Tradicat

 + JMJ When Steve Skojec sold 1P5 he started some new online channels - one of which is a newsletter to which I subscribed.  His actions and thoughts have peaked my interest ... or at least some of his thoughts. He seemed to question why the Church had dogmas. The Church doesn't 'have' Dogmas per se.  The Church receives them from God and transmits them onwards to the generations that follow. The realization of the Dogmas is part of the life of the Church - the Church doesn't 'bind' them per se as She realizes the Teaching for what it is - The Word of God.  It is not a luxury to reveal a new Dogma, Doctrine etc. it is as natural to the Church as breathing is for us. So simply put the Truth is the Truth and if it came from God - then we need to trust in God and believe him. P^3

 + JMJ Kneeling, whether during Mass, Praying or for Communion is a key artifact of the pre-conciliar Catholic Church.  It is one of the key expressions of the Faith in the Real Presence of Our Lord Jesus Christ.  This expression has been harder to erase than many of the other artifacts.  Communion in the hand is an accepted norm. Novus Ordo Mass likewise.  Anything that resembles the pre-conciliar Church in teaching, liturgy, belief  or expressions, apparently is 'forbidden' to a healthy portion of the Catholic Hierarchy. Echoing a modern Catholic priest: "What are they afraid of?" I think that the hierarchy is afraid, no terrorized, of the " Experiment of Tradition (link) ." This is a terror that I've seen in the eyes of a modern Catholic when confronted with the fact that Pope SJP2 had kissed the Koran. It is the terror that their entire perspective on the Church, that everything they knew is wrong and that everything will crumble into dust if they al...

+ JMJ First off ... Death of John Allen I received word via Edward Pentin's newsletter of the passing of John Allen Jr. RIP (link) .  Please keep him in your prayers.

+ JMJ I remember Thomas E. Woods from "The Great Facade" and recently a friend sent me his series that has been uploaded to Youtube. Understanding the past is, I think, one of the keys to helping the Church emerge from this crisis. Something worth watching! P^3 The Catholic Church: Builder of Civilization https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLA38013840B75A453&si=R_jIKngvI8yNAX40

 + JMJ So the Vatican 2 (V2) crisis is well into its 60th year and the actual roots go back over a hundred years. Is there a possibility that the Catholic Church could take a step in the right direction in 2026? So here's my thoughts on the possible events and the probability of them occurring. Any element in the sub-notes is contingent upon primary element. The Canonical discussions between Rome and the SSPX are restarted (33%) The Pope removes the infamous "footnotes" (55%) The SSPX enters into a canonically regular life within the Catholic Church (85%) The SSPX Consecrates new Bishops (33%) With Papal Mandate (70%) Pope Leo XIV nullifies the Traditionis Custodes (18%) Neo-Modernists revolt (30%) Neo-Modernists enter into schism (50%) Just my first thoughts - - - we'll see what God's providence provides this year. P^3

 + JMJ  Over the decades (yep that long) I've heard and repeated a lot of stories to my family and friends - about family and friends :-). It was suggested that I pull them together and preserve here a record of these stories for the future. Some will be religious in nature, others about events that I witnessed directly or heard from other Traditional Catholics. So I have created a new Series called, for obvious reasons, Stories, in which I will recount the stories I've heard of Traditional Life, concealing the identities of those involved and embellishing with relish where my memory fails. Afterall, they're just stories. P^3  

 + JMJ This article recently was posted on SuscipeDomine (link) , and I immediately thought that it would be a good one for an "SSPX A look back" series. On the way home from Mass last Sunday, I was ruminating on the relationship between people I regard as Veteran Traditional Catholics and the new or perhaps Rookie Traditional Catholics. Yes, I am having a little fun with the labels. There seems to be a bias against Veteran Traditional Catholics who have sought the Sacraments from the SSPX for decades. Perhaps it is guilt by association or fear of being tainted by association that the 'Rookie Trads' simply don't leverage the decades of experience to be found in the Veteran Traditional Catholic Laity, let alone clergy. This is the issue, the lack of appreciation of the people who came before them and the knowledge,  experience they have amassed in surviving the opening five decades of the Vatican 2 (V2) crisis. This lack of respect is, frankly, disordered and a pro...

 + JMJ Wishing all of you a Merry Christmas and a Happy and Holy New Year! P&3

 + JMJ Cardinal Mueller gave an interview recently and gave his opinion on the "situation of the SSPX". His Eminence puts forward a number of assertions that frankly confused me. So I've marked the assertions and will give my thoughts for each. JB: The situation of the SSPX remains a pastoral and theological challenge. What, in your judgment, is the most fruitful way for the Church to approach dialogue with the Lefebvrian movement while preserving unity and doctrinal integrity? CGLM: There have been — and continue to be — endless dialogues with this group, but they simply circle around.  There is no way around recognising the Second Vatican Council as the twenty-first Ecumenical Council of the Catholic Church, in accordance with the Catholic hermeneutic and epistemology already fully articulated by Irenaeus of Lyon. [7] The foolish talk of a “sede vacante” of the Chair of Peter [1] ,  calls for a revision of the Council  [2] ,  and the claim that the Lefebvrist...

 + JMJ Here's my news round-up as of December 22, 2025. As always, these are simply articles that caught my eye over the month. There's definitely lots of bad news and the only good news seems to be a theme of Unity from Pope Leo XIV that isn't simply mass conformity to the whims of the Neo-Modernists.  Definitely a small shift, but nothing to get excited about until we see how the Pope's reaction to the SSPX request (that I assume has been sent or is being drafted) for a mandate to consecrate auxiliary bishops. This remains a rubicon point for Pope Leo XIV.  Will he walk the talk? Time will tell ... until then P^3 Popes Past Present and Future News and Views RORATE CÆLI: Pope Buries German Synodal Way: the voice of the powerful in the German Church cannot silence the voice of the numerous who are not listened to Pope Leo XIV and the Creed | District of the USA Leo XIV in Turkey: Nicaea at the Service of Ecumenism | FSSPX News Pope Leo XIV and the Creed | District of th...

 + JMJ I read this in the Imitation at Mass a couple of Sunday's ago.  This is something to keep in mind that this world is not our final home. P^3 OF THE DESIRE AFTER ETERNAL LIFE, AND HOW GREAT BLESSINGS ARE PROMISED TO THOSE WHO STRIVE "My Son, when thou feelest the desire of eternal happiness to be poured into thee from above, and longest to depart from the tabernacle of this body, that thou mayest contemplate My glory without shadow of turning, enlarge thine heart, and take in this holy inspiration with all thy desire. Give most hearty thanks to the Supreme Goodness, who dealeth with thee so graciously, visiteth thee so lovingly, stirreth thee up so fervently, raiseth thee so powerfully, lest thou sink down through thine own weight, to earthly things. For not by thine own meditating or striving dost thou receive this gift, but by the sole gracious condescension of Supreme Grace and Divine regard; to the end that thou mayest make progress in virtue and in more humility, an...

 + JMJ The Intro Pascal's Wager is an argument to pursue virtue and according to Wikipedia, was published post-posthumously with the basic structure:  God is, or God is not. Reason cannot decide between the two alternatives" "A Game is being played ... where heads or tails will turn up" "You must wager; it is not optional" "Let us weigh the gain and the loss in wagering that God is. Let us estimate these two chances. If you gain, you gain all; if you lose, you lose nothing" "Wager, then, without hesitation that He is. ... There is here an infinity of an infinitely happy life to gain, a chance of gain against a finite number of chances of loss, and what you stake is finite. And so our proposition is of infinite force when there is the finite to stake in a game where there are equal risks of gain and of loss, and the infinite to gain." "But some cannot believe. They should then 'at least learn your inability to believe...' and...

 + JMJ I remember hearing stories when we first 'joined' Tradition back in the early 80's. The first was about the iconclasm (link)   that happened in the 70's. Things I heard: A room full of blessed statues were deliberately damaged so they could be thrown away. Fishermen on the East Coast set sail with a load of statues and dumped them overboard. Beautifully painted ceilings with Catholic art were white washed in the 70's. A priest told me about this in the 2010's and wondered out loud at the wanton destruction for no reason.  I knew the reason.  It was simple that all these were artifacts of something that various leaders of the Church didn't want to believe in. A Trappist Monastery being abandoned because the 'city was too close'.  Things left behind that should not have been, like altar linens. The developer offered the monastery to the  As Traditional Catholics, these are unchangeable things that we still believe. ... and other Catholics are sl...

 + JMJ On October 16, 2025, the Transalpine Redemptorists published an open letter about their experience as a regularized Traditional Congregation.  Suffice to say it hasn't been pleasant. Excerpts of the letter are below with my thoughts. P^3 An Open Letter to the Catholic Bishops, Priests, Religious and Faithful Dear Catholic Soul, We have just concluded our General Chapter where we considered our Congregation and its vocation in the Church and in the Diocese of Christchurch, New Zealand where the Bishop had decreed its expulsion. [Tradicat: The FSSP has experienced similar incidences where a new bishop arrives, doesn't like what he sees and expels them from his diocese. The threat of arbitrary expulsion is why the SSPX 2012 agreement had a structure similar to the Military Ordinariate.  I know of one mass group that survived a hostile bishop for ten years because the Military Chaplain was in the Canadian Military. ] The attached letter expresses the convictions of our...