The Catacombs - New Rite Sacraments

One Minute Video: Destruction of the 1962 Mass to Create the New

Fri, 08 May 2026 10:00:56 +0000

Taken from gloria.tv:

This is a visualization of the destruction of the 1962 missal in one video

Belgian Bishop Will Ordain Married Priests By 2028 - Introduces “Female Pastors”

Fri, 20 Mar 2026 11:29:10 +0000

Belgian Bishop Will Ordain Married Priests By 2028 - Introduces “Female Pastors”

gloria.tv | March 20, 2026

On March 19, Bishop Johan Bonny, 70, of Antwerp, Belgium, announced in an 11-page pastoral letter his intention to ordain married men as priests in his diocese by 2028.

He plans to personally prepare suitable candidates with the necessary theological training and pastoral experience. "The question is no longer whether the Church can ordain married men as priests, but rather, when and by whom it will be done."

Bonny also wants to make "the sacrament of ordination accessible to women, starting with ordination to the diaconate."

The pro-homosexual prelate believes that there is "room for diversity within the sacrament of ordination."

In his diocese, a "provisional intermediate step" will be the "development of an ecclesial ministry that is equally accessible to men and women and gives them an equal share in the pastoral and administrative services of the Church."

"Terminologically, we can best speak of the ministry of 'pastor.'"

Monsignor Bonny considers an appropriate liturgical act or an own ritual for the "pastor" a meaningful step toward female priesthood. Through this celebration, the bishop enables someone to participate in the threefold mission of the Church: teaching, based on Christ’s role as prophet; sanctifying, based on Christ’s role as priest; and leading or governing, based on Christ’s role as king.

Exaggerations and Eucharistic Miracles

Tue, 03 Feb 2026 20:15:37 +0000

Exaggerations and Eucharistic Miracles
It would be tragic for Catholics to try to convince the world of the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist

with unsubstantiated scientific claims about bleeding hosts and divine DNA.

Stacy Trasancos, PhD via Crisis Magazine | December 23, 2024

Two new forensic science papers raise concerns about Eucharistic miracle investigations. The main author, Dr. Kelly Kearse, is a faithful Catholic, Eucharistic minister for over 20 years, and science teacher at Knoxville Catholic High School in Tennessee. Kearse is also an immunologist who trained at Johns Hopkins, worked as a principal investigator at the NIH’s cancer and immunology branch, and served as editor for a Methods in Molecular Biology textbook.

Before summarizing his concerns, I want to make it clear that his purpose is not to disprove miracles and not to question the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist. Quite the opposite! The present concerns address exaggerations and how to correct them. Kearse points out important natural explanations that were never addressed. Until those are ruled out as causes, it is premature to claim a miracle. Kearse also provides analytical protocols that would decisively show whether the blood and cardiac tissue samples all originate from a single source, a key point in the validation of Eucharistic miracles that has never been addressed.

The first paper, “The relics of Jesus and Eucharistic miracles: scientific analysis of shared AB blood type,” was published in the Journal of Forensic Science, Medicine and Pathology.

Five samples test positive for type AB blood, the rarest of blood types at about 5 percent of the global human population. Two are Eucharistic miracle cases, one from Lanciano, Italy (c. 750) and the other from Tixtla, Mexico (2016). According to tradition, in Lanciano the bread turned into flesh and the wine turned into blood. Both species underwent scientific analysis in the 1970s by Professor Odoardo Linoli, who reported the blood as AB type. In Tixtla, a nun noticed a reddish substance on a Host while distributing Communion; it, too, tested as type AB. The other AB results are from cloths believed to have touched Jesus at the crucifixion (the relics): the Shroud of Turin (a burial garment), the Tunic of Argenteuil (a seamless robe), and the Sudarium of Oviedo (a face cloth).

It seems remarkable that all five test for the same, rare blood type. But there is a problem: the A and B antigens are not unique to humans. Since the 1960s, biologists have known that bacteria cells also have A and B antigens on their surfaces. Hence, if a sample is contaminated with bacteria, even if it contains no blood at all, it could still show a type AB blood result in this test.

Yet, without anyone ever checking for bacteria as the explanation, the claim about the blood type is often repeated as miraculous. In his 2021 book, A Cardiologist Examines Jesus, Dr. Franco Serafini calculates the probability that all five samples would produce an AB result, given their rarity, to be one in 3.2 million. A 2023 article at Catholic Answers Magazine goes so far as to claim that this “statistical impossibility” is a mathematical proof for the Real Presence, proof that God is real, and proof that “our Lord has AB blood.” A 2024 article at EWTN calls type AB “the Divine Blood Type as revealed by Eucharistic miracles.”

The investigators knew the samples were dirty, handled by multiple people, and contaminated with microorganisms. Dr. Linoli reported residuals of small dead insects and larvae on the Lanciano samples fifty years ago. The Shroud blood fibers were found to be contaminated with bacteria and fungi. The Tixtla sample was handled by multiple people over the seven years it took to investigate. Kearse maintains that “it is reasonable to propose that shared AB antigens from bacteria could readily explain the observed shared blood type.”

Kearse describes both genetic and protein tests that can detect other antigens and the genes responsible for them, providing not only information about the source of the AB antigens (human or otherwise) but also whether the samples are genetically identical. If the samples truly contain blood from a single source—that is, Jesus—then the DNA would match for all samples. These tests are routine now. To even begin to make the claim that the AB results are a “Divine Blood Type” or a “statistical impossibility,” these tests would need to be done.

If the samples truly contain blood from a single source—that is, Jesus—then the DNA would match for all samples. To even begin to make the claim that the AB results are a “Divine Blood Type,” these tests would need to be done.
The second paper, “Scientific Analysis of Eucharistic Miracles: Importance of a Standardization in Evaluation,” was published in the Journal of Forensic Science and Research.

In multiple Eucharistic miracle cases, parishioners found consecrated Hosts in improper locations, too dirty to consume. According to norms, the procedure in such situations is to place the Host in water, store it in the Tabernacle until it dissolves, and then discard it in the sacrarium, a sink that goes straight to the ground and bypasses the sewer.

In Buenos Aires, Argentina, in the 1990s, a Host was found in a candleholder near the back of a church. After eleven days in water, a reddish substance appeared on it. In Sokółka, Poland, in 2008, a Host was found on the steps of the altar. A week later, it was undissolved and covered by a red substance. In Legnica, Poland, in 2013, a consecrated Host fell to the ground and after storage in water displayed a crescent-shaped portion turning red.

Kearse devised, for the first time ever, a set of control experiments. He obtained unconsecrated communion wafers and processed them according to the same conditions described above. He left them in a dusty, dark corner for several days and then stored them in water at ambient temperature and humidity for 7-10 days. Approximately 15 percent of the control wafers formed a gelatinous red substance on the surface, like the photos from the Eucharistic miracle reports.

Microscopy, fluorescence, and molecular biology techniques showed the reddish substance to be fungus and bacteria. Again, this is a natural explanation that was not checked but easily could be. Kearse presents a variety of tests showing that blood can easily be distinguished from microorganisms. As before, genetic testing would ultimately confirm what the red substances are and whether they have a single origin.

Another concern regards the claim of divine DNA. Only the Buenos Aires and the Tixtla samples underwent a forensic DNA test, known as an amplified PCR (polymerase chain reaction) test. The Buenos Aires study indicated that “a very low concentration of human DNA was recovered” and that the sample contained a good amount of DNA from a “non-human origin.” For the Tixtla sample, no human DNA could be detected at all.

A “very low concentration of human DNA” is indicative of handling contamination. In forensic DNA tests, trace amounts of DNA from humans who touch a sample can be unintentionally amplified, and reports say the Hosts were touched by several people.

As for DNA of “non-human origin,” the forensic lab reports simply show an “N.R.” (no result). Yet, instead of reporting the straightforward result that no human DNA was detected, the investigators went the other way. They said that human DNA was present but defies detection because it is of divine origin, explaining that Jesus’ DNA would only have maternal DNA and no paternal DNA from a biological father. If this is the standard for testing miracles, then anyone can conclude anything.

Kearse ran the same DNA tests on his controls and found that non-human DNA does, in fact, show up in the form of plant DNA from wheat in the wafer. He found that bacterial and fungal DNA were abundant as well, which would show up as non-human DNA. These natural explanations must be checked before claims of divine DNA can be taken seriously.

Recently, Edward Pentin reported on the worldwide Vatican International Exhibition began by Blessed Carlo Acutis, the teenager who traveled the world to catalog 160 Eucharistic miracle investigations and died at the age of fifteen from leukemia. These stories are published by the Real Presence Eucharistic Education and Adoration Association in their book and exhibit The Eucharistic Miracles of the World. Pentin notes that the exhibit has been shown in thousands of parishes and at more than 100 universities globally. The book and posters repeat all the exaggerations mentioned here.

Hopefully, a new team will be formed to coordinate genetic tests on all available Eucharistic miracle samples and implement Kearse’s recommendations for a standard protocol. I asked him how he thought Catholics would take this news. He said:

Quote:Transformation of communion bread into literal human tissue and blood is an extraordinary and historic event. True faith should welcome evaluation at the scientific level, in as detailed and transparent of a manner as possible, to establish the validity of such findings so that they may be shared unequivocally with the world.

The results may show that all the samples are from the same human body, which we could reasonably assume to be that of Jesus Christ! Or they may show that none of these cases are miraculous after all. As disappointing as that would be, Catholics are truth-seekers who believe in the testimony of Christ. It would be tragic indeed, worse than big-haired charlatans faking miracle cures on television, for Catholics to try to convince the world of the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist with unsubstantiated scientific claims about bleeding hosts and divine DNA. Thanks to Kearse, there is a way to obtain better information. Starting those tests yesterday would not be soon enough.

***

Stacy A. Trasancos, PhD is the author of Particles of Faith: A Catholic Guide to Navigating Science and co-author of Behold It Is I: Scripture, Tradition, and Science on the Real Presence. She is an Adjunct Professor for Seton Hall University's Catholic Studies Program and at Holy Apostles College & Seminary. Her upcoming book, IVF is Not the Way: The False Promises of Artificial Procreation will be published by Sophia Institute Press in Summer 2025.

Which is Novus Ordo, which is Protestant?

Tue, 15 Jul 2025 11:00:23 +0000

Which is Novus Ordo, which is Protestant?

TIA [slightly adapted] | July 13, 2025

The two photos above capture two liturgical ceremonies: one is a Novus Ordo Mass, another is a Protestant service. They look very similar, don't they?

This similarity proves the success of Paul VI's New Mass in making it as close as possible to the Protestant services. It was for this purpose that he invited a commission of six Protestant theologians to be present during its elaboration to point out any objections they had. [...] The reader has also in these two photos a proof of the enormous apostasy we are witnessing. Indeed, for four centuries, influenced by the Council of Trent, the Catholic Church molded herself as a Militant, Hierarchical and Sacral institution turned toward the glory of God. After Vatican II we have seem a "Copernican revolution," presenting her as Tolerant, Synodal – or democratic – and Vulgar turned to the glory of man. Is it not the Great Apostasy predicted by St. Paul? (2 Thes 2:2-12)

Top: St. Patrick Catholic Church, Chatham, New Jersey (44:43 mark on their August 22, 2021, Livestream on YouTube, here).

Bottom: First Lutheran Church, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (49:30 mark on their July 6 2025, Livestream on Facebook, here).

Vatican announces new votive Mass ‘for the care of creation’

Mon, 30 Jun 2025 12:24:44 +0000

Vatican announces new votive Mass ‘for the care of creation’
The new text of the Mass will be issued Thursday, and comes on the back of Pope Francis' special focus on climate change issues

FotoDax/Shutterstock

Jun 30, 202
VATICAN CITY (LifeSiteNews [slightly adapted - not all hyperlinks included; emphasis mine]) — The Vatican is set to publish a new Mass text called the Mass “for the care of creation.”

In a press note issued June 30, the Holy See Press Office announced details of a press conference on Thursday which will be the launch pad for a new Mass.

“There will be a press conference to present the new form of the Mass ‘pro custodia creationis,’ which will be added to the Masses ‘pro variis necessitatibus vel ad diversa’ of the Roman Missal,” the note read.

The Mass is believed to be joining the list of votive Masses in the Roman Missal.

Presenting the new Mass text will be two notable Vatican officials from the relevant dicasteries:

Cardinal Michael Czerny, S.J., prefect of the Dicastery for Service of Integral Human Development.
Archbishop Vittorio Viola, OFM, secretary of the Dicastery for Divine Worship.

At the moment, it is not yet known how long the Mass has been in preparation, though it is highly likely to have originated under the pontificate of Pope Francis.

It will be of key significance to examine the text upon its release, given another high-profile liturgical case that is currently underway – namely the three-year “experimental phase” of the Amazon rite, which seeks to draw from local Amazonian customs.

Alongside this is the pagan-linked, inculturated Mayan rite, which the Vatican is currently considering for the “indigenous” inculturation of people in Mexico.

Where the Mayan and Amazon “rite” differ to the expected Mass “for the care of creation” is that the former have been posited as inculturated rites, while the latter is understood to be more akin to a votive Mass.

Francis made the “care of creation” a prominent theme throughout his pontificate, dedicating numerous speeches and addresses to it.

His 2015 encyclical letter Laudato Si’ became the reference text for a number of Vatican and papal initiatives focused on the so-called “green” agenda. In it, Francis spoke about a “true ecological approach” which listens to “both the cry of the earth and the cry of the poor.” The document later gave rise to the Laudato Si’ Movement, which aims to “turn Pope Francis’ encyclical letter Laudato Si’ into action for climate and ecological justice,” as the mass divestment from “fossil fuels” finds inspiration in the late pontiff’s environmental writings.

In October 2023, Francis published a second part to Laudato Si’ in the form of an apostolic exhortation named Laudate Deum.

The late pope also made numerous calls to action for global leaders to implement the pro-abortion Paris Climate Agreement, citing the “negative effects of climate change” and an “ecological debt” which required “climate finance, decarbonization in the economic system and in people’s lives.”

Cardinal Czerny’s Dicastery for Service of Integral Human Development is the Roman office charged with the practical implications of Pope Francis’ ecological concerns, along with his focus on the topic of migrants.

Recently, the dicastery recalled the 10th anniversary of of Laudato Si’, calling it “a unique opportunity to relaunch the commitment to our common home, a mission in which we are all called to actively participate.”

Archbishop Viola of the Dicastery for Divine Worship is better known for his opposition to the traditional Mass – a campaign which has been in full swing with increased pace in recent years, following Pope Francis’ Traditionis Custodes. Expanding even on those restrictions, Viola was believed to be writing a new document last summer which would have seen Pope Francis attempt to implement a new sweeping ban on the traditional Mass. That document never emerged; it is believed the text made it to Francis’ desk but that he never signed it.

As LifeSiteNews’ Jeanne Smits documented, Viola is a known admirer of one of the main architects of the Novus Ordo in 1969: Archbishop Annibale Bugnigni. Viola has chosen to wear Bugnini’s episcopal ring.

No official meeting between Pope Leo XIV and Viola has been recorded in the Pope’s public diary. One meeting has been documented between Leo and Viola’s superior, Cardinal Arthur Roche, which took place on June 3.

Czerny has been received on two official occasions, although it is quite possible that Pope Leo met with Czerny and Viola privately to discuss the new Mass text.

The text will be released on Thursday morning.

Vatican approves Mayan rite with ritual dance, female incensors and lay leadership of Mass parts

Sat, 16 Nov 2024 11:34:06 +0000

Vatican approves Mayan rite with ritual dance, female incensors and lay leadership of Mass parts
The much anticipated Mayan rite of the Mass will be implemented in certain parts of Mexico, and contains a number of element drawn from pagan, indigenous culture. A draft of the rite seen previously by LifeSite highlights the pagan theology underpinning the actions.

Mayan altar on the floor of a church
(Seminario Conciliar De San Cristóbal/Facebook

Nov 15, 2024
VATICAN CITY (LifeSiteNews) — The Vatican has approved the Mayan rite of the Mass which will involve ritual dancing, women taking the place of the priest in incensing the altar, and lay leadership of certain prayers in the liturgy.

The announcement came via Cardinal Felipe Arizmendi Esquivel, who is bishop emeritus of the San Cristobal de Las Casas diocese in Mexico and one of the leading promoters of this new rite.

Writing in his weekly column November 13, Arizmendi joyfully revealed that the Vatican’s Dicastery for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments has “with the authority of the Pope, on November 8 of this year, granted the long-awaited recognitio of some liturgical adaptations for the celebration of the Holy Mass in the Tseltal, Tsotsil, Ch’ol, Tojolabal, and Zoque ethnic groups of the diocese of San Cristóbal de Las Casas.”

Arizmendi has previously been in communication with LifeSite’s Dr. Maike Hickson, providing her with details about the proposed draft of the rite when it was being assessed by the Vatican. Subsequently, he confirmed to this correspondent a few times about his consternation that the Dicastery was taking so long to approve the rite.

The Vatican’s approval is “the official recognition of the Church by which these adaptations are approved as valid and legitimate,” he wrote in his column.

“They are the liturgy of the Church, and not just customs and habits that are viewed with suspicion,” he said in defense of the new rite of the Novus Ordo Mass. {Emphasis original}

Arizmendi was keen to highlight the significance of the development, since it is indeed only the second such rite since the Second Vatican Council which has been approved, the other being the Zaire rite in Africa.

Echoing Pope Francis on the topic, Arizmendi opined that such rites “are a form of incarnation of faith in expressions that are very specific to these cultures. We did not invent them, but we adopted what they live and which is in accordance with the Roman rite.”

“If there are deviations in some indigenous customs, we can help them to reach their fullness in Christ and in his Church,” he said.

What is new?

Last summer, Arizmendi provided LifeSite with the draft that had been submitted to the Vatican.

The now Vatican-approved rite – as described by Arizmendi – is outlined below:

Ritual dances: “Ritual dances” were approved at the Offertory, in the prayer of the faithful or in the thanksgiving after communion. These, Arizmendi said, are “simple movements of the entire assembly, monotonous, contemplative, accompanied by traditional music, and which express the same thing as the Roman rite, but in a different cultural form.”

“The content of the Mass is not changed, but the way it is expressed,” he said.

Women to incense instead of the priest: Women will perform the “ministry of incense bearers” in Mass “instead of the priest.” After the priest blesses and imposes incense, the woman then incense the “altar, the images, the Gospel book, the ministers and the assembly.” They will apparently not use the customary thurible, but rather “an incense burner proper to their culture.”

This, Arimenzi said, is born out of the indigenous custom of having usually women incensing during prayer.

Lay leadership of Mass prayers: The practice of having a lay man or woman of “recognized moral importance” who will be the “principal,” has been approved to “lead certain parts of the community prayer.” These times would be: “either at the beginning of the Mass, to initiate the community into the celebration, to name the intentions and to ask for forgiveness, or in the prayer of the faithful, after the priest makes the initial invitation and closes with the concluding prayer, or after communion as a thanksgiving, which the priest concludes with the post-communion prayer.”

The cardinal attested that the new practice did not mean “removing the priest from his service as president of the assembly, since he is the one who is at the head of the celebration, and he authorizes these moments.”

The lay leader “promotes and guides the prayer of all,” as he does not pray in just his name. “It is another way for the assembly to participate; the content of the Roman rite is not changed, but its cultural expression,” said Arizmendi.

Pagan theology underpinning rite

The Vatican had been assessing the text since July of 2023, after Mexico’s bishops voted 103-2 in favor during the April 2023 plenary assembly of the rite. The bishops of Mexico discussed an initial draft version, which was then amended slightly for presentation to the Vatican.

Speaking last year, Arizmendi stated that the country’s bishops extended the proposals to “all the native peoples of the country,” rather than just to those of the San Cristóbal diocese. However, that nation-wide permission has not been officially given, though in practice it remains very unlikely that the rite will be limited to the areas outlined by the Vatican.

Dr. Hickson previously noted that a Mayan rite has already been practiced in the Diocese of San Cristóbal, as it has been approved by the Mexican bishops’ conference. (See her prior coverage HERE and HERE)

In the March 2023 draft of the rite sent to LifeSite, the role of the “principal” was posited as being key as such an individual would “become even more relevant during the period of absence of the clergy in our diocese.” Such a line prompts the suggestion of completely lay led ceremonies as a norm in the future, rather than simply certain parts of the Mass.

It is not yet clear from Arizmendi’s description if the “principal” will engage in the pagan practice of praying to the four directions of the earth. The March 2023 draft noted that “on special occasions this prayer can be realigned by invoking God from the four cardinal points.” To invoke God from the four cardinal points implies in the Mayan polytheistic tradition: the four directions of the earth—north, west, south, east—which are traditionally connected with gods. However this was not present in the draft sent to the Vatican last summer and seen by LifeSite at the time.

But despite this, the underlying pagan theology remains. The “ritual dance” Arizmendi mentions was described in the March 2023 draft thus: “the feet caress the face of Mother Earth, making light movements. The face of God is greeted by moving to the four directions of the universe.”

The Undersecretary of the Dicastery — Bishop Aurelio García Macías — was heavily involved in drawing up the rite. He told local media in March last year that the process was “a personal enrichment for me because I believe that the local experience of San Cristóbal de Las Casas has discerned, has been able to study, reflect and can be enriched with the universal experience of the Catholic Church.”

Meanwhile, another pagan-based rite is also under consideration by the Vatican. The Amazon, or Amazonian, rite is about to begin a three-year trial period later this year. The Amazon rite is a product of the highly controversial 2019 Synod of Bishops on the Amazon, or the Amazon Synod.

Among the many proposals raised by the Amazon Synod and its final document are the opening of the clerical state to women and admitting married men to the priesthood, in an attempt to make the Church more appealing to Catholics in the region.

This “Amazonian rite” would “expresses the liturgical, theological, disciplinary and spiritual heritage of the Amazon,” which would assist the “work of evangelization.”

Meanwhile, the Dicastery for Divine Worship has been accused of implementing a “persecution” of the Church’s traditional liturgy across the global Church.

New Amazon rite of the Mass to enter 3-year ‘experimental phase’

Tue, 03 Sep 2024 09:09:27 +0000

New Amazon rite of the Mass to enter 3-year ‘experimental phase’
The ‘Amazon rite,’ inspired by local traditions and customs in the region and proposed at the 2019 Amazon Synod, will enter a three-year ‘experimental phase’ in late 2024, a Vatican theologian has said.

Pope Francis during the closing Mass for the concluding the Synod of Bishops, the Amazon synod.
Vatican News

Sep 2, 2024
VATICAN CITY (LifeSiteNews) — The highly anticipated and controversial Amazon rite of Mass will enter a three year “experimental phase” later this year, a key theologian has attested.

In a new report by Vida Nueva digital, groundbreaking details were revealed about the proposed Amazon rite of Mass – a fruit of the 2019 Amazon Synod held at the Vatican.

While not giving any verbatim quotations, Vida Nueva stated that “the Amazon rite will enter the experimental phase – which will last three years until 2028 – at the end of 2024.”

The news is arguably the most significant development in relation to the Amazon rite since it was proposed back in 2019.

Father Agenor Brighenti, Vida Nueva’s source, serves as the head of the Theological Team of the Latin American and Caribbean Episcopal Council (CELAM) and also advisor to the Ecclesial Conference of the Amazon (CEAMA).

Brighenti additionally serves as coordinator of “the process of elaboration of the Amazon rite for the Ecclesial Conference of the Amazon,” and advocates for the ordination of women to the diaconate and the priesthood, along with married priests. The influential theologian is a key advisor to the current Synod on Synodality.

Amazon rite?

The Amazon rite is a product of the highly controversial 2019 Synod of Bishops on the Amazon, or the Amazon Synod. Among the many proposals raised by the Amazon Synod and its final document are the opening of the clerical state to women and admitting married men to the priesthood, in an attempt to make the Church more appealing to Catholics in the region.

Additionally, based on the Second Vatican Council’s defense of “liturgical pluralism,” the Amazon Synod’s final document called for “a rite for native peoples” which would be based on their “worldview, traditions, symbols and original rites that include transcendent, community and ecological dimensions.”

This “Amazonian rite” would “expresses the liturgical, theological, disciplinary and spiritual heritage of the Amazon,” which would assist the “work of evangelization.”

Details have since been scarce on what the rite might look like; however, Pope Francis has suggested it could be formulated in line with the Zaire rite, which has been in use in the Democratic Republic of the Congo since 1988.

In a preface to a 2020 book on the Zairean rite, Francis wrote that the rite “is considered an example of liturgical inculturation.”

“One feels that in the celebration according to the Zairian rite, a culture and spirituality animated by religious songs with African rhythm, the sound of drums and other musical instruments vibrate, which constitute a true progress in rooting the Christian message in the Congolese soul. It is a joyful celebration,” he commented.

Francis directly linked the Zaire rite – replete with local customs, native dancing, singing and clapping – to the forthcoming Amazon rite:

Quote:The case of the Zairean rite suggests a promising path also for the possible elaboration of an Amazonian rite, in that the cultural needs of a specific area of the African context are received, without distorting the nature of the Roman Missal, to guarantee continuity with the ancient and universal tradition of the Church. We hope that this work can help to move in this direction.

Development

Following calls from liberalizing forces and key campaigners behind the Amazon Synod, a commission was formed to guide the development of such a rite.

In June 2022, the notoriously anti-traditional secretary of the Vatican’s Dicastery for Divine Worship – Archbishop Vittorio Viola – commented that the formation of an Amazon rite was “on the high seas.”

He also highlighted Pope Francis’ comments and linking of “the inculturation of the liturgy” with the “new evangelization.” Just as the Pope had done in his 2020 book preface, Viola linked the Zaire rite to the proposed Amazon rite, attesting that so-called “inculturation” of liturgy is the “new frontier” for the Church.

Results of the various sub-committees studying the proposed rite were presented to the Dicastery for Divine Worship in September 2022. The process was crucially aided by the papal formation of a new episcopal conference in the Amazon region: the Ecclesial Conference of the Amazon (CEAMA) in 2021.

Vida Nueva reported that Brighenti said the proposed Amazon rite was presented to the second assembly of CEAMA this August. After a “phase in communities,” stated Brighenti, the rite will be presented to the Dicastery for Divine Worship.

Currently, the theologian said that some 13 commissions are formulating the rite’s details about “the rituals of the sacraments and also thinking about the liturgical year of the Amazon, the liturgical space, the liturgy of the hours, among others.”

“We hope that it will be accepted and approved by the Church so that the ecclesial communities can express their faith according to their culture and customs in this immense territory of the Amazon,” he said.

Context of news

Brighenti, as noted, is a highly influential theologian in Rome. The fact that he is predicting the rite will officially enter an “experimental phase” before the year is out is a key development for the future of the rite which has found heavy criticism among conservatives and advocacy from liberal voices.

In the meantime, and alongside the quietly developing Amazon rite, the Vatican is currently mulling over another pagan-linked, inculturated rite.

READ: Vatican considering ‘Mayan rite’ of Mass after Mexican bishops overwhelmingly approve it

The Mayan rite proposed by Mexico’s Catholic bishops is now being examined by the Dicastery for Divine Worship. Though the dicastery has been slow in issuing a statement on the rite – much to the consternation of the Mexican bishops – the rite was drawn up with the key involvement of Dicastery Undersecretary Bishop Aurelio García Macías, suggesting that Vatican approval is a mere formality.

LifeSiteNews’ Dr. Maike Hickson has provided an in-depth analysis of the Mayan rite, the draft and final copies of which both she and this correspondent have studied.

The final draft of the Mayan rite contains liturgical actions based on, and drawn from, pagan actions. Such a liturgy would then be at the liberty of the individual cleric involved, who would feel at ease incorporating the wider, accompanying pagan aspects of the rituals which the Vatican would have approved.

Such a style gives an insight into the likely future of a similarly inculturated Amazonian rite.

Archbishop Lefebvre and Conditional Confirmations

Wed, 31 Jul 2024 11:39:54 +0000

Archbishop Lefebvre and Conditional Confirmations
Why did Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre administer the sacrament of confirmation to Catholics who were not his subjects, and repeat it conditionally for those confirmed in the new rites?

Image: Wiki Commons CC, with image of Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre.

WM Review [slightly adapted] | Jul 22, 2024

Introduction

In a previous article, we saw why several of the “reformed” postconciliar sacramental rites could be considered doubtfully valid.

This is the first part of a series considering Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre’s attitudes towards these reformed sacramental rites, with a particular focus on those of holy orders.

This first part will lay the groundwork and consider the analogous question of the reformed rite of confirmation.

Why start with confirmation? The Archbishop's confirmation tours – in which he conferred the sacrament in the traditional rite on those who were not his subjects, including conditionally on those who had been confirmed in the reformed rite – was one of the early post-conciliar battlegrounds. It provides a number of instructive parallels for considering the validity of the new rite of ordination.

Why focus on Archbishop Lefebvre? Archbishop Lefebvre was an enormously significant figure in the twentieth century, and he remains enormously significant to the greater number of traditionalists today.

Hence, while Lefebvre is not a proper authority whose opinions can definitively settle such disputed questions, he nonetheless enjoys some sort of “auctoritas,” such that what he thought about the crisis in the Church is interesting and important in its own right, with practical ramifications for many people.

As an example of such ramifications, the bishops whom Lefebvre consecrated in 1988 continue this confirmation practice to this day. Very many traditional Catholics still receive conditional confirmations from the bishops of the SSPX, whilst many others are puzzled at the rationale for such a practice. This practice is also followed by the all other traditionalists bishops, despite their varying schools of thought on other matters. As such, understanding this situation is important in itself.

Through considering his attitudes and actions with regards to the reformed rites of confirmation and holy orders, we will also see that:

1. Archbishop Lefebvre considered it an accepted and acceptable opinion to have a universal presumption of doubt about the validity of holy orders conferred using the reformed rites.

2. Similarly, he considered it to be an accepted and acceptable opinion to reject and avoid everything to do with the conciliar reforms – indeed, at times he clearly stated that this was obligatory for those who wished to remain Catholic.

We will also see that his willingness to repeat sacraments conditionally was animated by a sensitive and pastoral concern for the faithful who had attached themselves to him, and motivated by both charity and justice.

Early Comments on Confirmation

In 1974, Archbishop Lefebvre said specifically of confirmation:

Quote:“It can happen that the sacraments are not valid. In any case it can occur that the Sacraments are doubtfully valid, that is, that they are doubtful.”1

In 1975, he again discussed the subject of his unusual administration of confirmation. This text is notable for his pastoral concern and willingness to give the faithful peace of mind regarding the validity of the sacraments conferred on their children (and, by extension, themselves).

His comments about the “certainly valid” traditional rite also suggests, by implication, some level of concern about the reformed rite itself:

Quote:“I believe that we all have a serious requirement for the type of priests who transmit the life of the soul. I am certain you do not wish to have priests who are apt to administer sacraments, which are invalid.

“From time to time I am asked to administer Confirmation which, of course, is irritating to local bishops who remind me that I have no right to confirm in their dioceses.

“Naturally, I recognize this, but I remind them in turn that they have no right to administer sacraments of doubtful validity to children whose parents want them to receive the sacramental grace. These parents have the right to be certain that their children are receiving the grace of Confirmation. This is, after all, a grave responsibility for parents. It is grace, which keeps the soul alive, and, to this end, I much prefer to see parents confident that their children have received the sacramental grace of Confirmation even when, by administering the sacrament in someone else's diocese, I am acting illicitly.

“I may at least rest easy in the knowledge that the children confirmed in the manner prescribed by the Church for centuries truly carry the sacramental grace within them, that the sacrament is truly valid.

“With respect to sacraments of doubtful validity, today bishops rarely confirm: they delegate their vicars-general or other priests, and many of these change even the new authorized formulas. Because the particular sacramental grace of each sacrament has to be signified explicitly, and as many of these changes of working do not signify the sacrament in question, it follows that the sacrament is invalid. In other words, it is not permissible to toy with the formula of the sacraments, just as in the Sacrifice of the Mass we many not tamper with the wording of the consecration. It is necessary to perform as the Church has always intended.”2 (Line breaks added)

Here we can see Archbishop Lefebvre treating the conditional repetition of the sacraments as both a pastoral necessity, and as a matter of justice to the parents and children.

In his 1985 book Open Letter to Confused Catholics, the Archbishop expands on this point:

Quote:“I always respond to the requests of parents who have doubts regarding the validity of the confirmation received by their children or who fear it will be administered invalidly, seeing what goes on around them. [...]

“I explained why I carried on in this way. I meet the wishes of the faithful who ask me for valid confirmation, even if it is not licit, because we are in a period when divine law, natural and supernatural, has precedence over positive ecclesiastical law when the latter opposes the former instead of being a channel to transmit it.

“We are passing through an extraordinary crisis and there need be no surprise if I sometimes adopt an attitude that is out of the ordinary.”3 (Line breaks and emphasis added)

What did he think of the new form for confirmation?

It is not immediately clear what the Archbishop thought of the reformed form of confirmation.

The grounds for doubt pertained to the matter (the oils used and the manner of administration), the form (the words), the sacramental intention of the minister, and – as we shall see in due course – the actual validity of the minister's orders themselves.4

When publicly justifying his actions in absolutely and conditionally confirming those who were not his subjects, he often focused on the faithful's desire for the traditional rite, as well as problems with the sacramental intention and matter.

At times he stated that he believed that the new form was valid. In 1983, he suggested in a conference at Ridgefield that, rather than assuaging generalised doubts about the new rite, he was responding to those with particular reasons for doubt about their own sacrament:

Quote:“I hope that you know if your Confirmation was valid or very doubtful. If there is no doubt, then you cannot ask me to repeat it. You know, that is very important. In Rome, they accuse me of performing many conditional sacraments without having investigated to see if there was sufficient doubt to warrant repeating them.”5

In 1979, during his examination by the CDF, he was also asked directly which sacramental formula he used for conferring Confirmation, and whether he recognised the validity of the reformed rite. He answered:

Quote:“I used the old sacramental formula. But I recognize the validity of the new Latin formula. I use the old formula to meet the wishes of the faithful. […]”6

While it might be tempting to take these to be definitive statements (especially if one personally favours this position), the reality appears to be that Lefebvre was undecided on the issue.

This is hardly surprising, given the implications of the different possibilities. It is most unfortunate that the Archbishop – it would be unfortunate for anyone – was nonetheless forced to take public stances on these tremendously difficult questions.

However, in spite of his claim to recognise the new formula in the examination by the CDF, in the same 1979 answer the Archbishop seems to let slip that other concerns were also present to his mind.

Quote:"Salus animarum suprema lex – the salvation of souls is the supreme law. I cannot refuse the sacrament to the faithful who ask me for it. It is at the request of the faithful, attached to Tradition, that I use the old sacramental formula, and also for safety's sake, keeping to formulas which have communicated grace for centuries with certainty.”7 (Emphasis added)

In his biography of the Archbishop, Bishop Bernard Tissier de Mallerais also suggests that he was uncertain about the form:

Quote:“The Archbishop also believed that the validity of the sacrament of confirmation was affected by the new ‘form’ of the sacrament published on August 15, 1971.

“It came from an Eastern confirmation rite and expressed less clearly the special character of confirmation, especially in the sometimes unreliable vernacular translations.”8

Bishop Tissier de Mallerais's phrasing is important: it is true that the new form "came from an Eastern confirmation rite"; but in fact, it is not identical with any Eastern form, and Rama Coomaraswamy has argued that there is some significance to this difference.9

Is this difference significant enough to cast doubt? Some are personally sure of validity, based on their own reasoning, rather than the “authority” of the Conciliar Church's promulgation of the rite. But once they have begun trying to prove that the reformed rites fulfil the requirements of Catholic sacramental theology on intrinsic grounds, they are already implicitly conceding that "the authority of the Church" is insufficient to guarantee these rites.

Are they entitled to act on what is therefore necessarily only a probable opinion, based as it is on their own reasoning? And are they entitled to impose their personal certainty on others, and treat their personal reasoning as decisive?

It would seem strange to answer these questions in the positive, both because of general theological principles, but also because this particular change is a part of a wider reform that the Archbishop tells us that we are obliged to reject:

Quote:“It is impossible to modify profoundly the lex orandi without modifying the lex credendi. To the Novus Ordo Missae correspond a new catechism, a new priesthood, new seminaries, a charismatic Pentecostal Church—all things opposed to orthodoxy and the perennial teaching of the Church.

“This Reformation, born of Liberalism and Modernism, is poisoned through and through; it derives from heresy and ends in heresy, even if all its acts are not formally heretical.

“It is therefore impossible for any conscientious and faithful Catholic to espouse this Reformation or to submit to it in any way whatsoever.”10

Further, given that this form is indeed not identical to a rite received and used by the Church, it seems clear that Catholics are entitled to seek certainty and peace through conditional repetition of the sacrament.

We can see a further example of this attitude in a conference given in 1975, which uses similar language to other conferences and was included in a different translation in the anthology A Bishop Speaks:

Quote:“A common rite today is to pronounce simply ‘I sign you with the Sign of the Cross. Receive the Holy Spirit.’ In administering Confirmation, the bishop must indicate precisely the special sacramental grace whereby he confers the Holy Ghost. There is no Confirmation if he does not say, ‘I confirm you in the name of the Father...’

“Bishops frequently reproach me, and remind me, that I confer the Sacrament where I am not authorized. To them I answer that I confirm because the faithful fear that their children have not received the grace of Confirmation, because they have a serious doubt as to the validity of the Sacrament conferred in their Churches. Therefore, in order that they might at least be secure in their knowledge of the validity of the sacramental grace, they ask that I confirm their children.

“And I respond to their plea because it appears to me that I may not refuse those who request that their confirmation be valid, even if it may not be licit. We are clearly at a time when divine natural and supernatural law takes precedence over positive Church law when the latter is opposed to the former, when in reality it should he the channel leading to it.

“We are living in an age of extraordinary crisis, and we cannot accept its Reforms. […]

“I count on you for your prayers for my seminarians, that they may become true priests, priests who have the faith, in order that they may administer the true Sacraments and celebrate the true Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.”11 (Line breaks and emphasis added)

Despite the similarity between this text and others given, it is marked by a significant distinction: this text is not just objecting to distortions of the reformed rite, or to the possibility of oils other than olive oil being used, but rather contains (at least by implication) a critique of the reformed formula itself.

It also contains yet another statement of the Archbishop's “pastoral” reasons for conditional confirmations – along with a reminder of the necessity of rejecting the conciliar reforms as a whole.

What do his other actions tell us?

In the 1983 text above, the Archbishop suggests that the faithful should have some positive, specific reason for doubt about the actual administration of the rite, or the actual minister of the sacrament.

This is a standard idea. Canon Law states:

Quote:Canon 732

§ 1. The Sacraments of baptism, confirmation, and orders, which imprint a character, cannot be repeated.

§ 2. But if a prudent doubt exists about whether really and validly these [Sacraments] were conferred, they are to be conferred again under condition.

In another piece, we also saw that the moralists McHugh and Callan taught that the conditional repetition of a “useful sacrament” (such as confirmation – as opposed to a “necessary” or “more important sacrament” such as baptism or orders) may be:

Quote:Forbidden, if repeated on basis of a “groundless and foolish” fear

Lawful, if repeated on the basis of a “prudent misgiving”

Obligatory (gravely or lightly, depending on the case) if repeated on the basis of a “well-founded fear” and “if charity, justice or religion calls for repetition and the inconvenience will not be too great.”

From the text above, two questions may arise:

1. Is a doubt about confirmation (and, to be discussed at a later date, some of the other reformed sacramental rites) “groundless and foolish,” or a “prudent [and] well-founded fear,” or somewhere in between (e.g., a “prudent misgiving”)?

2. What did Archbishop Lefebvre think and how did he act?

It is a fact that, in practice, the investigations mentioned, into the validity of confirmation, have not been a real requirement. They have not typically played a part in the conferral of conditional confirmation; nor have the faithful been consistently warned about such a requirement. Exceptions have occurred here and there in the life of the Society, but they do not seem to have been enforced in any serious or widespread way.

Critics of the Society could paint this as being careless with sacred things. A more sympathetic interpretation of this is that “actions speak louder than words”. This practice (and omission) shows that a confirmation conferred in the reformed rite – without any particular investigation – is itself taken as basically sufficient grounds for some sort of prudent, positive doubt or misgiving, and thus for conditional confirmation.

Fr. Peter Scott SSPX is a witness to this attitude, in a “Q&A” on the topic:

Quote:“The bishops of the Society administer the sacrament of Confirmation conditionally when the faithful request it, that is, when they have a reasonable doubt as to the validity of the sacrament that they received, and this doubt cannot be resolved, as is usually the case.”12

Again, there is no suggestion in Fr. Scott’s answer of any serious need for an investigation into each case, or that each individual has such a duty. Rather, there is the presumption that these things are generally too difficult to resolve, and that a generalised state of doubt is reasonable.

He then gives the examples of wrong types of oil, and doubts about the words used. And yet he concludes:

Quote:“Since there is a great variety in the words used, and since the traditional words ‘I sign thee with the sign of the cross and I confirm thee with the chrism of salvation, in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost’ are never used, there is very frequently a doubt about the validity of the administration of this sacrament.

“This is the reason why the Society’s bishops do not hesitate to administer it conditionally when asked to do so.”13

It is clear from this phrasing that the failure to use the traditional words is treated, even if just implicitly, as sufficient grounds for doubt. In any case, the results of such an investigation can no more be imposed on others than can the private reasonings as to the validity of the rites themselves.

This idea is expressed in even clearer terms by Fr Matthias Gaudron SSPX in his Catechism on the Crisis in the Church:

Quote:“Because of the defects presented above, one should not receive the sacraments in the new rites, but only in the traditional rites, which alone are worthy and certainly valid.

“Receiving the sacraments under a form that is even slightly doubtful is not allowed.”14

As an aside, McHugh and Callan's distinctions show that dismissing a generalised doubt about confirmations administered in the new rite as “groundless or foolish” (or scrupulous) necessarily entails accusing the Society of permitting and promoting unlawful and even sacrilegious repetition of the sacraments.

The circumstances mean that avoiding making this (obviously false) accusation entails admitting that we do indeed have grounds for at least a “prudent misgiving” (if not more) about either the reformed rite of confirmation itself, or at least the moral universality of its administrations in practice – the unresolvability of which leads to the same practical conclusions.

Preliminary Conclusions

Archbishop Lefebvre seems to have been understandably uncertain about these issues – including the very fact of whether he should or could be uncertain. At the very least, it is clear that he was uneasy about the reformed rite, and did not seem sure of what to make of it.

Who but the most callow today could fault him for uncertainty here; and who did more to respond to it at the time than he did?

In the early stage of the post-conciliar crisis, even if he did not voice his thoughts explicitly, the Archbishop’s words and deeds seem to express more or less doubt about the reformed rite of confirmation in principle, as well as accepting a presumption of doubt regarding of any given confirmation in this rite.

He did, however, explicitly recognise the legitimacy (and later, the necessity) of adhering to the traditional rites to the exclusion of the new.

He also explicitly recognised the pastoral and psychological needs of the faithful for certainty with regards to sacramental validity. Here, we see him acknowledging that “justice, charity or religion” (as McHugh and Callan say) obliging him to repeat these sacraments conditionally.

In other words, there is no need to think that the minister (still less his superiors) must themselves be certain that a given sacrament is doubtful, nor that they must personally find the grounds for concern compelling (or more compelling than the contrary), in order to recognise such doubt as legitimate and to remedy the situation accordingly.

Later in his “retirement”, we can see the Archbishop’s opinions getting firmer, both for this sacrament and for others. He remained somewhat uneasy and uncertain, and appeared reluctant to draw definitive conclusions on complicated issues outside of his authority.

But his general attitude can be summarised in his words and those reported by Bishop Tissier de Mallerais in the section on confirmations. He said:

Quote:“We no longer know if they are sacraments which give grace or do not give it.”15

And Bishop Tissier de Mallerais’ summarised:

Quote:“The faithful have the right to receive the sacraments validly.”16

All in all, the portrait that emerges is of a sensitive and pastoral Shepherd, trying to make sense of an unprecedented situation, whilst holding fast to what were his clear duties. It is a portrait of a bishop so concerned with the salvation of souls that he would travel the world in order to give the faithful certainly valid confirmations in the traditional rite, along with subjective peace and certainty on the matter – even if this involved acting somewhat outside of the normal way of doing things, and even if he was not himself always sure about how to judge the gravity of these doubts.

In a further part we will see how this attitude and his thoughts developed in relation to the wider question of the other reformed rites, as well as the more important question of the reformed rites of ordination.

1. Lefebvre, ‘To Preserve the Faith’, sermon given Pentecost Sunday, 1974. http://sspxasia.com/Documents/Archbishop...-Faith.htm

2. Lefebvre, ‘The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass’, An Address Given by His Grace: Ottawa, Canada November 1975. http://www.sspxasia.com/Documents/Archbi...e-Mass.htm

3. Lefebvre, An Open Letter to Confused Catholics, Fowler Wright Books Ltd for The Society of St Pius X, Leominster, Hertfordshire, 1986. Pp 54-5

4. This is a subject for a later part. In the meantime, let’s see the famous quote from his Open Letter to Confused Catholics:

“All these Popes have resisted the union of the Church with the Revolution; it is an adulterous union and from such a union only bastards can come. The rite of the new mass is a bastard rite, the sacraments are bastard sacraments. We no longer know if they are sacraments which give grace or do not give it.

“The priests coming out of the seminaries are bastard priests, who do not know what they are. They are unaware that they are made to go up to the altar, to offer the sacrifice of Our Lord Jesus Christ and to give Jesus Christ to souls.” Chapter 15, https://www.sspxasia.com/Documents/Archb...ter-15.htm

5. This text is from a photograph of a typewritten 1983 conference at Ridgefield, Conncticut entitled “The Father Stark Issue”, provided by Tony La Rosa of Ecclesia Militans. I have been unable to find any other edition of it from the SSPX itself – but, naturally, that does not mean it does not exist. It is available at: https://www.ecclesiamilitans.com/2020/01...new-rites/

6. Lefebvre, quoted in Michael Davies, ‘Archbishop Lefebvre Before the SCDF”, 11 January 1979, from Apologia Pro Marcel Lefebvre Vol 2 Chapter XXXII . Available at https://web.archive.org/web/202108011902...ter_32.htm

7. Ibid.

8. Bishop Bernard Tissier de Mallerais, Marcel Lefebvre, The Biography, (ebook version) trans. Brian Sudlow, Angelus Press, Kansas City, MO, p 578.

9. Cf. Rama Coomaraswamy, The Problem with the Other Sacraments, Chapter IV, available at: http://www.the-pope.com/sacramentsc.html.

10. Lefebvre, Declaration of 1974. https://fsspx.uk/en/1974-declaration-arc...bvre-31164

11. Lefebvre, ‘Luther’s Mass: An Examination of the Shocking Similarities Between the New Mass and Luther's "Mass"’, Conference given February 15 1975 in Florence, Italy. https://www.sspxasia.com/Documents/Archb...s-Mass.htm

12. Fr Peter Scott, ‘Why does the Society of Saint Pius X administer conditionally the sacraments of baptism and confirmation to those who received them in the Novus Ordo?’ in “Catholic FAQs: Traditional”, from an archived version of the old SSPX USA website, available at: https://web.archive.org/web/200610132335...dnovusordo

13. Ibid.

14. Fr Matthias Guadron, A Catechism of the Crisis in the Church, trans. The Dominican Fathers of Avrillé, Angelus Press, Kansas City MO, 2010. P 397.

15. Lefebvre, Open Letter, Ch. 15.

16. Tissier de Mallerais, Ibid.

Reports: Vatican planning to enforce a ‘final’ ban of Traditional Latin Mass, likely on July 16

Wed, 19 Jun 2024 15:56:28 +0000

Reports: Vatican planning to enforce a ‘final’ ban of Traditional Latin Mass, likely on July 16
Sources told Rorate Caeli that Vatican officials want to ban the Latin Mass in a manner ‘as wide, final, and irreversible as possible,’ and a source informed LifeSiteNews that this ban is likely to be issued on the three-year anniversary of Traditionis Custodes.

Rome-Italy-10-24-2015. Holy Pontifical Mass in an ancient rite at the Saint Peter's Chair, Mass in Latin, in the Basilica of Saint Peter's in the Vatican,

pilgrimage Summorum Pontificum
Shutterstock

Jun 18, 2024
(LifeSiteNews) — Several “credible” sources informed a traditional Catholic media outlet that the Vatican is planning to issue a document “banning” the Traditional Latin Mass, and a source informed LifeSiteNews that this will likely occur on July 16.

“An attempt is being made to implement, as soon as possible, a Vatican document with a stringent, radical, and final solution banning the Traditional Latin Mass,” reported Rorate Caeli on Monday, which attributed the news to “the most credible sources, in different continents,” including from “circles close to” Cardinal Arthur Roche, the prefect for the Dicastery for Divine Worship.

These sources are reportedly “the very same… who first revealed that a document like Traditionis Custodes would come” and also “revealed to Rorate that the Vatican had sent out a survey to bishops” on their implementation of the TLM following Pope Benedict XVI’s 2007 motu proprio Summorum Pontificum, which allowed widespread use of the Latin Mass.

Those planning this “final” suppression of the TLM are said by Rorate to be “frustrated” with the “apparently slow results” of Pope Francis’ Latin Mass-restricting document Traditionis Custodes, particularly in the U.S. and France, and “want to ban it and shut it down everywhere and immediately.”

These Vatican prelates, which by implication include Pope Francis and at least require his consent, reportedly wish to make this Latin Mass ban “as wide, final and irreversible as possible.” Rorate Caeli is urging people in all states of life to “prevent the ban from becoming a concrete measure.”

LifeSiteNews has received information indicating that a likely date for these expected restrictions is July 16, the anniversary of the implementation of Traditionis Custodes.

Cardinal Raymond Burke recently highlighted the fact that Traditionis Custodes has in one sense backfired, because it has intensified and multiplied attraction to the Mass of the Ages. The cardinal stated:

Quote:If the intention with the latest legislation Traditionis Custodes and other documents which followed it was to discourage or to decrease the attraction of the holy liturgy according to the Usus Antiquior, it had, I would say, the exactly opposite effect.

“This,” he added, “should not be surprising. One has to think that a form of the Roman rite which has nourished so profoundly and produced so many saints, the declared saints, even let’s say hidden saints, it is not possible that this rite be canceled, that it be eliminated from the life of the Church.”

Pope Benedict XVI himself clarified through his motu proprio Summorum Pontificum that the Latin Mass was never abolished and that no priest needs his bishop’s permission to offer it, stating, “What earlier generations held as sacred, remains sacred and great for us too, and it cannot be all of a sudden entirely forbidden or even considered harmful.”

Following Traditionis Custodes, Cardinal Burke affirmed that the traditional liturgy is not something that can be excluded from the “valid expression of the lex orandi.”

“It is a question of an objective reality of divine grace which cannot be changed by a mere act of the will of even the highest ecclesiastical authority,” wrote the cardinal in 2021.

In accordance with this idea, liturgical scholar Dr. Peter Kwasniewski has written that priests must resist attempts to restrict the Latin Mass, including through Traditionis Custodes and its accompanying Responsa ad dubia “regardless of threats or penalties,” since obedience to these documents would undermine the very mission of the holy Catholic Church.

‘The traditional Mass belongs to the most intimate part of the common good in the Church. Restricting it, pushing it into ghettos, and ultimately planning its demise can have no legitimacy. This law is not a law of the Church because, as St. Thomas [Aquinas] says, a law against the common good is no valid law,’” he said in a speech during the 2021 Catholic Identity Conference.

True obedience “is always obedience to GOD, whether immediately or mediately,” explained Kwasniewski. Therefore, if any authority commands something contrary to God’s divine or natural law, “We must obey God rather than men,” as is declared in the Acts of the Apostles and affirmed by Pope Leo XIII.

Kwasniewski made the point that “the traditional liturgical worship of the Church, her lex orandi (law of prayer),” is a “fundamental” “expression of her lex credendi, (law of belief), one that cannot be contradicted or abolished or heavily rewritten without rejecting the Spirit-led continuity of the Catholic Church as a whole.”

To drive this home, he quoted the solemn words of St. Pius V’s bull Quo Primum, which he noted “is not ‘just a disciplinary document’ that can be readily set aside or contradicted by his successors; it is a document de rebus fidei et morum, concerning matters of faith and morals, and therefore not susceptible to being set aside by a later pontiff” – something acknowledged by “his successors who, whenever they published a new edition of the missal, were careful to preface it with Quo Primum, showing that they accepted and embraced that which Pius V had codified and canonized.”

Quo Primum states:

Quote:In virtue of Our Apostolic authority, We grant and concede in perpetuity that, for the chanting or reading of the Mass in any church whatsoever, this Missal is hereafter to be followed absolutely, without any scruple of conscience or fear of incurring any penalty, judgment, or censure, and may freely and lawfully be used. Nor are superiors, administrators, canons, chaplains, and other secular priests, or religious, of whatever title designated, obliged to celebrate the Mass otherwise than as enjoined by Us. We likewise declare and ordain… that this present document cannot be revoked or modified, but remains always valid and retains its full force… Would anyone, however, presume to commit such an act [i.e., altering Quo Primum], he should know that he will incur the wrath of Almighty God and of the Blessed Apostles Peter and Paul.

Series of Video 'Shorts' on the New Mass

Wed, 28 Feb 2024 12:03:12 +0000

The New Mass: A Flavor of Protestantism - The Work that Martin Luther Began

The Diabolical Secrets of the New Mass of Paul VI

Tue, 13 Feb 2024 11:43:30 +0000

The Diabolical Secret of the New Mass of Paul VI (Part 1 of 2)

Based on the Chiesa Viva article found here.

Cardinal Fernández issues text on ‘validity’ of sacraments

Mon, 05 Feb 2024 10:24:38 +0000

A typical Conciliar mixture of truth and error...

Cardinal Fernández issues text on ‘validity’ of sacraments
Cardinal Fernández's text does not contain specifics regarding the individual sacraments, but warned that changing 'the form of a Sacrament or its subject matter is always a gravely illicit act.'

Cardinal Fernández at his titular church in Rome, December 2023.

Feb 3, 2024
VATICAN CITY (LifeSiteNews) — Victor Manuel Cardinal Fernández has published a new document on “the validity of the sacraments,” which he says is a response to various unauthorized changes to the form of sacraments which render them invalid.

Entitled Gestis Verbisque, the 12-page text was released February 3 by the new prefect of the Congregation (Dicastery) for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF). (See LifeSite’s translation here)

Unanimously approved on January 25 at the plenary assembly of CDF members and then by Pope Francis on January 31, the text has been published because – according to Fernández – “it must be noted that the liturgical celebration, particularly that of the Sacraments, is not always carried out in full fidelity to the rites prescribed by the Church.”

“Several times this Dicastery has intervened to settle doubts about the validity of Sacraments celebrated, within the framework of the Roman Rite, in disregard of liturgical norms, sometimes having to conclude with a painful negative response, noting, in those cases, that the faithful have been robbed of what is due to them,” wrote Fernández.

Aimed chiefly at bishops, Gestis Verbisque (GV) presents itself as an aid, and looks to highlight “some elements of a doctrinal nature with regard to discernment on the validity of the celebration of the Sacraments, paying attention also to some disciplinary and pastoral implications.”

Fernández drew heavily from the writings of the Second Vatican Council, along with texts from the Council of Trent, St. Thomas Aquinas and Popes Benedict XVI and Francis.

“The interventions of the Magisterium in sacramental matters have always been motivated by the fundamental concern for fidelity to the mystery celebrated,” he noted. “Indeed, the Church has a duty to ensure the priority of God’s action and to safeguard the unity of the Body of Christ in those actions that have no equal because they are sacred ‘par excellence’ with an efficacy guaranteed by Christ’s priestly action.”

Highlighting the matter and form required for the validity of each sacrament, GV noted that “it cannot be ignored that when the Church intervenes in determining the constituent elements of the Sacrament, she always acts rooted in Tradition to better express the grace conferred by the Sacrament.”

Quoting directly from the Council of Trent to note that the minis of the sacrament must have the “intention to do at least what the Church does,” Fernández reiterated that Council’s teaching that “Matter, form and intention are intrinsically united: they are integrated into the sacramental action in such a way that intention becomes the unifying principle of matter and form, making them a sacred sign by which grace is conferred ex opere operato.”

Principally, Fernández presented the text of a 2020 CDF ruling on Baptism, noting that altering the form of a sacrament is not a private or small issue, but one which affects the Church:

Quote:to change on one’s own initiative the celebratory form of a Sacrament does not constitute a simple liturgical abuse, as a transgression of a positive norm, but a vulnus inflicted at the same time on ecclesial communion and on the recognizability of Christ’s action, which in the most serious cases renders the Sacrament itself invalid, because the nature of ministerial action demands that one faithfully transmit what one has received.

While Fernández noted early in GV that “changing, therefore, the form of a Sacrament or its subject matter is always a gravely illicit act and deserves exemplary punishment, precisely because such arbitrary gestures are capable of producing grave harm to God’s faithful People,” he did not delve into specifics of each sacrament, but kept his commentary to more general reflections on the necessity of the matter and form of a sacrament.

Mass presidency

However, he did devote the third section of the document to “Liturgical presidency and the art of celebration,” drawing heavily from themes found in the Vatican II documents. Dealing thus more specifically with the Mass, Fernández highlighted how the “priest re-presents Christ himself in the event of the celebration.”

The priest is not possessed of a “power to be exercised arbitrarily,” the cardinal wrote, since “the Head of the Church, and therefore the true president of the celebration, is Christ alone.”

Warning especially against priests assuming undue ideas of authority, Fernández gave notable weight to the theme of the “baptismal priesthood,” as espoused in the Second Vatican Council’s Lumen Gentium.

“For this very reason, the minister should understand that the authentic ars celebrandi is one that respects and exalts the primacy of Christ and the actuosa participatio of the entire liturgical assembly, including through humble obedience to liturgical norms,” he wrote, paraphrasing the General Instruction of the Roman Missal.

Fernández closed his document by quoting from Pope Francis’ 2022 letter Desiderio Desideravi, which reaffirmed Francis’ restrictions on the Traditional Latin Mass while promoting the reformed liturgy as “the unique expression of the lex orandi of the Roman Rite.”

Fernández did not deal with the traditional liturgy in his GV text, despite quoting from Desiderio Desideravi, writing instead that “The whole Church is called to guard the richness contained in them [sacraments], so that the primacy of God’s saving action in history may never be obscured, even in the fragile mediation of signs and gestures proper to human nature.”

Years of Invalid “Honeycake” Masses

Tue, 28 Nov 2023 13:21:40 +0000

Years of Invalid “Honeycake” Masses

NLM [slightly adapted] | November 27, 2023

As I noted in an article published in October (“The ‘Unique Expression of the Roman Rite’ in the Wild: New Zealand Priest Ad-libbing Eucharistic Prayer”), the primordial defect of the Novus Ordo is its huge range of possible realizations and adaptations, a dizzying number of them lacking in all good sense, good taste, connection with tradition, etc., and yet well within the bounds of what is legally permissible, not to say universally tolerated. In other words, it is a template for community prayer-action, not a liturgical rite as such, which is always characterized by unspontaneous and determinate givenness.

The “Big Bang” moment for the deritualization of rite was the very act of calling a global liturgical reform where everything was going to be evaluated through the filters of modern liturgical scholars. After that point, it hardly mattered what was said or done; the cord with tradition as normative, venerable, and essentially right had been severed, and Humpty-Dumpty’s situation looked quite favorable in comparison. “All the pope’s horses (i.e., curial officials) and all the pope’s men (i.e., local bishops) couldn’t put ritual back together again.” This helps explain why it seems dramatically easier to mount a full-scale solemn Tridentine liturgy than to reform the reform: the one thing is already a rite, the other is a workshop in search of an identity.

I was thinking about all this recently when a reader sent me a recipe that was used in the ’90s at his wife’s childhood parish for “baking the Mass bread.” One glance at this recipe makes it apparent that the parish in question did not, in fact, offer Mass for years due to invalid matter. The reader’s wife was, needless to say, very upset to find out, years after the fact, that her “First Communion” wasn’t actually her first, because there was no Communion there. [...]

Fr. Hewko: "Are the Novus Ordo Sacraments Valid?"

Sun, 24 Sep 2023 11:17:09 +0000

SSPX Priest: 'My Conviction is that Novus Ordo Priests are Not Validly Ordained'

Wed, 21 Jun 2023 12:07:34 +0000

From gloria.tv June 21, 2023:

SSPX Priest: 'My Conviction is that Novus Ordo Priests are Not Validly Ordained' (June 18, 2023)

This is a short excerpt of a sermon given by Fr. Michael Johnson, SSPX, in which he states that it is his personal conviction that Novus Ordo ordinations (that is, ordinations conferred in the Roman rite of Paul VI of 1968) are invalid.

The sermon was delivered on Sunday, June 18, 2023, at Our Lady Help of Christians Church in Garden Grove, California.

The full video of the entire Mass with sermon is available from the official YouTube channel of the church: