Recognize-and-resist icon vs. Catholic doctrine…

Tradition and the Magisterium:
Refuting the False Claims of Prof. Roberto de Mattei

On April 2, 2020, the semi-traditionalist flagship publication Catholic Family News published an interview with Prof. Roberto de Mattei, an Italian historian who is also the founder of the Lepanto Foundation and editor of the Corrispondenza Romana news site. De Mattei frequently speaks at conservative Novus Ordo and semi-trad conferences and is routinely promoted in the publications of those groups as a guiding light of Tradition in our dark times.

In fact, it was precisely in that putative capacity that Matthew Gaspers, managing editor of Catholic Family News, recently interviewed de Mattei, since the hierarchy of the institution they both claim is the Catholic Church, obviously does not hold the Catholic Faith and therefore cannot be considered a reliable teacher of the same.… READ MORE

The “Pope Emeritus” drama continues…

Benedict XVI says he retains “Spiritual Dimension” of Papacy

Still identifies as Pope, but only “spiritually”: Fr. Joseph Ratzinger

For someone who promised to withdraw in prayer so as to be hidden from the world for good, the 93-year-old “Pope Emeritus” Benedict XVI certainly continues to have a lot to say.

Vatican journalist Peter Seewald has just published a comprehensive biography of Joseph Ratzinger in his native Germany. The book will be released in English in November under the title Benedict XVI: The Biography, apparently in more than one volume. It includes a type of appendix in which Benedict, once again, answers numerous questions posed to him by Seewald.READ MORE

Retired academic again misleads his readers…

Clueless Kwasniewski cranks out another Load of Howlers on the Papacy

On Jan. 9, 2020, the conservative Novus Ordo web site Life Site published yet another blog post by Dr. Peter Kwasniewski, currently the semi-trads’ favorite academic because he continually reassures them that despite all his heresies and other errors, Jorge Bergoglio (Francis) really is the Pope of the Catholic Church — you just can’t follow the man without gravely endangering your Faith (which in turn would render the Papacy not only useless but extremely dangerous, but they never think that far).

Brilliant though he may be on many other issues, when it comes to the topic of the Papacy, Kwasniewski is simply abysmal.… READ MORE

“On the Question of the True Pope” refuted…

Comedy Hour with Athanasius Schneider: Kazakh Auxiliary torpedoes Traditional Doctrine on the Papacy to bail out Francis

Days after the British Tablet published a story on the retired Kazakh Novus Ordo bishop Jan Pawel Lenga publicly declaring that he does not recognize Jorge Bergoglio (Francis) as a valid Pope because he is a “heretic” and an “Antichrist” (Lenga’s words) — adding that he opts instead for Joseph Ratzinger (Benedict XVI) –, his famous compatriot and Astana auxiliary “bishop” Athanasius Schneider has injected himself into the debate.

On Feb. 28, 2020, Schneider released a statement via his usual channels, which means LifeSiteNews.comREAD MORE

Salza & Siscoe taken to the woodshed by one of their own…

“To Deceive the Elect”:

Rev. Paul Kramer destroys John Salza and Robert Siscoe

Every so often someone from the recognize-and-resist camp will complain that no sedevacantist has written a full book-length rebuttal of John Salza and Robert Siscoe’s 700-page whopper True or False Pope? Refuting Sedevacantism and Other Modern Errors (Winona, MN: STAS Editions, 2015). Frankly, there has been no need: Years ago already, after seeing the atrocious theology put forward in that book, one of their very own “priests” — the NovusOrdo-ordained Rev. Paul Kramer — announced that he was preparing a lengthy rebuttal.… READ MORE

A rebuttal based on real Catholic teaching…

No Saint Athanasius: “Bishop” Schneider continues to spread Errors about the Papacy

The German branch of the Vatican II Sect has recently opened its so-called “Synodal Way” or “Synodal Path” (Synodaler Weg), which is essentially an elaborate and structured series of chat sessions in which the laity get to tell their pastors what changes they want to see in the “Catholic Church” going forward. And since we’re not talking about just any country but about the Land of Luther, long one of the hotbeds of Modernism, this will produce a veritable catalog of ultra-liberal desiderata: married clergy, women priests, homo “marriage” ceremonies in church, and the like.… READ MORE

Nothing to see here – move along?

Just “Child’s Play”? Refutation of a Historian who says Vatican II Church will “Bounce Back” from Bergoglian Chaos

Every so often, perhaps because they are exhausted by all the cognitive dissonance adhering to the Novus Ordo Sect while trying to be Catholic brings, certain conservative and semi-traditionalist writers and pundits will push the idea that despite the current morass, things really aren’t quite so bad after all. Compared to other periods of Church history, they contend, the present situation is not nearly so troublesome, or at least it is certainly not without equal precedent.… READ MORE

A brief review and commentary

Tempest in a Beer Mug: 130 Novus Ordos and Semi-Trads protest the German “Synodal Way” in Munich

The German city of Munich, capital of the state of Bavaria, is known for its fine beer, the Hofbräuhaus, and its annual Oktoberfest. It is also home of the see of the Archbishop of Munich and Freising, a position currently under usurpation by the rotund apostate Mr. “Cardinal” Reinhard Marx.

On Saturday, Jan. 18, Munich became the place of a protest that had not been advertised beforehand. On Friday afternoon, Michael Matt of The Remnant had sent out a tweet with a first and rather cryptic announcement: “Please spread the word.… READ MORE

So who’s the protest-ant now?

Breaking: Major International Protest today in Munich against Amazon Synod Fallout

Ladies and gentlemen, things are beginning to heat up in the Vatican II Sect. Apparently on very short notice, a major international protest has been organized and is taking place today in the German city of Munich, the seat of “Cardinal” Reinhard Marx, the head of Novus Ordo bishops in the land of Martin Luther.

So far, it seems that only two web sites have reported on this taking place: The Remnant in the United States and Marco Tosatti’s Stilum Curiae blog in Italy.

Alas, the protest is going to be a silent one. … READ MORE

How Holy Mother Church teaches her children…

What are Catholics Bound to Believe?

These days it is very fashionable — among those who acknowledge Jorge Bergoglio as a valid Pope, yet try to adhere to the immemorial Catholic Faith — to minimize what Catholics are required and permitted to believe by restricting it to those things that were taught by the Church prior to the death of Pope Pius XII in 1958, plus a few select doctrines and ideas that they have privately judged to be “in conformity with Tradition”, as their jargon usually goes. As for the rest, that is declared to be either impermissible or at least “utterly non-binding”, to stay with the typical recognize-and-resist lingo, in defiance of the official teaching of the people they claim are the present-day Catholic authorities.… READ MORE

How the Church exercises her Magisterium

What are Catholics Bound to Believe?

Excerpt from Essentials and Non-Essentials of the Catholic Religion
by Rev. Henry George Hughes
(1906)


What are Catholics Bound to Believe?

The general answer to this question may be put thus: Catholics are bound to believe whatever God has revealed and the Church proposes to them as to be believed. That a man is strictly obliged to assent to anything which he is convinced has been revealed by Almighty God need not be said; it needs no proof for those who believe that there is a God and that He has made a revelation to men.… READ MORE

More misleading info from popular R&R icon…

Was Pope John XII “Deposed”?
A Refutation of Prof. Roberto de Mattei

The Italian historian Professor Roberto de Mattei enjoys immense popularity among conservative Novus Ordos and semi-traditionalists because he comes with the pedigree of a being an academic who has taught and written books on ecclesiastical history, and because he continually reassures them through his writings and lectures that their convenient “recognize-and-resist” (R&R) position is the correct alternative to submitting to Circus Bergoglio or rejecting Francis as a false pope.

The Catholic doctrine on the Papacy, however, admits of no such thing as recognizing a Pope as legitimate while refusing submission to him.… READ MORE

What accepting Bergoglio gets you…

OnePeterFive: “We all have to face this fear above all fears: that Catholicism may be wrong”

The web site One Peter Five is a popular destination for recognize-and-resist traditionalists and conservative Novus Ordos who prefer the Traditional Latin Mass, are uneasy with Vatican II, and can’t take Francis’ theological junk anymore — and who, of course, want to find reassurance that they should not be sedevacantists.

The site brands itself as “rebuilding Catholic culture” and “restoring Catholic Tradition”, which makes for a great tagline across its masthead. Unfortunately, One Peter Five’s executive director and editor Steve Skojec apparently thinks he can do either while kicking traditional Catholic theology to the curb.… READ MORE

Fr. Frederick Faber’s warning…

What will make the Antichrist so Deceptive?

Fr. Frederick W. Faber (1814-1863) warned his flock

Although the person of the Antichrist is perhaps not yet in our world, it is clear that the mystery of iniquity that will culminate in his arrival has been at work ever since the fall of Lucifer, and has never been more active than in our own day.

In his Second Epistle to the Thessalonians, St. Paul the Apostle warned: “For the mystery of iniquity already worketh; only that he who now holdeth, do hold, until he be taken out of the way” (2 Th 2:7).… READ MORE

In light of Catholic teaching on the Papacy, that is…

A Challenge to Recognize-and-Resist Apologists: Is it a Mortal Sin to adhere to Francis’ Teachings?

The altar of the Chair of St. Peter in the Vatican

Day in and day out we hear from the recognizing-and-resisting semi-traditionalists that this or that error of Vatican II or the post-conciliar magisterium is “not binding.” In a recent live interview on YouTube, semi-trad darling John Salza repeated it once again.

For the sake of argument, we will accept that claim precisely as stated: Certain papal teaching is not binding. That means, of course, that it is optional to embrace — take it or leave it.… READ MORE