(LifeSiteNews) – Many traditional Catholics in the world are reeling over the unjust suppression of their beloved traditional Latin Masses and traditional Sacraments, in which they raised their large families and fostered their own faith and life of virtue. We consider it important to foster a discussion about the proper response to actions of the pope and the bishops enforcing his edicts, since we are dealing with a centuries-old rite that has its proper place in the Catholic Church and cannot be suppressed by any pope. Bishop Athanasius Schneider has continuously pointed this out, insisting on the importance of considering the limits of obedience to a pope.
Recently LifeSite published an opinion piece by a traditional priest serving a U.S. diocese, commenting on the injustice of the ongoing suppression of the traditional rite. He insisted that Catholics have a “strict right” to the traditional rite and must “resist,” therefore, its suppression.
Today, we present the perspective of two laymen: James Andrew Dunn and Leo Fitzsimmons. Dunn has been going to the traditional Latin Mass for more than a decade after discovering it in 2010. He lives in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia and runs a website about Catholic art called St. Luke’s Gallery. Fitzsimmons, too, is a Catholic of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, a father of five, and a grandfather.
In a strikingly strong tone, Dunn compares, as others have, the fact that traditional Catholics are now being sent by their bishops into gyms and basements with America’s shameful racial segregation of decades past. He is indignant about the treatment of traditional Catholics in the Catholic Church and is of the opinion that these faithful should not put up with it. And they should refuse to put up with it not out of pride, he argues, but for the sake of the honor of Jesus Christ: “It’s not just the dignity of ourselves the laity, but rather, it’s the dignity and deserved respect that the Mass of the Saints is owed.”
“The answer to Rome’s directive against the Traditional Latin Mass is simple… ignore it! It is unjust, invalid and an extreme disrespect to the Holy Trinity and the Mass of the Saints,” Dunn insists.
He proposes Catholics stand up and resist these new rules and, if necessary, leave abusive diocesan parishes and go somewhere else. He writes:
No Father, we WILL NOT be having Mass in the basement. We expect you to carry on with the Traditional Latin Mass in the church, as God wants it, and yes, we have your back if there is trouble.
So, what happens when your priest refuses and/or your bishop inserts himself as “following Rome’s orders.” Well, we can choose to roll over, or we can act like Catholic men in the model of the great saints and inform them that we are regrettably moving on to someplace else where the Mass of the Saints is respected and taking our wallets with us.
Fitzsimmons argues that “We absolutely and without excuses must defend our God-given right to not just the Traditional Latin Mass, but its dignity.”
May these strong and passionate pieces of Catholic laymen who love Holy Mother Church very much be an invitation for further reflection, and action, on the part of faithful Catholics who wish to preserve their faith, also after seeing how much damage the modernized version of the Roman rite has altogether done to the Catholic faith in the world. The salvation of souls is at stake.
Please see here Leo Fitzsimmons’ reflection:
I’d like to comment here, picking up at the “Let’s move on” section of the priest’s letter: “Where are the faithful?”
It is painfully clear that our shepherds in Rome, down to our local dioceses, have pretty much abandoned the faithful. Those who should be the guardians and servants of the Bride of Christ, that is the members that occupy places of authority within the Church, have become servants of a great revolution. This revolution is essentially a complete remaking of the Catholic Church – a paradigm shift, if you will. How or why should we remain tolerantly compliant and indifferent when Christ our King is so grievously offended and His Bride defaced and humiliated before a wicked and unbelieving world? Every issue of our day as it relates to the revolution wreaking havoc on Christian civilization deserves a proper reaction by the faithful. God is offended and those offenses require public reaction, resistance, and reparation.
We absolutely and without excuses must defend our God-given right to not just the Traditional Latin Mass, but its dignity. The Traditional Latin Mass, also known as the Mass of the Saints (for a reason), is the proper worship of the Triune God offered through the centuries in most of the Latin Church. Had men of the Church not tried to squash the Traditional Latin Mass after Vatican II, perhaps we wouldn’t have the mess we have now with LGBT tyranny, abortion on demand, and even “after-school satan clubs” in public schools. All of these evils and more are part of our sick culture today, and, yes, God Almighty is greatly offended. The reality of God’s justice is lost from the minds and hearts of men, and that’s why we as Catholics continue to lose with or without the good leadership of clergy. Good leadership, by the way, is much more than ear candy and syrupy homilies.
'What good is it to feed our children with bread while neglecting to feed them with zeal for God and the love of souls that find their source and inspiration from the unshakable convictions of supernatural faith?'
Over many years of organizing rosary rallies of public reparation for the grave sins, crimes, and injustices that cry to Heaven for divine vengeance, I’ve come to realize that very few people are willing to join this holy cause. At the same time, I concede that many good men are working very hard to keep the potatoes in the pot and pay the bills. Though important and necessary as part of his duty, it insufficient for any man of God.
It is secondary (in the sense that its object is human, not divine) to defending God’s honor and protecting Holy Mother Church. Truly, what good is it to feed our children with bread while neglecting to feed them with zeal for God and the love of souls that find their source and inspiration from the unshakable convictions of supernatural faith? The best way to teach our children the Faith is to show them how we are willing to fight for it and to do everything in our means to restore Christian civilization. The collective failure of our Catholic men, who are called to lead even in spiritual undertakings, is one of the greatest reasons we are living amid the outrageous horrors of our times.
As to the anonymity of this priest, I would say this. He understands the methods of the battlefield and he’s not going to give away his position. Based on his insights to the problem, it is absolutely clear that he has a game plan going forward when the mercy of Francis knocks on his door, as it will for everyone who is trying to promote the Mass of all times and the Catholic faith it represents. The message here is that we must have a plan in place so that we can react appropriately when we are unjustly ordered to surrender our Catholic rights unto the diminution and endangerment of Catholic life. We have to be ready to stand firm to protect those in our care. We cannot succumb to an effeminate posturing and submission to any command that would relegate us to the basement, the proverbial “back of the bus.” To submit to this injustice would be surrendering to the suffocation of the fullness of Catholic life. For the sake of souls, we must respond to such injustice with a resounding “No!” in word and action.
The faithful, especially the men, must convince parish priests that we absolutely have their backs and will rally behind them. They need some serious help. Also important is that the faithful do a big gut check now and understand that false obedience to a horrendous injustice is not from God. Stand and fight dutifully and respectfully and just see if God and His Mother, as an army arrayed for battle, do not help us. They will no doubt come to our aid. As the Maid of Orleans, the great St, Joan of Arc, declared: “Let us wage the battle, and God will give the victory!”
We’re not going back to the “Rock Masses” of Ireland under persecution. We’re not going to hide in the woods, or basements, caves, or attics.
Our enemies never sleep. They conspire constantly to crush Catholics and Christian civilization entirely. They need to be openly and vigorously opposed.
Too often, we are not as motivated and as zealous as are the enemies of God and man.The attacks against God and the ravages of injustice fail to impress us. We are roused neither to fight against evil nor repair the damage done. We too often want simply to live our little comfortable lives. We must overcome this spiritual coldness and sloth.
As evils advance to the dishonor of God and the harming of souls, the voice of God is clear: Arise, men of God, and fight manfully, for the Lord your God is on your side!
Deus vult!
Ipsa conteret!
Please see here James Andrew Dunn’s full reflection:
No, I will not go to the back of the bus!
Bigotry against the traditional source of grace in the Catholic Church is not acceptable.
So why are our shepherds suddenly telling their parishioners who attend the Traditional Latin Mass to basically go sit at the “back of the bus,” and segregating them away from their parishes?
A few weeks ago, I was invited by a friend to go to a parish church in the neighboring Diocese of Trenton. This church has a vibrant Traditional Latin Mass community but despite that, they’ve suddenly been told that they can’t have Mass any longer in the church and now must have it in the basement. I went to what was their final (well, hopefully not) Mass in the church, along with dozens of others to show solidarity with our persecuted brothers and sisters, but I also was wondering, why are priests and the parishioners putting up with this?
If President Biden issued a directive that the segregation laws of the 1950s need to come back and he’s expecting all 50 states to immediately comply, how do you think the American people of the 21st century would react? The answer is simple: there would rightly be a national uproar, to say the least.
Well, a different kind of “segregation” is starting to happen – to the Traditional Latin Mass community across the country with Arlington, Virginia being one of the most outrageous examples. How is that going over? Sadly, the sheep are rolling over and taking it.
In the Diocese of Arlington, Bishop Michael Burbidge recently slashed the number of Traditional Latin Masses to a fraction of what they once were. Where they have been allowed to continue, they have been kicked out of their churches and banished to everything from old gymnasiums to tiny chapels that can’t accommodate the faithful. Oh, and no more publishing the Mass times either in the parish bulletins which, in today’s world of social media, texting, and email, is embarrassingly ridiculous. One of the affected communities in the Arlington Diocese is happily renovating the old gym they now have into a Latin Mass chapel, thus turning a lemon into a glass of lemonade.
The other week at the church in the Diocese of Trenton, I heard plans to take the dingy basement and turn it into a Latin Mass chapel as well. As noble as it may be for the faithful to “turn lemons into lemonade,” it still does not mean that this segregation of Catholics who worship in the Old Rite is in any way okay.
At the First Council of Nicaea, St. Nicholas of Myra infamously punched out the heretic Arius for, well, being a heretic. After the devastation of the French Revolution, St. John Vianney, the Curé d’Ars, told a visiting celebrity – who could have given his little backwater parish financial stability for many years to com – that she reeked of sin. More recently in the 20th century, St. Padre Pio, despite daily, physical attacks from the devil, endured hours in the confessional and yet had the testosterone to physically remove insincere penitents for disrespecting the Sacrament. Oh, if only we had men like those three today in the Church in the United States!
The answer to Rome’s directive against the Traditional Latin Mass is simple…ignore it! It is unjust, invalid, and an extreme disrespect to the Holy Trinity and the Mass of the Saints.
“But, but, but… we’ll lose our faculties, lose our pensions, be homeless.”
Well, all of the apostles except for Saint John were horrifically martyred, along with many saints. If you want to be a priest and take on the persona of Christ in the confessional and at the altar, you have to be prepared to someday take on some type of passion. If not, you’re not a shepherd and chose the wrong “career.”
But it’s not just priests and bishops in the Church that need a good scolding. No, it’s Catholic men like me. Being a man means that you defend your family – no matter what happens – and that also means your Mother, the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church. So, what can we as Catholic men do if the shenanigans of Arlington, Trenton, and an increasing number of other Dioceses come to our neck of the woods?
'The answer to Rome’s directive against the Traditional Latin Mass is simple…ignore it!'
First of all, let your priest know you have his back. Then, and this is where the tough love part has to come in: We have to lovingly yet sternly let our priests and bishops know that we will not be segregated from parish life. It’s not just the dignity of ourselves the laity, but rather, it’s fundamentally about the dignity and deserved respect that the Mass of the Saints is owed. No Father, we WILL NOT be having Mass in the basement. We expect you to carry on with the Traditional Latin Mass in the church, as God wants it, and yes, we have your back if there is trouble.
So, what happens when your priest refuses and/or your bishop insists he is “following Rome’s orders.” Well, we can choose to roll over, or we can act like Catholic men in the model of the great saints and inform them that we are regrettably moving on to someplace else where the Mass of the Saints is respected and taking our wallets with us.
“But, but, but… that’s abandoning your parish; you’re being a coward.”
No. It is a necessary act of tough love. Our Catholic faith comes first, and the Traditional Latin Mass is the ultimate expression of our Faith. It is an offense to Our Lord, the Apostles he chose as His first priests, and the great saints who were martyred in defense of the Church – and the Mass of the Saints. No, Father, we cannot and will not be quiet while the Mass is degraded and tossed out of the church and into the basement. We are not willing to be abused, nor will we let our children think it’s okay to segregate the Church, with the Mass of the Saints labeled as “inferior” or something not deserving of the full dignity of Mass in the parish church.
The bad guys in Rome and their enforcers here in some of America’s chanceries seem to enjoy playing the part of the cat, slowly torturing the mouse before finally killing it. As Catholic men, we can either choose to be devoured or to fight back, trusting in the Divine Providence. For what it’s worth, I have pre-made my decision and when it comes to my parish, I will not go to the “back of the bus.” I hope I won’t be alone.
