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Traditionis custodes: Vatican further tightens restrictions on Traditional Latin Mass

Hannah Brockhaus   By Hannah Brockhaus for CNA

Priest celebrating the traditional Latin Mass at the church of St Pancratius, Rome / Thoom/Shutterstock

Vatican City, Dec 18, 2021 / 04:36 am (CNA).

The Vatican issued Saturday further strict guidelines on the celebration of the Traditional Latin Mass, in response to questions about the motu proprio Traditionis custodes.

The explanatory document, which bans confirmations and ordinations according to pre-Vatican II Roman Missals, was published Dec. 18 with Pope Francis’ approval, the Vatican’s liturgy office said.

Traditionis custodes is a July 16 motu proprio in which Pope Francis placed sweeping restrictions on the celebration of Mass using the 1962 Roman Missal, known variously as the extraordinary form of the Roman Rite, the Tridentine Mass, and the Traditional Latin Mass.

His predecessor Benedict XVI had issued a 2007 apostolic letter called Summorum Pontificum, which acknowledged the right of all priests to say Mass using the Roman Missal of 1962, which is in Latin.

The Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, the Vatican office responsible for matters related to the sacred liturgy, said it had received “several requests for clarification” on the correct application of Traditionis custodes.

The congregation published Dec. 18 a “responsa ad dubia” (“answers to doubts”), with one-word replies — either “negative” or “afffirmative” — to 11 specific questions, followed by brief explanations.

Archbishop Arthur Roche, prefect of the liturgy congregation, also wrote a letter to the presidents of bishops’ conferences, in which he said that the primary aim of the new restrictions was to foster ecclesial communion.

Ecclesial communion, he said, is expressed by recognizing that the liturgical books promulgated in conformity with the decrees of the Second Vatican Council are “the unique expression” of the prayer of the Roman Rite.

“This is the direction in which we wish to move, and this is the meaning of the responses we publish here,” Roche said.

In one of the responses, the Divine Worship congregation said that according to Traditionis custodes, sacraments cannot be celebrated using the liturgical books Rituale Romanum and the Pontificale Romanum promulgated prior to the Vatican II reforms.

The Pontificale Romanum contains the rites and ceremonies usually performed by bishops and the Rituale Romanum is one of the official ritual books used by a priest or deacon for rites not found in the Roman Missal, which is used for Mass.

The Vatican congregation clarified that a diocesan bishop can authorize the use of the 1952 edition of the Rituale Romanum, but not the Pontificale Romanum, “only to those canonically erected personal parishes which, according to the provisions of the Motu Proprio Traditionis custodes, celebrate using the Missale Romanum [Roman Missal] of 1962.”

This restriction is intended “to re-establish in the whole Church of the Roman Rite a single and identical prayer expressing its unity,” the liturgy office said.

“In implementing these provisions, care should be taken to accompany all those rooted in the previous form of celebration towards a full understanding of the value of the celebration in the ritual form given to us by the reform of the Second Vatican Council,” the document said.

“This should take place through an appropriate formation that makes it possible to discover how the reformed liturgy is the witness to an unchanged faith, the expression of a renewed ecclesiology, and the primary source of spirituality for Christian life.”

One of the changes Pope Francis’ motu proprio introduced to the Traditional Latin Mass was the obligation for it to be celebrated only in non-parish churches, oratories, or chapels.

The Vatican said Saturday that bishops can ask the Congregation for Divine Worship for a dispensation from this obligation “if it is established that it is impossible to use another church, oratory or chapel.”

The congregation went on to say that if the dispensation is given for a community to celebrate the Traditional Latin Mass in a parish, “such a celebration should not be included in the parish Mass schedule, since it is attended only by the faithful who are members of the said group” and “it should not be held at the same time as the pastoral activities of the parish community.”

“It is to be understood that when another venue becomes available, this permission will be withdrawn,” the liturgy office said.

The note also explained that the reason for the provision that the Traditional Latin Mass not be celebrated in parish churches is “intended to affirm that the celebration of the Eucharist according to the previous rite, being a concession limited to these groups, is not part of the ordinary life of the parish community.”

“There is no intention in these provisions to marginalize the faithful who are rooted in the previous form of celebration: they are only meant to remind them that this is a concession to provide for their good (in view of the common use of the one lex orandi [law of prayer] of the Roman Rite) and not an opportunity to promote the previous rite,” it added.

Another response emphasized that at Traditional Latin Masses, “it possible to use the full text of the Bible for the readings.”

The document noted that “Traditionis custodes states that the readings are to be proclaimed in the vernacular language, using translations of Sacred Scripture for liturgical use, approved by the respective episcopal conferences.”

It added: “No vernacular lectionaries may be published that reproduce the cycle of readings of the previous rite.”

In his letter to the presidents of bishops’ conferences, Roche said that a continuous formation regarded the liturgy is needed for priests and lay Catholics.

“As pastors we must not lend ourselves to sterile polemics, capable only of creating division, in which the ritual itself is often exploited by ideological viewpoints,” he said.

“Rather, we are all called to rediscover the value of the liturgical reform by preserving the truth and beauty of the Rite that it has given us,” he said.

“For this to happen, we are aware that a renewed and continuous liturgical formation is necessary both for priests and for the lay faithful.”

The new guidelines also explained certain regulations for priests who celebrate Traditional Latin Masses and ministers who assist them.

The diocesan bishop must seek the authorization of the Vatican to permit priests ordained after the publication of Traditionis custodes to celebrate the Mass according to the 1962 Roman Missal.

Deacons and other instituted ministries participating in the celebration of the Traditional Latin Mass need to have the permission of their bishop.

The Vatican said it wanted to ensure that priests who wish to celebrate the Traditional Latin Mass “share the desire of the Holy Father” that the Vatican II reform of the liturgy is recognized “as the unique expression of the lex orandi of the Roman Rite.”

Under the new restrictions, the Divine Worship congregation also banned priests who offer the Traditional Latin Mass from “bination,” or celebrating Mass twice on the same day.

It explained that priests granted permission to offer the Traditional Latin Mass may not offer more than one Old Rite Mass each day, or offer both the older Mass and the ordinary form Mass on the same day.

“It is not possible to grant bination on the grounds that there is no ‘just cause’ or ‘pastoral necessity’ as required by canon 905 §2: the right of the faithful to the celebration of the Eucharist is in no way denied, since they are offered the possibility of participating in the Eucharist in its current ritual form,” the document stated.

The congregation also offered guidance for bishops on how to respond to priests who do not accept the validity of the act of concelebration of the Mass — that is, when two or more priests or bishops celebrate Mass together — in particular, priests who refuse to concelebrate the Chrism Mass with their bishop.

According to the Vatican, these priests should have their permission to celebrate the Traditional Latin Mass revoked.

The congregation went on to say that before permission is removed, however, the bishop should “establish a fraternal dialogue” with the priest and “accompany him towards an understanding of the value of concelebration.”

“The explicit refusal not to take part in concelebration, particularly at the Chrism Mass, seems to express a lack of acceptance of the liturgical reform and a lack of ecclesial communion with the bishop,” the note said.


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87 Comments

  1. This restriction is intended “to re-establish in the whole Church of the Roman Rite a single and identical prayer expressing its unity,” the liturgy office said.

    A single and identical prayer will express Church UNITY!

    Imagine this narrative:

    No! No child of mine may read or pray any word from any book printed before 1952! Enough! Those earlier successors of Peter promulgated words long ago and far from the magisterium of progress dictated by VCII. Enough! Time is greater than space! Consider a precept that every Catholic recite in unison the exact same prayer at the exact same time. Would that not prove a miracle of unity!?!

    All that remains is for each person to become a robotic clone of a model the Church proposes–preferably one reflecting and accompanying, simultaneously, all members of the animal kingdom. Then the universal Church could rest in peaceful unity and uniformity.

    Except we know not how to deal with Persons immutable to plans of men. Suggestions will be taken at the next SYNOD of ALL SYNODS. Until then, my most sincere desires for you to experience a very Merry Christmas.

    • The most Orwellian aspect of those in Francis’ Orwellian religion is that there is a complete absense of any sense of irony of how Orwellian they are.

      Nothing personal Mal.

      • Just that your labelling is way off. Pope Francis’ religion is very Catholic, very Christ-like. Either you cannot see it or you do not want to, Edward.

        • Can I suggest you reexamine the teachings of Holy Mother Church? We all need to do a bit of digging nowadays to find it but the Truth is the Truth, always has been and always will be. If something is true today but wasn’t two thousand years ago, it needs to be explored more deeply. And Jesus was not a ‘man of His time’ – He was, is and always will be the same. It’s we who change and then need to change again to align ourselves with Him (not the other way around).

        • Christ was able to insist on the coherence of the Ten Commandments. The profoundly confused mind of Francis fantasizes that the Fifth and Sixth Commandments contradict each other when we “search” for a solution for Aids, which, in his mind, necessitates contraception. Don’t hold your breath waiting for him to ever put in a good word for chastity. Additionally, Christ, unlike Francis, would have been able to make the obvious connection between such things like the trivialization of sexual ethics, including his own comments in this regard that have downplayed ethics, and the abortion culture.

          I know of my own failings in Christian witness, but I know that there are numerous other ways in which Francis does not even strive to be Christlike, even in his expressed public witness, and is quite willing to act with vindictive jealousy towards those that do.

          • Okay. I will give you something for a start. This is what Pope Francis told a group of young people.
            “If I say I am Catholic and go to Mass every Sunday with my parents, but I don’t speak (about Jesus), I don’t help my grandparents, don’t help the poor, don’t visit the sick, then it is not witness, and it is useless. It is nothing other than being a parrot-Christian – words, words, words.”
            He told explained how Catholics need to be witnesses. “Being a witness does not mean being a saint, but being a poor man or poor woman who says, ‘Yes, I am a sinner, but Jesus is Lord, and I will try to witness to him every day and to correct my life and follow the correct path.” https://www.catholic.org/news/hf/faith/story.php?id=73075
            Pope lived this life. This is why he is affectionately known by people who know him well as the Slum Pope.

        • Sorry but your reply to me simply provides another example of what I observed initially – an assertion or declaration, but not really an argument.

      • It could really not be said better than this. Thank you. One of the problems with irony, satire, of course, is that those at whom it is aimed almost never feel the sting of it. Nor are they enlightened by it. A direct approach does not work either. They seem to have a carapace or a hide so thick–as thick as their heads–that nothing can penetrate it.

  2. Being unvaccinated, Catholic, enjoying traditional mass – while being pretty common for generations and generations – it is something for adventurers only these days.

  3. “This restriction is intended “to re-establish in the whole Church of the Roman Rite a single and identical prayer expressing its unity,” the liturgy office said.”

    In a plethora of languages, with multiple pick-and-choose prayers and varying outside-the-rubrics practices (“let’s all hold hands during the Our Father!”). Yeah, that’s some “single,” “identical,” “unified.”

  4. “appropriate formation that makes it possible to discover how the reformed liturgy is the witness to an unchanged faith…” Freedom is the freedom to declare that 2 + 2 = 4. Without the freedom to tell the truth, nothing else matters. The Bergoglian Captivity of the Church must come to an end some day…

      • Lies? This individual demonstrates daily his contempt for the Church. One is left to wonder what appetites he promotes that elicit such devotion in those who in reality are far more comfortable in protestantism. What exactly attracts anyone to remain in a Church they wish to see metamorphosized into something that is its existential antipode? The panache of being an edgy revolutionary, a rebel, a visionary? Is it the perks, the pedigree? Or just contempt — odium fidei? Addiction to the zeitgeist comes down to a celebration of personal hubris — pride — the impediment to all virtue.

        • James – Spot on. The pride that is God’s antithesis of God requires God’s Church become his. It happened at the beginning of man, and the same has been prophesied to happen at his end. Scripture does not lie, but pride does, and the prince does seek dominion in the holiest of places. He is simply not smart enough to realize that he plays a losing game.

        • Not so, samton. Although I do not believe in rating people – best, worst, mediocre or whatever – I will say that millions of Catholics around the world love this Pope and pray regularly for him. THe Founder of our Church – I do not say religion – was loved by the simple and common people. However, he was hated by the uppity type, who were financially well-off and who were very comfortable in performing their liturgical rituals and displaying ashes on their foreheads. Oh no, they could not stand this upstart who mingled with sinners and made it clear to the “religious” mob that they had to get out of their comfort zone in order to be saved. They considered him to be bad news – Beelzebub, in fact.

        • With respect samton911 Pope Sergus III a 60 year old man having a go with his 15 year old Mistress in the papal residence is a wee bit worst by several orders of magnitude.

          That having been said Francis is not great at all and if he retires I will buy him a watch and hope his successor is wee bit better.

      • You are becoming more delusional and not noticing what is happening, Mal.

        The German Catholic Church is on the brink of schism and the Pope, by his lack of actions and clarity, turns his back.

        What does the Pope gain by the popularity of the world but the loss of Souls?

        • Only the usual trad sites nsay that the German Church is on the brink of schism. German Bishops have made it clear that they have absolutely no intention of going it alone withour Rome. This does not mean that during this discussion period they will not attend to the questions that are being asked. But leaving the Church? Never.

  5. Well..well..what magnanimity for those who desire to worship in the way the Latin Rite had done for 1300 years..Archishop Lefebvre was correct… the modernists cannot be trusted. How sad that the liturgical peace Pope Benedict brokered has been destroyed.. and for what purpose? The Church is divided further. Is this an action of the Holy Spirit?…Or the Evil One…?

    • Lefevre was an excommunicated goofball. He told lots of lies and misled many. Well, Benedict gave us the old mass again, and because of all the SSPX loons etc that wanted to weaponize the old mass and turn it into an anti Catholic anti Vatican II seminar, the current Pope has restricted its use again. I guess those kids in the anti Catholic breakaway sects just cannot have good things, and they ruined it for everyone.

      • Amen! I am not thrilled with Francis punishing loyal Trads or young people who like the Old Mass and never heard of the SSPX. But the Radtrads dinny help the cause. They hurt it and they still do.

        • All kinds of problems, like (unjustly) punishing the good child too.

          Or letting the bad one get away and then arbitrarily punishing 3 others and arbitrarily rewarding the remaining 4.

  6. I left the Catholic Church because of Pope Francis and his rejection of the Catholicism that was practiced for nearly 2,000 years prior to the Second Vatican Council. I am now much happier.

    • You should not have left simply for having a Pope who, like hordes of the ordained in the post VII era, were malformed and too prideful to even consider it. The fact that one slipped to the top does not mean that the gates of hell have prevailed. Jesus needs everyone to fight.

    • You should return, plain secularization is much more digestible than contemporary, contradictions filled Christianity but there is no salvation outside Church. As of Francis & friends – just ignore them. You will retain the same level of happiness and you will be saved.

    • We are here to learn to love God in this life and be happy with Him in the next. You might feel happier for a time now but (sorry) we’re not here to make ourselves happy but to be pleasing to God and earn our Eternal Reward. I do know how you feel – I used to come away from our local Mass feeling angry and knew that was not supposed to happen. Keep looking until you find a Priest who can help you in your journey? We are all created to go back to God but we need to put in the work, take up our own cross and ask for help to get there.

    • Why are you happier? Either you’re attending an “ecclesial communion” not in communion with the Holy See, or you’ve left religion altogether. In either case what’s to be happy about?

      We’ve had a few popes in history worse than Francis-not many-but a few, and he’s a short timer. When he’s buried for for some centuries the ancient rite will still be celebrated. In the mean time he’s a cross that must be tolerated, and his pontificate a penance we deserve.

    • Then Dr. Hart you are lost. St Augustine and Tradition tells us there is NO EXCUSE FOR SCHISM even upon the admission the Church is being ruled by wicked and sinful men.

      Do you think Pope Francis is personally evil and he will go to Hell? Maybe he will & maybe he won’t but if he goes to Hell yer odds of joining him went up the day ye left the Church. REPENT AND RETURN!

      No Salvation Outside the Church! That is Dogma and ye canny plead invincible English.

        • This “defense” has worn out or lost a true meaning, even baby killers use it, saying, when you tell them they’re killing babies: “Your’re judging us. Who are you to judge us. You’re pontificating.”

          We should be happy to hear our faults when it’s accurate; and then we’d welcome the pronouncement of the right judgment.

  7. “As pastors we must not lend ourselves to sterile polemics, capable only of creating division, in which the ritual itself is often exploited by ideological viewpoints,”

    So when can we expect the Vatican to abandon their infantile and sterile polemics capable only of createing division, in which the ritual itself is exploited by venomously ideological viewpoints?

      • Having spent a long time studying Lefebvre and his goofy anti Catholic schismatic organization known as the SSPX, I can say there was a very good reason that he was excommunicated. For all practical purposes, he and his people installed Lefebvre as their own personal pope. Talk about leaving the church!

      • He was wrongly excommunicated – Holy Mother Church has corrected this error.

        And Lefebvre is respected for his contribution to helping preserve Faith. He is not worshipped.

        And SSPX oppose sedevacantism.

        You sound very angry. Let us not become divisive in our natural confusion with the many different messages we are hearing. This is an opportunity to deepen our understanding and our love of God and His Church. Let’s do Him proud instead of lashing out wildly at things we simply don’t yet understand.

        • MariTere, he was not “wrongly excommunicated,” he consecrated four bishops without papal approval, a clear violation of canon law for which the penalty is automatic excommunication. He died excommunicated and it was never reversed in his case. The excommunication was eventually lifted later for the four bishops (one of whom was subsequently excommunicated again), but it was not “an error” that the Church made and then corrected, it was done pastorally in hopes that the group would have a pathway to be fully in communion with Rome, which, to this day, they are still not.

    • So the refusal -in conscience- to be a so-called “cafeteria Catholic” makes the faithful “cafeteria Catholics”? Amazing! The Modernists -no matter how high in the Church they have climbed- can’t decide who is or is not Catholic any more than the insane can decide who is or is not sane. Sorry!

      • To people like Mal, the refusal to recognize the Pope’s Pachamama idolatry as orthodox makes one schismatic. This is the upside-down, Orwellian world of Modernist papolaters.

        • Timothy, the only reason I refuse to go with the lie that Pope Francis worshipped the icon is simply because that claim is a lie. Nobody there, especially our Pope worshipped the icon, though they did pay respect to something that represented the motherness of earth to them, the earth through which God’s created gifts are made available to mankind. Do we in the west not use pagan rituals like genuflecting and wearing wedding rings which we have blessed by a priest?
          Timothy, I was a critic of Pope Francis until I came to realize that I had been conditioned by opinion writers and not be the truth. I was only when I began to read unadulterated reports that I developed a better understanding of this Pope who has devoted his life to faityhfully serving our Lord, his creation and his people.

          • ‘Pagan rituals like genuflecting and wedding rings’? Be careful what you condemn … Wedding rings are Sacramentals and genuflection before a king is a sign of respect and humility; not to be compared with paying respect and homage to something other than God. We should worship the Creator not the created, especially in His own house.

          • Mal,

            I’m glad I see you for who you really are. Your conscience must be very elastic.

            My issue is not the Latin Mass. That’s not what animates my thoughts. However, Christian morality does.

            When Joe Biden met with Francis in October, Biden claimed that the Francis told him he was a “good” Catholic and that he should continue to receive Communion. Thus, the Pope is endorsing Catholics who espouse heresy and support the “right” of women to kill their pre-born babies. That’s truly demented and evil.

            I’m glad I left the Catholic Church. Francis’ actions and words have proven that it is run by a man who is demonically possessed.

          • So what was Francis “worshiping” when he insisted that no one criticize the practice of burying children alive among his idolized Amazonian peoples?

          • Anyone in the vicar’s vicinity who paid respect to ‘something that represented the motherness of earth’ dishonored and misrepresented Scripture and Catholic belief. God the FATHER created heaven and earth, with the SON who was with Him in the beginning and through Whom all things were made when the SPIRIT of God was moving over the face of the waters.

            Paying respect to ‘something that represented the motherness of earth’ is an affront to Mary, the Mother of God, the same God who created heaven and earth. Neglecting the Mother of God – ALSO THE Mother of the Church – disrespects Mary, Christ, and all good Christians. The Blessed Virgin Mary is fruitful as the vessel God chose to deliver Salvation to man.

            The thing the vicar and his company respected is nothing more than a clod of earth. That clod was painted and shaped to represent something other than Mary. *’What the Catholic faith believes about Mary is based on what it believes about Christ, and what it teaches about Mary illumines in turn its faith in Christ.’

            Respecting a clod of earth versus honoring Mary affronts a Christian sensibility which sees the blessed and singular Mother of Christ as full of virtue and grace. Choosing to respect, instead of Mary, a clod of earth, Francis did dishonor to himself, to his position as vicar, to the Mother of Christ, and to Christ Himself.

            *The Catechism is a friend.

      • No, it’s just that the breakaway sect Catholics of the SSPX, those who worship Lefebvre as if he were a god, are all choosing to become protestants rather than stick with the one true church. Let’s face it, for all their dissembling and pretending to remain in the church, they have left it and formed a goofy protestant religion that merely apes the trappings of the Catholic church

        • There is this thing called the Eighth Commandment. It applies to you too. No one has ever “worshipped” Archbishop Lefebvre. As to his excommunication, no one can know. According to Canon Law, the terms of his excommunication can only exist if the state of his soul were in mortal sin because of his actions, which is a matter only God can know. Considering your dislike for the Eighth Commandment, presuming the role of God does not seem like too much of a stretch.

          • As to his excommunication, no one can know. Actually, we do know for sure that he WAS excommunicated – automatically and later by a Bishop. What we do not know if at the very last moment of life on this side, he repented. Without this repentance there is no way he could live in the Church in the heavenly realm. Jesus did promise that whatever Peter should m
            bind on earth will be bound in heaven. Jesus keeps his word.
            I can assure you that I do not intend to reject or ignore the Eight Commandment. I just worry about those who tell lies about the words, actions and fidelity of Pope Francis, the Vicar of Christ. I wonder if you have an idea of how serious these lies and false accusations against the Pope is.

    • “Pastor Aeternus” of the First Vatican Council while relatively short, waxed profusely on the authority and power of the papacy and the submission it was due, but it provided a linchpin toward the end: “The Holy Spirit was not given to the Roman Pontiffs so that they might disclose new doctrine, but so that they might guard and set forth the Deposit of Faith handed down from the Apostles.” When the living Magisterium fails to thus perform does it exist? The Petrine Office is at the heart of the living Magisterium. Pope Francis promotes ideas which are contrary to the perennial Magisterium of the Church, albeit with calculated ambiguity, but persistently without any ambiguity fails to correct bold heresy emerging from the episcopate, the clergy and the theological academy. His peculiar exercise of the office he holds undermines the papacy and simultaneously undermines his own claim to papal authority when he duplicitously abandons the magisterium of his predecessors which was in conformity to the Gospel and the Apostolic Tradition. He can’t have it both ways and he knows it. Recall again his admonition to Archbishop Forte in regard to communion for the divorced and remarried – “…not too directly or it will make a mess. We’ll clarify it later…”
      Submission to papal authority in such a context is as walking the razors edge. The unleashing of the whip upon laity and religious who adhere to a classical understanding Roman Catholicism has provided one scandal after another during the Bergoglian captivity while Jesuits who promote homosexuality, for one example, are embraced with accolades.
      What does give here?
      It would do well to recall a statement of sixteenth century Bishop Melchior Cano, O.P., theologian at the Council of Trent: “Peter has no need of our lies or flattery. Those who blindly and indiscriminately defend every decision of the Supreme Pontiff are the very ones who do most to undermine the authority of the Holy See – they destroy instead of strengthening its foundations.” Above and beyond the situation addressed in this article Bergoglio and his syndicate weaponize the impulse to papolatry against which Cano warns in order to eviscerate the papacy and make Roman Catholicism prone to total deconstruction from within while maintaining the façade. Perks, pedigree and prestige assigned to the service of a “new paradigm.”
      If you want to go deeper tap Ss. Bellarmine and Cajetan.
      The cafeteria Catholic preeminent is one Jorge Mario Bergoglio who understands the papacy as being his carte blanche for exercising his personal perspective. The papacy is a magic wand. You stand with Christ or you don’t — no slight of hand there.

      • Wrong. The Cafeteria Catholics are 1) Bergoglio and 2) Those from the breakaway Catholic sects who recognize no one as god except for Lefebvre, and themselves, who act just like Protestants, and constantly deny the pope has authority over them.

        They are both bad. And no, just because you can quote some guy from long ago does not mean you are scholarly. I have seen equally non impressive attempts from the breakaway people. They are VERY selective in their quotes from old sources, and they never mention the more excelletn scholars who hold the contrary points.

        • “Scholars” who contadict doctine, have no authority. “Scholars” are as buffoonish as everyone else. Didn’t you learn anything in college?

        • Samton, that poses a bit of dilemma for me. I don’t attend the Masses of SSPX or encourage anyone else to do so. But if, as you say the Pope is also a “cafeteria Catholic,” what do you suggest I do about that? Am I still bound to obey him and regard his fuzzy theology as binding?

  8. “Re-establish in the whole Church of the Roman Rite a single and identical prayer expressing its unity.”

    To WHAT unity are they referring?

  9. Traditionis custodes: Vatican further tightens restrictions on Traditional Latin Mass….and…
    Covid Lockdowns: Vatican further tightens restrictions on any Mass TLM or otherwise

  10. Um, wait. I’m confused.

    Are we supposed to be celebrating diversity? Or shutting it down and lopping it off?

    Does synodality go two ways? Or is it just another term for the exercise of unyielding, dictatorial control?

    And what about dialogue? Does that now mean making sure we have our pens handy to jot down new epoch-shifting rules handed down to us by our betters?

    I guess you have to be a theologian to be able to grasp all the the subtle and minute nuances of this pope’s statements.

    Ironic that the most appropriate word to describe the type of bizarre, convoluted thinking taking place in the Vatican today would seem to be, ‘byzantine.’

    • Dialogue is reserved for the divorced and remarried, homosexuals, and Muslims. For Catholics who want to worship the way Catholics have always worshipped, there is the guillotine.

      • While Pharisees wanted to continue living their comfortable self-serving religious lives, Jesus was mixing with sinners, prostitutes and tax collectors.

        • Er, ‘mixing with’? He reached out to help them rise above themselves. He mixed with holy people, and people who wanted to become holy. It didn’t matter if they were rich or poor. Lazarus was extremely wealthy. I’m guessing Joseph of Arimathea was, too. It was the pride of rich He corrected, not the richness itself which was neither here nor there (“Give back to Caesar, etc”)

        • And Jesus didn’t justify their sins like a showboating pope using the images of humility to affect his worldly pride. And his idolators do the same.

          • And Jesus was not a judgmental hypocrite like the Pharisees who, out of sheer ignorance and an exaggerated image of self-importance, kept criticizing our Redeemer. However, our Lord had mankind or, shall I say humankind, on his mind and so did not allow these non-loving, ritual-obsessed hypocrites to derail his mission. Jews and Gentiles had to see and to hear him in order to witness God’s loving plan in action. It was not confined to temples.

  11. Jesus Christ is the head of His Church. Pope Francis is only the custodian. If Jesus decides to remove His custodian.it will be in His time. Until then, I must remain faithful to the Church and follow it’s time honored Tradition, pray for it’s custodian and accept persecution ,even from those in leadership of the Church.

  12. We are here to learn to love God in this life and be happy with Him in the next. You might feel happier for a time now but (sorry) we’re not here to make ourselves happy but to be pleasing to God and earn our Eternal Reward. I do know how you feel – I used to come away from our local Mass feeling angry and knew that was not supposed to happen. Keep looking until you find a Priest who can help you in your journey? We are all created to go back to God but we need to put in the work, take up our own cross and ask for help to get there.

  13. The foolish idea of Papal Infallibility,that a mere mortal can be perfect is the root of all this evil… Throughout history, Jesus and Mary appear to ones they chose, provide words of guidance to ones they chose. To say that the Pope is the pipeline of Gods word is a stretch.

    • Did not God choose Moses to give laws, called the Mosaic Law, to the people of the Old Covenant. And did not Moses allow divorce and a way out for people who did not want to honor their parents? And did not Jesus say that, from the beginning, it was not so? But since Moses had made that ruling, it was accepted in heaven and so it was not deemed a sin for any person who divorced or did what was necessary to get out of honoring his/her parents, even though in reality it was always a wrongdoing.
      Jesus chose Simon, whom he renamed Peter, to be the one who would bind or loose whatever for people of the New Covenant. It is foolish to say that this authority given to Peter is foolish. Only Protestants and protesting “Catholics’ say that.

      • Do we read the entire passage? Why did Moses permit what was not permitted from the beginning? BECAUSE OF HARDNESS OF HEART. Moses was not by any means infallible, in fact he was quite the contrary and because of his lack of faith was only allowed to view the Promised Land — never to enter it.
        Amoris Laetitia contradicts the Gospel and the consistent teaching of the Church. The papacy is to serve as the Vicar of Christ, not His replacement. Revelation ceased with the death of Saint John the Evangelist. Any pope who contradicts Sacred Scripture, the Apostolic Tradition and the perennial Magisterium stands outside the Faith.
        He duplicitously abandons the magisterium of his predecessors which was in conformity to the Gospel and the Apostolic Tradition. He can’t have it both ways and he knows it so connivance and sleight of hand continue to be employed. As I cited above in an earlier comment recall his admonition to Archbishop Forte in regard to communion for the divorced and remarried – “…not too directly or it will make a mess. We’ll clarify it later…” For publicizing that statement Archbishop Forte was shortly thereafter cut loose.
        Now, of course, we have him eradicating ancient liturgical practice. The explanation of establishing unity is absurd. His action is promoting fracture.
        Pope Francis practices a “court duplicity.”

        • Regardless of why Moses permitted divorce, the point is that he did. And that who followed his ruling did not sin – even though it was wrong. Moses was chosen by God to be the lawgiver then. Even Jesus quoted and acknowledged his laws. After all, Jesus, Mary and Joseph, as well as Elizabeth and John the Baptist were Jews.
          You keep flinging accusations against this very faithful Pope but can you name a single Dogma or Doctrine of the Church that he has changed.
          Regarding your statement about communion for the divorced: In an article in Churchmilitant, of all places, we read: “Regarding divorced and remarried couples, Pope Francis clarifies, “Integrating into the life of the Church doesn’t mean receiving Communion.” He adds that to do so “would be an injury also to marriage, to the couple, because it wouldn’t allow them to proceed on this path of integration.” You see, Pope Francis does not believe that they should receive communion but that we need to still make room for them to eventually integrate – just as Jesus did not condemn the adulteress thus giving her the opportunity to repent and to turn her life around. Some people want to shut the door to people who are lost, others want to leave the door open to enable them to enter once again.
          Pope Francis is a true Apostle of Christ.

  14. Francis tolerates corruption, cover up of sexual abuse, Pagan idol worship and German Schism, yet the Mass of Ages is offensive to him. Sad.

    • You have got it terrible wrong, Johann. Terribly wrong.
      Pope Francis hates corruption, absolutely detests abuse, especially child abuse and believes that only God should be worshipped. He lives in accordance with that belief.
      The Mass that you call “:Mass of the Ages” was made binding to all Roman Catholics by Pope Pius V. He wanted unity in the Church which was then mostly confined to the region that was once part of the Roman Empire in which Latin would have been t common language. Yes the Pope did not allow any dissention. Now, that the Church has spread out far and wide, covering many areas that were not touched by the Romans and their customs, the Holy Spirit inspired Vatican 2 decided that the Church needed to be relevant to the times and so some customs and rituals needed to be changed. However, there was never any attempt ot even intention to change any dogma or doctrine. To put it in the language used by one of my Parish priests: the parcel was the same but only the packaging was changed. Some are sad, millions are happy.

      • Mal, Pius V also allowed all rites that were 200 years of age or more to remain in use, didn’t he? I’m not sure that “millions are happy,” since millions have left, and among those remaining, a majority do not view the Mass as a sacrifice or believe in the Real Presence. I can’t feel encouraged by those facts.

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  1. Opinion: Let a thousand rites bloom and flourish! – Catholic World Report – The Old Roman
  2. Does Traditionis Custodes pass Liturgical History 101 ? – Catholic World Report – The Old Roman

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