Attacks On Tradition And Piety Continue Unabated

When I endured my little insult this past weekend, I wondered if it was due to a growing trend among establishment clergy: that is, clergy slavishly beholden to Francis and his now-obvious animus towards the Faith.  I believe it is.  Indeed, two more recent examples have come to all our attention.

In the Diocese of Westminster in England, Cardinal Nichols announced that no celebration of the Triduum in the Latin rite will be permitted.  Over the past several years, people had been coming from surrounding areas to celebrate Triduum as had been done for hundreds of years.  Nichols, in his letter, stated "I realize that this will disappoint some people, but I have to keep the wider picture in view."  This "wider picture" entails the systematic deconstruction of Sacred Tradition.  Lex orandi, lex credendi, lex vivandi.  The "lex orandi" is under direct attack.

Closer to home in Texas, in the Archdiocese of San Antonio, the Sevigny family, a Catholic family of six, own and operate a ranch and retreat center that they call Sanctus Ranch.  Archbishop Garcia-Sillar issued, on January 30, a public letter to all Catholics in his diocese not to do business with the ranch.  He specifically forbade Catholic organizations not to utilize the ranch for retreats or other spiritual purposes.  I understand that Garcia-Sillar has that authority over Catholic organizations, but what right does he have to tell the ordinary person to conduct no business whatsoever with the ranch?  Clearly he has overstepped his bounds.  He also ordered organizations that had already signed contracts to explore ways to break the contracts.

Garcia-Sillar stated as a reason that there is an "unapproved chapel lacking canonical status", forgetting that he himself offered Mass there in the past.  Might the reason be that (gasp!) the Latin Mass is offered there?   Here is Garcia-Sillar's letter as it appears on the diocese's site.  Here is the response from Sanctus Ranch. 

Two prelates have recently spoken against this trend of progressive bishops to degrade and mock our Faith.  Bishop Joseph Strickland penned an open letter to all bishops, including Francis, exhorting them to "return to Christ and His way".  LifeSiteNews has the full text of his letter.

Cardinal Sarah  has voiced full support of the African bishops who are not going to implement Fiducia Supplicans.  That would be all African bishops, except those in South Africa.  He recently stated that Fiducia Supplicans MUST be resisted for it contains heresy that will undermine the Catholic faith.  Cardinal Muller said the same thing.

Now what does all that mean for us lay Catholics?  Frankly, I live in a diocese that could easily see an attempt to "bless" mortally sinful relationships.  Will we have the presence of mind and courage to denounce these things, even to the point of protesting when and where they are occurring?

Catholic Standard And Catholic Review Repeat Our Sunday Visitor Inaccuracies Regarding Bishop Strickland

Both the Catholic Standard and Catholic Review use the same article from Our Sunday Visitor as they relay the news of Bishop Strickland's ouster.  OSV acknowledges that the Vatican has not yet given any official reason for Strickland's ouster, but it does point out a tweet that Strickland wrote last May stating that the Pope is "undermining the deposit of faith". 

All Strickland did was call a spade a spade.  Let's look back at some of the antics coming forth from this Vatican, shall we?

• A few weeks ago, he signed a document that allows gays and transgender perverts to be godparents at baptism
• While Strickland was stripped of his diocese, the German bishops who declared their intention to "bless" gay unions remain untouched.
• There is the colossal pachamama debacle during which this filthy idol was worshipped in the Vatican Garden, in the pope's presence.  Later that week, he placed a pachamama plant on the altar during Mass - a direct violation of GIRM and an act of idolatry.
• There is that insidious footnote in Amoris Laetitia, stating that de facto adulterers may receive Holy Communion while continuing their mortally sinful lifestyles
• He declared the death penalty to be inherently evil, directly contradicting 2000 year old Church teaching. 

This list could go on and on, but these will suffice to demonstrate that yes indeed, the pope is undermining the deposit of faith.

As for this October 31 address in question, LifeSiteNews diligently recorded the entire thing and published it for our reading.  Here it is.  Please read it.  Some reading the OSV article might get the erroneous impression that Strickland is calling the pope a "usurper".  In an interview with the Pillar Catholic, Strickland plainly states that such is not his view.  Rather, he was reading a letter from a friend to illustrate the confusion that this pope is undeniably causing.  He states that the pope is neglecting to clear up confusion by not answering the dubia and not issuing plain statements of belief.

Further on down the OSV article, we read that "the letter outright attacked Pope Francis' validity as the successor of St. Peter...Bishop Strickland said the letter's words were challenging but did not dispute the allegations."

I find great fault with the reporting of Our Sunday Visitor in this matter.  They utterly failed - whether by neglect or intent, I do not know - to take into account Strickland's subsequent exchange with the Pillar, during which Strickland acknowledges Francis's papacy.  OSV's sloppiness could lead the unsuspecting reader to believe that Strickland doubts the validity of Francis' papacy.  The OSV has a duty, in my opinion, to correct their reporting.  Moreover, The Catholic Standard and Catholic Review. have a duty to acknowledge their own sloppiness in their blind repetition of the OSV error without doing any "due diligence" verification themselves.

Here are more details about these matters from the Lepanto Institute.

Prelates Combatting The Sin-Nod On Sodomy

Rome breathed a little easier this past weekend as the flow of noxious hot hair known as the Synod on Synodality, aka the Sin-Nod for Sodomy drew to a close.  With that gab-fest's attendees all gung-ho about ridding the world of those evil fossil fuels, they headed home in their gas-guzzling private jets.

While most prelates are either complicit with the crimes and heresies promulgated at this sin-nod, or at least cowed into silent subservience, there are a few who still recall that they are Catholic and that their Sacraments of Holy Orders confers upon them solemn duties to uphold the Faith.  On August 22, Bishop Joseph Strickland of Tyler, TX issued a pastoral letter to the Catholics in his diocese.  In it he reiterated basic Catholic teaching regarding life, marriage, sexuality, and the Sacraments.  He warned of attempts to subvert those teachings, especially as they would likely emanate from the sin-nod.  LifeSteNews has the full text of his letter.  The Vatican acknowledged Strickland's fidelity by foisting on him an "apostolic visitation".  They met with Francis and are considering asking Strickland for his resignation.  Strickland replied by stating that he would not voluntarily resigned, although he acknowledged Francis' authority to compel him to step down.  Cardinal Gerhard Muller publicly supported Strickland, saying that Strickland should not voluntarily resign.  Archbishop Vigano also praised Strickland for his pastoral letter, stating in a tweet that "that is the way a Successor to the Apostles speaks".

The aforementioned Cardinal Muller was at the sin-nod.  He was given little opportunity to speak although he had to sit through the drivel.  I hope that counted as time off his purgatory, but I digress.  Later he commented about the "heretics and globalists" at the sin-nod and reminded one and all that God cannot bless sin.  Given the topics of discussion at the sin-nod, we surmise that he was referring to the push to "bless" gay shack-ups.

Bishop Schneider was interviewed on the "gay-union" mess, calling it blasphemy.  See the interview here. The archbishop gave a brief history of his childhood, particularly as it was impacted by governmental persecution of Catholicism.  He also reiterated the possibility that we who celebrate the Traditional Latin Mass may find ourselves having to go underground, as it were. 

Schneider emphasized that any pope is not the owner of our Faith, but rather the servant of our Faith.  God allows the sort of trials (that we currently find in Francis) to purify our Faith.  That means that we must learn our Faith on our own, through trusted books and holy priests, such as those who offer the Traditional Latin Mass.  Schneider believes that after this trial (Francis' occupancy of the papal chair), a future pope will declare ex cathedra the truths of Faith and morality that are now under a Vatican-led attack.

I will attempt no further summary of the interview; rather, I suggest that you, the reader, watch it yourself.  Suffice it to say that there was much bile poured out at the Sin-nod on Sodomy.  I will also suggest that you procure Bishop Schneider's new catechim entitled "Credo".  It can be obtained from Sophia Press at https://sophiainstitute.com/  .

Archbishop Vigano And Bishop Schneider Stand With Bishop Strickland

Bishop Strickland made a statement regarding the news of the Vatican's desire for his resignation.  He acknowledged the pope's right to remove him from his post.  However, he says that he will not resign, thus running from the charge given to him by Pope Benedict.  I for one support Strickland's stance.  If the pope wants Strickland out, he will have to get ugly about it.

Bishop Athanasius Schneider sent to Bishop Strickland a very supportive letter, and it was shared by LifeSiteNews.  In that letter, Schneider told Strickland that future popes would thank Strickland for his fidelity to Christ's teachings.  Likewise, Archbishop Vigano communicated his thoughts to Strickland, encouraging him to continue his course and not quit his post voluntarily.  We await communications from other prelates.  Surely Schneider and Vigano cannot be the only ones who, like Strickland, understand what it truly means to be a bishop.

So what will be Francis' next move?  Whatever it is, it will have to wait.  It seems that Francis is going to address the Clinton Foundation on September 18.  This will take the form of a "special conversation" with Bill Clinton regarding favorite pet causes of the progressives, such as "climate change" and unbridled amnesty for border-crashers.  Other attendees of this conference include Hillary and Chelsea Clinton, some of our less-than-favorite left-wing governors such as the ones from California, Maryland, Illinois, Michigan.  Among others, there is a representative from an outfit called "Black Trans Liberation".  Now take a look at this guy.  Would you want to meet him in a dark alley?

Somehow when Francis chats with Bill Clinton, I suspect that he won't be calling the Clintons and the rest of that cabal to repentance for their promotion of baby-slaughter and sexual perversions.  I expect that conversation to be all happy-clappy with mutual praise and admiration flowing ad nauseum. 

Understand the reason why Francis is only too happy to chat with a pro-abortion left-wing cabal while drawing long knives upon faithful clergy.  He and the ilk led by George Soros, Klaus Schwab, Bill Gates, etc are in cahoots with each other.  Faithful prelates stand in their way because the leftwing agenda is at complete odds with the teachings of Our Lord.  Not only do the progressives consider bishops like Joseph Strickland to be fair game, but the bulls-eyes are trained on us as well.  We need to acknowledge that.

More Information On Father Pavone

From Father Pavone's website, we have a history of his interactions with Church hierarchy, from his first involvement with Priests for Life until present.  He intends to fight this, as well he should.

The Code of Canon Law, sections 1717 - 1731, seem to indicate that the accused (in this case, Father Pavone) has a right to appeal and to present his case.  Specifically that is stated in section 1723.  There is one exception to that requirement: if the action is done by the pope.  That is the input from Father Gerald Murray, a canon lawyer who is associated with Robert Royal and Raymond Arroyo in the Papal Posse.  Moreover, a copy of the letter from the Papal Nuncio is now online.  The Papal Nuncio acts on behalf of the pope.  Hitherto, I had thought that maybe Francis wasn't involved with Father's removal, that it might have been too "small potatoes" for him.  I stand corrected, as it seems that Francis has bared his teeth here.

Now Canon 193 sec 4 states that removal from the office (priesthood) must be communicated in writing.  Father Pavone heard about his laicization in the same manner that most of us did - through the Catholic News Agency announcement yesterday. The Nuncio's letter was only made public today.  I still am uncertain as to whether or not Pavone received formal notice of this action.  Irregularities abound.

So do double standards.  One of the trumped up charges stems from Father displaying an aborted baby on a table that he sometimes used for Mass.  Zurek called that table "an altar" when in fact it was never consecrated as such.  However, if Bishop Zurek wants to get outraged over altar desecrations, the current occupant of the chair of Peter has provided at least two occasions for such indignation.   When Francis returned home from World Youth Day in 2013, he placed on an altar of St Mary Major Basilica, next to the Tabernacle, a beach ball and sports jersey.  In 2019, at a closing Mass in St Peter's after one of the countless synods, Francis placed on the altar a pachamama idol-plant.  Yes, the reputed pope placed an idol on a consecrated altar during Mass.  Bishop Zurek's anger would be more appropriately directed at that actual outrage.

Taylor Marshall below offers some insight into this whole vindictive attack on Father Pavone.

Marshall ended by exhorting us to prayer, fasting, personal holiness.  I take issue for that is not all we must do.  Yes we are laity, but some of us also have a few dollars - that should NOT go to the diocesan appeals and especially NOT to the Peter's Pence collections.  Now when (not if, when) we boycott these collections, it is not sufficient to refrain from contributions.  We must also drop into the collection baskets notes explaining precisely why we are boycotting - and sign your names.  The time for demure silence is long past.  They might cancel clerics, but we laity have rights that they don't.  Let's use them.

By the way - it appears that Father Pavone has at least one friend among the bishops.  Bishop Strickland decried the nuncio's letter in a tweet.

The blasphemy is that this holy priest is canceled while an evil president promotes the denial of truth & the murder of the unborn at every turn, Vatican officials promote immorality & denial of the deposit of faith & priests promote gender confusion devastating lives…evil https://t.co/ASzjW7IuAv

— Bishop J. Strickland (@Bishopoftyler) December 18, 2022