Part II: Across the Traditional Catholic Spectrum

 Part I here

Once you discover tradition, and you are intent on pursuing it, eventually you will join one of the traditional camps. In this post I'll give and overview of the three main groups.

The first group, which may be smallest in number, are those who believe that all the popes since the death of Pius XII in 1958 are false popes. This is not as crazy as it sounds as there have been nearly 40  anti-popes throughout the history of the Church as listed in the Catholic Almanac. This conclusion is arrived at by applying some Catholic principles to what has transpired over the last 50 years. The reasons for there lower numbers is that they are furthest removed from the mainstream church and their position is viewed by some as being the most extreme which is not to say that they are incorrect. This group is known as sedevacantists, sede means seat, and vacante means vacant. They believe the Chair of Peter is vacant. The largest organization of sedevacantists is the CMRI, Congregation of Mary Immaculate Queen.

Closely related to the sedevacantist is the sedeimpedist. A sedeimpedist is of the opinion that the true pope was prevented from taking office in 1958. That true pope is believed to be Cardinal Siri of Genoa who would have become pope on the first evening of the 1958 Conclave when a clear white smoke signal emitted from the chimney atop the Sistine Chapel and reports went out around the world that a new pope had been elected only to be retracted later that evening. Footage of that fateful evening here

The second group would be the SSPX, Society of St. Pius X. The SSPX was founded by the French archbishop, Marcel Lefebvre. The Society existed for many years alongside the Vatican even though they refused to perform the new rite of mass. Then in 1988 as Archbishop Lefebvre was getting older and the Pope John Paul II was having inter-religious prayer meetings in Assisi and kissing the Koran, the Archbishop consecrated 4 bishops against the will of the Pope and was subsequently excommunicated. Those 4 bishops along with 500 or so priests constitute the SSPX today. They have a global presence but are most active in the US and France. This group acknowledges the Pope as the true successor to St. Peter but believe he is in error. They are regarded as extremists by mainstream Catholics while sedevacantists criticize them for acknowledging the Pope yet being disobedient which they see as inconsistant.

It's important to note that one of the four Bishops, Bishop Williamson, was expelled from the SSPX and formed the SSPX of Strict Observance and has taken a number of priests with him on the grounds that the superior of the society Bishop Bernard Fellay was not remaining true to the principles on which the Society was founded.

The last group are the conservative/traditional people from the mainstream church. This group ranges from folks that think the new popes are fine and think that both the old mass and the new mass have equal value to those who think it is best to fight for tradition from within the mainstream church. The latter position has some merit. The most prominent group within this group is the FSSP, The Priestly Society of St Peter. Michael Voris also deserves mention as he has done as much as anyone to awaken everyday Catholic, a former CBS producer, anchorman and reporter, Voris brought the media know-how that many well meaning and sincere Catholics lacked in their efforts. His media outlet is St Michael's Media

That's a basic overview. Feel free to contact if you have further questions.

sarniatraditionalcatholic@yahoo.ca

Part I: What We Have Lost

To summarize, the Catholic Church is a traditional Church. It’s beliefs and rites were handed down from the apostles. The traditional mass was virtually the same from the 4th century until Pope Paul VI’s “new mass” in 1969.

For older folks who remember the old mass, perhaps you were under the impression that the old mass was just translated into English. Well, nothing could be further from the truth. For a detailed analysis of the new mass check out The Problems with the New Mass.

For younger folks, like me, who never heard of the old mass and were under the impression that we were handed down what our Catholic ancestors were given, again, nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, what the changes which emanated from the Second Vatican Council amount to is nothing less than the start of a new religion!

Ready to learn? This well produced video is a good primer.

For questions, comments, etc sarniatraditionalcatholic@yahoo.ca