Damage-Control for a Material Heretic
The traditional Magisterium of the Catholic Church listed nine ways to being an accessory to another’s sin: 1. By counsel 2. By command 3. By consent 4. By provocation 5. By praise or flattery 6. By concealment 7. By partaking 8. By silence 9. By defense of the ill done. In traditional Catholic morality, we usually apply the above to matters of sexuality, gossip or finances. And we should. But have we ever thought of what it means to cover for another’s heresy under pretext of “giving the benefit of the doubt” to a "Catholic" teaching error? St. Thomas Aquinas teaches that heresy is “any deviation from the rectitude of [...]
Six Different Attitudes to the TLM
One hundred years ago, Catholics were Catholics. Some were good Catholics and some were bad Catholics. But we didn't have political terms like "liberal Catholic" or "conservative Catholic." All Catholics one hundred years ago were traditional Catholics because that's all there was. However, Vatican II fractured Catholics all over the world. Now, every Catholic needs an adjective to describe where he is on a spectrum. Of course, Jesus Christ never designed it to be that way. As much as I dislike political terms, we will—for the sake of brevity—look at six common die-hard attitudes towards the TLM using terms that are found on that spectrum from left to right. Following [...]
Why Does God Allow Temptation?
Today, we're going to look at St. Thomas Aquinas on why God allows temptations. Below in black italics will be quotes from St. Thomas' Summa, part one, Question 114. As usual, my commentary will be in orange below. St. Thomas: I answer that, Two things may be considered in the assault of the demons---the assault itself, and the ordering thereof. The assault itself is due to the malice of the demons, who through envy endeavor to hinder man's progress; and through pride usurp a semblance of Divine power, by deputing certain ministers to assail man, as the angels of God in their various offices minister to man's salvation. Nix: The [...]
The Magical “Convert-Making” Chair-of-Peter
They refused to love the truth and so be saved. Therefore God sends them a strong delusion, so that they may believe what is false.—2 Thess 2:10-11. Before the 2025 Conclave, Archbishop Viganó stated: "The Apostolic Constitution Universi Dominici Gregis that regulates the Conclave, confirmed by the Motu Proprio of Benedict XVI Normas Nonnullas, peremptorily establishes that the number of Cardinal electors must not exceed 120 individuals. But the Cardinal electors who make up the imminent 'conclave' are 136: we are therefore faced with a very serious violation that alone would be enough to undermine the legitimacy of any supposedly valid Conclave. Furthermore, a College of Cardinals composed of 108 [...]
The Pope of the Synodal Church
Despite the obvious differences in the outfits above, the two men hold the same ecclesiology. In Leo XIV's very short opening speech on 8 May 2025, he favorably mentioned "Francis" twice, indicating he would continue all his reforms. In that short speech, he also honored Peru, where he had been bishop. (It should be noted that in Peru, Bishop Prevost had once promoted the sacramental-heresy of phone confessions being valid. He also publicly stated that the abortion-tainted COVID-19 vaccine had to be “available for all.") But the most important thing he said from the loggia in his acceptance speech last week was: "To all you brothers and sisters of Rome, [...]
To Sell Out the Faith for a Bowl of Porridge
p/c Daniel Ibáñez/EWTN Vatican. Are there traditionalists willing to make a deal with the devil? Are there American traditional Catholics willing to ignore yet another prelate’s destruction of the faith in order to keep their own local Traditional Latin Mass (TLM)? Are there allegedly-traditional Cardinals, teachers, priests, influencers or bishops willing to ignore yet another non-Catholic-in-white destroying the Faith just to save their local devotional life? Such is the approach I see in the Catholic media over the last week. But it is neither Catholic, nor is it charitable to make a pact with enemies of the Faith for temporary peace on the liturgical field when the souls of billions [...]
Is the Theology of Aquinas That Different From St. Paul?
Having come from the charismatic movement before being a traditional Catholic, I still talk to charismatic Catholics and admire some of them. Heavily influenced by the American Pentecostal (Protestant) movement, most charismatic Catholics today have a great devotion for the Apostle Paul. You can't fault them for this. In fact, besides the Blessed Virgin Mary, St. Paul is still my favorite saint. Thus, I want readers to see before continuing that there is clearly no problem in having tremendous devotion to the Apostle Paul (the Apostle as many later saints and Popes have dubbed him.) But some charismatic Catholics today can be heard saying things like "I love St. Paul [...]
The Blueprint for a “Synodal Papacy.”
Above: Cardinal Kurt Koch, p/c Zenit. Jesus Christ said to St. Peter in the Gospel of St. Matthew: And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.—Mt 16:18-19. The above passage is one reason why Pope Pius VI in the 18th century condemned a proto-collegiality that "every Bishop, as much as the Pope, was called by God to govern the [...]
AB. Viganó’s Approach to the Conclave
p/c Canon212. Italian Marco Tosatti recently translated an interview granted by Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganó to Francesco Borgonovo here regarding the upcoming 2025 Papal Conclave. Once again, I find that the only bishop in the world with a supernatural outlook on the crisis in the Church is Archbishop Viganó. I also repeatedly find that none of his enemies are ever able to counter his water-tight logic, except by calling him names like “schismatic.” I will only highlight a few aspects of the above-linked spectacular interview. Below, my commentary will be in orange font. Francesco Borgonovo: Your Excellency, the first question is perhaps the most difficult. Do you still consider yourself [...]
Enter the Room of Your Life
The following is a guest-post from an anonymous priest: I found myself in the room. There were no distinguishing features save for the one wall covered with small index card files. They were like the ones we used to find in libraries listing titles by author or subject in alphabetical order. But these files, which stretched from floor to ceiling and seemingly endlessly in either direction, had very different headings. As I drew near the wall of files, the first to catch my attention was one that read “People I Have Liked.” I opened it and began flipping through the cards. I quickly shut it, shocked to realize that I [...]