Rome Defends What It Can Afford To

In the days after the SSPX consecrations of July 1 and subsequent excommunications, the ever-perceptive Gregory DiPippo of New Liturgical Movement offered an interesting observation on the actions of the Holy See. Posting on his Facebook page, he noted: 

The Holy See is hideously, scandalously wrong to treat the visible, corporate unity of the Church as if it were the only principle worth defending. That doesn't change the fact that the visible, corporate unity of the Church is still very much a principle worth defending, and the Holy See is right to defend it. 

"No True Traditionalist": Purity Testing in Traddydom

Photo courtesy of G Photography and Films

This next trip around the sun will mark twenty years of writing in the Trad Catholic space. In that time I have seen a lot, and it's kind of amusing how certain patterns will repeat over time. For example, every now and then traditional Catholic discourse gets an outbreak of the "YOU'RE NOT A REAL TRAD!" diatribe. This usually happens after there has been some big setback or divisive event: something bad or controversial happens, Trads get divided on how to deal with it, and disagreement turns to infighting. One faction starts trying to gatekeep the entire movement by insisting that this particular way is the only path forward and they make their position into a purity test—if you refuse to affirm their particular point or strategy or pet issue then you are "not a real Trad." 

Tradition—"Whatever Remains, However Improbable"

There is a well-known quote from Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the author of Sherlock Holmes, to which I have always been partial. It goes, "When you have eliminated all which is impossible, then whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth." Doyle's quote speaks to the mechanics of problem solving—those sincerely interested in getting to the heart of a matter must be willing to put all options on the table. This is especially true when the difficulty is seemingly insoluble and defies easy explanation. In such cases, when all obvious options have been exhausted, reason dictates that we proceed down the line to those less obvious. We already know what doesn't work; our task is to discover what does, however counterintuitive it might seem. 

Pray Like You Breathe

Why is it that many people stop praying after they commit a mortal sin? I know many Catholics who seem to live in two completely divergent states, as disparate as night and day. When they are in a state of grace, they make effort, they pray, they do penance, they act piously. Then they fall into some grave sin, at which point they just give up everything—they stop making effort, stop praying, neglect all their penances, and sink into acedia. Then they just...slump along like this for a while until they feel so bad, so depressed, so down in the dumps that they finally rouse themselves, go to confession, and start living a regular Catholic life again. 

The Foreigner as Curse: A Holistic Reading of the Old Testament on Migration

This week we watched in horror as 50,000 Moroccan migrants (all of them Muslim) crossed the border into the Spanish enclave of Ceuta, overran the city, rampaged about for two days, and had to be forcibly ejected by the Spanish military. Many of these were criminals, and their invasion was aided and abetted by Moroccan authorities; videos clearly show them being brought to the border by Moroccan police, and Spanish officials, including the Defense Minister, have accused Morocco of deliberately loosening border controls. It was a deliberate act of aggression against Spain using human beings as weapons. 

Prayer—Consistency Matters More Than Method

"In a race all the runners compete, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it." (1 Cor. 9:24)

When I talk to Catholics about their spirituality, one of the most common complaints I hear is that they are unhappy with their prayer life. It is very rare for me to speak to someone who says, "Why yes, I am happy and fulfilled with my prayer life!" The vast majority of people express disappointment with the quality of their prayers. The complaints are legion—they don't know what to say, prayer feels dry or forced, they can't stay focused, they don't feel like it accomplishes anything, they are bored with the fixed prayers but don't feel eloquent enough for spontaneous prayer, they get tired, don't have time, haven't found a method they like, and so on. When it comes to prayer, nothing seems to be going right for them.

The Worship Compass

I recently did an article featured on the Pelican Brief entitled "The Charismatic-to-Trad Pipeline," which discussed how, for all their differences, traditional Catholics and charismatic Catholics actually have a similarity in their shared belief that worship should be transcendent, which accounts for why so many traditional Catholics are former charismatics. From the article:

Theater on Both Sides of the Tiber: The SSPX Consecrations and Leo XIV

Thinking about the sad events of the last week, I could not help but be struck by the complete failure of negotiations on both sides. The back-and-forth leading up to the July 1 SSPX consecrations in Écône felt like the tortured counseling session of a couple who have already decided to divorce but are giving marriage counseling the old college try merely to save appearances. This is a suspicion I would like to examine here by looking at the behavior of both sides leading up to the consecrations on July 1.

Any kind of successful negotiation requires compromise from both sides, otherwise it is not a negotiation at all but just dictation of terms, two sides shouting at each other. From my perspective, I did not see any meaningful compromise in these discussions, especially from the Society but also from Pope Leo. It's like they tried nothing and were all out of ideas. We shall consider each in turn.

Nineteen Years and Heartsick

Today, June 29 2026, is the nineteenth anniversary of this blog, which I launched on June 29, 2007 when I was only 27 years old and working as a lowly DRE in a rural parish in southeastern Michigan. As always, I am grateful for all the support and patronage over the years. I had no idea when I created a blogger account and started banging away at my desk back in 07 that I'd still be here today—and not only still here, but going strong as ever! Indeed, I still have so many ideas for future blog posts and essays on the sister site that I often despair of ever finding time to get it all out.

Contemplating the Nakedness of Christ

Earlier this month on Pelican Brief, I authored a piece entitled "Why St. Francis Stripped Himself in the Public Square," in which I discuss nakedness in the Franciscan tradition, especially as it relates to humiliation and the contemplation of Christ's nakedness on the cross. Multiple sources on St. Francis's life tell us that the saint was fond of meditating on Christ's nakedness. Francis considered the state of nakedness to be a particularly intimate manner of conforming oneself to Christ, specifically in His humiliation. Bonaventure relates, for example, that Francis's desire to be stripped naked while dying a deliberate means of identifying with our Lord's nakedness on the cross.

When Episcopalians Were Better Stewards of Sacred Architecture Than Rome

I was visiting New Jersey this week and had some time to visit St. Mary's Episcopal Church in Burlington. Founded in 1702, St. Mary's is notable not only as the oldest continuously active Episcopal parish in New Jersey, but as a splendid example of 19th century Gothic revivalism (the current "new" church, consecrated in 1854 is considered an exemplar of the style). What I saw inside both impressed and saddened me (all photos mine unless otherwise noted).

Stop Waiting for Pius XIII: How Papal Change Actually Happens

Pope Martin V

It is honestly delusory to imagine that some future pope is simply going to openly repudiate the errors of the post-Conciliar age. There is not going to be some future pope who anathematizes Francis and his policies. There will never be any subsequent ecumenical council that nullifies Vatican II. There's not going to be some spectacle where Lefebvre is rehabilitated and proclaimed the savior of the Church. There will never be anything like a new Syllabus of Errors excoriating the policies of the modern Vatican. None of this is ever going to happen and we are completely detached from reality if we expect otherwise.

Mother Teresa, Malcolm Muggeridge, and the Stumbling Block of the Post-Conciliar Church

Twentieth century Britain experienced a surging interest in Catholicism amongst its literary classes, many of whom would enter the Church as converts throughout the decades, peaking in the 1940s and 50s (those who would like to learn more about this should consult Joseph Pearce's excellent book Literary Converts which covers this movement in great detail).

The Wrong Argument for the Right Mass

The Institute of Christ the King celebrating the Easter Vigil at the St. Joseph Shrine, Detroit, Michigan. 

Have you ever noticed how commentary from the hierarchy about accommodating traditional Catholics always centers on the concept of pastoral provision for those "attached" to the traditional rite? The assumption behind this commentary is that the liturgy wars are primarily about creating a pastoral cut-out for a segment of the Church who feels a particular affinity for the old rites. Sometimes this affinity is affirmed as legitimate (as in Summorum pontificum); other times it is treated as a sign of immaturity to be gradually outgrown (Traditiones custodes), but it is always about the attachment of the faithful. It is primarily about us, what we want, and whether and how we should be accommodated.

Record Easter Converts Credit Catholic Influencers—What the Church Isn't Learning From It

Happy Easter everybody! Resurrexit sicut dixit! May the grace of the risen Lord be with you and your loved ones in abundance on this highest of all holy days.