“Behold I send you as sheep in the midst of wolves. Be ye therefore wise as serpents and simple as doves.” Matthew 10:16.
Now that the motu proprio Traditionis Custodes has been dropped on Traditional Latin Mass communities, it is not the time for traditional Catholics to fall into despair, blame others or beg for scraps at the table of Modernism. The die has been cast and all Catholics, out of love for Holy Mother Church, must resist any effort to destroy THE Roman Rite of the Mass as confirmed and preserved in“perpetuity” by Pope St. Pius V.
There are basically two avenues for lay people to approach this situation. You can beg Jorge Bergoglio for mercy, pleading on your hands and knees, while trying explain how important the Latin Mass is to you. Oh, the irony! Or, pray for Bergoglio’s conversion to the Catholic faith and fight for your rightful patrimony with an aggressive (but charitable) plan of action. I will discuss the second option in this post.
Catholicism is and always has been a blue-collar, grass roots religion. Catholics do not need professional lay theologians to figure out, understand and accept the fundamental principles of the faith. The teachings and decrees of councils, saints and Popes for 2000 years that compromise the fundamentals of the faith are easily accessible to all Catholics who genuinely seek to know it. In fact, with the internet, this Tradition is now more accessible than ever before in human history. We must take advantage of this gift from God to defend what has been handed down to us.
Needless to day, I am not an expert theologian or Church history expert. Having said that, my background as a civil and constitutional law attorney, in addition to my experience as a political activist in the deep-dark trenches of state party politics, helps me to look at this situation differently than others. In my experience, the proper way to respond to this type of abuse of power, immoral behavior and sheer cruelty coming from the Vatican is not to go on the defensive—but to go on offense.
Key Background Principles We Need to Remember
While some “experts” may be spinning their wheels looking for legal loopholes in the motu proprio, what we as normal lay people need to do is resist any effort to destroy the Traditional Latin Mass and prepare for an uptick in spiritual warfare. In doing so, before any action can be taken, it is important we keep a few basic principles in mind:
1st Principle: If Benedict XVI is still the one and only reigning Pope since 2005, then Traditionis Custodes is completely invalid, without effect and none of the other arguments matter. If Pope Benedict XVI attempted to bifurcate the Papal office in effort to retain a passive ministry “within the enclosure of St. Peter”, then his attempted 2013 resignation/bifurcation effort is a substantial error under Canon 188 and invalidates by the law itself (automatically) any attempted resignation of the Papacy. It ALSO invalidates the conclave that “elected” Bergoglio because a conclave cannot be called if the Chair of Peter is not empty (Canon 359). Having reviewed the issue myself carefully, almost all of the available evidence points to this reality. If you have not taken the time to at least review and consider these arguments, as all Catholics are bound to do under Canon 748, now is a good time to do so. See Ann Barnhardt’s videos, Dr. Ed Mazza’s articles and Estafania Acosta’s (a canon lawyer) book to get you started. I realize not everyone is there yet. So, all remaining principles below will assume Bergoglio is a valid Pontiff for the sake of argument.
2nd Principle: Traditionis Custodes is an abuse of authority, probably illegal and certainly unjust. Pope St. Pius V did not invent the Roman Rite out of thin air like other versions of the Mass we know about. St. Pius V simply confirmed and standardized the Roman Rite Missal to correct some abuses that creeped into the Mass over the course of many centuries. The Traditional Latin Mass as found in the 1962 Missal has been celebrated the same way, in all its essential parts, since at least the time of St. Gregory the Great (6th century), and probably even before that. It developed organically over a long period of time—but never artificially constructed out of thin air. And when St. Pius V confirmed the rubrics of the Mass, to avoid any future tampering with the Mass, he also issued the following statement in the Papal Bull Quo Primum in 1570:
“We grant in perpetuity that this Missal is hereafter freely and lawfully to be used, without any scruple of conscience or fear of incurring any penalty or censure…No one whosoever is permitted to alter this notice of Our permission, statute, ordinance, command, precept, grant, indult, declaration, will, decree, and prohibition. Should anyone dare to contravene it, let him know that he will incur the wrath of Almighty God and of the Blessed Apostles Peter and Paul. (my emphasis added)” ~ Pope St. Pius V
Unlike any Pope in history, Bergoglio attempted to do the impossible—he attempted to limit with the intention of ultimately abrogating THE Roman Rite of the Mass contrary to the command of Pope Pius V. In a normal world, if you are going to take an action that effectively undoes a longstanding rule or tradition dating back centuries, an action that is specifically contrary to a law respected and acknowledged for well over 500 years, reason and decency requires you to at least mention it when doing so. Of course, Quo Primum was not even mentioned in the motu proprio itself, probably for obvious reasons—mainly because Bergoglio’s goal is an obvious abuse of authority.
3rd Principle: The attempted abrogation of the Traditional Latin Mass, contrary to the entire tradition and historical practice of the Church, is not just a disciplinary matter. I don’t care how many degrees from Steubenville a theologian may have, to demote the entire celebration of the Roman Rite of the Mass to just a disciplinary issue is illogical and insulting. The reason why we have to mention this is because many theologians will tell you it is perfectly acceptable for Bergoglio to contravene Quo Primum because no Pope can bind another future pope in disciplinary matters (par in parem potestatem non habet—equals have no power over each other).
To understand the seriousness and absurdity of this argument with respect to the Mass, we must remind ourselves what the Mass is.
“Sacrifice of the Mass is and ought to be considered one and the same Sacrifice as that of the cross, for the victim is one and the same, namely, Christ our Lord, who offered Himself, once only, a bloody Sacrifice on the altar of the cross. The bloody and unbloody victim are not two, but one victim only, whose Sacrifice is daily renewed in the Eucharist, in obedience to the command of our Lord: Do this for a commemoration of me.” Roman Catechism (Catechism of the Council of Trent).
“[The Mass] remains the center of the Church’s life.” Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1343.
The Mass is obviously not the same thing as, for example, what you can eat to satisfy the weekly Friday penance. St. Pius V was specific in implementing “the decrees of the Holy Council of Trent.” A Pope imposing the full force of his office, in accordance with the desires of the Council of Trent, “in perpetuity”, with specific language indicating that NO ONE may ever contravene the decree raises the rubrics of the Mass above just a disciplinary matter. This means even if Bergoglio had a legal right to change the Mass, it does not necessarily mean it was moral or just to do so. This is not rocket science folks—no matter how much the legalists try to pretend it is.
4th Principle: Questioning Bergoglio’s abuse of authority does not make you schismatic. This is one of the most common and most disingenuous arguments made by those seeking to stifle any discussion against what is obviously an abuse of power and authority. Canon 751 defines schism as a “refusal of submission to the Supreme Pontiff or of communion with the members of the Church subject to him.” Resisting specific or particular unjust orders (assuming the person in authority actually has the power in the first place) does not make you schismatic if you do not reject the power and authority of the office itself. It may make you disobedient, but not schismatic. Father Martin Luther is a schismatic because he rejected the authority of the Pope. However, if I fail to do proper penance on Friday despite the command of the Pope, I am disobedient. In the case of rejecting calls to end the Traditional Latin Mass, I would not even be disobedient. See #5 below.
5th Principle: You have the right and potentially even the duty to resist the destruction of the Traditional Latin Mass. St. Thomas Aquinas addresses the issue of refusing to follow orders from a superior. Aquinas states:
“[T]here are two reasons, for which a subject may not be bound to obey his superior in all things. First on account of the command of a higher power… Secondly, a subject is not bound to obey his superior if the latter command him to do something wherein he is not subject to him.” Summa Theologiae, II-II, Q. 104, Art. 5.
In other words, if a Pope commands you do something contrary to a higher power—i.e. God—you do not have to obey. Or, if the Pope commands something beyond his authority, you do not have to obey. This is what St. Thomas says, not me. And if you think about it, it is just common sense.
If the Pope ordered you to jump off a cliff and kill yourself (a mortal sin), you would be justified in ignoring the order. If a Pope attempted to rescind the dogma of the Immaculate Conception, likewise, you would be justified in ignoring such a statement. This is because a Pope is not an absolute monarch that can act arbitrarily and capriciously and command you to sin or defy the will of God. Rather, his job is to protect and hand down the Tradition of the Church intact—not destroy it. When he does so, then his teachings are protected by the Holy Ghost from error.
While I mentioned above we do not need theologians to understand obvious reality, in case you still doubt St. Thomas Aquinas on this, Michael Davies in his book Pope Paul’s New Mass points out additional statements in support of this idea that failure to follow an order of a Pope may be justified or even required:
Francisco Suarez: “If (the Pope) lays down an order contrary to right customs one does not have to obey him; if he tries to do something manifestly opposed to justice and to the common good, it would be licit to resist him; if he attacks by force, he could be repelled by force, with the moderation characteristic of a good defence.” De Fide, disp. X, sect. vi, n. 16.
St. Robert Bellermine: “Just as it is licit to resist the Pontiff who attacks the body, so also is it licit to resist him who attacks souls or destroys the civil order, or above all tries to destroy the Church. I say that it is licit to resist him by not doing what he orders and by impeding the execution of his will; it is not licit, however, to judge him, to punish him, or depose him, for these are acts proper to a superior.” De Summo Pontifice, lib. II, cap. 29.
The Laity Must Defend and Promote the Traditional Latin Mass and Traditional Priests
At the end of the day, it is the priests who celebrate the Traditional Latin Mass (TLM) who are most under attack since Bergoglio knows traditional priests are needed to keep the TLM alive. It is clear that the goal is to stop the growth of the traditional Catholic movement and eventually choke it off by making sure there will be no priests available to validly celebrate the Mass, leaving no other options for the laity except the New Mass of Paul VI or Eastern rite liturgies.
Practically, here are some points, or suggestions, on how to combat this by going on offense:
Point 1: Continue with your prayers and fasting for the purification of Holy Mother Church and the restoration of the Traditional Latin Mass in every parish throughout the world. Seek the intercession of Pope St. Pius V. Hopefully he can help us now to maintain the Mass he intended to preserve in perpetuity. Don’t just pray and fast to restore Summorum Pontificam, which was an unfortunate compromise Pope Benedict XVI probably felt he had to make and perhaps did yield some good fruit. Pray to restore the TLM as THE Roman Rite of the Mass everywhere just as Pope St. Pius V envisioned. Go for the gold!
Point 2: We must continue to grow and financially support traditional Catholic parishes and priests. There is a tidal wave of grace happening in the Church right now with the growth of the traditional movement, and it poses a grave threat to Modernism and those who suck off the Church defending Modernist ideas. The best thing to do is keep doing what we are doing as far as growing the movement and even turn up the heat. Encourage your New Mass attending friends to try the Traditional Latin Mass. After a few times, there is a good chance they will “get it”. We need this.
Point 3: Ignore those internal traditional Catholic cat fights. Whether you attend or prefer the FSSP, SSPX, ICK, diocesan or any other TLM, the point here is the preservation and spread of the TLM. The fact some “traditionalists” are using Bergoglio’s moto proprio as a pretext for bashing traditionalists not only is opportunistic and selfish, but also so unbelievably stupid.
Point 4: Support Bishops who are tradition friendly but make the lives of Bishops who cancel the TLM miserable. Like most other human beings in today’s culture, Bishops tend to take the path of least resistance. There is absolutely no good reason why any Bishop should want to shut-down the TLM except out of spite and adherence to their heretical Modernist worldview, which Pope St. Pius X condemned. Letter writing, protesting with a sign outside his office, withholding money, social media posts, whatever it takes. Make them pay with their time, money and inner peace for destroying what is rightfully yours. This does not mean you should act sinfully or unreasonably. Just remain firm in your convictions and do not beg for something you, as a practicing Catholic, are entitled to as promised by St. Pius V.
Point 5: If you are forced to go to a New Mass to satisfy your Sunday obligation, treat it as you would a Traditional Latin Mass. Always act with decorum, refuse to receive communion in the hand, dress appropriately (women, wear your veils!), bring your Latin Mass Missal with you and read those prayers during the Mass. If you are so inclined, stay kneeling and pray the Rosary throughout the entire Mass, especially if the Mass is particularly irreverent. Who knows, your example might just interest others and provide an opportunity to promote and talk about the Latin Mass to those who may not be familiar with it.
The above five point plan is just a beginning. The action plan will need to develop and change with the situation on the ground. And remember, do not let these people gaslight you. The attack on the Mass is not your fault, my fault or the fault of those who want to maintain tradition and stay faithful to the Church, her teachings and the Mass of the Ages.
For more information on the jurisdiction and authority of Quo Primum, in addition to any Michael Davies book as referenced above, and if you must engage those “experts” who are willing to listen, see The Jurisdiction of the Bull Quo Primum of St. Pius V and Fr. Gregory Hess, Fr Hesse explains why Quo Primum is a forever binding document, published by Tridentine Crusader.