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American Catholic voters lean strongly toward Hillary Clinton in this year's presidential contest, according to a new Pew Forum survey. The Pew poll found that Clinton held a 56-39% advantage over Donald Trump among Catholic voters. That 17% margin was markedly different from the results of a similar poll in the last presidential race, when then-Senator Barack Obama was virtually even with Mitt Romney among Catholic voters in June 2012. However, Clinton's margin among Catholic voters was entirely attributable to a huge (77-16%) advantage among Hispanic Catholics. Among white Catholics, Trump had a slight (50-46) edge. Among all voters surveyed,...

From the book: God or Nothing: Cardinal Robert Sarah, Nicolas Diat In 1958, therefore, you were at the seminary when John XXIII was elected pope? […] On the other hand, I stilled lacked the maturity needed to understand the scope of the council desired by that pope. I knew, however, that Archbishop Tchidimbo represented my country and that he traveled regularly to Rome for discussions with the bishops from the other countries of the world. Although he did not really speak to us about the content of debates, I nevertheless relate an event that impressed the Catholic faithful of Conakry....

Many folks have been expressing a great deal of excitement that Cardinal Sarah, Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship, made an exhortation calling for the Novus Ordo to be offered Ad Orientem. I agree with Rorate Caeli in finding this excitement badly misplaced. That is to say, his words, while nice and comforting to conservative/traditional ears, perhaps, are meaningless in any real, effective sense. Nothing will change, as they did not change after Cardinal Arinze many times called for Latin in the Mass and Communion received on the tongue. The fundamental issue, as Rorate notes, is that modernists/progressives do...

Foreword by Michael J. Matt It is becoming apparent to this writer that many people, Catholics and non-Catholics alike, are waking to the harsh reality of what Pope Francis is all about. The next step is to help these same good people understand the harsh reality of what the entire Modernist revolution has been about ever since the days of St. Pius X, when popes were still vigorously battling this great ‘synthesis of all heresies’. The Modernist revolution ‘came out of the closet’, if you will, at the time of the Second Vatican Council, but nowhere was its agenda made...

Soon after the publication of the motu proprio Summorum Pontificum, three priests of the Diocese of Novara (Piedmont, Italy) tried to celebrate the Traditional Mass exclusively (we reported on these developments here and here). In an interview released a few days ago, Father Alberto Secci tells his story, and presents us with the wonderful account of his life after Summorum. Yes, there is a life for diocesan priests celebrating the Sacraments according to the ancient use exclusively. And it can be beautiful, and powerful, and glorious, despite the normal difficulties of life. "Can you imagine what would happen if all...

Radicati Editorial: "Thank God We Did Not Obey Those Forcing the New Mass Upon Us" The New Mass, Source of Pious Naturalism Editorial: Radicati nella fede, June 2016 Newsletter of the Catholic community of Vocogno, Diocese of Novara, Italy Thank God we did not obey. We are going to shock you, but some provocations are beneficial and useful. Thank God we did not obey those, who, in order to keep us within “ordinary pastoral care” (while allowing us reluctantly an occasional Traditional Mass) asked us not to be closed to the Council’s New Mass. Thank God we did not obey:...

A Path Back to Liturgical Sanity Whether they realize it or not, the Mass with which most Catholics are familiar, the one said in almost all Catholic Churches in the Western Hemisphere, is called the Novus Ordo, or more colloquially, the "new Mass." Many older Catholics may remember the Tridentine Mass, sometimes referred to as "the old Latin Mass," or the "Traditional Latin Mass (TLM)." More and more, however, young people are discovering the beauty of the Mass as it was known for hundreds of years before the wreckovation that occurred after Vatican II. While the Novus Ordo is a...

With all the hullabaloo on this topic, I have tried valiantly to avoid having a knee-jerk opinion on altar girls. Now, however, I have actually spent some time thinking about it. And I do have an opinion, based on my personal experience both as a Catholic mother and REGINA’s Editor. I raised a son and a daughter in the Catholic Church in Connecticut in the 1990’s and 2000’s. My daughter had zero interest in being an altar ‘server’ and I was somewhat dubious about then-popular claims that serving the altar would somehow prepare her to have a successful career. In...

"He will be out of the parish and will spend some time to reflect on this past event," the diocese of a Philippine church said. A priest in the Philippines is in trouble after a video showing him singing a Christmas song while riding a hoverboard during Mass has gone viral. A video of the incident posted on Facebook on Dec. 26 had more than 14 million views as of Tuesday. Several parishioners are seen cheering and clapping in the video as the priest rolls around the nave like a pro. But the Diocese of San Pablo, Laguna, condemned the...

"The analysis of the Novus Ordo made by these two Cardinals has lost nothing of its value, nor, unfortunately, of its timeliness . .. The results of the reform are deemed by many today to have been devastating. It was the merit of Cardinals Ottaviani and Bacci to discover very quickly that the modification of the rites resulted in a fundamental change of doctrine." - - Cardinal Stickler, November 27, 2004, on the occasion of a reprint of the Ottaviani Intervention. LETTER OF THE CARDINALS ALFREDO CARDINAL OTTAVIANI ANTONIO CARDINAL BACCI TO HIS HOLINESS POPE PAUL VI [On September 25,...

(Barcelona / Rome) Does the Congregation of Religious suffer from a villainous portrait of tradition? This question has hung in the air since last weekend. The Franciscan José Rodriguez Carballo, for a year secretary of the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, participated in a Conference of Religious of Catalonia. In his speech he delivered last Saturday without directly mentioning the Order by name, gave a first official hint as to why the Franciscans of the Immaculate have been reprimanded by his Congregation. The reason implied much to the young religious Order, and is of...

Pope Francis is shaking things up again. The pontiff with a penchant for surprises is making new waves by launching a survey of his flock on issues facing modern families — from gay marriage to divorce. Very specific questions are being sent to parishes around the globe in preparation for next year's synod of bishops, a grassroots effort that experts say is unprecedented. "It's fascinating," said Thomas Groome, a professor of theology at Boston College. "It's pretty astonishing," agreed Marianne Duddy-Burke, executive director of the gay Catholic organization DignityUSA. Advertise | AdChoices Vatican watchers say Francis' polling attempt is extraordinary...

No genius is needed to figure out that Pope Francis is not a liturgist the way Pope Benedict was. But the fear that Francis’ papacy may mark the “end of the reform of the reform” of the liturgical changes that were introduced after the Second Vatican Council is, frankly, unfounded. [snip] ... Buenos Aires is probably the Latin-American city with the largest number of Masses celebrated in the extraordinary form....[Yet Bergoglio] was concentrating on a far more daunting task: making sure that all of the faithful in his archdiocese had access to a decent Mass. In Latin America, beside...

The vast majority of faculty and staff members from the nation’s top Catholic universities donated to President Barack Obama’s campaign over Republican nominee Mitt Romney’s this cycle, according to a new report. Ninety-one percent of the employees at 23 different Catholic schools gave to Obama, according to Federal Elections Commission data available on OpenSecrets.org and analysed by the conservative college site Campus Reform. Much has been made of Obama’s Affordable Care Act mandate requiring employers to provide contraception coverage, a requirement that church officials say conflicts with Catholic religious doctrine,

Yonkers, NY––Blake Jennings, lead guitarist at St. Therese Parish in Yonkers, New York is outraged over what he calls “years of concerts being interrupted by the Mass.” The 56-year-old accountant and father of three has played with his band at the 9:30 Folk Mass since 2009. “Our fans love us,” Jennings said, after Sunday Mass. “You can see it in their eyes…the way they droop down, lazily closing as we play…as if their entering into some kind of ecstasy. Or the way some in the parish are so moved they just can’t stand another moment of joy, and simply walk...

The Pope’s ambition, a powerful blend of the Novus Ordo and the Old Rite, could sweep the Church There are too many difficulties attending both the Novus Ordo and the Old Rite By William Oddie on Friday, 20 May 2011 Cardinal Walter Brandmüller celebrated the Extraordinary Form Mass at St Peter's Basilica on Sunday (CNS photo) An extremely interesting story by John Thavis – which appears currently on the Herald’s homepage under the headline “Pope’s ‘reform of the reform’ in liturgy to continue” – reports what seems to me a potentially wondrous proposed advance. But will it happen? There is...

WASHINGTON, D.C., August 21, 2012 (LifeSiteNews.com) – As Catholic Relief Services responds to criticisms over its partnerships with pro-abortion anti-poverty groups, LifeSiteNews has discovered that the aid organization also has a history of hiring employees with strong ties to pro-abortion and pro-contraception organizations. One CRS employee lists the pro-abortion Pro-Choice Resources and Institute of Women and Ethnic Studies as former employers on her LinkedIn resume, while another was hired by the Catholic aid organization directly from the pro-abortion Population Services International. Former CRS employee Charisse Glassman was convicted of assault after driving her car into a crowd of March for...

Lately, the music director at our church has been “tickling the ivories” during the Consecration. While at the piano, in the front of church (naturally), he has been playing tunes, based on hymms for sure, on the piano during the entire Consecration (with a well timed pause during the elevation). It’s not irreverent, but it does sound like “lounge music“. [As the non-liturgical instrument, the piano, nearly always does.] I find it annoying, and keep wondering when Tony Bennett comes on stage (I’m kidding, of course). [Put a brandy snifter with a dollar bill on the piano next time...

A Cancer at the Heart of the Church How and why does this sort of thing happen? It causes me a piercing sorrow because it is emblematic of the widespread loss of faith in the adorable mystery of the Most Holy Eucharist that is a cancer at the heart of the Church. The Erosion of Faith Several years ago, in the context of a course I was teaching, I suggested that the erosion of faith in the Most Holy Eucharist was, in fact, fostered by a number of liturgical and disciplinary changes: – Minimalistic approach to the fast before Holy...

 Revealing overlooked Roman Missal changes The new Roman Missal has dropped three eucharistic prayers and added one. Why? And an introduction By Barry Hudock - OSV Newsweekly, 12/11/2011 W.P. Wittman photo In all the hoopla leading up to the implementation of the new edition of the Roman Missal in the United States, most of the attention has focused on the new principles used to translate its contents from the original Latin to English. Though questions about “dynamic equivalence” or “formal equivalence” are important and interesting, other changes — arguably more important ones — have barely been mentioned. Here’s one: There’s a...