Lacegate: Why Does Pope Francis Hate Tradition?
From the Catholic Herald: Granny’s lace – why is Pope Francis so unsupportive of ordinary clergy?
If faith, as the nuns said, was the substance of things hoped for,
then lace was the outline—the suggestion—of things not seen.
—Iris Anthony, The Ruins of Lace (2012)
A priest writes…
From time to time it seems as though Pope Francis can’t resist the urge to tell priests off in his speeches; he’s not afraid to employ mockery and sarcasm, either. That he has never been a simple parish priest frequently seems to come across in the content of his reproofs; so many of them tend to be anticlerical, as if this somehow profits the flock. It doesn’t necessarily make life easier for those of us at the coal face.
The Holy Father has commanded priests to “smell of the sheep,” as if the parish clergy of today are like the absentee-incumbents of centuries past who drew the revenues of parishes they never visited. He has also told us not to make the confessional, that source of healing grace, “a torture chamber”. Perhaps his experience in Argentina differed, but any torture on that front usually comes from the penitent’s own conscience.
The latest swipe was aimed at the clergy of Sicily, about whom he admits he knows little.
“I don’t know, because I don’t go to Mass in Sicily and I don’t know how the Sicilian priests preach, whether they preach as was suggested in Evangelii gaudium or whether they preach in such a way that people go out for a cigarette and then come back.
Next came this pointed aside.
Yes, sometimes bringing some of grandma’s lace is appropriate, sometimes. It’s to pay homage to grandma, right? It’s good to honour grandma, but it’s better to celebrate the mother, Holy Mother Church, and how Mother Church wants to be celebrated. So that insularity does not prevent the true liturgical reform that the Council sent out.”
The majority of young people who still persevere in the Church are voting with their feet and embracing more traditional liturgy in steadily increasing numbers. Time is on their side.
It is sad that the Holy Father so often seems to express a dislike of the ordinary clergy; he so rarely encourages us that sometimes it’s as though he thinks we are part of the problem, and not the solution. We’re not perfect, of course, but the deficiencies—real and imagined—of the modern presbyterate are not the cause of the Church’s woes. Rather, they are symptoms of a deeper malaise: a decades-long turn to the world, rather than to God, which has decimated the numbers of practising Catholics in the West.
The focus for any cure to this lies beyond both the parish clergy and liturgical tastes. Never mind lace; if we wish to heal the Church’s ailments then surely the first question needs to be this: “If the sheep have gone astray, then what have their shepherds been doing?”
Dom Hugh Somerville-Knapman is a monk of Douai Abbey, and parish priest of Scarisbrick in Lancashire .
Source – The Catholic Herald – worth reading in full.
Your thoughts…
Comments (28)
Could it simply be that, although validly elected, he doesn’t believe much of “what has always been taught, everywhere, and to all”? He’s certainly not against costume if it comes in the form of Amazonian feathers so it isn’t really about aesthetics.
Andrew Q,
Well said – I’d forgotten about his love of costumes, from, as you say, Amazon feathers to red noses to fireman’s helmets. Well spotted.
Andrew Q,
Incredibly, it seems Francis doesn’t believe much, if anything of Catholicism. I never would have thought I’d live to see the day when we had such a faithless pope. I don’t think he will live much longer, so he needs urgent prayers for his repentance if he is to save his soul.
Laura / Andrew Q,
That is so sadly true – Pope Francis does not seem to hold to any key Catholic doctrine. How on earth could something like this happen?
No wonder God sent his mother to Fatima in 1917 to warn us ahead of time. It makes total theological sense – nothing else does, TBH.
Andrew Q
I thought of your comment when I saw this just now, LOL!
Yes, I’m quite sure he is scared of ‘rigid’ priests and keeps away from them. Firstly, they wouldn’t be sycophants and feed his massive ego. Secondly, they would tell him what he doesn’t what to hear – the Truth. This is textbook narcissism. He just surrounds himself with people he can control and who will agree with him on everything. For my part, the sooner he goes to his eternal destination, the better. But as someone said on another blog I was reading – what comes next? He knows his days are numbered and is doing his utmost to destroy / discredit Tradition before he goes. I remember a comment made a while ago – whether by him or one of his lackeys – that Francis’s ‘reforms’ would be ‘irreversible’. That’s what Francis wants. God might have other plans . . .
Dear friends
Fundamentally he is a Modernist in the fullest sense of the term and rejects the supernatural Catholic Faith and Tradition. Remember the remarks about those who say the Rosary etc etc.
Francis has more care and attention for social and political matters, this is his true focus. He is a willing servant of the Masonic elites and is fully compliant with the Great Reset.
The Church’s countenance i.e. theology, sacraments, liturgy even moral teachings are to be substantively altered to conform it to this world view in terms of its beliefs and values etc. A religious type of NGO with him as CEO.
The list is endless regarding his abuses eg. Abu Dhabi Declaration, Amoris Letitia, Fr Martin and his entourage and so it goes on.
He is the ultimate outcome and manifestation of a failed experiment regarding the Pastoral Second Vatican Council and the abuses which were given leeway and latitude over the last fifty plus years.
This will continue until Heaven decides otherwise. Until then we pray hope and don’t worry. Our Father in Heaven will in His own way draw great good for the Church, the truly faithful and the world when He deigns it appropriate to His Divine Will.
Viva Christo Rey !
Every blessing
Michael 🙏
Michael,
That is, when the consecration of Russia is done – properly. I don’t know if anyone has read the latest Fatima Center newsletter on this issue (dated May 13th 2022). It’s excellent and spells out in no uncertain terms why the March 25th 2022 consecration could not have totally fulfilled Heaven’s requests. I have no way of posting it here. It might be on their website somewhere:- http://www.fatima.org
WF
I was in correspondence some time ago with the Fatima Center because I was not receiving their newsletters. They contacted me when they read my claims that they had gone silent recently, and it soon became clear that I had not been receiving the newsletters as I once did, routinely. My contact assured me that they would put this right and I would start receiving the newsletters again. I have still not received them.
I have, therefore, now emailed to ask if I could have this latest newsletter, preferably with a link to post here, citing your comment so I will update everyone on this as soon as possible.
As for “in no uncertain terms” – take a look at the madness around us and try to convince me that the Consecration of Russia was validly executed on 25 March. My (printable) reply: Yeah right!
ED we surely know now if we Ever need convincing that Bergoglio is not nor probably ever has been a Catholic. Remember this is the same Bergoglio along with the [Bishop] Arthur Roche who wants to kill off The Catholic Church. We know for a fact that Bergoglio reads or maybe gets it read to Him off L.S.N. and other Articles that really just don’t take the Man seriously . ( As far as our Catholic Faith is concerned not of course Our Catholic Church.
We know Bergoglio Hates Faithful Catholics He has already told us so that He supports the Deviant Jimmy Martin and that Italian Cardinal who had a Mass for Sodomites. Also Bergoglio doesn’t give a Monkeys (I know not of Pox) to what Faithful Catholics think or don’t think. Of course now He has put Cupich in a Position next to Arthur Roche they are like Peas and Rotting Peas in the same Pod . As for Bergoglio’s so called Consecration Prayers am sure Our Blessed Lady meant a Catholic to do that and Bergoglio doesn’t qualify, sure He doesn’t know what Vestments a Priest should wear.
Also as regards Confession. I went with many others with a Corpse to Church the other night. Now after any short service when I have attended before the Priest always asked at the End that He would be available for Confession if needed. This was a visiting Priest and a Nephew of the deceased. He did not ask, Of course if His Boss says that Judas is in Heaven and He believes that, then Confessions are certainly a thing of the past.
The above newsletter referred to is now on Gloria TV:- https://gloria.tv/post/zEsL1G6sdYcd12cUAgMsA1Uyk Until the consecration is done, continue to expect the above nonsense from Francis and his successors.
Yes Victor, Priests should only speak not Preach of course for 8 Minutes. I know not what Bergoglio wants Me to do as I don’t Smoke. And anyhow to go outside in most Days in Scotland as you well know on your Visit here it is raining.
Maybe Catholic Churches could build these sort of Leantos seen outside so many Pubs to have a Cigarette. I was going to use the other word but it may have been taken in the wrong context.
My God but am sure 90% on Here wouldn’t now take a Free Holiday to Rome if it meant meeting this Man .
This comment of His takes me back to when Bergoglio forced open the Little Altar Boys Hands .
God Help us From This Man and His Cohorts.
Question. Can Anyone name Anything Just ONE thing positive, Bergoglio has done for The Catholic Church.
FOOF,
Yes, I can … He has – at long last – forced the papolatrists among us to admit the extent and limits of papal authority. We were struggling to get them to see the distinctions whenever Francis’s predecessors went astray (think Assisi, for but one example) so yes, I can think of one thing positive that Papa Francis has done for the Catholic Church, and that is IT. Deo gratias!
Does “lacegate” have any connection with “Arsenic and Old Lace”? 🙂
God forbid that priests should “preach as was suggested in Evangelii gaudium.” If they did they should be on Klaus Schwab’s payroll, not the Church’s.
RCA Victor,
I agree, preaching anything from Francis means preaching the Globalist agenda, so let them pay for it! LOL!
RCA Victor
No institution likes admitting shameful incidents which have happened in the past, and I think you might find that unless the next Pope is a Francis fan lunatic, then Francis and all the garbage he has written will be dropped like a hot rock when he dies (except by the hardcore LGBT / BLM-CRT / Climate Change mob, who will bang on about them for ever more).
Arsenic and Old Lace was a great film.
Westminsterfly,
“Arsenic and Old Lace was a great film”
LOL! Won’t change Pope Francis’s mind about traditional vestments, LOL!
Josephine
I couldn’t give a fig for what Francis thinks about traditional vestments. Or anything else, come to that. In fact, the two psychopathic murdering old ladies in ‘Arsenic and Old Lace’ are almost a prototype of him. In the film, they murdered physically. In reality, he murders spiritually (and in some cases encourages risk of physical death as well, as in his continuous support for acceptance of illegal migrants making death-defying crossings in dinghies, encouraging them to continue that risk, by demanding that we accept them).
It would appear that instead of traditional vestments, Francis prefers traditional INvestments – you know, like the couple of billion $$ payoff from the Chicoms to “help” him recognize the Chinese Patriotic “Catholic” Association….
My heart went out to that priest in the Catholic Herald article – how terrible that your spiritual father is calling you names and saying he keeps away from you! That is shocking, to me. Then when I saw how loving the pope was towards Buddhists I was even more shocked.
https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2022-06/pope-audience-buddhists-thailand-golden-jubilee-dialogue-friends.html
It’s a wonder there are not priests writing back to this awful pope speaking their minds about him. I find him utterly disgusting and, TBH, I wish he would go, whether by resignation or permanently, and I do pray for the grace of repentance for him every day, before that happens. But he is doing so much damage to the Church, that I can’t wait for an end to his time in office, however it comes about.
Francis claims to be scared of “rigid priests,” but I don’t believe a word of it. These words are just more mealy-mouthed insinuations against Catholic tradition.
From the scarcely believable hubris exhibited by this man, I’d say he is not afraid of his eternal destination either. Does he think he has a “get out of Hell free” card?
RCA Victor,
He does indeed think he has a “get out of Hell free” card – well, that’s if he believes in Hell at all.
The “rigid” nonsense is just his personal shorthand for “Catholic Tradition”. That’s what he means – he’s scared of (hates) Catholic Tradition, i.e. Catholicism, i.e. the Catholic Church.
You very truly could not make this stuff up. Up, you most certainly could not make this stuff…er, I may have be over-zealous with my love of English grammar there 😀
Editor,
I suspect he does believe in Hell – since he has a painting of Judas behind his desk, being pardoned by Our Lord….
Meanwhile, he and his globalist moneybag friends are making life hell for us peons. I guess they just want us to share in their misery…..
Victor I don’t believe Bergoglio believes in anything that is to do with The Catholic Faith.
I stand to be corrected but never have I heard Him talk of the Eucharistic Miracle that He Himself seen .
Also His Heroes Judas and Martin Luther if they are in Heaven then there’s certainly a great chance for me
As for His constant ramblings ever since He gave the Alphabet Mob their
Who Am I To Judge Slogan, the Man just can’t seem to keep His Mouth Shut. He is an expert on everything.
BTW I know not if it’s the same saying in the U.S.A about someone who knows everything. ?
FOOF,
I think “know-it-all” is a universally understood saying. And that includes America, even Biden’s America… 😀
FOOF,
“I don’t believe Bergoglio believes in anything that is to do with The Catholic Faith.”
No argument there, my friend! He certainly believes in his own cleverness, though.
According to this article, Francis’ “Reign of Fear” (er, of “rigid priests”) may soon be over:
https://amgreatness.com/2022/06/20/rumors-swirl-at-the-vatican-that-pope-francis-may-soon-retire/
BTW, it occurred to me that there is an insidious, diabolical intent behind this ridiculous statement that Francis is afraid of rigid priests. I believe his intent was to drive a wedge between traditional priests and the laity, by suggesting that the laity, too, should be afraid of such priests.
RCA Victor,
Stop doing that! Raising my hopes that Francis may retire soon, LOL!
I can’t believe it. He’s too fond of the limelight!
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