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Traditionalist Catholicism

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Traditionalist Catholic is the term generally used to refer to Roman Catholics who want the worship and practices of the Roman Catholic Church to be as they were before the 1960s. Some claim that a traditionalist Catholic must further hold that Church doctrine, not just the manner of presenting unchanging Tradition, has been altered in the same period.

Terminology

Some traditionalists, such as the Catholic Traditionalist Movement, willingly adopt the term "traditionalist Catholic", but most of them strongly prefer the description "traditional Catholic". Mainstream Catholics have, however, been known to object to the exclusive appropriation of this expression by traditionalists, since, because of the position of Sacred Tradition in Catholic teaching, the general body of Catholics is essentially traditional.

Though most traditionalist Catholics dislike the generally used term, they have been known to apply it gladly to themselves when quoting, from Pope Pius X's letter Notre charge apostolique of 25 August 1910, the phrase "indeed, the true friends of the people are neither revolutionaries, nor innovators: they are traditionalists". In the judgement of others, the term "traditionalists" has, in the context of that letter, a social and political, rather than a directly religious sense. Yet other meanings apply to "traditionalist" in other contexts, as, for instance, when "traditionalism" is defined as: "a philosophical system holding that all knowledge is derived from original divine revelation and is transmitted by tradition".

Without making any judgement on the correctness of the claim that "traditional Catholic" is a better description of the object of the present article, but merely for the sake of clarity, it seems best to use here the unambiguous term "traditionalist Catholic".

Categories of traditionalist Catholics

1. Traditionalist Catholics not in dispute with the Holy See

Some traditionalist Catholics, in the sense defined above, accept in full, whether willingly or only reluctantly, the teachings of the Second Vatican Council and the decrees of Pope John XXIII and his successors in Rome, including the revision of the liturgy, without viewing Church doctrine as altered since before the 1960s. The Holy See recognizes as legitimate their preference for and attachment to the older forms of the liturgy and discipline, whether for spiritual or merely aesthetic reasons, and has made arrangements for them to continue to use these older forms.

The Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter (FSSP) is an example of such traditionalist Catholics. It was established with the blessing of Pope John Paul II on 18 October 1988 by priests who disagreed with the action of Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre in consecrating, in spite of the express prohibition of Pope John Paul II, four bishops for his traditionalist Society of St. Pius X on 30 June of that year. FSSP celebrates the Tridentine Mass and, since it has never been associated with dissent from the teaching and decrees of the Second Vatican Council and the Popes, naturally enjoys a cordial relationship with the Holy See and operates within the ordinary structures of the Catholic Church as a papally approved Society of Apostolic Life, like the Congregation of the Mission (the Vincentians, also called Lazarists) or the Missionary Society of Saint Columban (the Columban Fathers).

There are some twenty other such groups of priests and religious operating with full papal approval, most notably the Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest.

Some reserve the term "traditionalist" to Catholics who reject the revised liturgy of the Mass as at least Protestantized and dangerous to the faith of Catholics. They therefore refuse the description "traditionalist" to these Catholics, calling them merely "conservative" Catholics.

2. Traditionalist Catholics in open dispute with the Holy See but claiming to be in full communion

Some traditionalist Catholics declare that they recognize the authority of the Pope, but refuse to accept those non-solemn teachings and decision of his and of other bishops that they perceive as contradictory to the Catholic faith. They claim that the changes initiated in the 1960s conflict with or distort historic Catholicism and amount at best to a "watering down" of Catholic teaching and practice. They describe the revised Roman-rite liturgy as Protestantized, weak in doctrine, and dangerous to the faith of Catholics who attend it. Some deny entirely its sacramental validity.

The principal group of traditionalists of this category is the Society of St. Pius X, a priestly fraternity founded by Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre. When Archbishop Lefebvre and Bishop António de Castro Mayer consecrated four priests to the episcopate on 30 June 1988, in contravention of an express papal prohibition, the Holy See declared that the six clerics concerned committed a schismatic act and incurred excommunication. Nevertheless, the Holy See does not view the Society, in itself, as a schismatic organization.

Other priests, who have broken away from the diocese or institute of consecrated life or society of apostolic life to which they belong, have established their own groups of followers, for whom they celebrate the "Tridentine Mass". They are known as "independent" priests.

3. Sedevacantist traditionalist Catholics

A few traditionalists, called sedevacantists, accept the concept of the papacy, but reject some or all of those they call "Vatican II popes", (Pope John XXIII, Pope Paul VI, Pope John Paul I, Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI), on the grounds that, by embracing heresy, they lost their authority. Some of these groups, often called "conclavist", have elected their leaders as popes.

Traditionalist Catholic views

Though they disagree with non-solemn teachings and decisions of the Roman Catholic Church taken since before the 1960s, traditionalist Catholics claim to have the same beliefs as any Catholic. All see the Church as the Mystical Body of Christ, united by the same faith, the same sacraments and the same discipline that they see as having united Catholics from the time of the Church's origins. Many take as their motto:

We are what you once were.
We believe what you once believed.
We worship as you once worshipped.
If you were right then, we are right now.
If we are wrong now, you were wrong then.

They attend Mass by preference or exclusively in the Tridentine form. Those who accept the decrees of the Holy See attend Mass in churches or chapels where, with the permission of the local bishop, diocesan priests or members of societies such as the Priestly Fraternity of St Peter, celebrate Mass in Latin using the 1962 Roman Missal. Others attend Mass celebrated by members of the Society of St Pius X, and others still Mass celebrated by sedevacantist or "independent" priests, some of whom reject even the 1962 revision of the Roman Missal.

Traditionalist Catholics also tend to stress the importance of popular devotions and practices that mainstream Catholics too value, including:

  • Making sacrifices on Fridays (in particular, abstaining from meat)
  • Going to Confession frequently
  • Praying the Rosary
  • Praying novenas
  • Wearing scapulars (especially the Brown Scapular) and using other sacramentals
  • Wearing modest clothing, especially in church (which for traditionalists often includes veiling of women in church)

Attitude towards the Second Vatican Council of traditionalist Catholics in dispute with the Holy See

These see the Second Vatican Council as a pastoral Council that taught nothing that must be accepted as an article of the Catholic religion. They reject those of its teachings that they believe contradict earlier infallible teachings or contain ambiguities that can be used in support of erroneous opinions. They insist that the Council's documents must be interpreted in the light of Tradition. Some of the more extreme deny entirely, on grounds of heresy, the validity of the Council and the authority of the Popes who convoked and continued it.

They claim to find in the Council's documents or in interpretations of them that have been officially countenanced general errors, expressed in the following terms. The views of those who disagree with them will be given separately.

  • Collegiality, which they claim has weakened the papacy and made bishops' conferences a veritable "second Vicar of Christ" for the Church. They see this as contradicting, among others, Pope Leo XIII's Satis Cognitum the documents of Vatican I.
  • An ecclesiology that they claim doesn't equate the Catholic Church with the Church established by Jesus Christ, but states that the Church established by Jesus Christ merely "subsists in" the Catholic Church. They claim this contradicts Pope Pius XII's Mystici Corporis Christi among other papal documents, and leads to false ideas of "ecumenism".
  • A focus on "the dignity of man", which they claim ignores original sin and the need of supernatural grace, and which they also claim has led to a sort of Utopianism that sees peace as possible without recognizing the Kingship of Christ. They see this supposed attitude, and teachings rooted in it, as contradicting Pope Pius XI's Quas Primas, Pope Leo XIII's Testem Benevolentiae Nostrae, Pope Pius X's Notre charge apostolique, and other papal and conciliar documents.
  • "False" ecumenism that has as its goal a unity that they see as not requiring conversion to the Catholic faith. They see this as contradicting Sacred Scripture, Pope Pius XI's Mortalium Animos, Pope Pius XII's Humani Generis and other documents.
  • An interpretation of ecclesiastical tradition that sees it as extremely changeable and has led to what they see as dangerous modifications in Catholic practices, the liturgy, and the Church's pastoral orientation. They see this as contradicting, among other papal and conciliar documents, the Fourth Anathema of the Second Ecumenical Council of Nicaea, the teaching of the First Vatican Council (especially the document Pastor Aeternus).
  • Rulings that they claim were unheard of in the Catholic Church before the Second Vatican Council. Some of them see this as contradicting doctrine and dogma prior to Pope John XXIII; the papal oath that they allege to have been written by Pope St. Agatho in ca. 681 and to have been taken by all Popes from Pope St. Agatho himself to Pope Paul VI inclusive, Pope Pius X's Motu Proprio Sacrorum antistitum (an oath taken by all priests prior to the Council), Pope Gregory XVI's Mirari Vos, the Fourth Anathema of the Second Ecumenical Council of Nicaea, and other papal and conciliar documents.
  • "Paschal theology", which they see as de-emphasizing the Sacrifice of the Mass and which they claim leads the faithful to believe that it is Christ's Resurrection alone, and not the Blood shed by His Sacrifice on the Cross, that saves. Traditional Catholics see the revision of the Mass liturgy under Pope Paul VI as a fruit of this "paschal theology". They see this orientation as contradicting Scripture and Encyclicals such as Pope Pius XII's Mediator Dei. They also see this paschal theology as de-emphasizing the meaning of suffering, ignoring Christ's admonition to Christians to "take up their crosses" (Matthew 10:38), and forgetting St. Paul's admonitions to mortify the flesh (Galatians 5:18-25, Colossians 1:23-24).
  • A focus on the natural world coupled with a de-emphasizing of the supernatural and preternatural worlds. This they say leads to Deism, Pragmatism, and moral relativism.
  • A relating to the world that forgets that the Church has enemies. They believe that Pope Pius X's warnings in Pascendi Dominici Gregis, Leo XIII's Humanum Genus, and other papal warnings against secret societies and enemies of Christendom have gone unheeded and that the enemy warned against has entered into the Church itself.
  • An authorization to revise the Roman-rite liturgy, which many of them see as having been overstepped in the actual revision carried out in later years. Their principal objection is to the 1970 revision of the Roman Missal, which most of them see as not a revision of the Roman rite of the Mass, but the setting up of a new distinct rite. For their objections to it, see Tridentine Mass and Novus Ordo Missae. Some, including most sedevacantists, see it as sacramentally invalid. Others consider it to be valid but to be absolutely avoided, because they see it as sacrilegious and harmful to the Catholic faith. These also say that, in many parishes, the validity of the matter and the intent, and therefore of the celebration itself, is questionable. Others see it as valid and also as permissible, but only when attendance at "a traditional Mass" is impossible. All claim to find grounds in Pope Pius V's bull Quo primum, promulgating the 1570 Roman Missal, and in other papal and conciliar documents, for doubting the authority of Pope Paul VI to carry out his revision of the Mass liturgy.

Counter-comment by others

In the judgment of non-traditionalists, these accusations are based on highly questionable interpretations of Sacred Scripture and of phrases in documents of the Church's magisterium, indeed, in one case, on a clearly fraudulent document. The ideas for which certain theologians in the 1960s and 1970s used to seek support, if not in the text of the Council's documents, at least in what they called "the spirit of the Second Vatican Council", were not part of the Council's teaching and, far from being adopted by the Holy See, were combatted in papal documents such as Pope Paul VI's Credo of the People of God and his Humanae Vitae encyclical.

Criticisms of the position of these traditionalist Catholics

Critics of the position of these traditionalists claim that they have fallen into the following errors. Their own counter-comments will be given separately.

  • An attitude of systematic opposition to the actually existing See of Rome and to the Roman Catholic Church as a whole, even to the point of breaking communion. This is likened to the attitude of those who refused to accept the decisions of the First Council of Nicea (the Arians), the Council of Ephesus (the Nestorians), the Council of Chalcedon (the forerunners of the present-day Oriental Orthodox Churches), the Council of Trent (the Protestant Reformers), the First Vatican Council (the Old Catholics), and so on. These other groups, too, claimed that they were simply holding fast to what they had always been taught, and that, since obedience not ordered to the Good is not perfect obedience, they were in conscience bound to reject the Council in question.
  • Referring to official decisions of the Church as actions of, for instance, "the Vatican" or "Vatican hierarchs", and treating the decisions practically as just views of one group among many in the Church.
  • Failure to distinguish between what is integral to the Catholic faith and what can change over time - in response, for example, to developments in theology and in human society and culture.
  • Exaggerating the extent to which the Second Vatican Council and the subsequent decrees of the Popes altered not only Church discipline and practice, but even, they claim, Church teaching.
  • Acting as if they were part of a different Church, with their priests being independent of the bishops whom the Pope recognizes as being in full communion with him, yet administering the sacrament of Penance, assisting at marriages, and even declaring marriages null, actions that are normally invalid for Catholics without a link with those bishops.

Responses of these traditionalists to the criticisms

  • They claim a resemblance to Athanasius, Bishop of Alexandria, who was excommunicated and condemned by two Councils (not Ecumenical Councils), but is honoured as a Saint and Doctor of the Church.
  • They claim that some official directives go against infallible teachings or are harmful to souls and not only may but must be ignored.
  • They insist that the changes since the Vatican Council are in fact inconsistent and inorganic with what went before
  • They maintain that they do not in fact exaggerate when speaking about alterations, at least in terms of ambiguity, brought about by the Council.
  • They claim that canon 144 §1 of the Code of Canon Law ("In common error, whether of fact or of law, and in positive and probable doubt, whether of law or of fact, the Church supplies executive power of governance for both the external and the internal forum") applies to their situation.

Attitude of the authorities of the Catholic Church towards traditionalist Catholics

As is obvious, there is no conflict between the Holy See and the category of traditionalist Catholics described above as not being in dispute with Rome. In his letter Ecclesia Dei of 2 July 1988, Pope John Paul II stated that "respect must everywhere be shown for the feelings of all those who are attached to the Latin liturgical tradition." Such approval is not extended to those who dismiss teachings of the Second Vatican Council and decrees of the recent Popes.

At a lower level of authority, there are sometimes complaints that certain bishops and priests actively oppose any public celebration of the "Tridentine Mass", even if offered by members of the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter and similar groups that enjoy the approval of the Holy See. On occasion the reason for a refusal of permission is that the request is made by traditionalists in open dispute with the Holy See. Other refusals are more difficult to explain or justify.

Demographics

The number of traditionalist Catholics of all categories is very difficult to pin down, but they are a minority of the worldwide Catholic population: for example, according to an unconfirmed report by a Society of St. Pius X member, the Vatican authorities estimate that the relatively small number of 1.2 million Catholics support his Society. The demographics of traditionalist Catholics who worship at Masses offered by members of other priestly societies and "independent" priests is unknown. Traditionalists affirm that their numbers are growing, that their seminaries, though small, are full, and that demand for traditionalist Catholicism among the general Catholic population is high, with many families having difficulty in finding a "Vatican-approved" "Tridentine Mass" to attend. Like other strongly religious groups such as Muslims, Mormons, and Orthodox Jews, traditionalist Catholics tend to have large families. Conversions from other religions (mainly Protestantism) are "not uncommon", but the reverse seems to be quite rare. The largest numbers of traditionalist Catholics are in the United States and western Europe (especially France and England); there are also significant numbers in Canada, Brazil, Australia, and New Zealand.

See also

Traditionalist organisations

Other articles

External links

General Information

Liturgical Matters

References

Traditionalist Priestly Fraternities, Groups, Chapels, and Parishes

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