SSPXophobia…Motivated by Malice?
Comment:
Do you agree that the persistent critics of the SSPX are “blockheads” or “malicious”? What other explanation(s) might there be? Let’s hear your thoughts…
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Comments (49)
Absolute bitter malice and poison.
I’d say root cause is blind ignorance. It’s been raised time and time again, but I simply cannot understand the root cause of WHY traditionalism is despised. What exactly is the problem?!?
Michelangelo,
As explained in the video the problem is simply that Catholics like Michael Voris and Jeff whatshisname over at Catholic Culture are very happy with the revolution within the Church and they hate the SSPX because it is a stark reminder of what has disappeared in just about every diocese in the world – authentic Catholic faith and practice, discipline and morals. Simple!
It is a denial thing. Like a drunk who thinks he is not a drunk. They are addicted to being in the big happy club… they became addicts during the JPII FRENZY. They cannot let go of the high…the media accolades which made us Catholics feel cool and hip. They can’t believe there’s a problem at the top. Look, the Emporer’s Clothing fable really spells this out.
Hard to reconcile!
Michelangelo,
I’m not sure I understand what you mean. Do you mean that YOU find it hard to reconcile their apparent zeal for the faith with their hatred of the SSPX?
If so, that’s because their zeal is not for the authentic Catholic faith – they are quite happy with the “reforms” of Vatican II and only object (mildly, really) to some of the abuses (especially if identified by a diocesan bishop like Bishop Schneider) and then only up to a point.
Almost the first thing Michael Voris said when he came to Scotland (I went along to hear his talk) was that there had always been crises in the Church, no big deal, worry not…
After that, it was downhill all the way. As Annette Breathnachski reminds us, its a classic case of the Emperor’s New Clothing…
It seems to me that they do not want the authentic church to come back and they will use terms like “Schism” to further their cause. They are aware that most Catholics will not research this further to find the truth which is why they keep using this term. I wonder who is financing them. They have obviously compromised! They are frightened of the return of true Catholicism and will do their utmost to discredit it in any way possible, while parading as a true defender of holy mother church.
SSPXophobia, along with slavish adherence to each and every post-conciliar novelty, can be summed in two words:- false obedience. Voris is a classic example of this.
Whatever motivates them – stupidity, malice, herd instinct, etc., – its source and inspiration is Satan, who must get rid of the SSPX in order to continue his work of destruction in the Church and cause more souls to be lost. Most of the folk I’ve come across in the NO establishment are simply ignorant, one hopes invincibly. It was so easy for the evil one to use Catholic obedience to their pope and bishops post Vat.II, and their children and grandchildren have perforce followed them into the mess of heresy surrounding them and masquerading as Catholicism.
I think another element of dislike of the traditional faith is that the Novus ordo variety is easier living in the sense that it doesn’t place any demands on one spiritually, morally or in the way of living. As somebody said to me when I mentioned abstaining from meat on a Friday: “I don’t. I’m a Novus Ordo Catholic”!!
I think it is fear that motivates the critics.
They are afraid of what they do not understand. Fear has to have an outlet and so it manifests itself in hatred: hatred of the old Mass, and spills over onto those lay people who love it, and the priests who are part of it.
In a much smaller way, ” conservatively minded” Catholics who go to the Novus Ordo Masses, are often disliked, because most folk find them strange. They do not have any idea what these odd Catholics are about. The same goes often for conservative priests who are given a hard time nowadays.
Magnify this many times over, and there you find the great fear of the traditional Mass( is that the right word?).
Multiply it again and voila! The deep vitriol heard about the SSPX! Why? Because it’s critics are very afraid of it.
Fear is the reason.
Spero,
A very thoughtful comment and yes, “traditional Mass” is the right word. “Extraordinary Form” identifies the neo-Catholics!
Here’s the introduction to the latest Dici (SSPX online publication) …
Contrasting opinions about the current pontificate
Cardinal Walter Kasper has just published a book on the Pope entitled Pope Francis: Revolution of Tenderness and Love. According to him, the Supreme Pontiff “has set many things in motion, and I [think] that we need this movement. For if we become stagnant, we fall asleep.” “The Pope will pursue his program,” the German prelate opines, “but what he brought to light in the [Apostolic] Exhortation The Joy of the Gospel (Evangelii Gaudium) is a program for a whole century, that one pope cannot accomplish during his mandate. Francis’ principle is not so much to take positions as to introduce processes that will no longer be reversible. That is his intention.” [Ed: priceless, given that he has ignored the “process” set out by every pope in history – i.e. observe/be faithful to Tradition.]
In the most recent issue of the journal Herder Korrespondenz Spezial, the German philosopher and ethicist Robert Spaemann declares that no one knows “what the Holy Father now has in mind.” Even the enthusiastic followers of Pope Francis do not really know what destination the “Bergoglio train” is heading for. “You just can’t get over the feeling of chaos,” Spaemann confides.
In these circumstances, it comes as no surprise that Cardinal Gerhard Müller, Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, says in the March 29 issue of La Croix: “Pope Francis is more a pastor [than a theologian], and the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith has a mission to structure a pontificate theologically.” The progressive historian Alberto Melloni pounced on this remark; in his view, “structuring the pontificate” of Pope Francis “theologically” is nothing but “a comical outburst of subversive paternalism” (sic). Similarly, the most flattering of the Vaticanists, Andrea Tornielli, declares that Cardinal Müller’s statement disparages the current pontificate, as though it did not possess an adequate theological structure or scope.
In contrast to this agitation, Sandro Magister states the obvious with calm and lucidity: “Everyone has been able to see that some of the best-known statements of Pope Francis in fact suffer from a lack of clarity.” Father Alain Lorans END.
I think the persistent critics of the SSPX are blockheads to start with, (how else could one explain their inability to see that the SSPX is not in ‘schism’ even when it has been told to them repeatedly by those outside the SSPX?), They are undoubtedly malicious, because they won’t stop at anything to discredit the society, including peddling lies, knowing full well that the typical Catholic is not overly worried about the return of tradition and really couldn’t be bothered to learn more about the SSPX; most prefer sanctimoniously to have nothing to do with a society that is disobedient to Rome. I’ve heard this excuse so many times!
I think Christina, Anne and Helen have made excellent points- that the source and inspiration is Satan, who must get rid of the SSPX in order to continue his work of destruction in the Church and cause more souls to be lost . They have obviously compromised! They are frightened of the return of true Catholicism because the Novus ordo variety is easier living in the sense that it doesn’t place any demands on one spiritually, morally or in the way of living.
Jobstears
Yes I agree ” they are frightened”. It is fear which motivates their relentless pursuit of the traditional Mass.
You go a step further and say Satan has planted that fear. Perhaps.
I would agree that that the Novus Ordo whole way of worshiping and embracing the faith, is less demanding.
Speaking as someone who is a “secret follower of Jesus” in so much as I totally agree with everything traditional and SSPX but still attend the NO, it is obvious to anyone, with even the slightest modicum of discernment, that these times have already been written by God. Our Lord, at his passion consoled the Holy women with the words “Weep not for me but for yourselves and your children” and, more recently ( in our perception of time, at Fatima) Our Lady expanded on Our Lord’s warning by way of the content of the suppressed third secret. It is obvious to me, as a humble observer, that Our Lord and Our Lady are on the side of tradition which upholds all that is handed down by Our Lord at his passion. May we stay true to the faith and may we be instrumental in the final triumph of the the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
Spero,
I agree with you, the motive for the relentless SSPX -bashing is fear. Fear of true Catholicism – everything about the NO is so watered down, we may as well take the easy way out and become Protestant.
Within Catholic families, the NO provides a convenient and easy way out of what the Church has always taught on- practice of virtue, self-denial (fasting and abstinence), abortion(contraception), marriage (co-habitation, divorce) and even attending Mass -I would never ever have thought I’d see the day when, on the advice of priests, one could skip Mass to strengthen family bonds or attend a Protestant service instead of Mass for the same reason. 🙄
It is only within the SSPX, ( who do nothing but present unadulterated Church teaching- they do not make up their own catechism), can you ever hope to get a clear and decisive answer. No room for doubt.
Crisis, well said, but I wonder why you are a ‘secret follower of Jesus’ and a ‘humble observer’. do you mean that you have no option, because of distance, but to attend the NO?
Madame Editor,
I am fortunate to be able to attend SSPX Masses, regarding the 36 mile round trip as a very small price to pay for the privilege.
I have just been checking on the priest who will be visiting our chapel for tomorrow’s Sunday Mass, and by the time he gets to my house for an overnight stay after the 5.30 pm Mass, he will have driven 342 miles having offered the 8.30 am Mass at Herne in Kent and the 12.30 pm Mass in Brighton in East Sussex before getting to us in Leicester in the East Midlands.
It is dedication like this that underlines the difference between SSPX priests and Novus Ordo priests and I should like to see Michael Voris et al show me a Novus Ordo priest who would even consider holding a candle to that.
In response to Blogger Crisis above (12.31 am), is there not an SSPX chapel within reach if you really really wanted to experience taking part in a Sacrificial Mass rather than a wordly “Celebration of the Lord’s Supper”?
If you visit this link: http://sspx.co.uk/page_chapels.htm and scroll down the page, you will see a list of Mass centres and there will surely be one within a hundred miles of where you live if you are within the U.K.
I can only hope I get my car fixed, please almighty God.
Leprechaun ,
I know of Novus Ordo priests who put in that time. They have two or three parishes with great numbers. They may oversee other parishes. They have commitments to other organisations.
They write for magazines.
The numbers of parishioners in the mainstream church with ever fewer priests, means that those priests ( those of a holy disposition) work very hard. The priests in the SSPX do not have a monopoly on a holy disposition, nor, I think, would they claim to have.
Dedication the SSPX priests may well have, but so do many Novus Ordo priests.
Comparison breeds contempt, so why compare?
Many priests are faithful and loyal servants to The Lord
Spero,
Well said.
Some of the SSPX priests do a lot of travelling – that’s true. However, as you say, there are lots of pastoral commitments which take up a great deal of time among the conscientious diocesan priests who visit the sick in hospitals, for example, and in various other ways, keep in touch with their faithful. The Society priests admit openly that they are not trained to be parish priests. They are administrators of the Sacraments, during this time of crisis. That is a huge gap in their ministry, so we ought to pray for more vocations and a fuller seminary training if, as seems to be the case, this crisis is going to continue for a while.
Ah but , do they put it in for the true mass.
Spero,
It is such a pity that those Novus Ordo priests you speak of are dedicated to Modernist Catholicism and not Traditional Catholicism. I do not doubt their good intentions, I just wish they would dedicate themselves a little more to studying the teaching of the Popes and Councils before Vatican II. Perhaps then they would understand, as the SSPX priests do, the grave dangers inherent in those various destructive novelties they tolerate under the illusion that they are bound in such matters by obedience to superiors.
The fundamental cause of this present crisis in the Church is ignorance of the teaching of the Church, especially on the part of those whose vocation it is to know that teaching inside and out. Dedication is pointless where truth is compromised! There are a good many dedicated Protestant ministers, for example. I’m sure you see the point I’m making.
Sadly, comparisons do have to be made these days. My experience, having seen both sides, is that the SSPX priests are generally superior in priestly formation, in personal piety and in fidelity to the Traditions handed down. To think that the greater majority of priests in the Church were once of this ilk!
Athanasius
I don’t know any Society priests, so there you have an advantage. From what I see and read on the internet, they do certainly seem holy and dedicated in their vocations.
My own knowledge of the teaching of the Popes and Councils before Vatican 11 is not of any great depth so my expectations are most probably much less than your own, with regard to priests.
However, now there is teaching on the True Presence, even on why people should genuflect! Requests for quiet before Mass and reverence at Communion, exhortation to go to Confession, encouragement of The Rosary, and other devotions; and many other changes.
These, along with an urgency to remind the people of the centrality of the Holy Eucharist, and of the need for priests: the sacrifices made in order to cover parishes, to speak to the youth, be there in hospitals: I could go on.
In the twenty years I’ve been Catholic, you see, I’ve never known this. And I am ridiculously grateful. Now I see shoots of Catholicism ( I know. This is mad. But I came into a Church that was Protestantised to my eyes.)
All I can speak of is what I see and experience. I know holiness and dedication when I see it. For too long it was virtually ( but not completely, just having gone to ground ) absent, where I am.
There is hope.
Spero,
Yes, there is certainly hope! What you say about the green shoots is absolutely correct, though there are still many rotten liberal weeds ready to choke them.
For my part, there has never been any doubt that the Faith will one day be restored in the parishes to what it was for almost 2000 years up to Vatican II. However, there is still a long way to go and I’m not prepared in the meantime to expose my soul to the danger of parishes still largely steeped in liberal indifference. Fortunately I don’t have to, I have the SSPX there with the entire Traditional Catholic Faith intact and not a hint of novelty or irreverence in sight. It’s a safe haven while the process of restoration in the Church progresses at a snails’ pace. Please God, the pace will pick up soon for the sake of so many long suffering faithful!
I agree totally, but, what am I to do, I cannot get to a /the true mass. I live in Kingston upon Hull .Enlighten me the so called sign of peace ?.
Spero
I would also add that these priests are also demonstrating courage in teaching the Faith. They are courting the displeasure of many in the pews and – more to the point – the enmity of their bishops. I was astonished this week to read a sermon from a local priest who spoke about Church teaching on contraception! I needed a strong drink for the shock.
You don’t need a strong drink, You’ve/we’ve Novus Ordo missae.
addendum , we need the real mass!!!.How I going to continually to get to one , no idea yet.
Edward,
I think you said you were from Hull (?).
You should check the SSPX website for the UK, to see if they have a chapel near you (or even perhaps just a monthly mass centre). There will doubtless be something.
However, if the SSPX are not reachable for you, maybe these options would suit:
(1) There is a weekly sunday TLM in York @ St Wilfrids at 12 noon. This time slot is an improvement, as when I was in York ~18 months ago, the sunday TLM was at 6.30pm. (I think York is quite close to Hull, apologies if not!)
(2) On 6th may this year, a monthly TLM is starting in Hull itself (this is via the Latin Mass Society). Its Wednesday evenings at 6.30pm at Church of St Charles, Jarratt Street, Hull – maybe this would be accessible for you?
I would recommend supporting the Hull monthly mass, as if it gets good support, it will doubtless become more regular.
Good luck!
Athanasius, you make a very interesting point that the “fundamental cause of this crisis in the Church is ignorance of the teachings of the Church, especially on the part of those whose vocation it is to know that teaching inside out”.
My aunt tells me that her (young) parish priest hasn’t a clue about the perennial teaching of the Church. In fact he acts as if the Church began after the second Vatican Council! He is very hard working but he could be any Protestant minister or even a social worker. The thing is, he doesn’t WANT to know the history of the Church which my aunt finds astonishing. It reminds me of one of my children’s school history programme; it’s like nothing happened historically before the Victorian era! You’d think that anybody would want to know the history of their particular field.
Helen,
Yes, this is the mystery of iniquity that we are living through in our time. If you saw the seminaries that these young priests are trained in you would understand why some of them really couldn’t care less about the historical teaching of the Church. A good many of them today are trained merely for social work not for the supernatural service of God, the saving of souls. Truth be told, priestly formation in today’s parochial seminaries is, frankly, non-existent.
The good news is that there are more and more Traditional seminaries opening up, and more seminaries gradually returning to Thomistic theology and philosophy, so the future holds out much hope.
There are no seminaries any more, in Scotland at least. That has helped in the proper formation of priests.
Helen
I am fortunate for the priests around, in no way could be mistaken for ministers nor social workers. Twenty, maybe even fifteen years ago, that would have been the case, but not any more: at least not at this time.
Archbishop Cushley’s letter today for Good Shepherd Sunday reinforced the message that is going out with clarity and firmness, and it referred to the sacred nature of the priesthood; it asked for earnest prayer for vocations, especially during exposition of the Blessed Sacrament, and stated an unequivocal message that the Eucharist is central to the Catholic faith; that the priesthood is vital for this to happen, and if there is no celebration of the Eucharist, there is no Church.
I was listening very carefully, as you can see,
Spero,
The key question raised in your quotes from Archbishop Cushley’s letter is what does he mean by “Eucharist” – did he specify “Mass” at all because Eucharist can mean a number of things and we all know that the “Extraordinary Ministers” are “extraordinary” no more.
In one of Cardinal O’Brien’s pastoral letters he made clear that his plans for the diocese included, big time, lay led Eucharistic services. He even refused a TLM at the time because he said it would interfere with his plans for the archdiocese – this in the context of preparing for priest-less/Mass-less parishes.
I have a feeling Archbishop Cushley does mean the Mass because I’m sure I read a quote from him somewhere about the indispensability of priests, but I’d be a bit concerned if he only referred to “the Eucharist”.
Spero,
You will note that Archbishop Cushley did not say those powerful words (so offensive to Protestants), i.e., that the priesthood is essential for the continued offering of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. “Celebration of the Eucharist” is way more ecumenical and way more open to abuse.
Before the NO , ‘Eucharist’ was, as it still is, the term used by Protestants in reference to their communion service in which they partake of bread and wine in memory of the Last Supper. Catholics only spoke of the ‘HOLY Eucharist’ – the consecrated Species. One received the Holy Eucharist during the Mass, it was never a synonym for the Mass. This was one of the infamous Vat.II ploys to please Protestants.
Christina,
Do you think the bishops, like Archbishop Cushley, will know that about the word Eucharist being Protestant before Vatican II? If so, it’s dreadful that they use it to mean Mass. When are they going to stop trying to please Protestants?
Christina,
I had no idea the term ‘Eucharist’ was used by Protestants in reference to their communion services. Growing up, I do not ever remember the word Eucharist being used without the preface ‘holy’, and that because it was used to refer to the consecrated Species only. Thank you for the reminder!
These little nuggets of information show so clearly that the destruction of tradition was planned and patiently implemented by Vatican II. It did not just happen. I believe, changing/destroying the language of a community is an effective means of destroying its identity which eventually leads to the absorption of the community into the dominant culture.
Well, if he was ordained a few years before Vat.II he will have a dim memory, but ecumenism is now so rampant that even a pope can say that all can be saved in their own false religions and mustn’t be converted. I suppose it will all only end, and the Church will be restored to the faith when the Connsecration of Russia has been carried out
I think the way Voris’ CMTV chose to cover the news from Buenos Aires was shocking (as highlighted in the Remnant video).
Rather than just report the facts in a straightforward fashion, they have picked out certain peripheral details and attempted to use these to twist the story to their own ends. It is exactly the standard of devious, selective reporting we see from the mainstream secular media, whenever it is trying to demonise the Church. How low CMTV has fallen.
Another favourite tactic of the anti-SSPX crowd is to ignore developments regarding the Society’s status and continue to parrot information which they know is out of date, but which suits their agenda.
A consolation is that these malicious voices will – sooner or later – be shown up for what they are. For every day which passes while they maintain their false narrative means that their fall, when it comes, will be that bit harder. Many of their subscribers / readers will then realise they have been fed an agenda, as opposed to the truth, and so will no longer trust these personalities / outlets.
Regarding this desperate false narrative which seeks to misinform about the SSPX, I am reminded of the last, desperate days of the propaganda machine in Hitler’s Germany, which – to the very last – stubbornly insisted that the war was going well and Germany would still win, even as Russian shells were falling in the suburbs of Berlin.
I am also reminded of Matthew 5:11; Blessed are ye when they shall revile you, and persecute you, and speak all that is evil against you, untruly, for my sake
There are several scriptural references which are so apt regarding the SSPX and the situation of the wider Church today. I spoke with a priest of the Archdiocese of Glasgow at the weekend (one who attended the most recent CT conference held at Celtic Park) and comparing the situation of every novus ordo seminary in Scotland having closed down, with the blooming traditional seminaries around the world, he said “by their fruits, ye shall know them”.
At the weekend I heard that Michael Voris is making several appearances in England in the coming week; hopefully he will be taken to task at one of these events!
All of us who were brought up in the Novus Ordo have known nothing else. We want to be faithful to the Church, Pope etc. So I guess we all swallowed it hook line and sinker. I just thank God that at the age of 53 I have been guided towards the TLM and will now never look back. V11 has been very successful in its mission to destroy the faith. We now have generation of Catholics who have absolutely no idea about their faith and have actually been taught to despise anything pre V11… because that is what the Church has been telling us. I remember thinking Archbishop Levebvre and followers were all crackpots and a joke. How wrong I was. Looks like the joke has been on all us born into NO.
That is so right Pauline Cormack. We did all swallow it because we were instinctively obedient to our priests and bishops. They’d never, in our lifetimes, taught us anything but the whole of Catholic truth, the same in every school and in every parish. When they suddenly turned and told us we were to have a new Mass, new this, new that and new everything, the bewildered, unhappy flock simply followed.the shepherds thay had always known. Blind obedience was the problem, and at first there emerged no bellwether sheep to guide them. These did emerge – in the shape of men such as the late, great Michael Davies – but most of the sheep were by them chomping away happily on poisoned grass. Some lines from Milton (about bishops!) always spring to mind when I think about our situation – hope I’m quoting correctly from memory:
The hungry sheep look up and are not fed,
But swoll’n with wind and the rank mist they draw
Rot inwardly and foul contagion spread.
I would like to thank you for all the excellent posts on this thread. I agree wholeheartedly that the reason for the attacks on SSPX is fear and the desire for an easy, uncomplicated spirituality. Also, they are happier that the NO is man-centered whereas the Traditional Mass is God-centered.
We will just have to put our trust in Jesus, Mary ,Joseph. I guess It reflects the intoxication of sin.Respects of no one.
Personally, whenever I hear the words “Lefebvrists” and “schism” in connection with the Society, I tend to stop reading. Why give valuable time to the utterances of someone who is either an ignoramus or of malicious will?
Full marks to Christopher Ferrara, who has repeatedly and forensically, dismantled and pulverized the slanders that various neo-catholics have pertinaciously directed towards faithful Catholics.
“In condemning us, you condemn the Church of all times. For what is there that She believed and taught that we also do not believe?”
– Saint Edmund Campion, Martyr of the Anglican schism and heresy
The excellent Louie Verecchio of the slightly misleadingly named Harvestingthefruit blog also deserves a lot of credit for his great work in spreading Catholic truth and combatting error.
Mention of neo-catholics who continue to defend the indefensible, as well as various issues raised on this thread, and the whole novus ordo madness in general remind me of the following scene. I won’t elaborate. If someone doesn’t get the connection, so be it. Everyone is free to come up with their own ideas. Now that might make for an interesting competition.
“Even if every nation living in the king’s dominions obeys him, each forsaking its ancestral religion to conform to his decrees, I, my sons and my brothers will still follow the covenant of our ancestors. … We shall not swerve from our own religion either to right or to left.” (I Maccabees ii)
Heretics, schismatics, infidels, antichrists, perverts, atheists, agnostics and just about every nut in the forest is to be feted and cosseted, and confirmed in their errors and separation from the Church, while those Catholics who believe and worship as Catholics have done always and everywhere are to be treated as some sort of outcasts. So be it. Maybe we should regard it as a badge of honour. The “New” version of mercy is unashamedly operating under a glaring double standard.
I’m mindful of the words of elementary sense and self-evident truth that Christopher Ferrara has spoken on another occasion:
“You can’t be kicked out of the Church for being a Catholic”.
Another of the Remnant’s writers, Chris Jackson I think, is due the credit for making a rather apt comparison to the ridiculously unjust treatment of the Society in general. He compared the Society to emergency services dashing towards a fire or some other disaster, only to be stopped and detained at the side of the road for having an out of date tax disc or license. It’s a simple image that is worth recalling.
The last two years have been nothing if not an ever louder free promotion with lights on, of the urgent need for a complete restoration of Tradition, if such was even needed. The human element of the Church is presenting to the faithful and to the world, on a daily basis, a grotesque, evil parody of the Bride of Christ, and the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Faith. It is also very noticeable that for well over a year and a half, the full-time professional, neo Catholic lay apologists have become increasingly obsessed with vilifying Catholics faithful to Tradition. That is a rather good sign, in a roundabout way, if you ask me. They must be getting worried.
The Modernist revolution is self-liquidating. There are no heirs in the emptying seminaries and monasteries. At some stage, at a time of God’s choosing and through the intercession of Our Lady, the madness will come to end and whatever the limited numbers of the remnant faithful to Tradition, the restoration will begin. And that shortage of time appears to be one of the inescapable and logical explanations of the accelerating rampage of the revolution.
What exactly will the cost in souls be if Tradition is not defended? What exactly is going to happen if Catholics who recognize the cancer in the Church submit to simply staying silently on the reservation, provided they have the true Mass? What will Catholics a hundred, two hundred years from now be saying about this generation?
“Using virtue and the love of God, and the abolition, in the name of virtue, of the indispensable means of formation and conservation, to blackmail the faithful into bending – that’s modernism at its most basic. Modernism controls its victims in the name of obedience, thanks to the suspicion of pride which is cast on any criticism of their reforms, in the name of respect for the Pope, in the name of missionary zeal, of charity, and of unity.”
– Fr. Roger Calmel OP, Letter of 8th August, 1973
It might also be a good time for Catholics to read Archbishop Lefebvre’s Declaration to his priests and seminarians, written over 40 years ago.
Saint Athanasius and the Arian crisis have, quite naturally, been referred to plenty of times on this blog. If anyone requires further comparisons with the ignoble injustices meted out to the Society in these days of unspeakable abominations, and how the Society is following the precedent of faithful and loyal Catholics, please read the following:
“Often, too, Divine Providence permits even good men to be driven from the congregation of Christ by the turbulent seditions of carnal men. When for the sake of the peace of the Church, they patiently endure that insult or injury, and attempt no novelties in the way of heresy or schism. They will teach men how God is to be served with a true disposition and with great and sincere charity. The intention of such men is to return when the tumult has subsided. But if that is not permitted because the storm continues or because a fiercer one might be stirred up by their return, they hold fast to their purpose to look to the good even of those responsible for the tumults and commotions that drove them out. They form no separate sects of their own, but defend to the death and assist by their testimony the faith which they know is preached in the Catholic Church. These the Father who seeth in secret crowns secretly. It appears that this is a rare kind of Christian, but examples are not lacking. So Divine Providence uses all kinds of men as examples for the oversight of souls and for the building up of his spiritual people.”
– St. Augustine, Of True Religion, 6,11
The following two links, which come courtesy of John Vennari’s excellent Catholic Family News website are certainly worthy of inclusion on this thread.
The first link really demonstrates the undeniable and blatant double standards of the neo modernist legalistic pharisees and their shameful attitude towards faithful Catholics. It’s very hard to make a credible case for straight talking good faith among the Society’s interlocutors at this point in time, when we compare this example of “reaching out” to the almost daily and universal pandering to the heretics, schismatics, infidels, antichrists, perverts, atheists and agnostics that I mentioned in a previous post.
As Father Simoulin wrote, actions do indeed speak louder than words.
I don’t want my words to get in the way, and I don’t know what other readers will think, but when I read this, I found my blood beginning to quietly boil. What’s all this Year of Mercy about? No need for answers. As I’ve said before, we are through the novus ordo looking glass, good and proper.
http://sspx.org/en/news-events/news/actions-speak-than-louder-words
I would also urge people to read the following short District Superior’s Letter from a truly good and holy priest.
http://sspx.ca/en/publications/newsletters/april-2015-district-superiors-letter
Leo,
Blood boil? You ain’t kidding. That report is utterly horrendous and this Pope just goes further down in my estimation, with every passing second, which I really didn’t think was possible. That he could go further down in my estimation, I mean. Monstrous.
This extract speaks for itself:
“So politics have replaced charity and the hearts of the Roman prelates and officials, high and low, know only the strictest rigor of the letter of Canon Law. Respect and enforcement of the law – that nobody cares about, not even the pope – have become the supreme virtue. The letter of Canon Law has become the norm and the rule of goodness! “
Exactly. A Pope who insisted on the Protestant “bishop” Tony Palmer being given a Catholic funeral, and who wines and dines with every heretic, schismatic and sexual deviant under the sun, won’t do a darn thing when a large group of children are being denied their pilgrimage Mass unless it is offered by a priest “in full Communion” (what, like Tony Palmer was in “full communion”?)
Utterly and totally disgraceful, but good in the sense that those nuts who are part of Bishop Williamson’s “resistance” (to nothing), claiming that Bishop Fellay is going along with the Modernist revolution, now don’t have a leg to stand on, not that they ever did.
Thanks for that alert, Leo. My blood boiled and believe me, I don’t have any problem in denouncing – as entirely fake – the claims of the Vatican “negotiators” that they are in good faith in their attempts to regularise the SSPX. No way!
But keep talking to them, Bishop Fellay. Keep highlighting those doctrinal differences, and the fact that these men are about as Catholic as a bunch of dandelions, and keep publicising their dishonesty.
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