Recently, an event of significance for sedevacantists came to pass. The last bishop consecrated to be appointed to office in 1958 — i.e., during the reign of Pope Pius XII — finally passed into eternity. That this is so can …
Category: Catholic Life
We Defeat the Devil with Boldness and Modesty
A tall, gray building stands against a gray sky, smoke and spire alike reaching towards Heaven. Thousands of ornate details confess a Gothic ancestry, this sacred place a child of stone born by the toil of generations. The face of …
Man Cannot Live on Vatican II Alone
It’s a Friday. A boy and his father head out in their boat to fish. The plan is to catch supper. “Dad, we’ve been out for two hours and haven’t caught anything,” remarks the boy sullenly. “The water is too …
Jerome Emiliani: On the Saints of Mercy and Their Masses
The traditional Roman liturgical calendar at this time in July presents us with a “triduum” of saints of mercy: St. Camillus de Lellis (July 18), St. Vincent de Paul (July 19), and St. Jerome Emiliani (July 20). Always ahead of …
Papal Infallibility After One Hundred and Fifty Years
Saturday, July 18, 2020, marked the 150th anniversary of the definition of papal infallibility by the first Vatican Council in the constitution Pastor Aeternus, as a dogma of the Catholic faith, to be held by all Catholics under pain of …
The Final Days of the Carmelites of Compiegne
On February 13, 1790, France, the eldest daughter of the Church, forbade the taking of religious vows. A little over two years later, in September 1792, a Carmelite convent about 50 miles north of Paris was seized. The nuns were …
Can a Catholic Ever Disobey a Pope?
“No one is ever allowed to disobey the pope. Period.” The statement is made repeatedly on social media, usually in an attempt to end a debate. It’s taken as a given. No sources cited, no documentation provided. It’s merely assumed. …
Climbing the Ladder of Creation with St. Bonaventure, the Seraphic Doctor
Most Catholics who have a decent acquaintance with theology will be familiar with the writings of St. Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) — at least, with questions from his Summa theologiae. Apart from Franciscans who are devoted to their own tradition, however, …
Shall We Forget All the Confederate Catholics?
“We now see movements to remove statues and names given to monuments and schools of southern figures — Jefferson Davis, Robert E. Lee, Stonewall Jackson, and others,” observed one of the last few real Jesuits a few years before his …
Christian Conservatism vs. Traditional Catholicism
Editor’s note: This article was first published on June 29, 2015 under a pen name. We’re running it again, now under the name of its author, because its content remains evergreen, and our readers (and editors) are well served by …