Got Logic? Part II: Listen to the Praxis of Pope Francis -- "Make a Mess!"

Must we return to the catacombs?

 See Part I here. This post continues the commentary on Fr. Laurent-Marie Pocquet's article, “Very Instructive Paradoxes” about the suppression of the Traditional Latin Mass (TLM) using the motu proprio Traditionis Custodes and the Responsa Ad Dubia.

The fourth paradox is an ecclesial paradox:

Pastors are invited to develop a pastoral care of “accompaniment,” open to all moral and psychological situations. They must practice an unconditional welcome—but there is a part of the people of God to whom this benevolent welcome is obstinately refused. The setting up of a real liturgical apartheid (no traditional Masses in the parish churches, no doubt for fear of contagion or bad example!) shows the face of a suspicious, stepmotherly Church, to which one must present one’s papers under penalty of being excluded. The traditional faithful must look for a cave, since there is no room for them in the inn... In short, what a merry Christmas!

The uncharitable and even ugly treatment of those who value Sacred Tradition and the Mass of the ages truly deserves the description of "a suspicious, stepmotherly Church." The term "liturgical apartheid" also rings true. We who love tradition are the Cinderellas of the faith relegated to the ashes and barred from the House of God. "Go have your Mass in the stable," we're told,  "You are not welcome here. And you may not announce your Masses in the parish bulletin, because we won't have you spreading your filthy rigidity among the good and holy people of God."

Francis says we are filled with "excessive rigidity." We are defensive, insecure, guilty of "hostile inflexibility." Under the new decrees, he illustrates his "unity" by throwing us out of the churches and, presumably, into the catacombs. Perhaps, like the underground Church in China, we will have to form our own "house churches" welcoming disguised and unnamed priests to celebrate the Holy Mass in secret, far away from the bishop's Topcliffes with their prying eyes. Will we need priest holes as well? 

Yes indeed, a Merry Christmas from the Grinch at the Vatican and his grim and grimacing little gremlins! 

Must we return to the catacombs?

But what I find most distressing is the fact that the pope used the results of the bishops' survey to justify his crackdown. We are not allowed to see what the bishops really wrote about the TLM and the faithful who attend it, but are expected to trust a curia that has repeatedly lied to us! 

Vatican jounalist Diane Montagna's report on the results of the survey shows that the bishops recommended not messing with the TLM. The Merry Christmas smackdown from the modernist members of the hierarchy was created from a false narrative created to give the pope cover and justify his nuclear attack. In my opinion it carries the same weight as the Arian hierarchy's smackdown of orthodoxy in the 4th century. They persecuted, exiled, and excommunicated St. Athanasius (more than once) who held fast through it all. We need to storm heaven through his intercession for a speedy and widespread repudiation of Traditionis Custodes and the response to the dubious dubia which appears to be a creation of Vatican bureaucrats.

The fifth paradox is a psychological paradox:

One may wonder if the liturgical authorities are not doing everything to make the liturgical reform odious! This authoritarianism, this ignorance of the principles of the homogeneous development of liturgical rules and traditions, this insistence on imposing what is only one stage of this development—a stage that was intended to be in step with the societal aspirations of the 1960s—this refusal of dialogue, this inability to make a missionary assessment of the reforms carried out nearly sixty years ago, this blindness to the collapse of the faith in the West (must we remind ourselves that we have never experienced such a crisis of vocations over such a long period of time in our lands?), all this seems quite incomprehensible, even downright suspicious, revealing the guilty conscience of a Church leadership that has failed. It is a shame to see such an attack on an ecclesial group that is certainly a minority, but nevertheless fervent and missionary, a group that does not contest any revealed truth taught by the infallible Magisterium of the Church, and that seeks to live all the requirements of the Church’s spiritual and moral teaching.

The intransigent, rigid, even tyrannical response of the modernist hierarchy to those who love the TLM seems to illustrate an unbounded clericalism dripping with hubris and narcissism. "My way or the highway for you benighted Catholics who cling to Church doctrine and Sacred Tradition! Out with you! Get out of our churches!" Will the next attack target individual confession, because God is too nice to send anyone to hell no matter what he does? "We have a reasonable hope that all are saved," they tell us despie our Blessed Mother showing the shepherd children of Fatima a vision of souls falling into hell like snowflakes in a blizzard. Was she a sadistic liar who loved torturing children? Are those long confession lines at the TLM embarrassing to modernist sensibilities? Will they make those in invalid marriages and same-sex relationships and politicians who champion child killing feel unwelcome and reluctant to approach for Communion? After all, who are we to judge? All are welcome in the modernist progressive church!

Mass in the catacombs

A way out of the crisis? A final paradox: 

It is undoubtedly possible through the teaching and praxis of Pope Francis to get out of the crisis. In July 2015, the Holy Father invited Latin American youth to “make a mess of things,” but this message applies to Catholic youth all over the world. What characterizes the traditional movement in the Church is indeed the youthfulness of many of its members. It is therefore up to them to show boldness and impertinence against the conformism of self-righteousness conveyed in many places by the new liturgical forms, and [to work] for the right they have to promote their identity. “Only Tradition is revolutionary,” wrote Charles Péguy.

In the same way, the present pope never ceases to castigate juridicism, the fascination with norms, the fear of adventure and risk of those who always hide behind regulations and government structures. Well, this casts a harsh light on the avalanche of paralyzing norms that seek to neutralize or even eliminate a reality that is both new and ancient in the Church. These norms must therefore be judged in the light of moral theology, the rights of persons, and the true good of the faithful.

Finally, another contribution of the Pontiff: in June 2019 he recalled the necessary freedom of theologians. It is not a matter of calling into question the Gospel, Tradition, and the revealed deposit. Rather, the disciplinary measures taken against the liturgy must now be the object of a true examination, starting from the indispensable assessment I have just mentioned.

It's disconcerting to see the pope and his allies in modernism act like the Biden administration. Biden uses executive orders to create secular laws, which is an abuse of his authority and usurps the role of the legislative branch of government. Sad to say, Pope Francis and his minions do the same thing with the law of the Church. Doctrine and Holy Tradition are clay in the hands of a modernist progressive and, if anyone has thoroughly earned that designation, it's Pope Francis. As Fr. Pocquet so clearly illustrates, Francis' own "praxis" can be used to oppose the latest assault on the faithful. The "pope of mercy" has shown himself to be a brutal tyrant determined to dismiss and crush the rights of those who want nothing but the Mass as it was celebrated for almost 2,000 years! 

So, yes, faithful Catholics -- all faithful Catholics, not just those who attend the TLM -- make a mess! Call on the bishops to defend the rights of the laity to the Mass of the ages, a Mass that was "never abrogated" according to Pope Benedict. Pray and fight. Fight with respectful opposition and courtesy, because, as Hilaire Belloc said, "The grace of God is in courtesy." But fight! Let's all send respectful letters to our bishops begging them to defend the rights of the laity. Read the canon law arguments against this abusive assault. Let us imitate the persistent widow in seeking justice and never quit as long as their is breath in our bodies. 

Viva Cristo Rey!