Rome and the SSPX - Version 2026 Part 6c: Principles and Rules for Surviving this Crisis of the Catholic Church (Principle 2)

JMJ

Principle 2: Know the Faith as the Catholic Church Teaches or Taught it.

A knowledge of the Faith and familiarity with the history of the Catholic Church for at least the past 200 years provides a good foundation for weathering this storm.

Bias, Opinions and Misbeliefs

One landmine that undermines principle #2 is the mixing of personal opinion with doctrine. These opinions, beliefs by another name, are sometimes held in a death grip. In some cases they are just prejudices against various real groups such as immigrants, Jews, communists, masons etc. In some cases it extends to conspiracy theories such as sedevacantism.

These firmly held beliefs prevent people from both understanding Doctrine as Taught by the Church and making the necessary distinctions.

For example, which religions offer worship to the True God?

Catholics, Orthodox, Protestants, Jews and Muslims.

Some people suck in their breath through their teeth creating an noticeable hiss at the above statement. However, I have it on good authority:

12 Q. Who are infidels? A. Infidels are those who have not been baptized and do not believe in Jesus Christ, because they either believe in and worship false gods as idolaters do, or though admitting one true God, they do not believe in the Messiah, neither as already come in the Person of Jesus Christ, nor as to come; for instance, Mohammedans and the like. (Catechism of Pope St. Pius X)

- and -

Infidel: in ecclesiastical language those who by baptism have received faith in Jesus Christ and have pledged Him their fidelity and called the faithful, so the name infidel is given to those who have not been baptized. The term applies not only to all who are ignorant of the true God, such as pagans of various kinds, but also to those who adore Him but do not recognize Jesus Christ, as Jews, Mohammed; strictly speaking it may be used of catechumens also, though in early ages they were called Christians; for it is only through baptism that one can enter into the ranks of the faithful. (Catholic Encyclopedia)

Breaking it down – a distinction is made between the types of infidels as understood by the Catholic Church. There are those that worship false gods and those worshiping one true God.

I have had discussions with Trads where it took fifteen to twenty minutes for them to understand the distinction that needs to be made: Offering worship to the True God, does not mean it is ‘True Worship’ as the Catholic Church understands it.

Reference: Tradicat: Is the object of Catholic, Jewish and Islamic worship the same God? – Updated

So my point is that misbeliefs and holding to them causes a loss of perspective and ultimately adherence to religious error. Cognitive Dissonance theory is one way to explain these types of firmly held misbeliefs and the lengths that people will go to boslter their opinions when confronts with reality.

Link to articles

Building a Foundational Knowledge

There is no way around it, you need to do the work. While Catholic magazines are a great starting point, it is critical to study actual Church documents.

Ones that I recommend are:

Catechism of the Council of Trent
Catechism of Saint Pope Pius X
Documents of Vatican 1
Pre-Council Encyclicals:
- Popes Against Modern Errors (Tan book available on Archive.org)
  - ON LIBERALISM (Mirari Vos, Pope Gregory XVI)
  - ON CURRENT ERRORS (Quanta Cura, Pope Pius IX)
  - SYLLABUS OF ERRORS (Pope Pius IX)
  - ON GOVERNMENT AUTHORITY (Diuturnum Illud, Pope Leo XIII)
  - ON FREEMASONRY AND NATURALISM (Humanum Genus, Pope Leo XIII)
  - ON THE NATURE OF TRUE LIBERTY (Libertas Praestantissimum, Pope Leo XIII)
  - ON THE CONDITION OF THE WORKING CLASSES (Rerum Novarum, Pope Leo XIII)
  - ON CHRISTIAN DEMOCRACY (Graves de Communi Re, Pope Leo XIII)
  - SYLLABUS CONDEMNING THE ERRORS OF THE MODERNISTS (Lamentabili Sane, Pope St. Pius X)
  - ON MODERNISM (Pascendi Dominici Gregis, Pope St. Pius X)
  - OUR APOSTOLIC MANDATE (On the “Sillon,” Pope St. Pius X)
  - THE OATH AGAINST MODERNISM (Pope St. Pius X)
  - ON THE FEAST OF CHRIST THE KING (Quas Primas, Pope Pius XI)
  - ON FOSTERING TRUE RELIGIOUS UNITY (Mortalium Animos, Pope Pius XI)
  - ON ATHEISTIC COMMUNISM (Divini Redemptoris, Pope Pius XI)
  - ON CERTAIN FALSE OPINIONS WHICH THREATEN TO UNDERMINE THE FOUNDATIONS OF CATHOLIC DOCTRINE (Humani Generis, Pope Pius XII)
- Mystici Corporis (The Mystical Body of Christ, the Church, Pope Pius XII)
Fundamentals of Catholic Dogma by Ludwig Ott

These are all available online for free and well worth the time needed to read them – cover to cover.

Building a Spiritual Foundation

Religious knowledge dies on the vine without an active spiritual life. Key elements are spiritual reading, prayer, meditation and contemplation.

I have mentioned this before, but it bears mentioning again advice that I received from a priest in the midst of the time when it appeared that the SSPX would obtain a no-compromise canonical regularization.

In those discussions, he said, I was pouring out drops of grace from my cup and if I didn’t “refill my cup”, I would crash and likely make big mistakes. Thinking about other Trads who were fervent, but held strong beliefs – they all ended poorly either abandoning the Faith altogether, ‘returning’ to the Novus Ordo, or became Sedevacantist.

“So you need to fill your cup and only give from the over flow.”

Another element is being grateful, not in the context that you have something someone else lacks, but that you have something that you didn’t and don’t deserve – the Faith and Catholicism. There was an article written by Robert Siscoe for the now defunct Catholic Family News that I recommend. When my wife and I first read it, we recognized it for what it is – a cornerstone for surviving this Crisis.

The Importance of Gratitude (Tradicat: Gratitude - Necessary for Surviving and Thriving in this Crisis)

P^3

The Catholic Church and the Rule of Law- Part II: Dr. John Lamont

+ JMJ This is the second article from Dr. Lamont from his lecture given in May 2014. P^3 Source Part A: Society of St. Hugh of Cluny Source Part B: Society of St. Hugh of Cluny 8 May2014 The Catholic Church and the Rule of Law- Part II By John Lamont To understand how the Jesuit conception of obedience departed from earlier conceptions, it is helpful to compare it with the teaching of St. Thomas on obedience. The fundamental difference between the two is that St. Thomas considers the proper object of obedience to be the precept of the superior (2a2ae q. 104 a. 2 co., ad 3). Obedience that seeks to forestall the expressed will of the superior does not bear on what the superior wants or thinks in general, but only on what the superior intends to command. St. Ignatius’s lowest degree of obedience, which he does not consider to be virtuous, is thus what St. Thomas considers to be the only form of obedience. St. Thomas holds that St. Ignatius’s alleged higher forms of o...

Morning and Evening and other sundry Prayers

+ JMJ Along the theme of P^3 (Prayer, Penance, Patience), and for my own reference ... here is a collection of Morning and Evening prayers from the Ideal Daily Missal along with some additional prayers. In this crisis of the Church, I do not think it is possible to do too much prayer, penance and have patience. P^3

Open Letter to Cardinal Gantin - July 6, 1988

There has been some discussion (read lots) about the term 'Conciliar Church'. I have posted this letter written by the Superior General and District Superiors of the SSPX after the 1988 Consecrations. Of particular interest is that the 'Conciliar Church' being referred to as a system. My paraphrase would be that the SSPX regards the 'conciliar Church' as an error within the Church. Source Open Letter to Cardinal Gantin Prefect of the Congregation for Bishops

Rome and the SSPX - Version 2026 Part 6b: Principles and Rules for Surviving this Crisis of the Catholic Church (Principle 1)

+ JMJ Principle 1: Realize that something is amiss in the Catholic Church The world in which I had my Traditional Awakening, is one in which practically anything pre-Conciliar such as liturgy, doctrinc, and even dogmas are either suppressed, ignored or re-framed to be acceptable to the ‘world’. What is more, the people adhering to these pre-conciliar teachings and liturgy are persecuted by other members of the Catholic Church. The things that non-Trads say about Trads can be quite extreme. For example, accusations against Traditionalists include that they are: A revival of the Jansenists (link) , Schismatics, Heretics, Uncharitable, Lefebrists Radicals Integrists When one group of Catholics is persecuted by the others for simply wanting to live as Catholics before them did for generations … well something is wrong. Further, we need to realize that when what was previously condemned is now promoted and what was previously promoted as the trut...

News Roundup: June 13, 2026

+ JMJ So the world continues to spin and break apart - metaphorically. One item that I think I forgot to mention was that the Catholic Family News ceased publication (link) . I met John Vennari at the seminary in Winona where after some discussion he gave me permission to repost articles. That CFN carried on for eight years after his passing is a testimony to the need for good reporting and articles. I still have over a dozen of his CDs and his ability to see the crisis for what it was and yet be grateful was an example worth following. Along this line of thinking, you'll notice a few links from articles posted on Unam Catholicam. This blog / website is run by an Philip Campbell and provides clear thinking on many topics. I respect his thoughts on the SSPX - even though I don't necessarily agree with many - I can respect his opinions on the matter. NB: This roundup contains some articles that are against Traditionalism and the SSPX. It is always good to have an idea of what...

Tradicat

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