Archive for July, 2021

The Latin Mass gets trashed

Posted: July 17, 2021 by ng36b in catholic, Church doctrine
Tags: , , ,
Latin Mass, from American Magazine

Just in time for the weekend, the Pope banned the Latin Mass.

Wait, he did what?

The headlines in quite a few places, including Yahoo News and many Italian sources, say the Pope Francis “banned the Latin Mass.” But other sources say he “reimposed previous limits on the Mass.” So which is it? After a bit of digging, I found the actual Vatican source, an Apostolic Letter issued “motu propio” (meaning “on his own accord”) by Pope Francis called TRADITIONIS CUSTODES. So, let’s have a read!

The letter starts with the subject “On the Use of the Roman Liturgy Prior to the Reform of 1970.” Well, its certainly not hiding what its about. After a bit of babbling about the importance of the Bishops, the letter says that they wanted to “assess the application of the Motu Propio Summorum Pontificum three years after its publication…” The Summorum Pontificum was issued in 2007 by Pope Benedict XVI and allowed and encouraged use of either the 1962 Missal or the 1970 Missal, while proclaiming that “they are two usages of the one Roman rite.” Essentially, this decree opened the door to the Latin Mass and made it more difficult for the Bishops to deny its use. So, we’re revisiting this decree.

Right after this intro we get into the meat of the letter.

Art. 1. The liturgical books promulgated by Saint Paul VI and Saint John Paul II, in conformity with the decrees of Vatican Council II, are the unique expression of the lex orandi of the Roman Rite.

Traditionis Custodes

Ok, nothing much here…except there is. See, the Latin Mass normally uses the liturgical book from John Paul XXIII. While there was a debate as to whether the Latin Mass (typically called “the extraordinary form”) or the Mass said in the vernacular (also called the Norvus Ordo, or “ordinary form”) was better or the “true form,” Pope Benedict XVI essentially said that they were all equal. Not so now. The Norvus Ordo is the true form of the Roman Rite. That’s a pretty big shot across the bow, and we’re only on Article 1!

Art. 2. It belongs to the diocesan bishop, as moderator, promoter, and guardian of the whole liturgical life of the particular Church entrusted to him, [5] to regulate the liturgical celebrations of his diocese. [6] Therefore, it is his exclusive competence to authorize the use of the 1962 Roman Missal in his diocese, according to the guidelines of the Apostolic See.

Traditionis Custodes

Yup, that’s a reversal. In Summorum Pontificum, it said “In parishes where a group of the faithful attached to the previous liturgical tradition stably exists, the parish priest should willingly accede to their requests to celebrate Holy Mass according to the rite of the 1962 Roman Missal.” Which pretty much said if people want the Latin Mass, they get to have it. Now the Bishop gets veto power.

Art. 3. The bishop of the diocese in which until now there exist one or more groups that celebrate according to the Missal antecedent to the reform of 1970:
§ 1. is to determine that these groups do not deny the validity and the legitimacy of the liturgical reform, dictated by Vatican Council II and the Magisterium of the Supreme Pontiffs;

Traditionis Custodes

So, first, now we’re simply calling the Latin Mass “antecedent to the reform of 1970.” Wow, it’s kind of harsh not even giving it a name.

At first I didn’t care too much about this section. While my family attends the Latin Mass at our local FSSP parish, I do a lot of things that draw nasty comments from traditional parishioners, such as sending my kids to public schools, allowing my girls to wear pants, and not thinking that Vatican II was horrible. I agree that the IMPLEMENTATION of Vatican II went astray in many places, but there is a huge difference between plan and execution. So, if this was used to get people to tell people to shut up and color on Vatican II, well, I’m OK with that.

But then I got to thinking, what could this be used for? And my first thought was forcing people to sign some sort of loyalty oath to the Church. The same Church that bowed to the authority of the Chinese Communist Party and allowed them to pick Bishops for China. Yeah, that Church. And that made me think, WTF? How can the same Church that kissed up to Xi Jinping turn around and beat down on good Catholics? For all their flaws, the folks attending a Latin Mass are likely trying to do the right thing. Why on Earth would we not want to encourage this? And why would anyone take steps to ostracize them?

§ 2. is to designate one or more locations where the faithful adherents of these groups may gather for the eucharistic celebration (not however in the parochial churches and without the erection of new personal parishes);

Traditionis Custodes

Read my lips, no new Churches. I mean, we lost 1,000 parishes since 1970 just in America alone, so that shouldn’t be an issue, right? We should have lots of extra real estate anyway.

§ 3. to establish at the designated locations the days on which eucharistic celebrations are permitted using the Roman Missal promulgated by Saint John XXIII in 1962. [7] In these celebrations the readings are proclaimed in the vernacular language, using translations of the Sacred Scripture approved for liturgical use by the respective Episcopal Conferences;
§ 4. to appoint a priest who, as delegate of the bishop, is entrusted with these celebrations and with the pastoral care of these groups of the faithful. This priest should be suited for this responsibility, skilled in the use of the Missale Romanum antecedent to the reform of 1970, possess a knowledge of the Latin language sufficient for a thorough comprehension of the rubrics and liturgical texts, and be animated by a lively pastoral charity and by a sense of ecclesial communion. This priest should have at heart not only the correct celebration of the liturgy, but also the pastoral and spiritual care of the faithful;

Traditionis Custodes

I got no issues here. FSSP parishes already do this.

§ 5. to proceed suitably to verify that the parishes canonically erected for the benefit of these faithful are effective for their spiritual growth, and to determine whether or not to retain them;
§ 6. to take care not to authorize the establishment of new groups.

Traditionis Custodes

Ouch. So now Bishops can now say “We decide to not retain you.” That’s bureaucratic speak for “You’re fired.”

Worse still, not authorizing new groups is a great way to kill something off. There are a bunch of Latin Mass die-hards, and while they aren’t insignificant (estimates around 100,000 US people attend a Latin Mass), they aren’t huge. They are growing, or rather, were growing until this came out. Not being able to start new groups, and being able to kick out ones you don’t like, make future growth a challenge.

Art. 4. Priests ordained after the publication of the present Motu Proprio, who wish to celebrate using the Missale Romanum of 1962, should submit a formal request to the diocesan Bishop who shall consult the Apostolic See before granting this authorization.

Traditionis Custodes

So now the Pope himself must approve new priests celebrating the Latin Mass? Hmmm….want to bet how many requests get denied? Maybe all of them?

Art. 5. Priests who already celebrate according to the Missale Romanum of 1962 should request from the diocesan Bishop the authorization to continue to enjoy this faculty.

Traditionis Custodes

Hmmm…want to bet there are strings attached with approval?

Art. 6. Institutes of consecrated life and Societies of apostolic life, erected by the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei, fall under the competence of the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies for Apostolic Life.

Art. 7. The Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments and the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, for matters of their particular competence, exercise the authority of the Holy See with respect to the observance of these provisions.

Traditionis Custodes

This is bureaucratic shuffling that puts a thumb on, and limits the influence of, Latin Mass groups like FSSP.

Art. 8. Previous norms, instructions, permissions, and customs that do not conform to the provisions of the present Motu Proprio are abrogated.

Traditionis Custodes

Seems harsh. Again, its giving Bishops a big stick, a bazooka and other high end weapons against the Latin Mass.

So, the big takeaways are:

  1. The Latin Mass isn’t banned outright.
  2. The Latin Mass is pretty heavily restricted now.
  3. Every possible step was taken to prevent any spread.
  4. This seems to be motivated by a hatred of the traditional-type Catholic that questioned Vatican II.

I would compare this to being an AR-15 in President Biden’s America, where your existing presence is tolerated but every attempt is made to make it more difficult to acquire, manufacture, use and sell AR-15s in the future. Worse, some Biden crony will come to your door and ask you to sign a form saying you’re not violating the law. I’m sure that won’t come back to haunt you.

I would also like to again point out that Pope Francis is now treating Latin Mass attendees more harshly than he treated the People’s Republic of China wrecking his Church in mainland China.

Not a good move. I’d expect to see an awful lot of uproar over this. We’re already seeing places, like Arkansas, publish statements to quickly conform with Pope Francis. While the Latin Mass has increased over time, its hardly the norm in America or elsewhere, and a systematic effort to stop its spread could be effective. However, it might actually spread more because of the sudden focus on the Mass. As more people emerge out of COVID-19 isolation and (hopefully) attend Mass regularly in-person, it’ll be interesting to see what parishes they choose to seek out.

This post represents the views of the author and not those of the Department of Defense, Department of the Navy, or any other government agency.

A Test of Trust in Christ Basil Fawlty in the Vatican

Posted: July 17, 2021 by datechguy in Uncategorized

One of the two things that (the other being acknowledging the reality of the Devil as a real being) I have complemented Pope Francis on has been his stress on mercy. He has shown mercy in his dealings with Islam, he has shown mercy in his dealings with the Eastern Orthodox and has shown mercy in his dealings with others outside of the church.

Alas he’s not all that keen on showing mercy to the faithful within it:

In defense of the unity of the Body of Christ, I am constrained to revoke the faculty granted by my Predecessors. The distorted use that has been made of this faculty is contrary to the intentions that led to granting the freedom to celebrate the Mass with the Missale Romanum of 1962. Because “liturgical celebrations are not private actions, but celebrations of the Church, which is the sacrament of unity”, they must be carried out in communion with the Church. Vatican Council II, while it reaffirmed the external bonds of incorporation in the Church — the profession of faith, the sacraments, of communion — affirmed with St. Augustine that to remain in the Church not only “with the body” but also “with the heart” is a condition for salvation.

Not only does he reverse Benedict on the Latin Mass but he does it with immediate effect and as noted by Msgr Charles Pope is almost set up as a “loyalty test” for Bishops to see who will allow the Latin Mass and who will not.

The key quote:

this is the growing segment of the church you now most areas of the church our numbers dropping everywhere. This is the young vibrant and growing part of the church.

In other words Francis is being Basil Fawlty who thinks his hotel would be exactly the way it should be if it wasn’t for the guests who he considers riff raff.

My own initial reaction was this:

Father Z has a few things to say on the matter:

So, a diocesan bishop can dispense from disciplinary laws, both universal laws and those particular laws made by the supreme ecclesiastical authority (read: Supreme Pontiff) for his territory and his subjects.  Since the provision that the Traditional Roman Rite ought not be celebrated in parish churches (cf. Traditionis Art. 3) is a disciplinary law, and has not been reserved to the Apostolic See, the diocesan bishop is free to dispense from that norm!

Do you want the TLM to continue in your parish church and not in the garage attached to the rectory, a hotel room or the nearby Lutheran church that the local pastorette will let you use for a contribution? Then calm down and think.

I urge everyone to think carefully about how to approach your local bishops and priests.

What sort of attitude and language are going to obtain what you desire?

Consider…

Joy and commitment to parish life?

Bitterness and being unengaged except for that hour or so on Sunday?

What have I been saying for YEARS?!?

You can lose what you have, people.  Now more than ever.

So, if you are inclined to lash out and make a big scene to your local bishop or priest, then consider how selfish you look in the eyes of those whose opportunities you are casting into the hazard.

This is good advice but there is one other thing to consider and that’s our faith in God.

Either you trust God to do things right or you don’t. Either you trust the Holy Spirit or you don’t. Either you trust Christ our you don’t. Either you trust Our Lady our you don’t.

Pray on this Trust God on this, Remember the Christ was dead and buried, right up until the moment he wasn’t, Paul was the implacable enemy of the Church, right up until the moment he wasn’t, The Roman Empire was the implacable enemy of the church, right up until the moment it wasn’t, the feast of Divine Mercy and St. Faustina was suppressed by the church, right up until the moment it wasn’t, the Latin Mass was completely surprised, right up until the moment it wasn’t.

All these things and many others seemed lost until they were not. The desire to schism or to lash out is the trap of the devil. DON’T FALL FOR IT! HAVE FAITH!

Cuba Envy

Posted: July 16, 2021 by datechguy in Uncategorized

If you want to understand the difference between the left and the right in America you can explain it as Cuba Envy is the perfect way to describe it. However Cuba Envy means different things to different people.

The people of Cuba are envious of the freedoms that the American People have to live the way they want.

The Left in America are envious of the freedom of the Cuban regime to exploit the people of Cuba and crush or kill those among the people who stand in their way.

That’s all.

Critical Race Theory plus teachers unions equals grave trouble for our Constitutional Republic

Posted: July 15, 2021 by Jon Fournier in Uncategorized
Tags: , , , ,

For many decades those on the political left have been pushing the deeply untruthful idea that the United States was, is now, and will always be a deeply racist nation with no redeeming qualities at all.  They are doing this by focusing exclusively on our nation’s two biggest sins, slavery and segregation, while ignoring all of the tremendous good the United States has always done and always has stood for.  Leftists are doing this because they want to replace the Constitution, our founding principles of liberty and individual rights, and our free market economy with collectivism and socialism.  They very mistakenly believe that collectivism and socialism would bring about a perfect society rather than the absolute hell they always bring about.

Critical Race Theory is the latest attempt by the political left to  re-brand the United States as a deeply racist nation in the minds of school and college students, along with those who are gullible and misinformed.  CRT is the latest of many attempts, however, it is the most successful because it is being crammed down our throats by two of the most powerful allies of the political left in their attempts to destroy the United States, teachers unions and major corporations.

This Breitbart article Pollak: Critical Race Theory, Explained contains the best definition of Critical Race Theory that I have found after a lot of research.

Critical Race Theory claims that all of our institutions — our government, our economy, our culture — are based on racial hierarchy, with whites on top and blacks at the bottom. Even things that look race-neutral are, on closer inspection, racist.

The author of the article goes on to document the history of Critical Race Theory.  It pleases me greatly to see that Andrew Breitbart was one of the earliest critics of CRT,

It was the invention of a group of radical left-wing intellectuals known as the Frankfurt School, who developed it to achieve through cultural change what Marxism could not achieve politically.

Breitbart wrote: “It was, quite literally, a theory of criticizing everyone and everything everywhere. It was an attempt to tear down the social fabric by using all the social sciences … it was an infinite and unending criticism of the status quo, adolescent rebellion against all established rules and norms. … Critical theory does not create, it only destroys.”

Critical Theory spawned various offshoots. One of them was Critical Legal Theory, which said that the Constitution, our judicial system, and our laws could never be neutral or objective because they existed to protect those who created them.

This Breitbart News article Pollak: Eight Years Later, Andrew Breitbart Vindicated on Critical Race Theory sheds more light on the history of CRT.

The Critical Race Theory training was exposed by Christopher Rufo, a contributing editor for the Manhattan Institute’s City Journal.

Yet the first to sound the alarm was Andrew Breitbart.

In a story that was only published after his death in March 2012, video that Breitbart had teased at the Conservative Political Action Conference just weeks before was finally released. It showed a young Barack Obama speaking at a protest at Harvard Law School in favor of Professor Derrick Bell, who had clashed with the university over the issue of faculty diversity.

More than that, Bell was the founder of the doctrine of Critical Race Theory.

Critical Race Theory holds that the United States is racist by design, because its Constitution and all of its other institutions emerged in a context where slavery was legal. According to the theory, the very institution of private property in the U.S. is corrupt because it was enshrined in a system that saw black people as chattels.

This American Thinker article What is Critical Race Theory? documents the Marxist roots of Critical Race Theory.

Instead of abandoning Marxist ideas to the dustbin of history, along with the notion of a flat earth, alchemy, and phrenology, American academics have simply substituted “race” for “class” and relabeled Marxism as Critical Race Theory.  The “capitalists” have been replaced with “whiteness,” and the oppressed are everyone else.

Like a bacterium that is resistant to antibiotics, Critical Race Theory is even more difficult to confront than Marxism, because those who oppose Marxism can only be slandered as “greedy capitalists,” while those who oppose CRT can be defamed as “racist.”  Even more ingenious is the substitution of Western civilization (i.e., the ideas of science and reason that began with the ancient Greeks, was adopted by the Romans, and thus spread throughout Europe) for “white supremacy.”  Thus, one cannot use reasoned arguments to refute CRT because rational thought is now considered a product of “white supremacy.”  (This is also how math can now be considered “racist.”)

Teachers Unions are at the forefront of making sure all school and college students in the United States are brainwashed with this hideous garbage, as you can see from this article Parents Don’t Want Critical Race Theory, So Of Course The Nation’s Largest Teachers Union Just Decided To Push It Harder

The nation’s largest teachers union, the National Education Association, was one of the most notable organizations to embrace boosting racist teacher training and curriculum across the country. In addition to voting to dig up dirt on organizations that oppose the implementation educating children to view the world through the lens of race and oppression during the virtual conference last week, the Democrat donor group also passed a leftist-driven resolution committing its more than 3 million members to a “study that critiques empire, white supremacy, anti-Blackness, anti-Indigeneity, racism, patriarchy, cisheteropatriarchy, capitalism, ableism, anthropocentrism, and other forms of power and oppression at the intersections of our society.”

In the past few weeks nine states have outlawed the teaching of Critical Race Theory.  As you can see from the title of this article Teachers Unions Urge Educators to Defy State Laws to Push Critical Race Theory teachers unions will not stop at anything in their quest to brainwash generations of school children into hating this great nation.

Teachers unions are not alone because A disturbing look at corporate Critical Race Theory brainwashing.

It is absolutely essential the all of us who truly believe in the principles of individual liberty, individual rights, the Constitution, and free market capitalism stand up to the left and make sure no more school children are brainwashed with this Marxist garbage

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