Free Republic

Francis and His Collaborators Reject More of Vatican II Than Traditional Catholics DoChrist is the goal of human history; He is the focal point of the longings of history and of civilization; He is the center of the human race; He is the joy of every heart and the answer of all its yearnings; He is the Alpha and Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end; and it is the Church’s “single intention” that God’s kingdom may come. Thus says Vatican II, and yet the “great defenders of Vatican II” persecute Traditional Catholics because we assert...

Good Friday Gaslighting It has been twenty years since release of the movie, The Passion of the Christ, produced, directed and co-written by Mel Gibson. The film is the highest grossing Christian film of all time (inflation adjusted) as well as the highest grossing independent film of all time. As of 2023, it was also the highest grossing R rated film domestically, receiving an R rating due to its graphic depiction of the Passion of the Christ. But before all the glory of its ultimate success and triumph, this film had its own passion to suffer and overcome at the...

Canon lawyer Fr. Murray: SSPX is not in schism, their Masses can fulfill Sunday obligationThe canon lawyer stressed that the Vatican has recognized the SSPX’s faculties to hear confessions and witness marriages, and that the society shows a ‘cooperative spirit’ with the Holy See.Prominent canon lawyer Father Gerald Murray has declared that the Society of St. Pius X (SSPX) is not in schism, and that their Masses can fulfill Catholics’ Sunday obligation.Murray explained on the Ask a Priest Live podcast on Thursday that the traditional priestly society is “not in schism” because the purported excommunication of its leaders, which is...

Winners & Losers of the Interest Group Battles That Raged at Vatican II and Continue TodayFrancis’s unholy alliance with the globalists has alerted many Catholics to the reality that anti-Catholic interest groups play a far greater role in shaping Vatican policy today than do actual Catholics. For good reason, then, we beg God to convert or remove Francis. However, as we can see from the following discussion of the winners and losers of Vatican II’s interest group battles, there is little hope of actually “solving the Francis problem” unless and until we repudiate the errors that paved the way for...

[Catholic/Orthodox Caucus] Francis speaks to the Liturgy Dicastery about liturgical reform - by Michael CharlierThis week, the Roman liturgical authority held its annual plenary assembly, which was held under the theme "Liturgical formation from Sacrosanctum Concilium to Desiderio desideravi". Concrete decisions have not yet been made public. But we have learned of a speech that Francis gave to the participants on Thursday, February 8, which provides some insight into the pontiff's understanding of the liturgy. The source of all the reports is an article written by CNA's Roman correspondent Matthew Santucci, from which we also take our quotes from the...

[Catholic Caucus] How Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre Fought the Vatican’s Ongoing Assault on Catholic TruthWhen thinking about how best to resist Francis (and any heretic the next conclave might elect), we should recognize that God has given us the example of Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, who fought these same battles long before the world had heard of Jorge Bergoglio. One of the most evil aspects of Francis’s occupation of the papacy is his unabashed assault on Catholic truth. Most of us have seen several indications of this over the past ten years, but it is worthwhile to summarize some of the primary...

[Catholic/Orthodox Caucus] The Interdiction on "Communicatio in Sacris" Before the Second Vatican CouncilIn practice, we can hardly say that we recognize the same church, the same religion. Inspired by Saint Augustine, the erudite classicist Aram Frenkian (1898–1964) formulated an extremely important question in one of his studies: “Is perfection at the beginning or at the end?” A rhetorical question, of course, as the answer from the African Doctor indicates the perfection of knowledge at the origins, before Adam and Eve committed the “original sin.” Similarly, for classical Catholic thinkers, things have always been the same: the apostolic Church was that...

What “Papolatry” is and What We Can Learn from Tolkien’s Epic Story One of the most serious errors widespread today is designated by the term “papolatry.” This error is not manifested through denial but rather through an excessive affirmation of the Pope’s authority and privileges. To designate it, there is at least one alternative term, namely the concept of “hyperpapalism” proposed by Dr. Peter Kwasniewski in his comprehensive monograph, The Road from Hyperpapalism to Catholicism (Arouca Press, 2022). However, the most commonly used word remains the former. In this article, I want to explain as clearly as possible the meanings...

Pope Francis Is the Pope He Was Waiting ForThe Church under Pope Francis has become infiltrated by the strange ideological connotations found among communist-sympathizing Liberation Theologians.In my book Status Envy: The Politics of Catholic Higher Education, there is a chapter titled “A Pope Away from a Perfect Life for the Jesuits.” The chapter documents in depressing detail the ways in which the Jesuits began to wage war with the pope following Vatican II. It describes how the 28 Jesuit campuses became the battlefields for a protracted war between the Jesuits and Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI. From...

[Catholic Caucus] The Term “Pastoral” as a Talisman WordOne of the expressions we hear most in recent years is “pastoral.” “Pastoral reasons” are used to justify some initiatives in the ecclesial sphere, as we have seen in Fiducia supplicans. “Pastoral motifs” are also behind many changes in liturgy and sacred music. It almost seems that pastoral care has become a sort of passepartout to be able to let anything pass. Moreover, one of the most important centers for liturgical renewal, the French Centre de Pastorale Liturgique, founded in 1943, included this word in its name, thus indicating a theme for...

[Catholic Caucus] "Fiducia Supplicans" and the Upcoming Conclave - by Roberto de Mattei Roberto de MatteiCorrispondenza RomanaDecember 27, 2023The promulgation of the Declaration of the Doctrine for the Faith Fiducia supplicans on Dec. 18, 2023 and the reactions that followed it offer us a possible key to the next conclave. The author of the Declaration is Pope Francis' close collaborator and ghost writer, Victor Manuel Fernández, who was appointed prefect of the new Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith on July 1st, 2023 and created cardinal the following September 30th. The document is signed ex audientia by Pope Francis,...

[Catholic Caucus] A Sacrificial and Royal Liturgy A Sacrificial and Royal LiturgyPaix LiturgiqueLetter 986December 15, 2023From December 1 to 3, 2023, 600 seminarians from all French dioceses gathered in Paris. On the occasion of this gathering, Mgr de Moulins-Beaufort answered the questions they freely put to him. One of them asked: "Does the Church in France have a problem with traditionalists?" Mgr de Moulins-Beaufort replied: "Yes, no doubt because of our turbulent history since the Revolution. If there's a central question, it's one of political theology and our relationship with the world. Vatican II's decree on religious freedom is very...

Divine Providence and the “Poisonous Soups” of Vatican II, Paul VI, and FrancisIn his 2016 conference dealing with the relations between the Society of St. Pius X and Rome, Bishop Bernard Fellay used the analogy of a poisoned soup to explain the SSPX’s objections to Vatican II:“But the problem is not the good things that you can find in it, which actually exist. The problem is the bad things! If you put a drop of cyanide in the soup, what difference does it make if you add good vegetables, good stock, the best water that you can find; the soup...

[Catholic Caucus] Clash of the Catechisms: Part IAuthor’s Note: This series endeavors to correct the historical record and encourage Catholic parents and educators with a sure sign of hope for the future. Part I demonstrates the public rupture in the catechetical manuscript tradition over the past sixty years, while Part II offers a critical review of the new catechism Credo within this same manuscript tradition.In light of the Vatican’s summons to “new categories and new languages” in catechesis[1] and its formal adoption of the terms “transgender person” and “homosexual person,” one may reasonably expect another update to the Catechism of...

Communion on the Hand and Catholic TotalityThe Institution of the EucharistJoos van Wassenhove (1473-75)We place our brief treatment of “Communion on the Hand” between an Introduction on Adoration and an Epilogue in the form of a witness. Introduction: Adoration Now honour is the attitude which a subject manifests to another in virtue of the other’s superior excellence, in order to express his submission to that other; whereas adoration is that honour which a subject manifests to God in virtue of God’s superior, or more precisely, infinite excellence, which requires of the subject total submission to Him. The obligation to adore...

[Catholic Caucus] “The Principle of Tradition in the Liturgical Life of the Church”: Lecture by Bishop Athanasius SchneiderSt Clement & St BasilLecture given at the Pax Liturgica Meeting at the Augustinianum in Rome, October 27, 2023, by Bishop Athanasius Schneider, Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of St. Mary in Astana. The lecture was given in English; Rorate is grateful to His Excellency for sharing the transcript. The video may be found here. - PAKThe Roman Church is the mother and teachers of all other particular churches because of the primacy of St. Peter and his successors, the Roman Pontiffs. From...

[Catholic Caucus] The Sedemenefreghismo Thesis: a Prudential Allocation of Our Cares to What We Can Control As reported by Vatican Journalist Marco Tosatti, a group of nine Italian theologians recently published their so-called “Sedemenefreghismo Thesis,” named for the Italian term they invented:“‘Sedemenefreghismo’ is an invented Italian word based on the word ‘sedevacantism’ which means ‘holding that the (Holy) See (sede) is vacant’ and ‘me ne frega,’ meaning, ‘I don’t care’, so that this invented word could be translated as ‘I don’t care at all whether the (Holy) See (is vacant or not).’” Although a superficial reading of this definition —...

[Catholic Caucus] What Are Francis’s Most Dangerous Heresies?Most faithful Catholics can now name at least a few heretical ideas from Francis’s ten-year occupation of the papacy, including those related to Communion for Catholics who are not in the state of grace and blessings of intrinsically evil relationships. Among these multifarious heresies, though, one category of heretical ideas stands apart because one cannot accept it without simultaneously undermining the entire basis for the Catholic Faith. Each of the following statements contributes to an idea of universal salvation — meaning all men are saved regardless of their religious professions — which would...

The Bishops’ Jolly Road to HellThe admonition to bishops that they are in serious danger of meriting hell as their eternal reward is attributed to a multitude of well-known saints. Saints John Eudes, John Chrysostom and Athanasius were at pains to remind both prelates and faithful that more is expected of one to whom more is given, and the Church teaches that bishops, specifically, have an enormous responsibility for the souls entrusted to their care. Thus it is always disappointing to see the lack of seriousness shown by the majority of bishops about their role and in some cases, deliberate...

[Catholic Caucus] St. Louis Archdiocese Closes Thriving Traditional Latin Mass ParishIt has been months since more than a dozen parishes in the St. Louis Archdiocese submitted appeals to the Vatican in the hopes of keeping their doors open, and now Rome has agreed to hear the appeal of two parishes: St. Elizabeth Mother of John the Baptist Parish and Sts. Philip and James Parish.Back in May, St. Louis Archbishop Mitchell Rozanski announced that 178 individual parishes are being consolidated into 134. The archdiocese is also preparing to assess the future of nearly one-third of its elementary grade schools. The archdiocese...