Is It The Right Approach?

 

To My Readers: This week's post by TradWarrior is a powerful one. I won't say more than that because I can't do it justice; it needs to be read in its entirety. Please feel free to comment as always. If you have a specific question or comment for me, I will respond as usual, but it may take me longer to do so this week.

God bless you all, my dear readers---Introibo

Is It The Right Approach?

By TradWarrior

In my last article, “Is It The Same Religion?”  I demonstrated how the Traditional Catholic Church and the Conciliar Church were clearly not the same religion. I mentioned the various principles of religious liberty, ecumenism, and collegiality, with a plethora of quotes from the popes to prove this point. That article was theological in nature. This follow-up article will be pastoral in nature. 

There have been many commenters on this blog through the years that have mentioned good and bad experiences alike at Sedevacantist churches. This article will be simple and straightforward and will show how there are indeed problematic situations that arise in many different Sedevacantist churches that make it hard on the lay faithful. The most important thing to remember is that the True Faith is what should be first and foremost sought after. It must be the center of one’s life, not the various people that we encounter within the True Faith. 

Still, we are social beings and we have to interact with each other. When someone experiences a situation that leaves one hurt and scarred, the likelihood of them continuing down the traditional path can be greatly hindered. In the article herein, I mention different scenarios. Some situations we encounter are favorable, while others are unfavorable. Many of our readers (myself included) have experienced situations such as these. Hopefully, if nothing else, charity is the virtue that the reader takes away from this article after having read it. It is this virtue that can lead others very quickly into the Traditional Faith, or if lacking, it will lead others out of the Traditional Faith, or prevent a potential convert from ever joining. God bless you all. –TradWarrior

Scenario #1

John and Barbara are new in town. They join a Sedevacantist church that is a bit of a drive. They want to raise their children Traditional Catholic. Upon entering the church, they are greeted by several people. They are made to feel very welcome. After Mass, the priest greets the new couple and their children and gets to know them. He introduces them to several parishioners who are also very friendly towards them. They ask the priest if he follows the 1955 Holy Week that Pope Pius XII instituted. 

He tells the couple that he does, as his group takes it as a sign of great obedience to follow the teachings of the man they believe to be the last true pope and everything that he taught. He explains that the Catholic Church’s infallibility extends to Her general discipline and anything that a true pope promulgates not only in matters of faith and morals, but in matters of discipline, including the sacred liturgy, is safe from error or evil for The Holy Ghost protects the church. This makes sense to the couple.

He encourages the couple to feel free to talk to people after Mass and suggests some good reading materials to better acquaint them with traditional sources. They write down the sources that he recommends. He also encourages the children to get to know other children at the parish, so that they can keep company with other traditional Catholics and make some new friends. The priest is intelligent, charitable, and goes out of his way to make John and Barbara feel very welcome at the church. They walk away very satisfied that they joined this church.

Scenario #2

James and Rebecca are a young couple. They were previously attending an FSSP church. They started having doubts about the FSSP as they were beginning to have issues with Vatican II and were quickly starting to wonder if Vatican II was even Catholic. They learned of a Sedevacantist church that was a bit of a drive but they decided to give it a shot to see if it was a good fit for them. They were hoping to soon get married. Upon going to the Sedevacantist church, no one greets them. The parishioners at this particular church seemed very standoffish. They are cold and unfeeling. The priest does not go out of his way to make them feel welcome. They come to church dressed modestly and try to make new friends at the church. The ladies heckle Rebecca by telling her that her dress is inappropriate because it is not all the way down to her ankles. They also poke fun at her style of fashion as a whole. James does not fare much better. 

The men at the parish badger James as he wears a dress shirt but no suit coat or tie. They say that he is inappropriately dressed just like his “modern” looking wife and neither one of them should approach the Communion rail for their “immodesty.” Both of them state that they are dressed very nicely and are not sloppy at all. They look presentable and state that it is about the person’s soul and what is on the inside that God cares about the most, not external appearances (even though they look presentable). 

The parish priest joins in with his fellow parishioners and tells them if they do not change their outward appearance, he will not only fail to admit them to Holy Communion, but he will not marry them either. Both of them are completely dismayed by what they are hearing. They left the FSSP because they had serious problems with the Conciliar Church, Vatican II, and they had serious doubts about the new rite of ordination. They wanted to attend this particular Sedevacantist church because it is the only one even remotely close to where they live, though they have to still drive a long distance to get there. 

The priest and parishioners continue to harass James and Rebecca over their appearance, as do the very few young people who attend this particular church. These other young people seem overly strict and prudish over many different issues that go far beyond appearance. The priest and parishioners continue to berate the young couple for their appearance. Finally, they decide to leave the parish, as they can no longer take it anymore. They become Home Aloners and stop attending church altogether.  

Scenario #3

Matthew and Karen often travel around the country due to Matthew’s job. They try and attend different traditional churches whenever they can. One weekend, they are in a particular city and they attend a traditional church. The priest asks them before Mass some of the places where they attend. They list a few different places. He asks why they attend churches where there are priests who have been consecrated in the Thuc line. They respond by saying because it is a valid lineage of priests. The priest begs to differ with them and says to them that they are wrong. 

He says that because they often attend Masses by priests whose orders derive from Thuc and they firmly believe that there is nothing wrong with the Thuc lineage, they will be denied Holy Communion in his church. Matthew and Karen protest their case by asking what sins have they committed that prohibits them from receiving Holy Communion? The priest reiterates to them that they are not welcome to receive Holy Communion because they follow the Thuc line and he says if they want to attend his Masses in the future they are welcome to, but they must not present themselves at the Communion rail.

 They are shocked and dismayed by this priest’s actions and cannot believe what they are hearing. They leave disgusted and make it a point that anytime that Matthew has to travel to this particular city for work, this is a church that they will avoid at all costs in the future.

Scenario #4

Peter and Veronica attend a Sedevacantist church. They wanted to travel to this particular church out of curiosity to see if it would be a good fit for them and their five children. The people at the church do not seem the most friendly. They get a lot of cold stares from the people and after Mass when they attempt to engage in conversations with these people, the friendliness that they display is not reciprocated by the people there. They wonder why this place seems so cultish. They talk to the priest, who is not much different than his parishioners. 

He interrogates them by asking them several questions. He wants to know why he never saw them at his church before. They mention to him that they usually attend an SSPX church but just out of curiosity, they wanted to attend his particular church to see what it is like because they do not have many Mass options. The priest asks the couple if they see anything wrong with the Una Cum position. Both Peter and Veronica explain that they do not believe that the current occupant wearing white in Rome is the pope, but on the other hand, they and their children need the sacraments on a regular basis. 

They tell the priest that there are other crypto Sedevacantists who attend the SSPX who agree with them that the current occupant in Rome is not the pope, but nevertheless, they also want to get their families to Heaven and they need the sacraments as they know the Novus Ordo sacraments of Penance and the Eucharist are invalid. The priest tells them that it is a mortal sin to go to an Una Cum Mass, even with a valid priest such as theirs, because they are putting themselves in union with a heretic. They reply and state that their priest, while mistaken, is still a valid priest and both them and their children need the sacraments on a regular basis as they are constantly barraged by the world, the flesh, and the devil. 

The priest says to them again that it is a mortal sin to attend an Una Cum Mass and not only should they not be receiving the sacraments from their SSPX priest (though valid), but they are not going to be given the sacraments at his church either because of their mortal sin. Peter and Veronica are shocked by this man’s words and cannot believe the complete lack of charity that he is exhibiting towards them. The couple states very clearly that this is not a matter that is definitively settled since there is no reigning pope in these times and who is he to make such a harsh “pontifical” judgement against them? They say this is analogous to the Cassiciacum Thesis, which they also do not agree with. The priest says that his bishop is a firm supporter of the Thesis and all of the priests in his order are taught the Thesis very clearly in his seminary and that they all hold to it quite firmly. He states that it would be wrong to disagree with the bishop on this matter, as well as the priests in his seminary who are so well-trained. 

Peter and Veronica push this issue farther by once again stating that with no ruling pope, this priest, nor his bishop, can make a claim by stating that attending an Una Cum Mass is mortally sinful, any more than they can claim that the Thesis is true and must be adhered to when there is no pope sitting on the papal throne. The priest hears none of this and tells them to leave his church. He tells them once again that they are committing a mortal sin by attending an Una Cum Mass and they should not disagree with the bishop on the Thesis because if it were not true, the bishop would not so firmly propose it to all of his seminarians in their course of study. He dismisses the couple and tells them that they are not welcome to come back to his church. They walk away flabbergasted.

 

Conclusion

In looking at these various scenarios, one must ask the question, “Is it the right approach or the wrong approach in how the priest treated the respective couple that came to him for guidance? Was charity displayed as the overlying virtue in each respective scenario or was it completely lacking? Would Christ have acted this way?”

For the past several years, many people on this blog have mentioned both good and bad experiences alike at different Sedevacantist churches that they have attended. While there are some groups on the whole better than other groups, anyone can have a good or bad experience at any particular church that one attends and among any of the Sede factions that exist. A good experience can be fruitful and help others to join a particular church. A bad experience can be so entirely detrimental to the individual(s) that it often times causes people to leave a particular church or prevents curious onlookers from joining a church once they see for themselves just how bad a place it truly is.

What was your experience like the first time YOU walked into a Sedevacantist church? Was it like Scenario #1, where you felt welcomed and you felt the particular group you attended was pretty well balanced in its approach when it came to the differences between them and the different factions or did you have a horrible experience and feel that the group you attended did not hold to theological opinions well when they found themselves differing with the different factions? These things matter and they can be a real deal breaker for someone that wants to join a Sedevacantist church for the first time. Many times, people do not know where to turn to once they see that the façade that parades itself as the “Catholic Church” is really a counterfeit church that continues to deceive roughly 1 billion followers. 

When a person comes to this realization for the first time, it is usually completely earth shattering and the person is going to need guidance and will naturally look for someone to turn to for help. If he or she turns to a Sedevacantist church and they are extremely put off by what they see when they go there, it will make their situation even more depressing. They already have followed Christ’s words about leaving mother or father for Him and following Him at all costs. They are carrying a VERY heavy cross already just by embracing the Sedevacantist position. They lose their family and all of their friends (or people they thought were their friends) in the process. They expect to be greeted with open arms by the priest and people once they step through the doors of a Sedevacantist church for the first time, and many times, they see that the situation they are walking into is even WORSE than the Novus Ordo church that they left when they see the overly cliquish and cultish behavior of the people on the inside of the church which they were not expecting.

It is bad enough that they left the Novus Ordo with many scars and crossed over to the traditional side, but in many cases, they only have one traditional church (if they are lucky enough) within a pretty far driving distance and if that church is not what they were expecting, they are completely out of luck and their situation gets exponentially worse, as further despair and depression can set in very quickly.

Charity is what one must lead with. We can have all the in depth theology discussions and debates with each other that we want to, but if we are lacking true Christian charity, we can forget about it. Our battle is already lost and completely futile! We lose and so does everyone else that we come into contact with. Charity covers a multitude of sins. It would be good for some Sedevacantist clergy and lay people alike to remember this.   

 

Addendum

Recently, Bishop Roy has made a bit of a splash in his public remarks about the various traditional clergy getting together to hold an Imperfect Council to see if it would bear fruit to elect a pope. Is it worth a try? I have publicly stated “Yes.” I have also been realistic and stated that I do not see the traditional bishops and clergy getting together to attempt this and this being successful. Still, it is an interesting proposition to ponder that Bishop Roy has brought up. And so, I appeal to the various Sedevacantist bishops here:

Bishop Pivarunas:

You have done a magnificent job growing the CMRI as a whole. Your group has spread farther and farther to help souls. You have wanted your priests to be like St. John Vianney, men who are a true reflection of Jesus Christ Himself. You have displayed a willingness to meet with your fellow traditional bishops to sit down and have discussions with each other over the various areas where you disagree. For this, I greatly commend you and I encourage you to keep pursing this [hopeful] attempt at gathering with your fellow bishops for a future meeting where you can all sit down and have meaningful discussions with each other.

Bishop Santay:

Your SSPV group has helped to provide the sacraments to many souls. It has offered many traditional Catholics places to go as a refuge from the conciliar madness that encompasses everything everywhere. Still, there have been many souls hurt unnecessarily over the Thuc issue with people from the various other factions that have not been allowed to receive Holy Communion at your SSPV churches and chapels. There has also never been a refutation to what Mario Derksen wrote years ago as it pertained to the validity of the Thuc orders. I encourage you to meet with your brother bishops to try and hammer out solutions to some of these very plaguing problems that continue to exist among the various factions.

Bishop Sanborn:

Your passion and zeal for the traditional Faith has been very apparent throughout the many years that you have been on the scene. While this is very admirable, there have been many people who have attended your churches that have been hurt over several issues e.g. the stringent dress code which has left many people from returning to your churches as they were not welcome, the Thesis as being proposed as much more than just its namesake [a Thesis], and the Una Cum issue as being seen as mortally sinful which has left many people both scratching and shaking their heads when they have seen this. You speak with great conviction in all that you do and you display a zeal for the Faith that is obviously apparent. I encourage you to try to work, at least to some degree, with your fellow traditional bishop brothers. I do believe that it would yield good fruit, at least on some level.

Bishop McGuire:

Like your brother bishops, you have been tasked with leading souls under your care to Christ. I, too, greatly encourage you to work with your brother bishops to try and find some common ground where you all can come to an agreement on some issues to help have crossover between the factions, as this will make it easier and more helpful to the laity across the board.

 

Gentlemen:

All of you have been heavily tasked by God to continue to preserve that True Faith that comes to us from the apostles. It is you who have kept the baton going so to speak. You and the men you all ordain are the representatives of Christ’s Catholic Church to lead it forward through this disastrous Great Apostasy which has claimed so many victims over the last few decades. No one is saying that you will all agree on every single issue. That is not a reasonable expectation. Nevertheless, you can (and should) attempt to work together for the common good of all the souls that are under your spiritual care. It is they that benefit from you and it is they that can be greatly hindered by you, if you are not careful in your guidance as shepherds. The days are dark in which we live. We may not even have that long to go until human history wraps up when we look around and see all the evil that continues to be unleashed on all of us on a daily basis. I, like many, strongly encourage you to come together to have a “meeting of great minds” (as you all have) to see how you can navigate through this horrendous storm which for reasons known to God alone, He is allowing to continue and inflicts as a punishment upon this sinful world in which we live. I beseech you to act now, while there is still time to act. Do not delay! Your faithful laity needs you and we need you now more than ever to work together for the betterment of mankind and for the success of the Catholic Church to grow stronger, small in number though it is.

My prayers are with you all. It is my sincere hope that you take these words to heart that I have spoken here and that you pray heavily on this appeal that I make to all of you. Your people need you. The Catholic Church needs you. Christ needs you.

Respectfully Yours,

-TradWarrior