Why do people attack 'Traditionalists'?

James Preece of Catholic and Loving It, and Jackie Parkes of Catholic Mom of 10, have recently been having a go at Traditionalists. I admire both blogs but I feel I should address the issue, although they have both toned down (or deleted) the most stident aspects of their posts.

The first thing which seems to annoy them is the terminology: traditionalist, conservative, liberal, etc.. Arguing about words however is a terrible waste of time; I'd rather address the realities which the words stand for. And the reality is that there are indeed three identifiable groups in the Church to whom these labels apply, with enough usefulness for people to find it useful to use them. (Otherwise they wouldn't use them. Simple, really.)

Is is wrong or un-Catholic to use labels for sub-groups of Catholics? No, of course not; people have always done it, and the magisterium has frequently helped itself to such terms, or invented new ones. We've had Gallicans, Modernists, Integrists, Ultramontanists, Cisaplinists, the pro-Imperial and pro-Papal parties and so forth. If you refuse to use the terms you won't get very far.

What usually happens is that, being Catholics, the people in a party claim that the committments of the party are compatible with the faith, and are even implied by it in the concrete circumstances in which they live. If they couldn't claim that, they'd have to leave either the party or the Church, so this is hardly surprising. The problem is that the other side of the coin is that they imply that Catholics not of their party are less faithful to the implications of the faith, are less fully Catholic.

So Catholic monarchists and Catholic socialists are often convinced that monarchism or socialism is, in the world we live in, implied by Catholic principles. Good luck to them, I say; this attitude needn't lead to bitterness or recrimination, and we can't stop them saying this if we want to have a debate about what Catholic principles imply for the world we live in. And obviously we have to have that debate.

So today liberals, conservatives and trads all have views on what Catholicism demands in the 21st Century, and they think members of the other parties are mistaken.

Is this a terrible thing? Not in itself. Now pay attention: If you believe something, you believe it is true. If you believe it is true, you believe people who disagree with you are wrong, and that they hold false opinions. This isn't wickedness, it is logic. It doesn't mean you think you are infalliible. It needn't imply an aggressive attitude towards people who sincerely disagree.

James and Jackie seem upset by the implication, when trads do or say something, that non-trads have got it wrong. Lighten up, guys: your opinions have the same implication - that other people are wrong in the implications they draw from the faith.

The attitude of liberals and conservatives could equally be described as suggesting trads have got it all wrong. And remember, trads have been the underdog in this three-cornered debate for 40 years; they are the ones who'se 'legitimate aspirations' (as John-Paul II called them) have been trodden underfoot. We don't have any power - we are just trying to survive.

And we've been loyal supporters of many causes promoted by conservatives, a point I made a while ago when Daphne MacLeod accused us of being too concerned about the liturgy. So it is upsetting when these conservative commentators turn their fire on us. Attack your enemies, James and Jackie - not your friends.

LMS AGM and Pontifical Mass in Westminster Cathedral

The LMS AGM was today.

This was followed by lunch for the Committee and local LMS Representatives (and some guests), and a Pontifical High Mass in Westminster Cathedral celebrated by Bishop Arnold. Fr Andrew Wadsworth, a long-standing friend of the LMS who is soon to depart for the United States to work for ICEL, was Assistant Priest; Fr Martin Edwards, who was the guest speaker at the AGM, was subdeacon; the deacon was the Rev Mr Ian McDole, a deacon. The Westminster choir sang a Duruflé Mass.





There are many more photos here.

Worth noting in the last two pictures is the absence, not only of the temporary altar, but of the platform which it used to sit on. The platform used to stay even when the temporay altar was removed for the LMS's two annual Solemn Masses in the Cathedral. It hid the middle part of the bottom three marble steps (the uncarpeted ones) to create a larger space at that level. It has now gone forever, because Archbishop Nichols has permanently ejected the temporary altar. Novus Ordo Masses now use the high altar, which can be used without difficulty from both sides - as the installation Mass showed. You see the layout more clearly here, in a photo taken after Mass today ended.

Gradine in Reading

I'm just setting off for the AGM, but I've been sent this: a long-planned gradine, for the candles to go on, has now been completed for the Fraternity of St Peter. The picture also includes a new set of candlesticks and altar cross from Luzar Vestments.

Mass was for the Sacred Heart of Jesus yesterday.

TCFA

Every now and then I post up dates for the Traditional Catholic Family Alliance, which meets in Ware and in Reading. I took some nice photos of the Mass last Saturday at the Ware event, which is the last before before the Summer break.

The Ware meetings in particular are well structured, with four age-group-based classes of children and adults all having suitable talks or activities while Fr Andrew Southwell sees each group (including, usually, the adults) for catechesis.

TCFA meetings are wonderful opportunities for Catholic families to meet up and offer each other mutual encouragement and support, in the context of the traditional liturgy, catechesis from a priest, and a set of talks and activities. At Ware the Masses are always sung, and take place in the stunning Pugin chapel.

I encourage families who have not experienced the TCFA events to come along. Not only are you missing out, if you don't come, but the organisation of these events is hard work and they need your support.

Corpus Christi in Oxford

We celebrated Corpus Christi in style in Oxford, with a traditional Missa Cantata on the Thursday and a big procession of the Blessed Sacrament on the Sunday.

Mass on the Thursday, in the Oxford Oratory, was accompanied by the Schola Abelis, and reported here. For more photos of the Mass see here.

There are some excellent photographs of the procession, like this one, by Br Lawrence Lew here.

Fr Matthew Goddard

On Sunday the newly ordained Fr Matthew Goddard FSSP celebrated Solemn Mass in Reading. Fr Goddard taught in the St Catherine's Trust Summer School in 2006; his father, a convert Anglican clergyman, is the priest custodian of the Shrine of Our Lady of Consolation of West Grinstead (Sussex), which the Summer School visited that year.

The Mass in Reading, followed by the faithful receiving the blessing of the newly ordained priest, was a joyful occasion. Fr Goddard is one of a steady stream of British seminarians who are being ordained in the traditional orders. In a few weeks William Barker will be ordained in in the Fraternity seminary at Wigratzbad; I will be there to see it! (Fr Goddard was at the Fraternity seminary in the USA.)

All British seminarians at the traditional orders are entitled to modest yearly subsidies from the Latin Mass Society, so we don't forget about them, even while they are studying abroad.

I'd like to thank Christopher Bobabilla for lending me his camera for these photographs. See more of them here.

London Colney Conference

2 June 2009

PRESS RELEASE FROM THE LATIN MASS SOCIETY

For Immediate Release

LMS Residential Training Conference for Priests Wishing to Learn the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite (Traditional Latin Mass) at All Saints Pastoral Centre, London Colney, St Albans, Herts

The Latin Mass Society of England and Wales (LMS), in association with the Archdiocese of Westminster, is organising a residential training conference for priests wishing to learn the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite (Traditional Latin Mass) at All Saints Pastoral Centre, London Colney, Herts, the premier conference centre of the Archdiocese of Westminster.

The conference will run from Monday 24 August to Friday 28 August 2009 and will feature Traditional liturgies in London Colney’s magnificent Ninian Comper-designed chapel together with a Gregorian Chant schola and polyphonic choir.

Expert tuition in the celebration of Mass in the Usus Antiquior will be provided on a small group basis. There will be guest lecturers and all participants will receive 1962 Missals.

As well as daily Sung Mass, devotions will include Lauds, Benediction and Rosary.

The subsidised fee to participants is only £115.00 which includes full board and accommodation. Places are limited and priests are urged to register as soon as possible.

Further details and registration forms can be obtained from the LMS office (Tel: 020 7404 7284)

Mark Johnson, lead organiser, said, “We are extremely pleased to have the backing of the Archdiocese of Westminster and Archbishop Vincent Nichols. This conference – our first at London Colney – builds on the success of our two previous conferences at Merton College, Oxford. I hope the laity will tell their priests about this wonderful opportunity to learn the Usus Antiquior in a welcoming and recollected environment.”

Latin Mass Society, 11-13 Macklin Street, London WC2B 5NH
Tel: 020 7404 7284
E mail: thelatinmasssociety@snmail.co.uk
Website: latin-mass-society.org

. . . . ENDS . . . .

For further information, please contact John Medlin, General Manager, or James Murphy, LMS Office Manager, on (T) 020 7404 7284;
(F) 020 7831 5585; (E mail) thelatinmasssociety@snmail.co.uk