FALL 2014 MAILBAG #3

Editor's Note: This little nasty gram is particularly of apropos in light of the synod that ended last week in Rome.

You SWcandal Mongers with your lurid Revelations about the Traditional Movement have destroyed the Faith. Pope Francis is going to split the Church right down the Middle. There will be no place for the People to go because of you. When they get on line and start reading your Gossip and Insinuations and Detraction and Muckraking they will stay away from the Traditional Mass. I know several families who wanted to attend one of Bishop Sanborns Parishes but were scared off. Another family refuses to go to Bishop Dolans Masses because of what you say about his Validity. You need to make Reparation to save your Soul!! Maybe you will receive Forgiveness. Don't you understand we need Priests and should be grateful for the few we have??? "Mockery and Reproach are of the Proud, and Vengeance as a Lion shall lie in wait for him (Ecclus. 21, 27)"

A capital letter if there ever was one!

Posting at the close of the infamous 2014 Extraordinary Synod on the Family, we are inclined to agree with our correspondent at least on one count: there might be a schism, although probably not "down the middle." A majority of today's Novus Ordites are in favor of Bergie's liberalizing, "feel-good" views. Nevertheless, if a rupture occurs, a sizable number could exit.

We disagree, however, with the writer's presumption that the leavers would reflexively flock to sede chapels owned and controlled by mammonite cult masters. The principal beneficiary of any schism would be the SSPX (and the FSSP, if it also should sever ties to Frankie). The events of last week will make it hard for the progressives in the SSPX to align with Papa Pancho now. But even if Fellay prevails, a split would produce an entirely new traditionalist dispensation. Perhaps there would emerge several umbrella groups -- a Roman neo-latitudinarianism as it were -- so as to accommodate the entire spectrum of conservative Catholicism, from new-massers with deep, abiding moral values to Tridentine enthusiasts sick of a half century of reckless and wicked innovation.

That means most, if not all, of the people who'd abandon Bergoglio's brave, new, World-Church would find a home somewhere other than in Sedelandia.  For that reason, few would have a motive to seek refuge in the justly abhorred SW-Ohio-Brooksville cult. In our view, if a schism were to occur, more people would leave Tradistan than would enter. Traddies could unload a ton of clerical baggage by going elsewhere, where legitimacy appears more certain. At a neutral venue, they might even be able to find common ground with long-estranged family members who refuse to sing "Kumbaya" with Bergie. 

But it's foolish to speculate. All sorts of earth-shaking wonders could materialize in the next year or so. That's still no reason to endure all the nonsense of the cult masters. And you don't have to put up with "psychologically fragile" indie priests either. Both the lone-wolf nut jobs and cult intriguers are poison to the Catholic soul. Priests are supposed to be spiritual fathers, not solitary basket cases or whip-cracking, pocket-lining plantation overseers. Better none than to suffer the damage wrought by isolated depressives and uneducated gangs of money-mad control freaks who don't know what they're doing. (Plus, remember that a large number of Tradistani clergy have doubtful orders, so what's the difference between those cruds and N.O. priests?)

There are still salutary traditional communities available to people who do not want to join the cult. Near many large cities, competing traditional chapels unaffiliated with Traddie cult masters or shaky, independent loners offer real alternatives. For instance, in Tampa, Florida, traditionalists can join the charming Immaculate Heart of Mary Chapel, faithfully cared for by humane, level-headed priests from Argentina.

Finally, by way of a correction to our exercised correspondent, we answer that we Readers never engage in gossip, which is defined as a trifling, often groundless rumor of a personal, sensational or intimate nature, or just plain idle talk. Our content is serious and solidly rooted in facts obtained by meticulous inquiry before we post. We take as our guide another verse from Ecclesiasticus: "Before thou inquire, blame no man: when thou hast inquired, reprove justly" (11:7).

We, therefore, have always had a just and sufficient reason -- the good of souls and the material well-being of traditional Catholics -- for revealing what we do, so we're not guilty of unjust detraction, calumny or rash judgment. Our consciences are clean. As for muckraking, well, we're proud to belong to the distinguished company of vigilant watchdogs of the public's welfare. And we wouldn't mind it either if our correspondent had characterized our apostolate as "yellow journalism," though we'd have to wait until our circulation reached the millions before we could justly lay claim to that coveted title of honor. Had Tradistan raised up a Lincoln Steffens or an Ida Tarbell years ago, traditional Catholics would be considerably better off today, both spiritually and financially.

NEWS FLASH!

Dateline -- October 25, 2014, Lawrence, MA: Next week we'll interrupt our fall-mailbag series to report on an unsavory back story to today's joyous (and valid) priestly ordination here in the Bay State. 

It seems some unidentified sede scumbag rent-seekers were frightened at the prospect of strong competition from a traditional bishop based in Latin America.

You'll see that nothing's too low for the gringo sede trash.

Fortunately, the clandestine ecclesiastical freebooters now can't get their greedy hands on the chapel -- a real Catholic church, not a tarted-up Quonset hut -- along with its community's assets.

Tune in and be prepared for bowel-twisting, moral outrage!