Religious Schizophrenia: The Battle in the Church between Truth and Authority!

When one examines a crisis, it's important to know exactly what that crisis consists of. We know there's a crisis in the Church; you'd have to be brain dead not to realize something isn't right. But what is it? Is the crisis a fight over different liturgies? Is that really the central issue? Between those nostalgic for the old ways versus those progressives who want what they believe to be a more accessible church with windows open to the world? Or is it primarily about Vatican II?

Reading an article today by Fr. David Nix (Padre Peregrino) at Substakc, I had a Eureka moment when I read his assessment about the true nature of the crisis:

It is because Catholics must now choose between truth and authority. Of course, that last sentence reads as very Protestant, and I admit it. Never in the history of the world have Catholics had to choose between the true faith and legitimate authority before the 20th century, except maybe the Arian crisis. And even then, it was only a dilemma in certain locations of the Empire of the 4th century.

But if the 20th century “Third Secret of Fatima” was indeed “apostasy from the top-down” (as everyone who has read it implies) then we are in uncharted territories of balancing obedience to God and balancing obedience to man.

Father goes on to discuss Bishop Robert Williamson's take on the matter who said this after the liturgical changes following Vatican II:

"In 1969, in the revolution in the Church, Catholic authority split from Catholic truth. And ever since, all Catholics are more or less schizophrenic."

For those who may not be aware, Bishop Williamson was one of the four bishops consecrated by Archbishop Lefebvre in 1988. He was a convert from Anglicanism and entered the seminary in Econe where he was ordained in 1976. He later left the SSPX over disagreements with the leadership's policies in their relations with the Vatican. The bishop's description of the root of the crisis is compelling. It is a conflict between truth and authority:

...if truth and authority are separated from one other, then either I follow authority and forget truth or I forget authority and follow truth. Or somewhere in between. So, I might mix it 10 to 90. I might mix it 20 to 80. I might mix it 30 to 70 or 70 to 30… So, all Catholics who want to be Catholic are somewhere between 0 and 100. And there’s a great variety and a great confusion in the Catholic Church because of that. And all of that will only be settled, but it will be settled, when Almighty God—nobody else can do it—will bring these erring humans, these erring human beings in Rome back to tradition. And when authority and truth reunite—that’s when the crisis is over

Fr. Nix analyzes the bishop's words in a way that makes it sadly clear exactly where we are and why:

What Bishop Williamson means here is that any prelate or bishop or priest or nun or layman quoting the faith and liturgy handed on by Jesus Christ to the Apostles and all the saints, Popes and martyrs up to the point of 1960s was subsequently called “disobedient” by men in the highest levels of the Church for doing what the Church had always done. In other words, God did not change His mind on everything in 1969.

Sadly, it seems the Popes and bishops followed the way of the world, and the Catholics following perennial truth were told they no longer stood with authority. Hence, the bifurcation of authority and truth. (Bishop Williamson admits this was in the making long before the 1960s, but what happened in the Church in that decade became the weapon of claiming “disobedience” against any traditional Catholic, nearly overnight.)

This has all led to "tremendous confusion" in the Church. I would say chaos with people who should be on the same side attacking one another. Who benefits from that? Screwtape, Wormwood, and the other evil spirits who use men as pawns to accomplish their evil. I found this point from Fr. Nix interesting and eye-opening:

those who hijacked the Council (not only in implementation, but even at the outset in 1962) purposely wanted division in the Church. That means for us: The only way to disarm Satan here is to stop fighting and show charity to one another. This is especially important for us in the traditional and conservative movement at this moment in Catholic Church history....purposeful ambiguities of a Council have led to a circular firing squad not only with liberals, but even among good-willed traditionalists within the Catholic Church.

We can’t “unite the clans” if even we in the traditional world can’t agree on how to balance truth versus authority (30/70 vs. 70/30?) So, I come to the conclusion: Perhaps this is all a test from God to show charity to one another as we live in “a great confusion in the Catholic Church,” just as Bp. Williamson mentioned.

...we need to put away our weapons of living in a circular firing squad among traditional Catholics.

Amen to that. What is that famous expression? "In essentials, unity; in non-essentials, liberty; in all things, charity." We don't have a very good track record in that department unfortunately. 

Here in the Shenandoah Valley I've experienced the sorrow of losing friends because I attend the SSPX chapel. During COVID I began hosting a rosary lunch every two weeks to rebel against the insanity of telling us all to live like hibernating animals. Two women who attended all through the COVID debacle, later refused to come any more because several of us attended the chapel. It seemed strange to me, because we never discussed or argued about the SSPX and they both attended the Traditional Latin Mass. But somehow, we were apparently considered outside the barque of Peter. What a painful rift. It was, as Fr. Nix, describes, "living in the circular firing squad." 

I have no control over the behavior of others, but I refuse to do it! I have not tried to convert my Novus Ordo friends, many of whom are equally concerned about the crisis in the Church. I don't avoid speaking about my own choice and why I avoid the Novus Ordo, but I leave their decisions and their consciences to them and God.

To sum up, it's a true blessing to understand the nature of the beast we're dealing with. I think Bishop Williamson and Fr. Nix pegged it. The battle is between truth and authority. The devil is trying very hard to split the Church and make us all enemies. Our job is to push back, embrace charity, and above all, know and love the truth who is Jesus. I choose Jesus, the Way, the Truth, and the Life. I will pray and witness to the truth as best I can, but I will not browbeat others to try to make them agree with me. As Bishop Williamson said, only Almighty God can fix this mess. Let us pray that He answers our prayers and doesn't wait 400 years like he did before sending Moses and leading His people out of Egypt. In His Providence and time He will act. In the meantime we are called to pray and persevere in patience, but above all in charity treating each other like allies instead of enemies.

Read Fr. Nix's article. It is a repost of one titled A Circular Firing Squad of Catholics. I recommend you subscribe to his substack channel. He is always worth reading.