Podcast: Fr. James Mawdsley and the Good Friday Genuflection Controversy (TRADCAST EXPRESS 224)

Did Pope Pius XII approve a liturgy that mocks Christ?

Podcast: Fr. James Mawdsley and the Good Friday Genuflection Controversy
(TRADCAST EXPRESS 224)

Our latest podcast episode, TRADCAST EXPRESS 224, was published on Good Friday. It is dedicated to a single topic, namely, a response to certain serious errors promoted by Rev. James Mawdsley that have led to a crisis of conscience for some who attend the Good Friday liturgy as found in the Restored Order of Holy Week of 1955.

As noted in the podcast, sedevacantists are not in agreement with one another whether the Restored Order, promulgated by Pope Pius XII, ought to be used in our day or whether we should revert back to the pre-1955 Holy Week. However, TRADCAST EXPRESS 224 does not address (much less settle) that controversy at all. Rather, it focuses entirely on the theses of Fr. Mawdsley, who holds that the liturgical directives of a valid and reigning Pope can and ought to be resisted by the faithful if they find them to be ‘contrary to Tradition’ — whereas sedevacantists are in disagreement over what ought to be done liturgically in the absence of a Pope.

In particular, this TRADCAST EXPRESS episode considers:

• What the Catholic Church teaches regarding papal authority over the Sacred Liturgy
• How the Church conducts her Good Friday intercessory prayers
• Why the Church used to omit the customary genuflection when interceding for the conversion of the Jews
• Why changing this custom may be wise or unwise but is not intrinsically wrong
• How participation in the Sacred Liturgy cannot be divided into elements one can either approve or disapprove of
• How Fr. Mawdsley’s exhortation to “trust in Tradition” actually refutes his own position
• and much more!

To listen to the informative and interesting TRADCAST EXPRESS 224, please use the player below (or click here for the direct YouTube link):

.
Those who prefer a direct link to the audio file can find it here.

Father Mawdsley was originally ordained for the Fraternity of St. Peter (FSSP) in 2016 by ‘Abp.’ Guido Pozzo, whose own episcopal orders we hold to be null because they were conferred according to Antipope Paul VI’s invalid Novus Ordo rite of 1968. However, the question of validity of orders is irrelevant to the issues being discussed in this podcast episode. Fr. Mawdsley now operates independently and considers Leo XIV and his six predecessors of unhappy memory to be valid Popes.

The SHOW NOTES for TRADCAST EXPRESS 224 are the following:

• Video: Fr. James Mawdsley, “Standing for Christ on Good Friday” (Rumble, originally on YouTube)
• Wikipedia Entry “James Rupert Russell Mawdsley”
• BBC News Article: “Asia-Pacific British activist jailed in Burma” (Sep. 2, 1999)
• “The Infallibility of the Catholic Church in her Universal Laws and Sacramental Rites” (May 4, 2023)
• Sacred Congregation of Rites, Decree Maxima Redemptionis on the Restored Order of Holy Week (Nov. 16, 1955)
• Pope Pius XII, Address to the International Congress on Pastoral Liturgy (Sep. 22, 1956)
• For comparison: Holy Week Manual for the Catholic Laity (1905) vs. Saint Joseph Holy Week Missal (1956)
• Sacred Congregation of the Discipline of the Sacraments, Decree Quam Singulari on Holy Communion (1910)
• Dom Prosper Gueranger, “The Liturgical Year”, Vol. VI (1870)
• Pope Pius XII, Encyclical Mediator Dei (1947)
• Pope Leo XIII, Encyclical Sapientiae Christianae (1890)
• Pope Pius IX, Encyclical Quanta Cura (1864)
• Pope Pius IX, Apostolic Letter Non Sine Gravissimo (1870)
• On St. Alphonsus’ response to Pope Clement XIV’s suppression of the Jesuit order: “Resisting the Pope? ‘The Remnant’ and the Suppression of the Jesuits” (Jan. 16, 2017)
• On Fr. Francis-Xavier Godts’ position on frequent Holy Communion: Joseph Dougherty, “From Altar-Throne to Table: The Campaign for Frequent Holy Communion in the Catholic Church” (2010)
• Fr. Juan B. Ferreres, S.J., “The Decree on Daily Communion: A Historical Sketch and Commentary” (1910)
• General Resource: The Catholic Teaching on the Papacy – Collection of Magisterial Quotes
• General Resource: The various versions of liturgical rubrics, from 1570 to 2020, can be found at DivinumOfficium.com

If you find our podcast informative and beneficial, please share it with others.

More TRADCAST EXPRESS can be found here; and our full-length, more elaborate TRADCAST episodes can be accessed here.