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Traditionalist Catholic

(Redirected from Traditional Catholic)

Traditionalist Catholic is a broad term used to describe Roman Catholics who reject all or certain reforms of the Second Vatican Council and practice more traditional aspects of Catholic piety. Frequently, they reject either the validity or the prudence of the Novus Ordo Missae, i.e., the revised rite of Mass. Traditionalist Catholics normally attend the older Tridentine Mass whose use was restricted by Pope Paul VI following its general replacement by the revised rite. ¹

Many traditionalist Catholics believe the pre-Vatican II Mass is necessary to keep the Catholic faith. The more extreme ones claim the Popes since the Second Vatican Council are heretics and have no authority; a few tiny groups of these have even elected their own Popes. Those who adhere to the old forms simply out of preference are not considered traditionalist and are accepted in Church under the provisions of Ecclesia Dei; if they go to Tridentine Masses approved by the Vatican, they are often referred to as "Indult Catholics".

Table of contents

"Conservative Catholic" vs. "Traditionalist Catholic"

The distinction between "conservative" and "traditionalist" Catholics is that the former accept and follow the reforms of the Second Vatican Council—though sometimes uneasy with certain interpretations of the Council—while the latter insist that those reforms were "modernist" and thus out of step with traditional Catholicism and instead remain attached to what was considered "traditional" at the time of the Second Vatican Council ("Vatican II"). "Conservative Catholics" accept the revised Mass introduced by the Church after the Council, believing it to be valid and consistent with the Catholic Faith, while many "traditionalist Catholics" reject its prudence or even its validity, dismissing it as "Protestantized," weak in doctrine, and dangerous to the faith of Catholics who attend. Many traditionalist Catholics claim they can see little or no difference between the Novus Ordo Missae and an Episcopalian, Lutheran, or Methodist service.

"Conservative" Catholics tend to attribute post-conciliar problems to modernity, liberalism, and disobedience. Traditionalist Catholics allege that Council documents were ambiguous and "in error", with the pope and the Vatican, and not just local bishops, are responsible for what they perceive as the wrongs in the Catholic Church following Vatican II. The understanding of these perceived errors depends on whether the traditionalist Catholic is a sedevacantist or not (see below).

Traditionalist Catholicism and Sedevacantism

Traditionalist Catholics can generally be divided into two groups. The majority of traditionalist Catholics accept the authority of, and claim union with, the Roman Pontiff. Despite this, they often reject what they claim are the 'liberal opinions' of Catholic prelates—and even of popes—and teachings which they believe contradict previously accepted doctrine. Their justification in this regard rests upon the principle that the Faith is unchanging and episcopal, papal and conciliar decrees (which do not claim to be issued as "infallible" pronouncements) which apparently contradict previously held orthodox Catholic belief can be safely disregarded until competent authorities choose to settle the matter in an unambiguous fashion. Such groups include the Society of St. Pius X (SSPX), the group formed by Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, a participant in the Second Vatican Council who was given permission to start a priestly society to preserve the old Mass, but subsequently reprimanded for ordaining bishops without the permission of the Pope.

The smaller group, called "sedevacantists", believe in the papacy itself but reject one or more of the "Vatican II popes" (Pope John XXIII, Pope Paul VI, Pope John Paul I, Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI). They consider one or more of these men antipopes, claiming they have taught heresy—or making other arguments—and, therefore, have lost their authority as Pontiff. A small subset of sedevacantist groups, called "Conclavists," have elected popes of their own (examples include "Michael I" and "Pius XIII"), but most other sedevacantists are either dismissive or at best uncomfortable about considering these Conclavist popes as valid.

Chinese Catholicism

Not all groups which consider themselves Catholic and reject the post-Vatican II reforms are traditionalist Catholic. Most notably, in the People's Republic of China, the state sponsored Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association (CCPA) denies the ordinary authority of the papacy entirely and therefore rejected all pronouncements by the Vatican after the Communist Revolution in 1949 including those regarding the Tridentine Mass.

For many years, within the PRC holding a non-Tridentine Mass implied recognition of the authority of the Vatican rather than that of the Chinese government and is an act of political dissent. In the early 1990s however, the CCPA reversed this policy with regards to the liturgy, but not the papacy, and now uses a ceremony modeled closely after the Novus Ordo Missae.

However there is also a large underground church that retains allegiance to the Pope and the Vatican. A large number of clergy in the CCPA, estimated at about 70%, have reconciled with the Vatican and are secretly part of the underground church. Members of the underground church are often harassed, and some leaders have been jailed on what have been termed political reasons.

Traditionalist Catholic claims

Traditionalist Catholics see the Second Vatican Council as either marked by an ambiguity which has led to error or which contained errors themselves. Foremost among these perceived errors are:

  • a new collegiality which they claim has weakened the papacy and made Bishops' conferences a veritable "second Vicar of Christ" of the Church. Traditional Catholics see this as contradicting Pope Leo XIII's Satis Cognitum the documents of Vatican I, and other documents and teachings. Traditionalist Catholics firmly support the institution of the papacy (even those who are sedevacantist firmly support the doctrines concerning the papacy). Traditionalist Catholics often accuse mainstream "conservative Catholics" of an attitude bordering on papolatry (pope worship), alleging that conservative Catholics illegitimately prefer the person of the Pope to historic doctrines of the Church.
  • a new ecclesiology that they claim doesn't equate the Catholic Church with the Church established by Jesus Christ, but which states that Church "subsists in" the Catholic Church. Traditional Catholics claim this is a contradiction of Pope Pius XII's Mystici Corporis Christi among other papal documents, or leads to false ideas of "ecumenism".
  • a new focus on "the dignity of man" which they claim ignores original sin and the need of supernatural grace, and which they claim has led to a sort of Utopianism that sees peace as possible without recognizing the Kingship of Christ. Traditional Catholics 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 Our Apostolic Mandate (Notre Charge Apostolique), and other papal and conciliar documents.
  • a new "ecumenism" that has as its goal a "unity" that traditional Catholics claim doesn't require conversion to the Catholic faith. Traditional Catholics see this as contradicting Sacred Scripture, Pope Pius XI's Mortalium Animos, Pope Pius XII's Humani Generis and other documents.
  • a new attitude toward ecclesiastical tradition as changeable and which has led to what they see as dangerous modifications in Catholic practices, the liturgy, and the Church's pastoral orientation. Traditional Catholics see this as a contradiction of the Fourth Anathema of the Second Ecumenical Council of Nicaea, Vatican I (especially the document "Pastor Aeternus"), and other papal and conciliar documents.
  • a new attitude toward novelty which they claim had been unheard of in the Catholic Church prior to the Second Vatican Council. Traditional Catholics see this as contradicting the Saints, Doctors and Popes of the Church prior to Pope John XXIII; the papal oath, written by Pope St. Agatho ca. A.D. 681 and 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.
  • a new Paschal theology that 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, not the Blood shed by His Sacrifice on the Cross, that saves. Traditional Catholics see the Novus Ordo as being a fruit of this "Paschal theology" as it is marked by such things as the replacement of Altars with tables, a focus on "community" rather than the offering of the Son to the Father, and so on. They see this orientation as contradicting Scripture and Encyclicals such as Pope Pius XII's Mediator Dei.
  • a new philosophy which they see as "relativism" and a focus on the natural, de-emphasizing the supernatural. This they say leads to Deism, Pragmatism, and moral relativism.
  • most traditionalist Catholics reject modern claims that Judaism is a sister faith of Catholicism, and that the Jews had no hand, act or part in the death of Christ.

Most traditionalist Catholics see the Second Vatican Council as a pastoral council producing no definitions that Catholics must accept as a part of the Faith. They claim to find support for this claim in Pope John XXIII's Opening Address to the Council, Pope Paul VI's closing address [1], the lack of formal definitions and anathemas in the Council's sixteen documents [2], and an alleged ambiguity of the documents themselves. Some traditionalist Catholics see the Second Vatican Council as having been deliberately hijacked by 'Modernists' and 'liberals', and its documents further twisted in postconciliar interpretations. They see this alleged Modernist influence as the result of ignoring papal warnings against such, most explicitly in Pope Pius X's "Pascendi Dominici Gregis."

Traditionalist Catholics generally see their situation as comparable to that of orthodox Catholics during the Arian heresy when the majority of Bishops were heretics or condoned heresy. Catholics like Saint Athanasius (who was excommunicated by Pope Liberius) were vilified yet ultimately canonized.

Organizations

Traditional Catholic groups include, among others:

Demographics

The numbers of such Traditional Catholics is very hard to pin down. Worldwide, they probably do not number more than about a million. However, in common with other strongly religious groups, they tend to have large families and a high birthrate. It is not yet clear to what extent, however, traditionalist beliefs or practices will continue into the next generation. Traditionalist Catholics appear to be most common in the United States, with significant numbers in western Europe (especially France and England), Canada, Brazil, Australia, and New Zealand.

The sex scandals rocking the Catholic Church have not appeared to have affected the size of the Traditionalist movement to any appreciable degree, though one sedevacantist "Pope" was arrested for child sexual abuse in the late 1990s in St. Jovite, Quebec, Canada. (It should be noted, however, that most other sedevacantists consider the St. Jovite group to be a cult, mainly due to reports of priests celebrating mass nude, and of the "Pope" ordaining women and married men as priests).

See also

Traditionalist Catholic publications

Footnotes

1 Use of the Tridentine Mass has never been officially outlawed or even hindered by competent authority with the jurisidiction to do so. As the previous bull "Quo Primum" was never officially abrogated, it remains in effect. This does not, however, affect the validity of the "Novus Ordo" Missae promulgated by Pope Paul VI.

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