous progressive causes, aligning itself with the radical globalist agenda of the World Economic Forum. [5] The abject capitulation by the Vatican to the oppressive and coercive measures undertaken by governments around the world in response to the covid pandemic is an especially disheartening recent example of the Church’s failure to fight evil. [6, 7]

With the Church in such disarray, perhaps it should be no surprise that its leaders have now turned upon their own. The suppression of the Traditional Mass delivered a stinging rebuke to some of the most steadfast of the Catholic flock. But make no mistake – this betrayal of traditional Catholics is not about unity or obedience or graciously accepting a hard teaching – it is about the substance of the faith itself. It is essential to recognize that the scope of this attack on the Traditional Mass is not limited to forcing traditional Catholics to attend a different liturgical rite for an hour or two on Saturday or Sunday. The liturgy is the primary way in which Catholics pray: it guides and forms our entire Catholic life. The way in which we pray is intimately related to our faith, to what we believe, and to how we conduct our lives. Catholics who are so passionate about the Traditional Mass are that way because they know that the Traditional Mass is better for them. Far better. Better for their faith – and better for their life.

Therefore, for those of us who suffer from an “attachment” to the Traditional Mass, gravitation toward the Novus Ordo is simply absurd. It makes no sense, and it’s not going to happen. Further conflict is inevitable here in the Arlington diocese, due to a problematic condition contained in the recent policy implementing restrictions on the Traditional Mass which has not received much attention:

“Pastors of parishes in which the Mass in usus antiquior is celebrated . . . must develop a pastoral plan ‘to lead the faithful who are attached to the antecedent liturgy towards the celebration of the liturgy according to the liturgical books reformed by decree of the Second Vatican Coucil, and which form the unique expression of the lex orandi of the Roman Rite.’” [8]

And so the seeds of conflict, where there were none to begin with, have been sown.

Accordingly, my purpose here is to briefly present some detail as to why the Traditional Mass is considered to be so critically essential by traditional Catholics. Since most Catholics have never encountered the Traditional Mass, they probably wonder what the fuss is all about. It is also likely that those devout Catholics who have not had the opportunity to experience a Traditional Mass have no idea what they are missing, and would be surprised to learn that the Novus Ordo incorporates a very limited and restricted expression of worship of Jesus compared to that of the Traditional Mass.

The differences between the Traditional Mass and the Novus Ordo involve every aspect of the Mass, including the prayers, the music, and the actions of priest and congregation. I recommend the recent Mass of the Ages videos for an easily understood yet comprehensive overview of all of the differences. [9] For this discussion I will focus on just some of the Ordinary prayers, those which do not change on a weekly basis, with the intent to provide here the perception of one average lay Catholic who walks into Church and there experiences something life-changing in the Traditional Mass.

Because of parish duties, I sometimes attend the Novus Ordo Mass as well as the Traditional Mass on Sunday. Both Masses are conducted by the parish priests in a reverent and worshipful manner. So I am in a good position to compare these two Masses, in a situation where the Novus Ordo is not subject to the abuses which commonly affect it. Compared to the Traditional Mass, the Novus Ordo can only be described as spartan. It is stripped-down, business-like, and efficient. The prayers are minimized. It seems that once Mass begins, Father is reading the Gospel in a matter of minutes, and most of the congregation’s time prior to that has been spent singing or saying the responsorial psalm. And then after the Creed, it is startling how quickly Father is commencing the Consecration. There are usually a few stalwarts who attempt to find the prayers proper to that particular Sunday using the Missalettes, but it is not easy given the speed of the Mass. The famous so-called “full and active” participation for many people means simply listening to whatever is being sung or said, although some prayers do enjoy substantial participation, such as the Confiteor, the Gloria, the Creed, and the Our Father.

At a typical Traditional Solemn Mass (known as Missa Cantata if celebrated by one priest without deacons), which should always have been the norm for Sundays in my humble opinion, Mass does not even begin until holy water is sprinkled upon the entire congregation and the opening Antiphon, taken for most of the year from the famous penitential psalm of King David, is sung by priest and choir and congregants:

“Thou shalt sprinkle me Lord, with hyssop, and I shall be cleansed;

Thou shalt wash me, and I shall become whiter than snow.

Have mercy on me, O God, according to thy great mercy.

Show us, O Lord, Thy mercy.

And grant us thy salvation.

O Lord, hear my prayer.

And let my cry come unto Thee.” [10]

Even before Mass starts, we are reminded of our failings, and that our ability to worship Him depends on our desire to free ourselves of sin and beg for His grace and forgiveness. That same attention to repentance persists throughout the Mass, in many different prayers which do not appear in the Novus Ordo. The Latin Mass Society of England and Wales website has a convenient comparison clearly depicting the differences between the two forms of Mass. [11] It seems as if someone thought that it is unhealthy for us to acknowledge the reality of our circumstances before God, and therefore removed almost every mention of sin.

Mass begins with the prayers at the foot of the altar, built around Psalm 42, Judica Me, a beautiful psalm, voicing supplication, hope, and confidence in God:

“Judge me, O God, and distinguish my cause from the nation which is not holy: deliver me from the unjust and deceitful man.

For Thou, O God, art my strength: why hast Thou cast me off? and why go I sorrowful whilst the enemy afflicteth me?

Send forth Thy light and Thy truth: they have conducted me and brought me unto Thy holy mount, and into Thy tabernacles.

And I will go in to the altar of God: to God who giveth joy to my youth.

To Thee, O God, my God, I will give praise upon the harp; why art thou sad, O my soul, and why dost thou disquiet me?

Hope in God, for I will still give praise to Him: the salvation of my countenance and my God.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost.
As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

I will go in to the altar of God.

To God who giveth joy to my youth.” [12]

This psalm perfectly sets the tone for the Mass, as we admit our utter dependence on God amidst the vagaries of life and our own faults and go into worship at the altar of God. Only after this preparation is it time for the Confiteor, our explicit declaration of repentance. And only then does the priest approach the altar, but even as he does so, he continues in penintence:

“Take away from us our iniquities, we beseech Thee, O Lord, that we may be worthy to enter with pure minds into the Holy of Holies: through Christ our Lord. ” [13]

These prayers at the foot of the altar have been removed from the Novus Ordo, except for the Confiteor itself, and replaced with a single cursory line:

“Brethren (brothers and sisters), let us acknowledge our sins, and so prepare ourselves to celebrate the sacred mysteries.” [14]

It is easy to see, right from the beginning of the Mass, how very different the practice of worship is between the two Masses. In the Traditional Mass, we do not even raise our eyes to Jesus until we have taken the time to offer our repentance and gratitude to Him, at some length. And that is one of the things I value most about the Traditional Mass. This time of preparation at the beginning of Mass serves to separate us from the clamor of the world and opens our souls to His voice.

The same dichotomy between the two forms of Mass happens again, after the Credo. Several of the Traditional Mass prayers intended to prepare our hearts for the Sacrifice that is about to happen have been either abbreviated or extracted from the Novus Ordo. The very first of the prayers of the Offering, Suscipe, sancte Pater, is a good example of this:

“Accept, O holy Father, almighty and eternal God, this unspotted host, my living and true God, for mine innumerable sins, offences, and negligences, and for all here present: as also for all faithful Christians, both living and dead; that it may be of avail for salvation both to me and to them unto life everlasting. Amen.” [15]

The language used here in the Traditional Mass regarding salvation and the truth about what Jesus did for us is indispensable. It communicates truth, and hope, and it is missing from the Novus Ordo. Similarly, the prayer Deus, qui humanae in the Traditional Mass professes another significant truth:

“O God, who, in creating human nature, didst wonderfully dignify it, and hast still more wonderfully restored it, grant that, by the Mystery of this water and wine, we may become partakers of His divine nature, who deigned to become partaker of our human nature, even Jesus Christ our Lord, Thy Son, who with Thee, liveth and reigneth in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God: world without end. Amen.” [16]

This prayer speaks directly to the God-given dignity of our human nature, one of the central themes of Vatican II – yet that part of the prayer has inexplicably been removed from its depleted counterpart in the Novus Ordo:

“By the mystery of this water and wine may we come to share in the divinity of Christ who humbled himself to share in our humanity.” [17]

References to salvation and Jesus’ Sacrifice continue in the Offerimus tibi and the two following prayers, also removed from the Novus Ordo:

“We offer to thee, O Lord, the chalice of salvation, beseeching Thy clemency, that it may ascend before Thy divine majesty as a sweet savour, for our salvation and for that of the whole world.” [18]

“Accept us, O Lord, in the spirit of humility and contrition of heart, and grant that the sacrifice which we offer this day in Thy sight may be pleasing to Thee, O Lord God.” [18]

“Come, O almighty and eternal God, the Sanctifier, and bless this Sacrifice, prepared for the glory of thy holy Name.” [18]

These essential words placing the Offering in its correct context of Jesus’ Sacrifice have been replaced in the Novus Ordo by verses which fundamentally obscure its nature:

Blessed are you, Lord God of all creation, for through your goodness we have received the bread we offer you: fruit of the earth and work of human hands,it will become for us the bread of life. [19]

Blessed are you, Lord God of all creation, for through your goodness we have received the wine we offer you: fruit of the vine and work of human hands, it will become our spiritual drink. [19]

These words could serve as a nice blessing before meals, but hardly describe the momentous nature of the Sacrifice that Jesus Himself continues to make for us at Holy Mass. Father Z’s discussion about the Jewish origin of these prayers is illuminating. [20]

The diminishment in the Novus Ordo of the depth and breadth of the spiritual realities reflected in the Mass continues with the prayer for the Washing of the Hands. In the Traditional Mass, the eloquent and heartfelt sentiments of Psalm 25 are used to describe the necessary purity of the participants in the Sacrifice, but also clearly convey devotion and outright love for the Lord:

“I will wash my hands among the innocent: and I will compass Thine altar, O Lord. That I may hear the voice of Thy praise: and tell of all Thy wondrous works.

I have loved, O Lord, the beauty of Thy house and the place where Thy glory dwelleth. Take not away my soul, O God, with the wicked: nor my life with bloody men. In whose hands are iniquities: their right hand is filled with gifts.

But as for me I have walked in mine innocence: redeem me, and have mercy on me. My foot hath stood in the direct way; in the churches I will bless Thee, O Lord.” [21]

This language of reverence and affection and desire to be right with the Lord has been replaced with this peremptory phrase in the Novus Ordo:

“Wash me, O Lord, from my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin.” [22]

And then there is the prayer Suscipe, sancta Trinitas, a fitting summary of the prayers of offering, in which we address the holy Trinity and request the intercession of the Saints:

“Receive, O holy Trinity, this oblation which we make to Thee, in memory of the Passion, Resurrection and Ascension of our Lord Jesus Christ, and in honor of Blessed Mary, ever Virgin, blessed John the Baptist, the holy Apostles Peter and Paul, and of all the Saints, that it may avail unto their honor and our salvation, and may they vouchsafe to intercede for us in heaven, whose memory we celebrate on earth. Through the same Christ our Lord. Amen.” [23]

Yet another important prayer excised from from the Novus Ordo.

The appreciation of salvation, wherein we not only recognize what Jesus has done for us but also show our determination to bind ourselves to that salvation, is woven throughout the Traditional Mass – not employing simple, plain statements devoid of human emotion – but rather embracing language that is unmistakeably full of love for Jesus. The prayers of the Traditional Mass allow us to pray with wholehearted devotion, worship with no reservations and all doubts cast aside, in complete dependence on and love for Him.

The fundamental alteration of the Mass demonstrated by this brief comparison of the changes affecting just some of the prayers is characteristic of the entire Novus Ordo. For example, the prayers of the Roman Canon have effectively been displaced by the optional and severely abbreviated “Eucharistic Prayer II.” And while the defective 1970 Novus Ordo version of the Canon itself has undergone significant corrective revisions, as discussed by Monsignor Pope in 2010, [24, 25, 26, 27, 28] – it seems rather tragic that we have to go about patching up the crippled Novus Ordo version when we already have the undamaged original in the Traditional Mass. The many other aspects of the Mass which speak powerfully to the human soul, such as Gregorian chant and sacred hymns, or the intervals of silence which allow our hearts to hear His voice, or the incredibly worshipful way in which the Holy Eucharist is treated and adored by both priest and congregation – have all been scrubbed, reduced, minimized and condensed in the Novus Ordo.

The Traditional Mass delivers a message radically different from that of the Novus Ordo, generating in our hearts a profound disposition to worship Jesus, assisting us in the recognition of our sinful nature, leading us into the joy of repentance, and celebrating the incalculable benevolence of Jesus’ Sacrifice. This disposition permeates and encompasses our daily life: it affects how we conduct our lives, how we relate to God and to others, how we set our priorities, everything. And it is poorly supported by the Novus Ordo.

So now it should be obvious why the Traditional Mass will not simply be abandoned by those who have found it. The issue is not Sunday Mass – the issue is the character and substance of Catholic faith and life. Therefore, this Mass must be defended. It may be driven underground, but it will be sustained. I find it really quite surprising that the leadership of the Church has failed to consider its own history, which is replete with examples of how the faith flourished under persecution. The fervent flame of truth embedded in the Traditional Mass may have to be protected and nurtured exclusively within the bosom of orthodox Catholic families and heroic priests for now, but protected and nurtured it will be.

References.

1. Wolfe, Raymond. “Cardinal Müller: Belgian bishops’ homosexual ‘blessings’ are ‘heresy and schism.’” LifeSite News. October 21, 2022. https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/cardinal-muller-belgian-bishops-homosexual-blessings-are-flat-out-heresy-and-schism/

2. Pentin, Edward. “Cardinal Müller: For Faithful Catholics, It’s a ‘Time of Tribulation and Psychological Terror.’ National Catholic Register. February 11, 2022. https://www.ncregister.com/interview/cardinal-mueller-for-faithful-catholics-it-s-a-time-of-tribulation-and-psychological-terror

3. Wolfe, Raymond. “Pope Francis’ American cardinals are pro-LGBT revolutionaries with a radical agenda for the Church.” LifeSite News. October 21, 2022. https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/pope-francis-american-cardinals-are-pro-lgbt-revolutionaries-with-a-radical-agenda-for-the-church/

4. Jones, Kevin J. “Another Pontifical Academy for Life member criticizes overturning Roe v. Wade.” Catholic News Agency. October 21, 2022. https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/252613/pontifical-academy-for-life-member-criticizes-overturning-roe-v-wade

5. McLoone, David. “Vatican official at Davos says the Church is implementing the World Economic Forum agenda. LifeSite News. May 26, 2022. https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/scalabrinian-missionaries-superior-general-at-davos-says-the-church-is-at-the-forefront-of-implementing-wef-agenda/

6. Moy, Alan B. “Catholics have been betrayed by the Vatican’s allegiance to secular COVID authorities.” LifeSite News. August 30. 2022. https://www.lifesitenews.com/opinion/why-the-catholic-church-must-free-herself-from-secular-authorities-on-public-health-issues/

7. McLoone, David. “Vatican renews Pope’s push for COVID vaccination as an ‘act of love’ in new video.” LifeSite News. August 13, 2022. https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/vatican-renews-popes-push-for-covid-vaccination-as-an-act-of-love-in-new-video/

8. Catholic Diocese of Arlington. “Policy for the Implementation of Traditionis Custodes in the Diocese of Arlington.”29 July 2022. https://www.arlingtondiocese.org/bishop/public-messages/2022/bishop-burbidge-publishes-instruction-for-the-use-of-the-traditional-latin-mass-in-the-diocese-of-arlington/

9. Mass of the Ages: A Stunning Trilogy About The Latin Mass. Directed by Cameron O’Hearn. https://latinmass.com

10. The Daily Missal and Liturgical Manual, From the Editio Typica of the Roman Missal and Breviary, 1962. Summorum Pontificum Edition. Baronius Press Ltd. 2019. 895.

11. The Latin Mass Society of England and Wales. “A COMPARISON BETWEEN THE TEXTS OF THE TRADITIONAL MISSAL AND THE NEW MISSAL OF 2011.” https://lms.org.uk/missals

12. The Daily Missal and Liturgical Manual, 1962. 900 – 903.

13. The Daily Missal and Liturgical Manual, 1962. 906 – 907.

14. A COMPARISON BETWEEN THE TEXTS OF THE TRADITIONAL MISSAL AND THE NEW MISSAL OF 2011.

15. The Daily Missal and Liturgical Manual, 1962. 922 – 925.

16. The Daily Missal and Liturgical Manual, 1962. 924 – 925.

17. A COMPARISON BETWEEN THE TEXTS OF THE TRADITIONAL MISSAL AND THE NEW MISSAL OF 2011.

18. The Daily Missal and Liturgical Manual, 1962. 924 – 927.

19. A COMPARISON BETWEEN THE TEXTS OF THE TRADITIONAL MISSAL AND THE NEW MISSAL OF 2011.

20.Zuhlsdorf, Father John. “ASK FATHER: Using the traditional offertory prayers in the Novus Ordo. Wherein Fr. Z rants.” Father Z’s Blog. 20 April, 2015. https://wdtprs.com/2015/04/ask-father-using-the-traditional-offertory-prayers-in-the-novus-ordo-wherein-fr-z-rants/

21. The Daily Missal and Liturgical Manual, 1962. 928 – 929.

22. A COMPARISON BETWEEN THE TEXTS OF THE TRADITIONAL MISSAL AND THE NEW MISSAL OF 2011.

23. The Daily Missal and Liturgical Manual, 1962. 930 – 931.

24. Pope, Msgr Charles. “Truth in the New Translation Series: The Opening of the Roman Canon. Community in Mission. May 4, 2010. http://blog.adw.org/2010/05/truth-in-translation-series-the-opening-of-the-roman-canon/

25. Pope, Msgr Charles. “Truth in the New Translation Series # 2: The Memento Domine or Commemoration of the Living in the Roman Canon.” Community in Mission. May 7, 2010. https://blog.adw.org/2010/05/truth-in-the-new-translation-series-2-of-the-roman-canon-the-memento-domine-or-commemoration-of-the-living/

26. Pope, Msgr. Charles. “Truth in the New Translation Series #3: The Communicantes of the Roman Canon. Community in Mission. May 14, 2010. http://blog.adw.org/2010/05/truth-in-the-new-translation-series-3-the-communicantes-of-the-roman-canon/

27. Pope, Msgr Charles. “Truth in the New Translation Series #4: The Hanc Igitur of the Roman Canon. Community in Mission. May 21, 2010. https://blog.adw.org/2010/05/truth-in-the-new-translation-series-4-the-hanc-igitur-of-the-first-eucharistic-prayer/

28. Pope, Msgr. Charles. “Truth in the New Translation Series #5: “The Quam Oblationem.” Community in Mission. July 2, 2010. http://blog.adw.org/2010/07/truth-in-the-new-translation-series-5-the-quam-oblationem/

I was born into the Traditional Liturgy, but was swept along into the explosion of experimentation occasioned by the advent of the Novus Ordo well before I was aware enough to appreciate its predecessor. Decades later, I began attending the Traditional Mass, sometime in the late 90’s, at a small mission church in Hawaii. I wish I could say that my reason for doing this evolved from some sort of deep understanding of the value of the Traditional Mass, but instead I have to admit that the driving force initiating this change was simply sheer irritation with many aspects of the Novus Ordo Mass as it was practiced at the time. Although I realize now how little I understood then of the actions and prayers investing that Traditional Mass, I immediately felt the solemn beauty and inherent reverence of that Mass.

One thing that I found most striking about the Traditional Mass was the demeanor of the attendees. These people were obviously serious Catholics. They were almost all dressed as if Mass was a special occasion. They bowed in respect when the priest processed by them on the way in and out of the Church. They came early to Mass, and afterwards, instead of hurrying out of the pews, they knelt back down again to fully embrace the Holy Eucharist they had just received. Before Mass, the church was quiet, and the many early arrivals were praying intensely or going to confession. There was none of the pre-Mass casual chatter commonly experienced amidst the pews in most Catholic churches today. They paid attention to the action in the Mass and to the homily. It was so unusual to experience, in certain parts of the Mass, a profound, worshipful silence. Even the children, of whom there were many, seemed to know that silence was imperative. It is a truth of nature that it is utterly impossible for some little fellows to stay still – but even they managed to stay quiet while squirming.

It became quite clear to me that people like this were not the typical Catholics of today – that is, that majority of Catholics who have rejected Catholic moral teaching and whose beliefs are indistinguishable from those of the unchurched pagan populace which supports abortion, contraception, aberrant sexual practices and faux-genderism, and most sadly, who have no idea that the Holy Eucharist is nothing less than the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Himself. And that is what got me to thinking that the Traditional Mass is going to lead the recovery of the Church in its journey out of the chaos of the last six decades – it is undeniable that this liturgy has an incredible impact on the people who experience it.

I do not mean in any way to denigrate those faithful and orthodox Catholic priests and laity who pray the Holy Mass in the Novus Ordo form. I know of vibrant Novus Ordo parishes filled with fervent Catholics. In fact, it seems to me rather a heroic and miraculous thing – these Catholics have somehow managed to retain their faith without benefit of the full-strength Mass of the Ages. I can only surmise that parishes and priests like these must have fostered a sturdy spiritual base of truly devout Catholic families which were able to nurture the faith across successive generations. However, such parishes are the exception rather than the rule.

The attack on the Mass that commenced with Traditionis Custodes makes me more certain than ever that the Traditional Mass will be at the forefront of the recovery of the Church. If the Traditional Mass did not have the capability to make a significant impact, then it would not be a target worthy of such an intense assault. And that brings me to the question as to why the Traditional Mass has the horsepower that it does: what exactly is it about the Traditional Mass that captures the attention and so powerfully influences the behavior of those who worship within its confines?

I think the answer has to do with Tradition – not “tradition,” meaning nothing more than a nostalgic hankering after the way things used to be, which is frequently and mistakenly thought to be a hallmark of traditional Catholics. The potency of the Traditional Mass is a consequence of that same Tradition which is the indispensable spouse of Holy Scripture, and which has been the mighty bulwark that has always protected the Deposit of the Faith and the unity of the Church. The Holy Scripture that we read today has been contemplated and pondered and lived and taught and handed down by generation upon generation of saints and apostles and martyrs and prophets who have fallen on their knees in their encounter with our Lord. There is a beautiful and compelling section of the Te Deum that portrays this dynamic of Tradition working down through the ages:

“Heaven and earth are full of the Majesty of thy glory.
The glorious company of the Apostles praise thee.
The goodly fellowship of the Prophets praise thee.
The noble army of Martyrs praise thee.
The holy Church throughout all the world doth acknowledge thee;
The Father, of an infinite Majesty.
Thine honourable, true, and only Son;
Also the Holy Ghost, the Comforter.
Thou art the King of Glory, O Christ.
Thou art the everlasting Son of the Father.”

That very same Sacred Tradition has reverently wrought the Traditional Mass into a majestic composition of prayer, prayer connecting us directly to the living Word Himself. As opposed to the Novus Ordo, the Traditional Mass is not a conglomeration of hastily cobbled-together innovations and creative options grafted on to the stripped-down skeleton of its former self, developed in a mere few years after the Council by a Freemasonic archbishop, [1] and in blatant disregard of the requirements of the governing document from Vatican Council II, Sacrosanctum Concilium. [2] Peter Kwasniewski’s recent article absolutely destroys the fiction that the Novus Ordo was a product of the Council. [3] The Council fathers did not intend to dismantle this precious Traditional liturgy handed down to us from our Christian forbears. Rather, they were keenly attentive to the necessity for adherence to Tradition in the development of Holy Mass. They specifically required that new developments in the Mass were to proceed naturally from the Mass as it already existed:

“Finally, there must be no innovations unless the good of the Church genuinely and certainly requires them; and care must be taken that any new forms adopted should in some way grow organically from forms already existing.” [emphasis added] [4]

The Traditional liturgy represents the practice and expression of worship perfected by devoted followers of Jesus over the course of two millenia. Michael Fiedrowicz’ detailed documentation of the development of the Mass reveals the depth and breadth of that painstaking process. [5] The Traditional Mass exhibits its force and power because that accumulated wisdom of the ages perfectly focuses and presents to us Jesus’ Sacrifice. It is a priceless treasure. It has to rank among the greatest works of humankind. No wonder it speaks so eloquently to those who are willing to listen, who are located here in the 21^st century amidst the din of accumulating chaos and moral aberration and abandonment of the natural order of life established for us by God.

There is one other very important reason that the Traditional Mass will be the liturgy leading Catholics into the future: it is not vulnerable, as is the Novus Ordo, to further drastic change. In the broad sweep of Christian history, the Novus Ordo was engineered in a mere moment, and was used to introduce radical revisions to the Christian liturgy, revisions which countered the march of Sacred Tradition. The precipitous and uncontrolled means by which the Novus Ordo was built established a precedent for further wholesale change, against which the Novus Ordo is defenseless.

And now the Novus Ordo liturgy, impoverished as it is but nevertheless the primary liturgy of the entire Roman Catholic Church here in the 21^st century, faces a new juggernaut of change. There is an ambitious new enterprise rising among us, known as the Synod on Synodality. As best I can tell, this new action by the leadership of the Church is designed specifically to call into question every aspect of Catholic practice and faith. The guiding documents call for “listening” to those in the “margins,” and it appears that those “margins” include any and all, whether or not they live the Catholic faith. A few courageous Catholics have warned of the possible dire consequences, [6] but most seem to be oblivious. Who knows what new forms of liturgy will come into being, as the Novus Ordo is steamrolled by the suggestions of the “marginalized?” And who knows what new “interpretations” of established doctrine will spawn from Synodality run amuck? It is not simply the Traditional Mass that is being attacked – it is Sacred Tradition itself. Some will say that this is nothing new – it has been ongoing since the Council. Historian Henry Sire, while meticulously documenting the “unmaking” of Catholic Tradition, in 2015 optimistically thought that within a generation “the Mass of ages will have been restored to its central place in the life of the Church . . .”. [7] However, that prediction was made before the leadership of the Church had revealed its utter antipathy toward the Traditional Mass and before the ramifications of the spasms of synodality had begun to become apparent.

And so the Church faces an unstable and uncertain future, one in which the decline in Catholic practice and faith is likely to continue unabated. As Auguste Meyrat recalls, Cardinal Ratzinger’s 1969 prediction of a much diminished and more vulnerable Catholic Church now appears prophetic. [8] Therefore, at a time in which confusion reigns and devils swarm, I say look to the Mass of the Ages as an anchor that we can cling to and a beacon we can look to as the world darkens around us.

References.

1. Kwasniewski, Peter. “Was the chief architect behind the New Mass a Freemason? New evidence emerges.” LifeSite News. October 12, 2020.
   https://www.lifesitenews.com/blogs/was-the-chief-architect-behind-the-new-mass-a-freemason-new-evidence-emerges/
2. Di Pippo, Gregory. “Summorum Pontificum at Fourteen: Its Legacy.” Crisis Magazine. July 7, 2021.
   https://www.crisismagazine.com/2021/summorum-pontificum-at-fourteen-its-legacy
3. Kwasniewski, Peter. “Daringly Balanced on One Point: The New Papal Letter on Liturgy.” OnePeterFive. June 29, 2022.
   https://onepeterfive.com/new-papal-letter-liturgy/
4. Paul VI. “CONSTITUTION ON THE SACRED LITURGY SACROSANCTUM CONCILIUM.” The Vatican. December 4, 1963, # 23. https://www.vatican.va/archive/hist_councils/ii_vatican_council/documents/vat-ii_const_19631204_sacrosanctum-concilium_en.html
5. Fiedrowicz, Michael. The Traditional Mass: History, Form and Theology of the Classical Roman Rite. Brooklyn, NY: Angelico Press. 2020.
6. Haynes, Michael. “Former Vatican adviser warns synod on synodality could lead to ‘chaos’, ‘ecclesial worldwide mess’.“ LifeSite News. October 21, 2021.
   https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/former-vatican-adviser-warns-synod-on-synodality-could-lead-to-chaos-ecclesial-worldwide-mess/
7. Sire, H. J. A. Phoenix from the Ashes. Kettering, OH: Angelico Press. 2015, page 461.
8. Meyrat, Auguste. “The Promise of a Post-Covid Church.” Crisis Magazine. August 31, 2020.
   https://www.crisismagazine.com/2020/the-promise-of-a-post-covid-church