Bishop Schneider: "I have asked Msgr. Fellay not to delay his acceptance any longer"

From Adelante la Fe’s exclusive interview with Monsignor Schneider: "Msgr. Lefebvre would accept the canonical proposal of a personal prelature without hesitation" (Adelante la Fe, January 4, 2017, via Rorate Caeli): As Adfero remarks, "It's pretty clear even by just skimming his answers that he believes the time has come for the Society of St. Pius X (SSPX):

Headlines
“There are many places where priests act more like Protestant ministers than Catholic priests”

“There are families that must travel more than 100 km (60 mi) so that they can go to a dignified Mass and hear sound doctrine”

“The faithful must ask the priests for kneelers so that they can kneel”

“We have a eucharistic-heart disease, and as long as we fail to heal it, the whole body will remain ill and will not produce fruit”

“In today’s climate, it’s a true miracle that we have vocations”

“Gender ideology is a depravity, a final form of Marxism”

“If they can, parents should withdraw their children from schools where they are taught gender ideology”

“There is a mentality of radical relativism within the Church”

“We should speak up so that the Magisterium might speak clearly”

“With moral relativism, especially concerning the reception of Communion by the divorced and remarried, we want God to do our will, and not for us to do His”

“A sacramental female diaconate contradicts the nature of the Church”

“We have to love the pope supernaturally, praying for him, not practicing a form of papolatry”

SSPX – Msgr. Lefebvre
“I am convinced that in the present circumstances, Msgr. Lefebvre would accept the canonical proposal of a personal prelature without hesitation”

“Msgr. Lefebvre is a man with a deep sensus ecclesiae”

“The episcopal ordinations were done in 1988 because in good conscience he thought that he had to do it, as an extreme act, and at the same time said that this situation should not last a long time”

“If you remain canonically autonomous for too long, you run the risk of losing a characteristic of the Catholic Church, that is, to be subject to the pope”

“We cannot make our subjection to the Vicar of Christ dependent upon the person of the pope; this would not be faith. You cannot say that “I don’t believe in this pope, I don’t submit, I am going to wait until one comes along that I like.” This is not Catholic, it is not supernatural; it is human. It is a lack of supernaturality and trust in Divine Providence, that God is the one who guides the Church. This is a danger for the SSPX.”

“I have asked Msgr. Fellay not to delay his acceptance any longer, and I trust in Providence, though it is not possible to have 100% certainty”

“It is my great wish that the SSPX might be recognized and established within the regular structure of the Church as soon as possible, and this will be for the benefit of all, for them and for us. Actually it will be a new force in this great battle for the purity of the Faith”

“I have told Msgr. Fellay: “Monsignor, we need your presence to join together with all of the good forces in the Church to achieve this union.”

TRADITIONAL MASS
“The movement to restore the traditional Mass is the work of the Holy Spirit, and is unstoppable”

“If the Fathers of Vatican II witnessed a Mass like the one we know today and a traditional Mass, the majority would say that the traditional Mass is what they want, and not the other”

The traditional liturgy is the liturgy of Vatican II, perhaps with small changes.

More pleas to the pope ...

The importance of what the Pope says as the global spokesman for the Catholic Faith

Pope Francis arrives to lead his general audience in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican in this May 11 file photo.
(CNS photo/Paul Haring)
I have argued elsewhere that Catholic individuals and families should not suppose that their lives as Catholics are all that dependent upon what the Pope says in his homilies, speeches, instructions, exhortations, let alone his extemporaneous interviews. While it's true that the Pope is the universal Pastor of all Catholics, most don't spend their time reading his encyclicals or tuning in to his homilies. I don't consider this unnatural, and I don't think that the day-to-day faith life of Catholics need to be tethered to everything the Pope says. I personally find reading the lives of saints or reading Holy Scripture considerably more engaging and edifying.

Having said that, I disagree with those who would suggest that everything the Pope says or writes should be considered sacrosanct and off limits to critical discussion. Just as a stalwart and faithful bishop by his example can empower his priests to make a clear and articulate defense of the whole Faith, so a stalwart and and faithful Pope can strengthen the spines of his bishops to do so too. ... And vice versa.

Just as the priest is the figurehead of a parish, and the bishop of a diocese, so the Pope is the spokesman for the entire Church. What he says is therefore important, even if the spiritual lives of the faithful are not directly centered on the words of their Pope. Why is it important what the Pope says? Because he speaks for Christ, for the whole Church, and for all Catholics. He speaks for you and me.

These thoughts were in my mind as I read a recent article by James V. Schall, S.J., "The Washington Post 'explains' Pope Francis to us" (CWR, July 5, 2016):

On July 2, 2016, the Washington Post carried an interesting Editorial entitled, “The Pope’s Welcome Surprises”. The Editorial is short and can be read in a few minutes, and what follows presupposes acquaintance with the Post Editorial itself. That this Editorial is written is not a particularly great “surprise”. It reveals, in my opinion, just how responsible non-Catholic observers understand what the Holy Father has been saying and doing. Whether they have him exactly right can and should be debated.

What follows here is one man’s “reading” or “re-reading” of what is said and implied in this Post Editorial. This “re-reading” and “re-writing” is not a parody or a critique of what the Post wrote or what the Holy Father may hold. It is putting in my own words what can fairly be taken to be what at least some of the public hear the Pope saying. Others may see it differently, but I think what follows comes close to what is implied in the Editorial:

“The Pope Surprises the World”

Under Pope Francis, the Catholic Church now, in principle, accepts the liberal/humanist concepts of modern morality and justice. This view emphasizes state authority (positive law), unlimited moral freedom, theoretic relativism, and universal tolerance.

Francis has not yet formally managed infallibly to install these principles--such as the feasible goodness of divorce, the gay life, abortion, and the denial of any dogmatism or rigidity. He is a severe critic of inequality in all forms, a champion of the downtrodden. He approves ecology’s concern with earth’s dwindling resources. He is systematically working his way through these issues and will, no doubt, soon define these concepts in formal ecclesial terms.

This ‘Francis’ revolution in the Catholic Church is unexpected but welcome. It is long overdue. The old order of doctrine, tradition, and unchangeable moral principles can gradually be set aside. This new freedom and scientific understanding of the Catholic Church are what we now witness in the memorable words of this Argentine pope. They come from the last place from whence we might expect the long-awaited modernization of this venerable but stubborn institution.

Again, this is how one man reads the minds that composed the Post’s Editorial. I take it to be a fair interpretation. [emphasis added -- PP] As such Editorials on the intentions of Pope Francis multiply in the world press, it seems to be up to the Holy Father to clarify himself for the benefit of everyone. Because of the high profile of this Post Editorial, I do not think ‘the Vatican’ bureaucracy can any longer perform this clarifying task. In this sense, the Editorial is welcome as a basis of deep reflection about the nature of the Church.

[Hat tip to JM]

Council of Trent Dominican: blind defense of papacy will undermine its authority

Melchior Cano, the great Dominican theologian from the Council of Trent, said: "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." [Source]

As Canonist Edward Peters recently noted, Canon 212.3 is relevant here: "According to the knowledge, competence, and prestige which they possess, [the Christian faithful] have the right and even at times the duty to manifest to the sacred pastors [Code for bishops] their opinion on matters which pertain to the good of the Church and to make their opinion known to the rest of the Christian faithful, without prejudice to the integrity of faith and morals, with reverence toward their pastors, and attentive to common advantage and the dignity of persons."

Remember: "... with reverence toward their pastors." If they say something you think is stupid, suggest that it's "confusing," "infelicitous" or "unfortunate," and suggest a clearer alternative.

Cardinal Siri, John Senior, and the Rock

Cardinal Siri, Renovatio II (1967), fasc. 2, pp. 183-184 (via FideCogitActio, January 7, 2016), writes:

This “roccia” (rock) will never crumble, nor flake, given that its solidity is guaranteed in the text of Matthew until the end of time. The “rock” remains and no one will scratch it, implicated as she is in a divine undertaking. But on occasion some men may take from others the vision of the rock. Other things may be made to seem like the rock, other things that may appear to all as such. The distinction is a profound one, even if the errors of these men are capable of veiling the reality (truth), they cannot destroy it. The question, easy for all, that presents itself is one of the visibility of the rock. If then situations should occur, that took from certain men the visibility of the “roccia” (rock) in the Church, the consequences would be grave. Those that convert to the Church, convert because they are convinced that they have found the “roccia” (rock), not doubt, hesitation, contradiction or doctrinal anarchy. One converts when one knows that ones hope is not futile. Taking away the visibility of the “roccia” (rock): what happens? (emphasis added)

What happens? Indeed. As a weary Guy Noir writes, "Discouragement, fatigue, and finally doubt as to whether the Church or any religious ideas matter much at all in our Era of Grand Syncretism."

Well, I have no doubt that the Church, in the final analysis, matters very much, because the deposit of the Faith received via Sacred Tradition remains very much intact no matter what the vicissitudes of our current storm. But do not be deceived, the theological shenanigans we have seen over the last decades do take their toll and cannot be justified or papered over by means of facile smoke-and-mirror 'explanations.' The damage is real.

Noir goes on to point out what he calls "a sobering if not anesthetizing remedy" from John Senior's book, The Remnants - the "Final Essays" of John Senior, a Columbia University grad who co-founded the Integrated Humanities Program at the University of Kansas, and was Professor of English, Comparative Literature, and Classics at Cornell, among other institutions. Here I quote him just as I received his words from Noir:

We are under the authority of theologians who deny the laws of contradiction, sufficient reason, and cause/effect. They really believe that the dialectical philosophy of Marx and Engels can be reconciled with Christian revelation. In practical management this means a zig to the right and a zag to the left while steering for the Norvus Ordo Saeculrum. Chop off Lefebvre, and throw a sop to trade... They have refused the face the issue -- which is not nostalgia... but the shipwreck of the Catholic Church. I mean a new Mass, a new catechism, a new morality, a flagrantly mistranslated Bible, an architecture and music which constitute a thoroughly orchestrated and rehearsed attack on Catholic doctrine and practice. Read the papal statement ten times if you can. You don't need arguments. It constitutes itself proof of its own radical insincerity. It cannot be explained away as a misunderstanding of the issue; it is quite simply a misrepresentation... This pseudo-Church, imposed upon the real subsistent one since the Vatican Council, is like [a] glass confessional. Anyone can see -- and everybody does -- that whatever it is, it is not the Church of our Fathers.

[Disclaimer: See Rules 7-9]. Oremus erga Sanctam Matrem Ecclesiam.

Pontificus Maximus roundup

Didn't you just love Pope Francis' winning smile, his gentle voice, and the way he greeted and hugged and kissed the babies and children brought up to him? That, I liked. As to message content, I found myself frequently wondering how it would have compared to that of, say, a Pius XII, XI, X, or a Leo XXIII, though, I wonder if that would be entirely fair. Still, if you read the reports broadly enough, there is clearly a spectrum of opinion beyond the usual suspects:

• R.R. Reno, "What Francis Said -- and Didn't Say -- To Congress" (First Things, September 24, 2015):

  Francis gave no support to Catholics who have fought abortion, the redefinition of marriage, doctor-assisted suicide, and other cultural issues. He also made no mention of threats to religious liberty... The only specific issues Francis mentioned before Congress are associated with progressive politics: abolition of the death penalty, global warming, and arms control. This reinforces the trends of this papacy, at least in relation to the United States. Francis discourages conservative Catholics, more by silence than anything else. He encourages progressives, both by his silences and his affirmations. [emphasis added]

• Editorial Board, "Pope Francis' Challenge to America" (New York Times, September 24, 2015:

  On the question of human life, Francis stressed the need to “protect and defend human life at every stage of its development” — a point that seemed to allude to abortion. But in the very next sentence, he used this theme to speak at greater length about need for the global abolition of the death penalty.
  
  As attuned to political subtext as well as any in the audience, he did not speak explicitly about the same-sex marriage movement. But he did warn that “fundamental relationships are being called into question, as is the very basis of marriage and the family.” He added, “I can only reiterate the importance and, above all, the richness and the beauty of family life,” a point that same-sex couples would certainly embrace.

• "What Does Success Look Like For Pope Francis?" (A Fivethirtyeight Chat, September 23, 2015):

  Mark: That assumes Catholicism is about belief, which I think is debatable. I don’t think religion generally is about belief, and Catholicism is no exception.

• D.G. Hart, "You Know What Would Really Be Audacious?" (Old Life, September 23, 2015):

  What I’m curious about is whether Pope Francis is a pastor who ministers the good news of Jesus Christ. Think about this. Yesterday in the Wall St. Journal William McGurn opined that the pope is mistaken in his understanding of poverty, that capitalism is far better for raising the prospects of the poor than other schemes.... Here’s the thing, Pope Francis actually has the remedy for the greed of executives and stockholders. He has at his disposal the truth of the gospel (as he understands it), a Petrine ministry, and a sacramental system that could actually change the hearts and minds of New York City financiers. Imagine if instead of visiting political figures, the pope went to Wall St. and preached.

• Fr. Dwight Longenecker, "A Papal Quibble" (Patheos, September 23, 2015):

  I’m generally enthusiastic about Pope Francis, but I do wonder why does he keep going on and on to his bishops and clergy about the need to be kind and gentle and merciful? ... I’m all for being kind and gentle, and I agree with the pope’s emphasis on mercy, but I can’t remember him speaking equally about the need for repentance, penance, true contrition and the need to make reparation for our sins.

• John Blake, "The Obamification' of Pope Francis" (CNN, September 15, 2015). 

Beautiful article about Pope Benedict

In case you missed it: Damian Thompson, "The return of Benedict XVI" (The Spectator, July 11, 2015): "The Pope Emeritus has not vanished into monastic silence. He’s still offering comfort for those who prefer his vision to that of Pope Francis."

One of the finest speeches Benedict XVI ever delivered was about sacred music. It is a small masterpiece, in which Benedict recalls his first encounter with Mozart in the liturgy. ‘When the first notes of the Coronation Mass sounded, Heaven virtually opened and the presence of the Lord was experienced very profoundly,’ he said.

Benedict robustly defended the performance of the work of great composers at Mass, which he insisted was necessary for the fulfilment of the Second Vatican Council’s wish that ‘the patrimony of sacred music [is] preserved and developed with great care’.

Then he asked: what is music? He identified three places from which it flowed. First, the experience of love, opening ‘a new grandeur and breadth of reality’ that inspires music. Second, ‘the experience of sadness, death, sorrow and the abysses of existence’. These open ‘in an opposite direction, new dimensions of reality that can no longer find answers in discourses alone’. Third, the encounter with the divine. ‘I find it moving to observe how, in the Psalms, singing is no longer enough for men — an appeal is made to all the instruments: reawakened is the hidden music of creation, its mysterious language.’

You can find footage of part of this speech online. It shows Benedict in his prime, speaking with light fluency, dressed in papal robes and appearing thoroughly relaxed in the papal summer residence of Castel Gandolfo.

Ah, the good old days, traditionalists may sigh. But perhaps you’ve noticed that I haven’t referred to ‘Pope Benedict’. That is because he gave the speech last Saturday.

When Benedict suddenly vacated the chair of Peter in February 2013, he announced that he would live out his days in silence in the Vatican monastery of Mater Ecclesiae. If that was a promise, he has never quite kept to it.

Important: "Cardinal Müller: foundations for a return to the Magisterium - and the limits of Papal power"

Don Pio Pace, "Cardinal Müller: foundations for a return to the Magisterium - and the limits of Papal power" (Rorate Caeli, March 11, 2015):

God only allows evil so as greater good may be accomplished. The immense disorder of the assemblies of the Synod on the Family prompts beautiful professions of faith by high-placed prelates of the Church, who are signs of hope for the future of the Church.

The extreme-progressive French magazine Golias moreover notes with disquiet the "danger" that men such as Cañizares, Burke, Müller, Ranjith, Ouellet, Sarah, and other "young" Cardinals (around 65 years old) represent to their viewpoint, that is, in the perspective of a further liberalization of the Church's constitution, adding to them some over seventy-year-olds, such as Scola, Caffarra, Pell, among others.

Gerhard Müller, Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, one of the Cardinals who took part in the authorship of the book "Remaining in the Truth of Christ", along with his brothers Brandmüller, Burke, Caffara and De Paolis, has, for example, just made public a conference that he presented on the past January 13, in Esztergom, Hungary, on the "Theological nature of the Doctrinal Commissions [of the Episcopal Conferences] and the role of Bishops as Doctors of the Faith".

Better homes and papal gardens

Views from the Left, the Right, and In between!

• Peter Steinfels, "Archbishops Playing House" (Commonweal, August 5, 2014)
• Mario Tosatti, "The Cost of Frugal Living: The Pope, Square Meters, and Demagoguery" (Rorate Caeli, July 27, 2014)
• Adam A. J. DeVille, "The Proletarian Snobbery of CNN" (Catholic World Report, August 11, 2014).

[Hat tip to JM]

"The Pope in the Attic: Benedict in the Time of Francis"

Paul Elie, "The Pope in the Attic: Benedict in the Time of Francis" (The Atlantic, April 16, 2014).

A long and detailed and sometimes revealing reflection. As Guy Noir put it: "An unintentionally dolorous if not devastating evaluation of the state of the Papacy, by an esteemed member of the elite cloud of Catholic literati that mourns the late-phase Thomas Merton, empathizes with Sister Joan, and receives inspiration from Fr. James Martin and sponsoring crowd behind America Magazine" -- and "another reminder of the, at this present moment, unfortunate fact that my gut is more often right [than not about the fact] that liberal Catholics see pretty clearly what conservative ones [don't]."

A long but interesting read. One quote: “The irony,” a well-placed Jesuit at the Vatican told me, “is that this pope, great agent of decentralization in the Church, is personally the most centralized pope since Pius the Ninth. Everything has to cross his desk.”

[Hat tip to JM]

Extraordinary Community News

"I will go in unto the Altar of God
To God, Who giveth joy to my youth"
Tridentine Community News (March 9, 2014):

Archbishop Vigneron Confers the Sacrament of Confirmation According to the Extraordinary Form

For the second time since becoming Archbishop of Detroit in 2009, Archbishop Allen Vigneron has administered the Sacrament of Confirmation according to the Tridentine formula. Last Sunday, March 2, His Excellency attended the weekly Tridentine Mass at St. Edward on the Lake Parish in Lakeport, north of Port Huron. Fr. Lee Acervo, pastor of St. Edward, was the celebrant of the Mass. Archbishop Vigneron preached the homily, then after Mass confirmed five young souls. He was assisted at the altar by his secretary, Fr. Stephen Pullis.


Why Evangelize?

Some food for thought was recently posted by Professor Peter Kwasniewski of Wyoming Catholic College on The New Liturgical Movement blog: “...preaching the Good News to unbelievers is effective only to the extent that there is something profoundly and transcendently good awaiting them when they arrive at church.” Those of us who embrace traditional liturgy certainly believe that the Extraordinary Form offers a transcending worship experience, but are we using that conviction to attract others to the Tridentine Mass, non-Catholics in particular?

The Future of the Reform of the Reform Movement

In recent weeks, a flurry of articles penned by major figures on the liturgical scene have raised the question of whether there is a future for the Reform of the Reform. The ROTR is the movement to add solemnity to the Ordinary Form by modifying the Mass to incorporate elements of the Tridentine Mass into it. Which elements to include, of course, is a matter of debate.

What distinguishes the current round of discussions from previous ones is that some of the movement’s most ardent advocates over the past decade are now concluding that the ROTR may not be realistic. ROTR proponents were encouraged by Pope Emeritus Benedict’s writings and actions, but now that we have a new Holy Father whose primary interests are not in the realm of liturgy, it is reasonable to ask if reforming the liturgy is possible at the present time.

One or two voices are raising the question of whether the 1965 Missal, the interim missal which eliminated the Prayers at the Foot of the Altar, the Last Gospel, and a few other elements of the Tridentine Mass, while also permitting a limited use of the vernacular, might represent a better starting point for a reformed liturgy. Whether or not this is a meritorious approach, it, too, would require endorsement of the reigning Holy Father, thus it is not a very realistic option right now.

All parties seem to agree that the most practical present path is to encourage reverent celebrations of the Ordinary Form using the currently in-force missal, employing traditional options such as the Aspérges, the Roman Canon, ad oriéntem celebration, Latin, and Gregorian Chant. What is most significant is that so many former ROTR proponents have become convinced that the best way to promote solemn liturgy in the Church going forward is to encourage more frequent celebrations of the Tridentine Mass.

1974 Graduále Románum Placed On-Line

Speaking of the solemn celebration of the Ordinary Form, there is a news item that warrants attention, even though it does not pertain to the Extraordinary Form:

Corpus Christi Watershed is an organization well-known for publishing numerous resources for Catholic musicians. From hymnals and Gregorian Chant sheet music for the Ordinary and Extraordinary Forms, to slickly-produced videos depicting the Church Music Association of America’s Colloquia, CCW, headed by composer Jeff Ostrowski, has done a tremendous amount of good. Most of their offerings are available at no charge on their web site.

This past month, CCW has once again done a great service to the sacralization of the Liturgy by scanning in and posting on its web site the main book for cantors and choirs to use when chanting the Latin Propers for the Ordinary Form: the Graduále Románum, published in 1974 by the Monks of Solesmes, France. Until now, this edition of the Graduále has been a fairly difficult book to obtain. The first step in making it possible for choirs to sing the Proper Chants of the Ordinary Form of Holy Mass is to make the main book of chants easily accessible, and this has now been done.

Tridentine Masses This Coming Week

• Mon. 03/10 7:00 PM: Low Mass at St. Joseph (Feria of Lent)
• Tue. 03/11 7:00 PM: Low Mass at St. Benedict/Assumption-Windsor (Feria of Lent)
• Sat. 03/15 8:00 AM: Low Mass at Our Lady of the Scapular, Wyandotte (Ember Day of Lent)
• Sun. 03/16 12:00 Noon: High Mass at St. Albertus (Second Sunday of Lent)

[Comments? Please e-mail tridnews@detroitlatinmass.org. Previous columns are available at http://www.detroitlatinmass.org. This edition of Tridentine Community News, with minor editions, is from the St. Albertus (Detroit) and Assumption (Windsor) bulletin inserts for March 9, 2014. Hat tip to A.B., author of the column.]

Vatican I Relatio of Bishop Vincent Gasser (Pt. 1)

For the record: "Infallibility: Vatican I Relation of bishop Vincent Gasser" (Bornacatholic, February 7, 2014), which is the first of a five-part series.

Bishop Gasser begins his discourse (delivered July 11, 1870) by noting that the presentation consists of two parts: "In the first part of this draft we present the arguments for the infallibility of the roman Pontiff as those arguments are drawn from the public documents [of the Church]; in the second part or paragraph of the Draft we have the definition of infallibility itself." Read more >>

Against Sedevacantism

The best arguments against Sedevacantism usually come from Catholic traditionalists, and THIS, from Rad Trad (December 18, 2013), is no exception.

[Hat tip to L.S.]

"Vatican spokesman says no plans for women cardinals -- but not impossible, either"

"I am of divided mind ..."

Via Rorate (November 4, 2013), this, from The Irish Times:

The Holy See yesterday dismissed as “nonsense” weekend Irish media reports that Pope Francis might nominate two Irish women as cardinals.

Responding to reports in Irish and Irish-American media that Pope Francis might name both TCD ecumenics Prof Linda Hogan and former president Mary McAleese as cardinals at a future conclave, senior Vatican spokesman Fr Federico Lombardi said:

“This is just nonsense . . . It is simply not a realistic possibility that Pope Francis will name women cardinals for the February consistory.

“Theologically and theoretically, it is possible,” he added. “Being a cardinal is one of those roles in the church for which, theoretically, you do not have to be ordained but to move from there to suggesting the pope will name women cardinals for the next consistory is not remotely realistic." (emphasis added)

Rorate adds: " We are not saying that Fr. Lombardi was laying brick for the pathway towards women cardinals in the future. That said, the 'progressive' Catholic media has already pounced on this as the watershed moment where 'the Vatican' has said women can be cardinals in the future. Words have consequences."

Guy Noir, our intrepid correspondent adds his two cents:

"Got to love these guys!

"Gay marriage, awful! But who are we to judge?

"Women cardinals, nonsense! But hey, anything is possible...!"

[Hat tip to JM]

What makes Pope popular (like Obama?), worries some conservative Catholics

"U.S.: Conservative Catholics not convinced by Bergoglio's approach" (Vatican Insider, October 15, 2013) details the reason why "Pope Francis’ communicative approach has caught many faithful and Catholic groups by surprise":

VATICAN INSIDER STAFF
ROME

Puzzled by Pope Francis’ approach many conservative Catholics in the U.S. are doing what only recently seemed “unthinkable”. “They are openly questioning the pope”, The Washington Post reports.

“Behind the growing scepticism is the fear in some quarters that Francis’s all-embracing style and spontaneous speech, so open as it is to interpretation, are undoing decades of church efforts to speak clearly on Catholic teachings. Some conservatives also feel that the pope is undermining them at a time when they are already being sidelined by an increasingly secular culture,” The Washington Post writes.

Francis is “a remarkable man, no one would deny that,” Robert Royal, president of the D.C. think tank Faith & Reason says. “But I’m not sure if he cares about being accurate. He gets into an [evangelizing] dynamic with people and that seems to be the most important thing. . . . In some ways it makes people very anxious. If you do this, what’s the next thing?” Royal asks.

“In the past everything you heard from a pope was prepared or formally released. And that was intentional — not to say anything ad hoc. And it’s also intentional that this one does,” says Phil Lawler, editor of Catholic World News.

Then the article concludes, remarkably:

Gregory Popcak, a Catholic marriage counsellor in Ohio, was surprised when some couples started contesting what he said, quoting Francis. At first he felt frustrated and then ashamed. After some reflection and prayer, he saw himself as the prodigal son’s good brother, the good boy who stays in the background and obeys his father.

“People who left the Church, who hated the Church (and yes, hated and sometimes abused me for loving it), who wouldn’t give the Church a second glance were suddenly realizing that God loved them, that the Church welcomed them, and all I could do was feel bitter about it.” Popcak wrote about his reflections online, getting dozens of responses from people who share these same thoughts.

Our correspondent we keep on retainer from an Eastern city that knows how to keep its secrets, Guy Noir - Private Eye, comments:

Seriously? I thought the story was cut off, but that is how it ends. I am ashamed for this report. The Francis coverage very much parallels the Obama coverage. It is laughable in its one-sidedness. This is the vengeance of Vatican II with a warm and fuzzzy fury...

[Hat tip to JM]

100th Anniversary of the Death of Pope St. Pius X

The Anniversary Year began on August 20, 2013, at 8:15pm. St. Pius, please pray for Our Lord's Church.

Will bishops next be dancing the polka at WYD Mass next year in Poland?

Why does this matter? Should it? Shouldn't it?

Pope to review Vatican bureaucracy and scandal-ridden bank?

Now that would be a nice first step. A nice second would be cleaning house of the lavender rat-infested bureaucracy itself. Remember that 300-page report in a red binder that Benedict XVI left under lock and key for the next pope to deal with before retiring?

In any case Reuters reports: "Pope Francis to review Vatican bureaucracy, scandal-ridden bank" (The Times of India, April 2, 2013)

Fr. Z on what Pope Francis is really up to

"What is Pope Francis really saying?" (WDTPRS, March 28, 2013). Fr. Z. writes:

Here is what I think Pope Francis is up to.

In this explanation I am not necessarily endorsing specific things that he is doing (washing the feet of females in a prison) or not doing (refusing the mozzetta, etc.).

... Before liberals and traditionalists both have a spittle-flecked nutty, each for their own reasons, try to figure out what he is trying to do.

Firstly, we are not succeeding in evangelizing. We are going backwards, globally....

In the wealthy west, the Church is often perceived (and it is so very often portrayed) as not being compassionate. The Church doesn’t care about women in crisis pregnancies (and therefore we don’t condone abortion or contraception because we are not “compassionate”. The Church doesn’t care about the divorced and remarried (because we don’t admit them to Holy Communion and therefore we are not “compassionate”).

I think what Pope Francis is up to is trying to project, re-project, is an image of the Church as compassionate.

... I’ll wager that, as a Jesuit, Francis doesn’t care about liturgy very much. He is just not into – one whit – either what traditional liturgy types or what liturgical liberals want....

Francis wants priests to talk to people and find out what they need and get involved in their daily struggles. Liturgy, for Francis, seems to be involved precisely in that. Do I think Francis may be missing huge points in this approach? Sure, right now I do. But I am leaving the jury out.

I don’t have to 100% embrace what Francis is doing even as I struggle to see and understand what I [think he] is up to.

This post raises all sorts of good talking points. Too many for Good Friday night. One that comes to mind however, is that the chief problem with our "not succeeding in evangelizing" is not so much our lack of good public relations icons to put a compassionate spin on the Catholic public image, so much as a failure to evangelize. Witness the total collapse of Catholic missions over the last half-century.

What would it require for us to begin evangelizing in earnest? Changed lives, souls converted to our Lord and Lady through the heart of Christ's Church. Cleaning house. Letting go all those whom our former Pope Benedict called "professional Catholics," those sacramentalized pagans who inhabit administrative positions in the Church with no shred of personal faith, along with DRE's, Catholic university and seminary professors who dissent from Church teaching and exhibit no personal enthusiasm for the propagation of The Catholic Faith or salvation of souls.

If hearts were converted to the Catholic Faith, compassion would follow and there would be little need for public relations undertakings for shows of compassion. On the other hand, there is little guarantee that shows of compassion will necessarily yield a harvest of Catholic Faith.

The dissent of a woman

Marielena Montesino de Stuart stands as a thorn in the side of EWTN Vatican cheerleaders who are even more Ultramontanist than William Ward who wished he had a papal bull with his breakfast each morning to read along with the Times.

In her blog, TheRomanCatholicWorld.com, she has had a history of writing exposés of everything from an alleged scandal involving a building erected at Ave Maria University bearing the name of a politician who has given millions to hard-core pro-choice politicians, including Obama, on the one hand, to American cardinals involved in the coverup of the homosexual/pederast scandal among United States clergy, on the other. Her offerings are neither for the faint of heart or those unwilling to do their own research to confirm or refute.

What takes the cake, however, is her recent series of articles concerning the election of Pope Francis. In a few cases, there is little more than a gesture or an allegation, without much support. In others, however, there is enough substance to evoke a provocation or two. A lot of guilt-by-association, certainly, and demonstrated disdain for traditional forms.

One tiny thing that struck me was the apparent allergy the Holy Father apparently has about making the sign of the cross outside the context of Mass. Why, I wonder?

In any case, here are just three of Montesino de Stuart's posts (yes, I know they sound brazen: you'll have to scroll horizontally through some of her titles to find all she has):

• "FRANCIS “The Bishop of Rome”– and the erosion of solemnity. Socialism disguised as “social justice” (March 16, 2013)
• "SPECIAL REPORT: FRANCIS– First “Pope” to have favored homosexual civil unions" (March 19, 2013)
• "Is Pope Francis really humble?" (March 20, 2013)