“God is Dead; but given the way of men, there may still be caves for thousands of years in which his shadow will be shown. And we – we still have to vanquish his shadow, too. — Frederich Nietzsche, The Gay Science, 109. The Forerunners: 2015: For the Neo-modernist or Progressivist Catholic today, the traditional understanding… Read More Progressivist Theology. What it is.
(Originally published in Journal of Anglican Studies, 2005, 3 (2), 181–96 originally titled Doubts about Doubt: “Honest to God” Forty Years On. N.T. Wright.) N.T. Wright. Honest to God, published in 1963, was one of the most public religious bestsellers of the twentieth century. Because it was written by an Anglican bishop it was especially controversial. Yet there are questions… Read More Doubts about Doubt: “Honest to God” by N.T. Wright.
“The need of reflecting on the interior life of the Savior is particularly great in the present period of general confusion, when individuals and entire peoples misunderstand the ultimate end of human life and forget the profound difference between perishable, material goods and immutable, spiritual goods. Material goods divide us in the measure that we… Read More Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange: What Christ Must Be for Us
The events of 1968 had a strong bearing on his shift to a more conservative outlook. Excerpted from “POPE BENEDICT XVI: A Biography of Joseph Ratzinger.” (c) 2000 by John L. Allen, Jr.The Continuum. Joseph Ratzinger arrived at Tübingen [University] in 1966, still enthusiastic about the promise of Vatican II and ready to take his… Read More How the ’60s Changed Ratzinger
And a response It Ain’t Broke, But Let’s Fix It Anyhow June 2004, NOR We picked up a Catholic magazine, and on the cover was one big headline, and it was a striking one: “Was Vatican II a Mistake?” In the background to the headline were a litany of post-Vatican II disasters: “practicing homosexuals in… Read More The New Oxford Review Exchange on Whether Vatican II Was Necessary
Biblical Interpretation in Crisis. On the Question of the Foundations: and Approaches of Exegesis Today by Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, 1988 (later Pope Benedict XVI) In Wladimir Solowjew’s History of the Antichrist, the eschatological enemy of the Redeemer recommended himself to believers, among other things, by the fact that he had earned his doctorate in theology… Read More Biblical Interpretation in Crisis — Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, 1988
Karol Wojtyla (JPII) wrote, “A non-Catholic philosopher once said to me: ‘You know, I just can’t stop myself reading and rereading and thinking over the first three chapters of Genesis.’ And indeed it seems to me that unless one does so reflect upon that fundamental Ensemble of facts and situations it becomes extremely difficult if… Read More John Paul II on the Most Decisive Confrontation —and History’s ‘Last Lap’
Fr. Chad Ripperger writes, “The juridical concept of the deposit [of Faith] requires that it is not the property of the guardian. In other words, it is not the person who receives it that has ownership of it, but of the consigner who is handing it over to him to keep it in a safe… Read More The Binding Force of Tradition
Update: July 2025. Did Pope Francis Mislead the Church Regarding Traditional Latin Mass Survey? Traditionis Custodes: Taking a Bulldozer to an Anthill. Traditionalists and Pope Francis by Pieter Vree, editor |New Oxford Review, October 2021. “Nobody comes out clean…” In January 1985 President Ronald Reagan, a Republican, signed the Mexico City Policy, which prohibits federally… Read More Traditionis Custodes. New Oxford Review.
Like the Cross of Christ which for three hours appeared like the most terrible defeat, Truth can sometimes sound pessimistic, but Christians know that the terminus of all things lies far beyond pedestrian ideas of optimism / pessimism. The final word in the history of salvation is Optimistim beyond all earthly conceptions and expectations. Cardinal… Read More Like a Boat taking in water on every side…
In a recent letter to American Catholics, “excommunicated” Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano delivered a reasonable and cogent body blow to globalists, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, and Pope Francis (Jorge Bergoglio) for failing to teach the whole Catholic Faith and for actually exploiting the poor and vulnerable. This website and its editor does… Read More Archbishop Vigano’s Body Blow
Romano Guardini on “The End of the Modern World“. “This frightful destruction did not drop down from heaven; in truth it rose up out of hell!” —Romano Guardini. Mark Malvasi writes, “…absorbed by technology, [Romano] Guardini anticipated the emergence of a new type of human being that was defined by regimentation and conformity. This “man… Read More Disappearing Into the Collective
Or, how a modern psychologist had it out for the Catholic Church and joined forces with the so-called Progressives to wreck her sacred tradition. Carl Ransom Rogers (January 8, 1902 – February 4, 1987) was an American psychologist who was one of the founders of humanistic psychology and was known especially for his person-centered psychotherapy. Rogers was widely considered… Read More And the ‘Walls’ of Love Came Tumbling Down
“The living magisterium makes extensive use of documents of the past, but it does so while judging and interpreting, gladly finding in them its present thought, but likewise, when needful, distinguishing its present thought from what is traditional only in appearance. “It is revealed truth always living in the mind of the Church, or, if it is preferred, the… Read More Tradition and the Living Magisterium.
Josef Pieper, the renowned Thomist, in his 1953 study, The Silence of St. Thomas (St. Augustine’s Press, South Bend, Indiana) reminds theologians and students of St. Thomas Aquinas that while Pope Pius XI in his 1923 Encyclical Studiorum Ducem insisted that the Angelic Doctor is to be esteemed by all Schools of Theology, he also reminded all… Read More St. Thomas Aquinas and the “Life-blood of Catholic Theology”
…the words of Benedict XVI in 2015, two years after his decision to resign due to failing health and insomnia. “As one sees the power of Antichrist spreading, one can only pray that the Lord will give us mighty shepherds to defend His Church against the power of evil in this hour of need.” It… Read More Rod Dreher on Benedict XVI and the Power of Antichrist
+ Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith Joseph Ratzinger, Prefect. Declaration:+Dominus Iesus, August 6, 2000. + On the Unicity and SalvificUniversality Of Jesus Christ and The Church. INTRODUCTION: 1. The Lord Jesus, before ascending into heaven, commanded his disciples to proclaim the Gospel to the whole world and to baptize all nations: “Go into… Read More On the Unicity and Universality Of Jesus Christ
If it is true that John XXIII controversially determined it was neither opportune nor wise to conclude the Council with the anathemas which usually follow Church councils, it is also true that the Councils of Trent and Vatican I (the latter had been interrupted in the last century and needed completion) were specifically cited and… Read More The Hermeneutical Firewall Protecting Vatican II
Despite the attempts on the part of recent popes like John Paul II and Benedict XVI* to correct the situation, not a few Protestants are, most traditional Catholics have long known, more biblically literate and theologically coherent today (despite the exegetical errors of Luther, Zwingli, Calvin and the rest), more traditional, and more empiric in their approaches to… Read More Yes, them.
2007: In the preface to the book John Allen wrote on the Popes ascendance, “The Rise of Benedict XVI: The Inside Story of How the Pope was Elected and Where He Will Take the Catholic Church” by John L. Allen. “Because the new pope [Benedict XVI] has been a highly public figure generating diverse reactions,… Read More Benedict XVI, John Allen and Myself
Damian Thompson associate editor of The Spectator writes, “Ludwig van Beethoven had a profound faith in God. He was born and raised a Catholic and on his deathbed he asked to receive the Last Rites. He told the priest, ‘I thank you, ghostly sir – you have brought me comfort.’ One of his closest friends,… Read More Why didn’t Beethoven Go to Mass?
…and Interview With the Authors, Shaun Blanchard and Stephen Bullivant. Note: The book under discussion here represents only one of a number of interpretations of Vatican II and it’s fruits which are found at this website. See Labels / Categories for others. — Editor. “There is a story, perhaps apocryphal, that sometime in the 1950s,… Read More Addressing a “Different Kind of Crisis”? A New Introduction to Vatican II
National Catholic Register: “The book, which offers insights into Pope Benedict XVI through the eyes of a direct witness, should be understood as a memorial, not an indictment. …of course, there is Archbishop Gänswein’s open anger and surprise at being abruptly relieved of his post as prefect of the Papal Household by Pope Francis, without… Read More Archbishop Gänswein’s New Book on Benedict XVI
From the book Benedict XVI Defender of the Faith “Having stressed that the traditional Mass was “never abrogated,” he sought to ensure the freedom of the faithful to be present at the celebration of the Mass by replacing John Paul II’s earlier indult and Motu Proprio, which had relied on the good faith of the… Read More Joseph Pearce on the Heart and Mind of a Real Shepherd
Bishops decry Media Assault on St. John Paul II. CNA Staff Newsroom, Dec 7, 2022 / 08:00 Journalists investigating secular and Catholic Church sources in Poland have called into question allegations by a Dutch writer that St. John Paul II “covered up” sexual abuse while still a bishop in Poland. On Dec. 2, Ekke Overbeek,… Read More Journalists contradict Overbeek ‘Cover up’ Story
Book Review.The Great Facade. MAY 14, 2004.James Likoudis. “This book is a fierce polemic on behalf of a “militant traditionalism.” It is full of sound and fury against those whom the authors label disparagingly as “neo-Catholics,” i.e., those who have steadfastly defended Vatican II and the post-conciliar popes against strident charges that the ecumenical council… Read More Book Review: The Great Facade. And “Neo-Catholics”. James Likoudis.
Fr. Brian Harrison, a well-known theologian who has long been conversant with traditionalist polemics thinks so, and he stated his reasons publicly in the pages of The Wanderer back in January, 2022 Archbishop Viganò Vs. The Novus Ordo By Fr. Brian W. Harrison, OSThe WandererJan. 27, 2022 Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò, former papal Nuncio to… Read More Did Archbishop Vigano Overreach Regarding the Mass of Paul VI?
Even if it may have caused more problems than it solved, Vatican II for the future Pope was in no small part about reintegrating loose and undisciplined elements of immutable Catholic doctrine with Christological and Eucharistic teaching. George Weigel writes, “In the years immediately after the Council, Joseph Ratzinger (the future Pope Benedict XVI), who… Read More Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger on Reasons for Vatican II
By Michael Brendan Dougherty.National Review, 10/12/22. And six decades of pseudo-theologyYears ago, during a very brief meeting at New York University with the eminent English conservative Roger Scruton, I shared with him — an Anglican by tradition — my reservations about the Second Vatican Council and my interest in the old liturgy. He had no… Read More 60 Years Since Vatican II
The Figures Behind the Evangelists. By Frederick W. Marks.The New Oxford Review.Dec. 2021. One of the most powerful arguments for the reliability of the Gospels is the fact that two of them were written by eyewitnesses: Matthew and John. There is another fact, however, that is equally important. The other two evangelists, Mark and Luke,… Read More The Gospels of Peter & Mary
“…[T]here is no shortage of those who today are railing against him “They are free to do so, but I can affirm that I have never found in him any shadow or attempt to hide or minimize anything. Nor can his sensitivity in dealing with things with a profound moral sense be mistaken for uncertainty… Read More Finishing Off a Pope too Traditional?
New Ways Ministry and the Synodal Process. National Catholic Register. “As the Church embarks on a two-year synodal process, the confusing optics of the recent New Ways Ministry controversy have only deepened a sense of unease regarding the Synod on Synodality and its impact.” Read more But is it not a long way from there… Read More “Confusing Optics”
By Elise Ann AllenDec 18, 2021, CruxNews ROME – In a new interview, Cardinal Sean O’Malley of Boston spoke out against American critics of Pope Francis with ties to the EWTN television network, insisting that despite this opposition, the pope enjoys broad support in the United States. A key papal advisor, O’Malley spoke to veteran… Read More O’Malley says EWTN, social media give distorted image of US support for Pope
Trent Horn is an apologist for Catholic Answers Along other lines, Trent Horn on Unnatural Egg-sploitation And Those Who Applaud it.
Catholic Critique 