[ultima ratio]

First read Gamber. Read Ratzinger. I have said no less than they. I have never denied the new Mass is valid. But the Novus Ordo is harmful to the faith because it suppresses Catholic doctrines and weakens the faith of Catholics generally. How many times must I say this?

[Loyalist]

Perhaps this is the point the self-styled knee-jerk papal loyalists need to grasp:

Investing absolute power in any office actually weakens its authority, because the officeholder can not only undo any and all of the acts of his predecessor, but also have any and all of his acts undone by his successors.

Private judgment actually gives the Protestant adherent, and his pastors, more power over their traditions and doctrines than the Pope has over Catholic tradition and doctrine.

They can create all of theirs ex nihilo from the Bible or other sources without reference to anything or anyone else, if they want, because their private judgment is absolute.

In the absence of an authority with the ability to judge competing claims, it is little wonder Protestantism has experienced so many doctrinal schisms.

What the knee-jerk papal loyalists are claiming for the Pope--absolute control not only over the interpretation but also the substance of doctrine--is what every Protestant claims for himself.

While this may in the short term strengthen the power of a particular Pope, it actually weakens the authority of the office over the long term.

[RobbyS]

And how often must I say that nothing in writing can do anything. There is nothing in Novus Ordo itself that is subversive of Catholic doctrine. The way it was implemented did confuse Catholics, did undermine their faith in their priests, who suddenly revealed themselves to be iconoclasts.