Tradicat

 + JMJ The reactions to the July 2026 Episcopal Consecrations continue as the media storm subsides. I guess the most interesting news this week is Tim Flander's decision to stop his support of the SSPX. There's a lot of comments about this and while I've only read a little of his reasons, I came to one conclusion - everyone seems to get tripped up on some ancillary issue or event without looking at the whole picture and the key principles. One thought that occurred is that this isn't about jurisdiction, schism or any of the other dozens of opinions.  Rome has already stated what it is about multiple times and it is about the New Mass and the Second Vatican Council. Any canonically regular religious organization that has made a move towards the Tridentine Mass or even pre-conciliar thinking gets persecuted by Rome, the Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate are one example that did both. In the same era, the Knights of Malta also were punished. The persecution of any and a...

 + JMJ I am not a 'cradle' Traditional Catholic. In fact, one of my earliest 'church memories' is of the pews in my family's first parish.  Specifically, how they tasted. I remember a lot of people standing up around me as I got as much of the pew in my mouth as possible.   At that moment as I reached the sweet spot, an older lady caught my eye and I got the impression she was less that impressed that I had achieved the maximally effective amount of pew in my 4 year-old mouth. Looking back, I realised that the parish of my youth was a haven for Conservative Catholics. The Pastor had succeeded in isolating the parish from much of the madness of the 1970's. The result of a conservative parish with doctrinally sound teaching, catechesis and confessions was a parish packed to capacity. The downside, as I heard decades later, was that when a young member of that parish moved into another parish, he found a completely different Church from the one in which he had grow...

 + JMJ I have read that there are members of the Hierarchy who believe that Hell exists ... but it is empty and that the Church ecumenism encompasses all.  Others simple deny the existence of Hell. Now with the Roman response to the SSPX July 1, 2026 Episcopal consecrations it appears that some do believe in Hell and don't believe that the Catholic Church ecumenism includes the SSPX.  It would appear that the only people who are: Condemned to Hell are the SSPX and the faithful Catholics who seek the Unambiguous Sacraments from their priests and bishops. Excluded from the Catholic Church are likewise the SSPX. This is a little tongue in cheek (link) but it is really something that needs to be considered. P^3

 + JMJ As of today it has been 14 years since I moved from forums such as Angel Queen, Ignis Ardens, CathInfo and Suscipe Domine. It was an interesting start in 2012 ... and I wonder what will change in the next year?   By the time this posts - the SSPX consecration of four new bishops will most likely have occurred, maybe there will be another excommunication. Well . . . just have to drive off that bridge when we get there :-) P^3

 + JMJ Diane Montagna has posted an interview with Bishop Schneider (link)   I strongly encourage my readers to see the full and original interview at Diane Montagna's Substack and if possible support her work. P^3 Sources Mons. Schneider breaks his silence on Écône: the SSPX had to choose between Rome and «the integrity of the faith» – INFOVATICANA Bishop Schneider says SSPX gives Church a ‘service of historical value’ Bishop Schneider: The SSPX Provides the Church a Historic Service | FSSPX News Bishop Schneider: Serious Vatican Engagement with SSPX Would Mark “Beginning of the End” of the Modernist Project Key Excerpts ROME, 17 August 2026 — Bishop Athanasius Schneider has issued his first public statement since Rome declared six SSPX bishops to have incurred automatic excommunication over the Society’s episcopal consecrations at Écône on July 1, against the will of Pope Leo XIV. ... In his statement, Bishop Schneider also argues that the SSPX, far from threatening the...

 + JMJ I want to highlight / respond to two articles in particular: National Catholic Reporter: Former SSPX member says unity with Catholicism means more than valid ordinations :  First, Louis Massett was not a member of the SSPX, only priests, religious and perhaps the Third Order members are actually members of the SSPX.  Massett's experience regarding the cultural shift is aligned with my experience in that a change in belief is followed by a change in the artifacts - such as dress, music, association etc.  There are extremes in each of these - to the point where belief exceeds what is actually required.  Female dress is a key point and, for better or worse, Bishop Williamson's (RIP) series on slacks for women reflect a more extreme version of the modesty. "They're not Catholic. They're SSPX" actually reflects either the Sedevacantist or modern Catholic perspective.   In general the Sedevacantists - and I've run into this belief system throughout th...