The featured image above is a picture of the last scheduled TLM in the Melbourne, Australia Cathedral (which just took place this June of 2024.)
Although there are serious theological and historical errors in it, the liturgical letter Desiderio Desideravi (henceforth DD) is correct in at least one sentence, in that it identifies the liturgical debates between traditionalists and modernists as primarily ecclesiological, not liturgical. It reads, “The problematic is primarily ecclesiological.” (I first noticed the importance of that sentence when it was recently mentioned on Return to Tradition.)
The second half of that paragraph including that sentence reads: “The problematic is primarily ecclesiological. I do not see how it is possible to say that one recognizes the validity of the Council — though it amazes me that a Catholic might presume not to do so — and at the same time not accept the liturgical reform born out of Sacrosanctum Concilium, a document that expresses the reality of the Liturgy intimately joined to the vision of Church so admirably described in Lumen Gentium.”—DD #31.
All of DD (linked in the first paragraph) can be summarized thus: The Council brought you a new liturgy and a new ecclesiology. So the obvious two questions that follow are: Does this new ecclesiology mean a new theology? Even a new religion? As we will see, both Viganó and DD answer in the affirmative, proving both left and right in the Church admit a hermeneutic of rupture. (The hermeneutic of continuity is officially dead!)
As many of you are bracing for the loss of your Traditional Latin Mass (TLM) you must understand that the current Vatican has a bigger problem with your ancient theology than with your ancient language. DD admits as much. That is why DD rightly quotes Lumen Gentium in essentially saying all adherents to world religions are saved outside the Catholic Church. Indeed, if Buddhists and Hindus can be saved without Christ, then we should indeed have a anthropocentric liturgy in the vernacular facing the people to eventually dovetail into a One World Religion of Universalism.
A “One World Religion” worship center is not an exaggeration. As the current Vatican is eradicating the Mass of the Ages, it has already built, “The Abrahamic Family House” in Abu Dhabi. Notice that even the Vatican News reports it as this: “[This] cultural landmark in the UAE capital… includes a synagogue, a church and a mosque, is meant to be a beacon of understanding and peaceful coexistence, inspired by the Document on Human Fraternity.”
This is why the TLM and the NOM will eventually refuse to exist with each other: It’s not because two languages can’t exist in the same parish, say, one that does both the TLM and NOM. It’s because two ecclesiologies can’t exist in the same parish, even in the same Church. Most Catholics (both liberal and traditionalist) admit we now need to be united in One Faith, under one Liturgical and Sacramental Rite.1 This is why Archbishop Viganó in his recent bombshell, J’accuse, also tackled Vatican II, especially Lumen Gentium:
I consider it an honor to be “accused” of rejecting the errors and deviations implied by the so-called Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, which I consider to be completely devoid of magisterial authority due to its heterogeneity compared to all the true Councils of the Church, which I fully recognize and accept, just as I fully recognize and accept all the magisterial acts of the Roman Pontiffs. I convictedly reject the heterodox doctrines contained in the documents of Vatican II and which have been condemned by the Popes up to Pius XII, or which contradict the Catholic Magisterium in any way. I find it disconcerting to say the least that those who are trying me for schism are those who embrace the heterodox doctrine according to which there exists a bond of union “with those who, being baptized, are honored with the name of Christian, though they do not profess the faith in its entirety or do not preserve unity of communion with the successor of Peter” (Lumen Gentium 15). I wonder how readily one can challenge a Bishop for the lack of communion which is also claimed to exist with heretics and schismatics. I equally condemn, reject, and refuse the heterodox doctrines expressed in the so-called “post-conciliar magisterium” that originated with Vatican II, as well as the recent heresies relating to the “synodal church.”
An Eastern Orthodox bishop named Mar Mari publicly came out in support of Archbishop Viganó. The Eastern Orthodox bishop shockingly admits he would follow a Roman Pope. But that leader must lead him “to Christ, not Satan,” as Mari said. As you watch this short video, keep in mind that true Christian unity must be built on Jesus Christ, not a Creedless-Universalist religion.