Updated. It’s not exactly news. Some twenty six years ago when I wrote for his paper I saw up close and personal that Michael was in fact more SSPX than attached to the genuine Catholic tradition which was too complex for him.  We were expected in those days to see and attack all conservative and traditional SSPX critics as “neo-Catholics”. Matt has always considered himself (and his father) as part of most critical repositories of Catholic Tradition in our post-Vatican II era. The record is abundantly available for study in the Remnant newspaper from that time.

Despite my essential and ongoing agreement with many (not all) of the criticisms of Rome’s post-Vatican II directions, Matt and I clashed over this “Neo-Catholic” paradigm. He clashed also with traditionalist scholar Michael Davies over this same matter.

When I went to Rome for his newspaper to cover the Assisi meeting of the representatives of other religions I felt under an extraordinary pressure, based on conversations and correspondence with Matt and longstanding Remnant newspaper coverage, to write the headline, as it were, before I actually covered the event. As a radio and newspaper reporter long before I ever heard of The Remnant I was uneasy about this. I was willing to expose and denounce the event if it showed the slightest signs of real syncretism. But only if!

Alas for The Remnant it did not happen. I saw none of it. I saw prayer for an end to religious animosities in the face of nihilist forces arrayed against all decent adherents of religion. If there were also some few excesses without Vatican approval it wasn’t the fault of the Pope.

Previously Pope John Paul II emphatically denounced all real syncretist approaches which many “Catholic” liberals would have liked to see in effect, and in many ways he carefully delineated the Catholic dogmatic boundaries which made real syncretism impossible. The Pontifical Council for Culture also at various times warned against  (**) a New Age mentality which contradicted Catholic teachings.

The 1988 SSPX defiance of John Paul II and Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger (later Benedict XVI) was tragic. Especially since the Pope in a major gesture of good will was willing to allow for the consecration of a bishop who could care for the SSPX flock and signal the fullness of Tradition with and under Peter. And there is every indication he was willing over time to effect the same essential concessions his closest advisor, Cardinal Ratzinger / BXVI, was to make in Summorum Pontificum (7/7/07). But the SSPX would not tolerate contradiction from a Pope.

I much admired the SSPX. I would do anything for Christian love. But I wouldn’t do that. So Michael Matt and I went our different ways. It was a sad parting for me because I liked Michael a lot. It was shocking to find myself pummeled for years over this.

So here we are again. Matt today writes of Catholic “identity”:

“The word is out: the SSPX will have an official voice at this year’s [Remnant] Catholic Identity Conference.

We’re delighted to welcome Jim Vogel, SSPX Communications Director, to the CIC speaker roster.

Whatever your corner [sic] of Catholic Tradition, this is a moment worth being there for. Come hear from the SSPX, meet fellow Catholics, and be part of a very memorable CIC. If you’ve been waiting for a reason to be in Pittsburgh this October 2 thru 4, this may be it. Seats are going fast—register today!“

Was the Assisi event worth it? No, in my opinion. But the Pope thought otherwise and that will have to be good enough for now.

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(**) The full title is Jesus Christ the Bearer of the Water of Life: A Christian reflection on the “New Age”. It is an official Vatican study (not a papal encyclical or magisterial document) prepared in response to bishops’ requests for guidance on New Age phenomena and their compatibility with Catholic teaching. The Working Group also included staff from the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples and the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity.

+ See also Tradition and the Living Magisterium

Stephen Hand, updated / 10:30, 11:22 PM

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