A Blog for Dallas Area Catholics

There is a lot of casting out going on March 18, 2014

Fr. Peter Carota – to my mind, one of the best blogging priests out there (will he be permitted to continue to do so, in light of recent events?) – has a couple of recent posts that touch on a subject that’s been troubling me for some time, off and on.  I have approached this topic in several drafts, only to feel unsatisfied with the result.  Maybe this time will be different.

The first post by Fr. Carota highlights the fact that in the present crisis, all those who love and adhere to Catholic belief – you can call them traditional, faithful, orthodox, or whatever – must band together in defense of that belief.  It seems to many who feel themselves orthodox or traditional Catholics that Catholic Dogmas are under greater threat than any time in the past 40 years or so.  Not since the wild days that followed the Council have we seen so many doctrines being suddenly up for discussion, and not just by feminist religious or heretical priests, but by members of the hierarchy.

Different people have responded to this latest eruption of the modernist heresy in the Church in different ways.  And, these different responses go all the way back to the Council.  There has been a tendency among traditional-faithful-orthodox Catholics, however, to criticize, at times very heavily, those who don’t fit their definition of traditional.  I have seen a great deal of this lately from many quarters.

Fr. Carota includes two groups in his list of those who stand for tradition that many might argue are outside the Church, or so erroneous in their own right that they don’t merit being included in the category of “faithful Catholics,” specifically, those who adhere to the SSPX and sede vacantist groups.  As Fr. Carota defines it, however, he sees all these groups as being warriors against the dominant heresy of modernism, and thus allies in the fight to defend the Faith (all emphasis in original):

 As a learning traditionalist, I try to learn as much as I can and teach it to others for the good of our beloved Catholic Church.  I am not writing this to attack the SSPX (Society of Pius X) or the Sedevacantist (Pope Peter’s Chair is Vacant).  Actually I very much respect the very fundamental force behind these groups, which is as I see it, is fighting against the heresy of modernism.  I also respect very much their love for the ancient Rites of the Roman Catholic Church.

I bring this up for a very important reason.  Instead of us attacking each other, right now at this important time, we need to recognize our difference (which I briefly tried to articulate) and then pray and work together for the very very important restoration of traditional Catholic truth and liturgies.  There is too much unnecessary division and animosity between us.  Let us all pray and offer up our sacrifices this lent for the repentance and restoration of Jesus’ Church to its original pristine condition.  In the mean time, let us love each other and even love those who seem to be working to destroy the Church.  Jesus, Mary and Joseph help us.

In a subsequent post, Fr. Carota attempts a definition of what it means to be a “traditional” Catholic:

Most of us call ourselves “Traditional Catholics” because we believe in the 2000 year old tradition of the Catholic Church.  Today, in the Novus Ordo Church, we are considered bad and old fashion.  So to defend our position we need to start by showing that tradition has always been part of the what makes up the basic component of what it means to be a Catholic.  Far from being something evil, tradition is, and alway will be, one of the most important parts of what it means to be a Catholic.

Fr. Carota then lists and explains the three pillars of Catholic belief, Scripture, Tradition, and Magisterium.  He also notes that the 21 ecumenical councils are huge parts of the teaching authority of the Church (I add comments to this section):

The teaching authority of the Church is found in all the documents from all the 21 ecumenical councils.  Vatican II being just one amongst many and was never intended to be a council that defined doctrine (it was pastoral). [Both popes that oversaw Vatican II declared it was pastoral in orientation, but there were some definitions.  It is the new matters covered and the imprecise, even contradictory definitions, that stand in stark contrast to the preceding Magisterium, including the 20 preceding ecumenical councils.] Yet most Catholics treat it as if is were the only council and wrongly base all their Catholic belief and practices on its documents. [I would say, even more, they took the imprecise definitions in those documents and ran with them, using them to attempt to build a new church.  At this point it time, it appears they have been largely successful.]

We are so fortunate to be TRADITIONAL CATHOLICS and know otherwise.

“Not to oppose error is to approve it; and not to defend truth is to suppress it; and indeed to neglect to confound evil men, when we can do it, is no less a sin than to encourage them.”

~Pope St. Felix III

I love that last quote. Pope St. Felix III reigned towards the end of the 5th century, a time when the Church was riven by heresy.  I can’t say whether Pope Felix intended to include popes in his list of those whose error should be opposed. That is perhaps the critical difference of our time, and people’s reactions are going to vary, as Pat Archbold notes in this very good piece (I agree with Pat).  I really don’t believe, however, that just because someone comes to a different conclusion, they are “cast out” or no longer traditional.  I’ve seen a lot of that lately, claims that this person or that is “not traditional” because their opinions or actions differ a bit from some other person’s or group’s.

There is an enormous danger towards tribalism in traditional Catholicism.  There is a tendency to define one’s particular subset of Tradition as being the only one that is right or acceptable. There is a tendency, especially on the internet, to put for the appearance – perhaps it’s only that – that one has all the answers, and those that disagree are gravely deficient.    I’m not sure I fully agree with Fr. Carota’s stance regarding sede vacantists, as their belief tends to revolve around a single, very substantial error, but aside from that, I think this is a time primarily for leeway and not for internecine strife.

I truly believe we are heading towards a monumental crisis in the Faith, a crisis which will reach its head in a  few months.  Very powerful forces, perhaps even with the support of the highest authority, are proposing redefinitions of belief and praxis that will have the effect of obliterating all Catholic Dogmas on marriage, human sexuality, and all related matters.

And not only that, but as Fr. Carota notes in another post, ideas being pushed for the upcoming Synod, if accepted as mere “pastoral” solutions, would argue powerfully that the Church has been painfully wrong on a number of critical moral issues, and the Orthodox and/or protestants right.

So, I strongly agree with Fr. Carota that now is a time for all those who love the Faith and know and strive to adhere to its constant, 2000 year beliefs, to come together to proclaim that belief and to show how it contrasts with so many proposals of today.  It’s a time for prayer and penance, and not for shouting matches between those of mostly like minds.  It is a time to accept in humility that someone else’s point of view may be right, or at least have merit.  It’s a time to show how beautiful and loving the true practice of the Faith can be.