Tradicat

 + 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...

   + JMJ  Conclusion While there is a tendency to blame our parents for our own failings, they are at best a contributing factor. In the end we are our own worst enemies by charging off into battles ill prepared. Hence the reason why, of late, I try to let the battles come to me and deal with them as best I can. Why? Because charging off into battle after battle in a war spanning millennia if not eons is just going to result in our becoming spiritually if not physically exhausted. If we don’t ‘feed’ our spiritual life and instead slavishly adhere to the externals or even the intellectual fight against the world – then we’ll end up falling and being a cautionary tale for others. … But … only if we stay down. Mr. Skojec seems to be starting to crawl out of the tunnel he stumbled into a while back. Let’s hope and pray for him because there is no guarantee that we won’t follow in the same steps as he and others have done before us. P^3

   + JMJ Lessons to Learn While I don’t have the same level of scruples, I do have a strong desire to seek for the truth in everything, even via argumentation. So … I think I have a glimpse into that aspect of his character. The desire for the truth is one that can’t be sated with only study and argumentation. In the 2010’s when I was very active on the now defunct Angel Queen and Ignis Ardens – I expended hundreds of hours studying, debating, arguing and studying some more. It evaporated my spiritual life like a puddle of water left out in the summer sun. So the first lesson remains the one that a priest gave me in this error. “Your need to keep the cup of your spiritual life full and give only from the excess. Otherwise you’ll empty your cup and crash.” (my paraphrase). Then we see the rigourism passed on from his father (should that be capitalised?) in Mr. Skojec’s strict adherence to the letter and the apparent ignorance of the science of placing that theology in...

   + JMJ  Core Elements The first element it that Mr. Skojec’s father was a by-product of the pre-conciliar age that, at least in the US was (IMO) a bi-polar mixture of extreme laxity and rigorism. In this case, his scale tipped towards the latter and combined with whatever internal battles his father dealt with through that age. From this emerged Mr. Skojec’s scupulosity and strong confirmation bias that fueled a need to beat people into the Church with his words. This is or was strongly linked to his rigourism. Eventually, this approach to Catholicism can’t be sustained and results in a crisis. In Mr. Skojec’s case it appears to be a fairly all encompassing crisis. He has lost his income, his family, his wife and his Faith. P^3

   + JMJ Note To The Reader: This is rather long ... I may pare it down later. The Spilling So, in his own words Mr. Skojec, in response to someone advocating for the ‘Fifth Marian Dogma’, wrote: Catholicism needs less dogma, not more. Stop trying to make your personal theological hobby horses required for belief under pain of grave sin, do more to spread authentic belief while leaving room for questions and doubts I think he had hinted at the core issue in his final words: “… leaving room for questions and doubts”. I don’t think we need any “dogma” at all. You need teaching, sure. But the Church leaves herself no room to say, “Hey, we got that one pretty wrong which is why we’re changing this” and you wind up with faith-killing doctrinal “developments” that are clear 180s or they sweep the old ugly stuff under the rug. He followed with the following points It’s bothered me for a long time that we talk with such certainty about supernatural “truths” we cannot prove. ...

   + JMJ The Issue Recently, he got triggering into an argument on Dogma and this I think is the first time I’ve seen him discuss and grapple with the real reasons he left the Faith. So … on X somebody espoused an opinion supporting the declaration of the “Fifth Marian Dogma”. Which is the theological theory that the Blessed Virgin Mary acts as Co-Redemptrix and Mediatrix of All Graces ( link – EWTN ). I had always believed these to be two separate doctrines, so I did a quick check in Ott’s “Fundamentals of Catholic Dogma”. Under Chapter 2 The Privileges of the Mother of God, we find the dogmas (ie De Fide teachings): Mary is truly the Mother of God Mary was conceived without stain of original sin (Pius IX 1854) Mary conceived by the Holy Ghost without the co-operation of man. Mary bore her Son without any violation of her virginal integrity. Also after the Birth of Jesus, Mary remained a Virgin Mary was assumed body and soul into Heaven (Pius XII ...

 + JMJ  Introduction When Steve Skojec sold 1P5 he started some new online channels - one of which is a substack / email newsletter to which I subscribed. His actions and thoughts have peaked my interest ... or at least some of his thoughts. The slow burning of his life to the ground with conflicts with priests, multiple moves and now … as far as I can tell … family breakup, and loss of the Catholic Faith. This has proved to be yet another cautionary tale of doing what appears to be the right thing for the wrong reason or maybe even for the wrong person. That may sound a little condescending and prideful … so let me explain. Over the past year, Mr. Skojec has been quite frank with his character flaws and it seems as if he almost had two personas. One that we saw via 1P5 and the other we saw in X. This, according to what I read, seems to have been the one that his family saw. An angry, frustrated man who, I believe, was caught between the inconsistencies of earlier episodes...

 + JMJ Here's my current News Roundup list.  There are probably some repeat articles for previously Roundups. P^3 Popes Past Present and Future News and Views King Charles attends ecumenical prayer service in Sistine Chapel - Vatican News Pope tells Knights of the Holy Sepulchre to 'advance in goodness' - Vatican News Pope Leo XIV: 'No tolerance for any form of abuse in the Church' - Vatican News Pope: Popular movements must fill void left by society’s inhuman indifference - Vatican News “Leo from Chicago” – Documentary - YouTube RORATE CÆLI: Leo and the Germans RORATE CÆLI: LEO AND SYNODALITY (A Silent Implosion?) - Part II in the Series "The First Year of Leo XIV" RORATE CÆLI: LEO AND THE RADICALS - Part III in the Series "The First Year of Leo XIV" RORATE CÆLI: LEO AND THE LATIN AMERICANS - Part IV in the Series "The First Year of Leo XIV" RORATE CÆLI: LEO IN HIS OWN WORDS: THE KEY POINTS OF THE INTERVIEW - Part V in the Series ...

 + JMJ My thought is that we need to be poor in spirit, detached from the things of this Earth. This, in general, is a restatement of Church Doctrine and we shouldn't discount it just because it came from Rome. I learned that from a statement made by Pope Benedict XVI that initially, I thought was modernist.  Then Bishop Fellay said the exact same thing. I know people who would have stopped at the thought that Bishop Fellay is a modernist.  I was curious so I did some research and I discovered that both were simply repeating pre-conciliar doctrine. Funny that! So don't throw out the baby with the bath water. P^3 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don%27t_throw_the_baby_out_with_the_bathwater

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 + JMJ Thematic synthesis and reflections Taken together, Dilexi te presents a powerful and coherent vision of Christian discipleship rooted in love for the poor. Below is a thematic synthesis of its core emphases: Christ’s love and identification with the poor: The document begins with the premise that Jesus Christ, in his life and mission, chooses to identify with the lowly and excluded. Poverty is not accidental or secondary to the faith; rather, in Christ’s self-emptying is embedded a divine “preference” for the weak. In encountering the poor, Christians meet Christ himself. Inseparability of faith and charity:Leo strongly insists that one cannot truly love God without loving neighbor, especially the poor. Any faith that neglects works of mercy is deficient. The works of mercy are not mere add-ons but essential expressions of worship and authenticity. The poor as protagonists, not passive objects:   Throughout the text, there is a...

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 + JMJ Executive Summary Pope Leo has issued his first official / formal words using as an instrument an Apostolic Exhortation. ( Vatican.va: Dilexi Te ) Being pressed for time (as always these days) I employed chatGPT to provide a summary ... later I may read the document and determine if chatGPT performed as designed ... or suffered from hallucinations ( link ). My over all summary of the findings from my quick read are the following: Our Lord Jesus Christ was born, lived and died poor - with nothing.  That was an example for us. OLJC healed the sick, in that era many were the poorest of the poor. The poor, those who have less than us, deserve our charity and love.   Many Catholic institutions were founded on the service of the poor and sick. When the rich forget the poor, then the Church would pick up the pieces. So ... while we may not like some of what is in the document, the truth is that: You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt lose its savour, wherewit...