WHAT FORCES ARE WORKING AGAINST THE TRADITIONAL CATHOLIC MOVEMENT? TRADITIO Traditional Roman Catholic Internet Site E-mail: traditio@traditio.com, Web: http://www.traditio.com Copyright 1998-2011 CSM. Reproduction prohibited without authorization. Last Revised: 12/05/11 It is frightening how a person or company can be destroyed simply by posting something harmful about them in cyberspace, even if it is untrue. The message, if it plays properly to the sympathies or vagaries of its recipients, can become an evergreen, constantly there to unfairly damage its target. --Howard Kleinberg, Editor of the Miami News Blessed are ye when they shall revile you and persecute you and speak all that is evil against you, untruly, for my sake: Be glad and rejoice, for your reward is very great in heaven; for so they persecuted the prophets that were before you. --Gospel of St. Matthew, 5:11-12/DRV **************************************************************************** TRADITIO FOCUSES ON ISSUES AND DOES NOT RESPOND TO REQUESTS FOR PERSONAL INFORMATION ON ANY TRADITIONAL CATHOLIC PRIEST, WHETHER ASSOCIATED WITH TRADITIO OR NOT. **************************************************************************** Sometimes we are asked about a campaign on the internet and elsewhere by a small clique of anti-traditionalists (both Novus Ordo, Motarian, and semi-traditionalist sects, such as the New Society of St. Pius X) who wish insidiously to undermine the movement by attacking traditional priests and traditional laymen. TRADITIO long ago predicted that as the Traditional Catholic Movement got stronger, it was only to be expected that there would be more and more anti-traditionalists. Because they cannot rationally deal with the arguments of legitimate traditional Roman Catholicism, these "smear merchants," as they have been called, try to attack the persons who promote the traditional Catholic Faith, particularly traditional priests, but also traditional laymen. Such anti-traditionalists take a leaf out of the book of the political strategist Niccolo Machievelli (1469-1527), who wrote: "If you can't attack the argument, attack the man." Or, as Francis Cardinal Spellman (1889-1967) replied to his accusers: "What can you expect from pigs but grunts?" Typical tactics involve calling a traditional priest "Thuc" or "Old Catholic" or "Sede-vacantist" or "renegade" or "rebel" or "schismatic." As the attackers become more and more frustrated at the lack of effect their charges have in the ears of people who know these priests and their traditional solidity, they will say wilder and wilder things. What was once only "disobedient" will become "illicit"; what was once "illicit" will become "invalid." And what is the caliber of these anti-traditionalists? They presume to set themselves up as a kangaroo court to judge priests' orders, yet deviate from the Church's teaching on sacramental theology. One such attack against a traditional priest was so full of basic theological errors that the author unwittingly made himself a laughing-stock to anyone who had any semblance of knowledge about Roman Catholic sacramental theology. Such people are obviously unaware of the principle of Catholic Sacramental Theology, "Actus, praesertim adeo solemnis qualis est ordinatio, habendus est ut validus, donec invaliditas non evincatur," prescribing that the presumption in the case of the Sacraments, most especially in the case of Holy Orders, is always in favor of validity, not invalidity. If a priest or layman does nothing, everyone leaves him alone. However, if he fights like a St. Paul for the traditional Catholic Faith, he becomes a prime target. Remember, Scripture tells us that there were early Christians who presumed to challenge even St. Paul's orders and to lead astray the laymen who were trying to stay with the Apostolic Tradition! Nihil sub sole novum. It is bad enough when such things come from the Novus Ordo apparatus, but it is particularly sad when they come from the supposedly traditional side, particularly from those who are themselves under attack from others (perhaps they are trying to divert attention from their own situations?). As the Cardinal Archbishop of Genoa said: "If you would have to spend your time responding to all accusations, there would not be any time left to work for Christ and His Church, but only to respond to calumnies." Moreover, the internet has become a virtual cesspool for erroneous personal information circulated about people. TRADITIO, therefore, devotes itself to working for the traditional Roman Catholic Faith rather than wasting valuable time to dignify the endless questions of those whose purposes will not be satisfied with ANY answer. As Our Lord said when replying with silence to His malicious accusers: "If I shall tell you, you will not believe me" (Luke 22:67/DRV. From our beginning in 1994, TRADITIO taken the high road and continues here to set the example for the Traditional Catholic Movement by staunchly refusing to play into these anti-traditional tactics, as they are often used as a ploy by individuals who are hostile to traditional Roman Catholicism and are desperate to turn the discussion away from the evil of the New Order to petty personalities. In the end, if you have a priest who professes the traditional Roman Catholic Faith, celebrates the Traditional Latin Mass, and administers the traditional Sacraments, support him, help him, pray for him. You have a very special gift for which hundreds of thousands of traditional Catholics around the world are praying ceaselessly. "For so is the will of God, that by doing well you may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men." (1 Peter 2:15/DR). ============================================================================ STATEMENT ON THE FOURTH ANNIVERSITY OF THE TRADITIO TRADITIONAL ROMAN CATHOLIC INTERNET SITE SEPTEMBER 29, 1998 For those of you who may not realize it, TRADITIO was the very first Traditional Roman Catholic site to have been founded on the internet and remains the longest continuous such site on the internet. On the feastday of St. Michael the Archangel, our patron saint, we will now, by the grace of God, have been educating the public since 1994 about the true Faith. From the beginning, it has been the unswerving policy of this site to teach the traditional Roman Catholic Faith. In fact, we are not aware of any site on the Internet that is more Roman Catholic than this one. Anyone who has been with us even for a few days, let alone since 1994, knows this as an obvious fact. TRADITIO has never set itself up as a personal authority. It subordinates itself to the teachings of Sacred Scripture, Sacred Tradition, the popes and councils of the Church, and the wisdom of the Catholic Saints. It holds in especial esteem the Four Great Western Doctors of the Church -- St. Augustine, St. Jerome, St. Ambrose, and St. Gregory the Great -- together with the Apostle of the Gentiles, St. Paul, and the Angelic Doctor, St. Thomas Aquinas. It has been careful to cite not its own teachings, but the teachings of the Church. When opinion has been expressed, it has been clearly noted as opinion, in the manner of St. Paul. Needless to say, our sometimes biting Juvenalian satire against the foibles of the Novus Ordo have not enamored us to certain liberal and conservative Novus Ordinarians, who wish to rebut by attacking us rather than our arguments, a sign of the irrationality and the unChristian nature of their position. We have seen everything, we think, from our unique perspective since 1994 on the Internet. Recently we have seen the advent of some pseudo- "traditionalist" sites (who may in fact have other sympathies and are simply posing as traditional), whose purpose seems to be to calumniate every traditional Catholic priest and layman they can. Many times we have marveled at the abysmal ignorance of these people who would dare to base their words upon such an ignorance of Catholic theology that it has been the source of great guffaws at traditional priests' meetings across the country. TRADITIO does not engage in such pointless arguments; rather, we teach the traditional Roman Catholic Faith to the best of our knowledge and ability. TRADITIO's hundreds of thousands of dedicated participants since 1994 have learned about the traditional Roman Catholic Church, its Mass and Sacraments, its music, its saints, and its history. TRADITIO stands on the ample proof of its long-standing record of traditional Roman Catholicism and has never espoused Novus Ordoism, Old Catholicism, or Eastern Orthodoxy. That is our goal, the same goal as we had when we started this apostolate, not knowing how vast it would become in such a short period of time. Only a small number of messages received are posted publicly. Far more messages, seeking personal advice or asking questions that are not judged of general interest, are answered privately. What have we learned since 1994? That the traditional Roman Catholic Faith is stronger than we could ever have imagined. That the sacrifices the traditional laymen are undergoing to hold fast to their Faith make the little sacrifices of us traditional priests pale by comparison. That there is a core of virtuous Catholic youth committed to the True Faith, who will be the salvation of the Church long after we pre-Vatican II Catholics and the post- conciliar weak popes have passed on. What we see, in reality, is a rebirth of true Catholicism, similar in many ways to the birth of the early Church. And that rebirth involves labor pains. Who in the first century would ever have thought that a small band of persecuted Christians would take over the world with their message? Even the disciples in the boat were upbraided by our Lord: "O ye of little faith." The true Church is still here, even if you have to do some research to find it. The true Mass is still here, even though you may have to drive farther to assist at it. The true Sacraments are still here, even though you may have to make an appointment for Confession. The true religion is still here, even though you have to go to out-of-the-way sources for it. No Bugnini, no Newpope, no Newbishop, no Novus Ordinarian, and no pseudo-traditionalist can ever wipe the True Church away. Of that we have our Lord's promise, the promise of the indefectibility of the Church to the end of time, and if we don't trust His word, we may as well pack up and become, in the words of William Wordsworth, "pagans suckled in a creed outworn." ============================================================================ PSEUDO-TRADITIONALISTS By Michael J. Matt, Editor of THE REMNANT September 15, 1998 (XXXI:15) These "pseudo-traditionalists" are supposedly on the side of the Traditional Mass Movement and yet, apparently to demonstrate total solidarity with the Establishment, they continue to betray real traditional Catholics everywhere. We must be wary of such "friends" -- they "prefer" the Traditional Latin Mass, but a few of them would cut their own mother's throat to prevent her from saying anything that might upset the Modernist Establishment and jeopardize an "Indult" Mass or two. How quickly the pseudo-traditionalists forget that, for decades before the "Indult" Mass came along, traditional Catholics survived because of the selflessness and courage of the "independent" priests who refused to let the Mass die, and who also refused to abandon the laypeople who suffered under the Novus Ordo regime. These "traveling priests" are heroes of the movement, because they held the Catholic ground, all by themselves, long before being "bi-ritual" became fashionable.... Today, however, I guess some "pseudo-traditionalists" would have us report such independent priests to the "liturgy police" for committing "crimes against Ecclesia Dei." We're really growing weary of this attitude!... These "pseudo-traditionalists" behind the scenes ... are behaving like snakes! The Church is suffering because of persecution today, and yet our "brothers-in-arms" can think of nothing more constructive to do than make petty war on their fellow traditional Catholics who are not quite as conformist and politically correct as "they ought to be." May God ... help us all to keep the True Faith, with or without our bishops' permission.