SEDE VACANTE 2025 - POPE FRANCIS IS DECEASED

Francis, Bishop of Rome, Supreme Pontiff, born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, in Buenos Aires, on December 17, 1936, died in Rome minutes ago, on Easter Monday, April 21, 2025 -- the  2778th anniversary of the Foundation of the City of Rome. May he rest in peace.

At 9:45 AM on Easter Monday, Cardinal Kevin Farrell, Camerlengo of the Apostolic Chamber, spoke these words at the Casa Santa Marta:

Francis' latest coup: Prefect Simona Brambilla - Guest Article by Michael Charlier

The real disaster of the appointment of Sister Simona Brambilla as “Prefect” of the Administrative Office for Institutions of Consecrated Life and Apostolic Institutes does not lie in the fact that this top position is now occupied by a woman – although the usual shallow minds are now once again talking about “breaking down patriarchal structures”, “ending discrimination against women” and, in particular, “empowerment”. And presumably this is exactly how Pope Francis wants it to appear, given his nature and objectives. But there is more – but one thing at a time.

“Christ is no longer to be spoken about—and can no longer be spoken about”: New essay by Vigilius on Pope Francis in Southeast Asia

Rorate welcomes once again the crystal-clear and profound contribution of Vigilius, pen-name of a German theologian. The original text may be found here; the following translation has been approved by the author.

Pope Francis in the “Tunnel of Friendship”

Vigilius

Pope Francis was completely in his element during his trip to Southeast Asia. This is because he was once again able to engage eagerly in “interreligious dialogue”. If you read the Pope’s now published speeches, this dialogue enjoys an almost sacred status of grandeur, which is fed by impressive moral claims. This is because the essence of the intended dialogue is aimed at unity, fraternity, harmony and concord. Central to the Bergoglian concept of dialogue is the “detection of what connects us”, i.e., everything that brings us together by allowing us to discover what is, in truth, always already identical—as symbolized by the underground “tunnel of friendship” between the Istiqlal Mosque and the Cathedral of the Assumption in Jakarta.

Archdiocese of Washington Suppresses All Parish Latin Masses

Cardinal Wilton Gregory, archbishop of Washington (DC), issued a decree today suppressing every traditional Latin Mass offered at parishes in the Archdiocese of Washington. There are currently seven public TLMs on Sundays around the archdiocese, plus numerous private Masses, plus weekday and holy day Masses. Nearly 20 priests -- archdiocesan, religious and extern -- offer TLMs in the Archdiocese of Washington. TLMs, except on days like Easter, the Triduum, Christmas and Pentecost (when they will be completely banned!) will be permitted at three non-parish locations; one in DC and two in Maryland. No other traditional sacraments, from nuptials to baptisms to extreme unction, are allowed. No weekday Masses are permitted.

The action has been in the works since Lent. In fact, almost nothing has changed since the cardinal's original proposal before Easter -- despite dozens of letters to him, pleas from priests and laity, and alternatives presented by chancery officials and other clergy. He was presented a no-brainer solution to designate Saint Mary Mother of God parish, which does not have territorial boundaries, into the Shrine of the Miraculous Medal. The pastor of the church even offered to be the chaplain, giving up his pastor title and privileges. The cardinal rejected the offer. The shrine status would have maintained the TLM at Saint Mary's under this draconian decree.

Archdiocesan priests who do not even celebrate public TLMs -- several of them! -- met with the cardinal to beg him to reconsider, as they saw this as an injustice toward practicing, faithful Catholics. The cardinal held a sham of a synodal discussion and had TLM communicants tell their stories, from nuptial Masses to their work in parishes. One has to wonder what the point was in all that; the draft proposal back in Lent, to suppress all TLMs at archdiocesan parishes, was nearly identical to the one issued today. So much for dialogue. It is almost as if the whole thing was a game, where the cardinal laughed at groveling traditional Catholics while he continued to protect Holy Trinity, the Jesuit parish in Georgetown -- a church that relishes its role as a sanctuary of heresy.

Announcing a Major New Work on the Nature of the Papacy and the Reign of Francis

In my work (especially over the past decade), I have devoted a great deal of attention to the nature and role of the papacy, looking to understand both the office in itself, from historical, theological, canonical, and liturgical points of view, and the South American Jesuit neo-modernist who currently occupies it.

As the fruition and culmination of that work, I have just published a two-volume set with Arouca Press: The Road from Hyperpapalism to Catholicism: Rethinking the Papacy in a Time of Ecclesial Distintegration.

A "Revolution of Tenderness", or "The Roche Christmas Massacre": A Farce in Eleven Dubia

As reported by this blog a few days ago, the "clarifications" of Traditionis custodes from the CDWDS, which the Pope has given his assent to, have been published today - relentlessly appalling in their attempted suppression of the traditional rites, yet comically absurd in their claim to be "preserving the gift of ecclesial communion by walking together, with conviction of mind and heart". In this current joke of a pontificate, war truly is peace. 

The summary of what the Pope and the CDWDS are attempting to do is as follows:

Major interview by Henry Sire (author of the Dictator Pope): "Essentially the problem is that Bergoglio has no real principles, like the typical Peronist that he is."

Henry Sire, the historian and former member of the Order of Malta (illegally expelled for his research work on Francis) is well known and well regarded by orthodox Catholics worldwide for his great book on Jorge Mario Bergoglio, "The Dictator Pope."

He granted a long interview to Gloria.tv. The first long part is about the Order of Malta, and it is available on the original site -- the second part is one dealing with both the current Bishop of Rome and the future conclave, and is of great interest to all people, Catholics and non-Catholics, interested in the present and future of the Church.

Second part below:

***

The Dictator Pope came out in 2017 making considerable waves. What is the specific contribution of this book?

For the most part The Dictator Pope was little more than a round-up of the work that many journalists had already done analysing the abuses and blunders of Francis's rule. My main contribution was that I was able to use the insights of Argentinians who knew exactly what Bergoglio was like, insights which, owing to the language barrier, had not been made known in the English-speaking world.

IMPORTANT - Diocese of Rome issues severe implementation of Traditionis Custodes: outlaws all sacramental rites except Mass, outlaws Triduum

The Cardinal Vicar of the diocese of Rome has just released his norms for the implementation of Traditionis Custodes within the diocese. First the English translation; the original document is below.

VICARIATO DI ROMA

Rome, October 7, 2021 [released to the public November 9, 2021]

- To all the priests involved in the pastoral care of the Diocese of Rome

- To all the faithful of the Diocese

Dear All,

BOMBSHELL—New internal CDF information shows Pope Francis flagrantly lying about bishops’ TLM survey

The full transcript of Diane Montagna's revelatory lecture at the Catholic Identity Conference 2021, held in Pittsburgh this past weekend, has just been published at The Remnant, enriched with additional material. "Traditionis Custodes: Separating Fact from Fiction" includes extensive quotations from the internal CDF document in which the bishops who responded predominantly spoke favorably of Summorum Pontificum and the TLM in their dioceses (some even requested help with establishing the Mass). It also includes inside information about the crooked path by which Traditionis Custodes was pre-designed, with the survey used as a convenient screen for a foreordained decision.

Excerpt:

"Sometimes things are not as they seem. And sometimes, there are two 'realities': one that is officially given by those in power, and one that we then discover to be the truth....

"According to Pope Francis, the consultation of bishops played a fundamental role in his decision to severely restrict the traditional Mass. As he said himself, the results so 'preoccupied and saddened' him, that they 'persuaded' him to 'intervene.' And he ordered that the decree take immediate effect. Following the promulgation of Traditionis Custodes, considerable speculation was therefore swirling about the survey, but the Vatican has not published its results....

"But does Traditionis Custodes truly reflect what the real situation is? Was the survey on which Pope Francis said he based his decision a fair consultation of the world’s bishops? Would this consultation be considered fair if some of the content of Traditionis Custodes had already been suggested during a plenary meeting of the CDF, at the end of January 2020, that gave way to a consultation that was meant to justify the decisions reached in Traditionis Custodes? Could it be called fair if it came to light that there was a second, parallel report created within the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith, which was completed before all the responses from bishops had been received by the CDF? And could it be called fair if Traditionis Custodes did not accurately represent the main, detailed report prepared for Pope Francis by the CDF’s fourth section, i.e., the former Ecclesia Dei? Many people, in fact, knew that this report was being prepared.

"Let’s examine what has now come to light about each of these three questions."

Thank you, Diane Montagna, for your tireless work in uncovering the truth, unsavory as it too often is, of what is really going on in the Vatican. (Read the whole exposé here.)

Now a word to Diane and any Vaticanistas who have access to the CDF internal report: please, for the love of God and the love of Holy Mother Church, find a way to publish this report IN FULL, so that all the world can see the lies exposed, and with them, the mettle of the people who are assaulting the tradition of the Roman Church. Its full publication would be as great a moment of clarity as Archbishop Viganò's McCarrick revelations in August 2018. This is an urgent duty of conscience: the pontifical secret cannot be invoked for hiding malice and mendacity.

In Defense of Preserving Readings in Latin

In light of Pope Francis’s frivolous and offensive remark about how doing the readings at Mass in Latin would be “like laughing at the Word of God,” it seemed opportune to republish here at Rorate an article first published eight years ago in The Latin Mass magazine (Summer 2013), with slight revisions. Although my thinking on all of these points has developed and deepened, it has done so in precisely the same direction. Those who, moreover, think that Francis’s July 16 motu proprio requires replacing Latin readings with vernacular ones should read two articles that argue the contrary, here and here.—PAK

In Defense of Preserving Readings in Latin

Peter A. Kwasniewski

Cancelling Pope Benedict: Reflections on a recent article and the “hermeneutic of rupture”

Rorate has received this excellent essay by “A Concerned Priest” and is pleased to share it with our readers. It is one of the best analyses to date of the impossible theological premises on which Pope Francis has enacted his campaign against the survival of the traditional rites of the Church.

“The Pope’s Boundedness to Tradition as a Legislative Limit: Replying to Ultramontanist Apologetics”—Full Text of Dr. Kwasniewski’s Denver Lecture

The following lecture was given at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church in Littleton, Colorado, on July 31, 2021. The video has been posted at YouTube; however, the text below features extensive endnotes that contain much important material. My goal, especially in the wake of Traditionis Custodes, is to refute the all-too-plentiful Catholic apologists who—proof-texting magisterial documents the way their Protestant counterparts proof-text St. Paul—maintain that the pope has absolute executive, legislative, and judicial power over the liturgy. I argue, in contrast, that papal power exists within an historical, ecclesial context that conditions and limits its legitimate exercise, and therefore also grounds the right of the faithful to resist egregious violations of immemorial custom and venerable tradition. In short, this is a defense of the very foundations of the traditionalist movement in the Catholic Church.

The Pope’s Boundedness to Tradition as a Legislative Limit:
Replying to Ultramontanist Apologetics

Peter A. Kwasniewski

 

Catholic apologists have done a lot of great work over the decades. They have refuted many a Protestant, Mormon, Jehovah’s Witness, or the like oddity, and have helped Jews, Moslems, atheists, agnostics, neo-pagans, and members of all manner of false religions to find Christ and to enter His Church. For this, we are all grateful, and long may their work in this vein continue.

But the same apologists do not perform so well when they turn their sights to intraecclesial affairs, particularly when it comes to explaining the nature, purpose, and limits of papal infallibility. Even there, the apologists do well when they are justifying wonderful things like Humanae Vitae, for its teaching is in accord with natural and divine law and the tradition of the Church, and the pope’s job is to uphold all that, regardless of pressures against it. Yet when popes make spectacularly bad decisions or teach that which is ambiguous or male sonans (evil-sounding) or materially erroneous, these apologists are caught flat-footed and empty-handed. They are tempted either to ignore the problem as an embarrassing exception or to appeal bravely to an unthinking ultramontanism, as if sheer bluster will somehow paper it over.

We have seen a great deal of the latter problem ever since the release of the motu proprio Traditionis Custodes. Most commentators, it is true, fall into two more obvious categories: the progressives who gloat shamelessly over the defeat of the nasty trads, and nearly everyone else who sees Pope Francis’s move as unwarranted, malicious, inflammatory, bellicose, unworkable, and—the worst sin after Vatican II—thoroughly unpastoral. But there is a coetus of self-styled apologists who have rushed to make podcasts defending the pope’s supposed right to create, abolish, and modify liturgy nearly any way he pleases.

This lecture will not be an extensive critique of Traditionis Custodes—that can be found in many other places at this point.[1] Rather, I want to explain how we reached a point of such absurdity that a Roman Pontiff can dare, with the stroke of a pen, to consign to the margins and to eventual oblivion an unbroken liturgical patrimony of millennia and to claim that the new rites created by committee under Paul VI are the “only” (unica) lex orandi or law of prayer of the Catholic Church—and the even greater absurdity that there are Catholic apologists defending him and his purported “right” to do so.

What are they saying about us? A fisk of Fr Thomas Reese on Traditionis Custodes

Fr Reese's column is here. My comments in red.

Despite the recent decision of Pope Francis to curtail celebration of the Latin Mass, we are not going to see it disappear anytime soon for a simple reason: Local bishops can and will still permit it.

This is true

Can a document based on falsehoods have juridical standing? Can a doubtful law bind?

Given Its Foundational Falsehoods, Does Traditionis Custodes Lack Juridical Standing?

Peter A. Kwasniewski

ARTICLE 1 of the motu proprio Traditionis Custodes reads: “The liturgical books promulgated by Saint Paul VI and Saint John Paul II, in conformity with the decrees of Vatican Council II, are the unique expression of the lex orandi of the Roman Rite.”

The pope here claims that the Novus Ordo is the only law of prayer for the Roman Rite. It is impossible to see how this is compatible with the history of the Church and with her reverence for the venerable rites of antiquity and the Middle Ages, epitomized in the Missale Romanum of 1570 and its subsequent integral editions. They, too, are the lex orandi and cannot be otherwise. Instead, the motu proprio fumblingly makes “lex orandi” do duty as a juridical, canonical term, able to be applied ad libitum, as if it were an extrinsic label. In reality, the lex orandi is the whole complex of historical prayer texts, ceremonies, and music that make up the Roman Rite.

The only way to sustain the fiction of Article 1 is to claim that there is so great a continuity between the old missal and the new missal that the new one is simply an updated version of the old one—that the Novus Ordo is substantially the same as the traditional Roman Rite that preceded it is. Francis’s letter to the bishops makes just this move:

It must therefore be considered that the Roman Rite, adapted several times over the centuries to the needs of the times, has not only been preserved but also renewed “in faithful obedience to Tradition.” Those who wish to celebrate with devotion according to the previous liturgical form will not find it difficult to find in the Roman Missal, reformed according to the mind of the Second Vatican Council, all the elements of the Roman Rite, especially the Roman Canon, which is one of its most characteristic features.

One can only stare in amazement at the flagrant falsehood of this pair of sentences.

A RORATE CÆLI Editorial: The Attack of Hatred and Vengeance Against the Latin Mass Should be Ignored

As confident as we were in our sources forecasting today as the day of reckoning for Summorum Pontificum and the traditional Latin Mass as we know it, in the back of our minds we had hoped it was merely an unfounded rumor.  After all, Pope Benedict XVI is not only alive, but fully cognizant, dressed in a white cassock while living in the Vatican gardens.  To that end, would a sitting pope be so arrogant as to publicly humiliate the 94 year old pope emeritus?

Alas, the answer is yes.  Jorge Mario Bergoglio is without a doubt the most arrogant pope in the history of the Catholic Church.  From day one, if not before, it has always been about him -- whatever the subject.  Labeled "humble" by the mainstream media due to token stunts such as carrying a bag and wearing polyester vestments, Bergoglio is in reality a man of vengeance.  A pope of vengeance.  An angry bitter Jesuit settling scores through vengeance.

What ought traditional Catholics to do in response to the latest attack on the Mass and all those who love tradition?  Simply put:  ignore it.  Ignore its message.  Ignore its motivation caused by pure hatred and vengeance. Keep calm and keep on going as if it does not even exist.

“Beyond Summorum Pontificum: The Work of Retrieving the Tridentine Heritage”: Full Text of Dr. Kwasniewski’s Roman Forum Lecture

The following is the transcript of the lecture I gave at the Roman Forum on July 3. A video of the lecture has been posted at Remnant-TV (link). A synopsis (less than one-third the length) was published at Crisis Magazine on July 7, under the title “Summorum Pontificum at Fourteen: Its Tragic Flaws.” As we near the imminent restriction or suppression of this motu proprio, it is important to step back and look at the bigger picture: What is—or is not—the role of the papacy vis-à-vis the liturgy handed down in tradition? What should our attitude be to abuses of papal authority, particularly in regard to its attempts to “allow” or “forbid” immemorial rites of divine worship? I would draw the reader’s attention to the notes, which contain important supporting material.—PAK

Beyond Summorum Pontificum: The Work of Retrieving the Tridentine Heritage

Peter A. Kwasniewski

 

As we find out more and more about the sheer corruption of the papal court today, which rivals the record of the Renaissance, it seems (if anything) still more remarkable, bordering on the miraculous, that Summorum Pontificum was ever issued at all. It was a watershed moment, a gesture of fortitude and favor, and a clear factor in multiplying old Masses around the world and weakening the modernist hegemony. We were grateful to have a pope who, instead of throwing a bone to the nostalgics—the so-called “indults” of Paul VI and John Paul II—had the courage to say the truth: that the great liturgy of our tradition had never been abrogated and could never be abrogated. In just a few sentences, central claims of Archbishop Lefebvre, Michael Davies, Count Neri Capponi, and others were vindicated.

 

I think it is fair to say right from the start that Summorum Pontificum was useful to our movement in the way that an enormous booster rocket is useful for launching a spaceship into orbit: it has a lot of raw power, but it can only do so much, and when it’s empty, it falls away. Summorum Pontificum is destined to be one of the great papal interventions in all of history, but it is no more than damage control; it is not a pillar, much less a foundation, of a permanent structure. And those who lean on it too much will find themselves crushed by its incoherences. My goal in this presentation will be to walk through Summorum Pontificum and identify its principal flaws, the elements in it that act as weights pulling us down, so that we can resolutely go beyond it to retrieve the fullness of the Tridentine heritage that constitutes the authentic Roman rite.

 

I can imagine what some of you may be thinking: “Rumors are swirling everywhere that Summorum Pontificum is about to be severely curtailed or shelved—and you are complaining about its imperfections? Right now, we’d all be grateful and relieved if we could just hold on to this motu proprio, warts and all.” My response is that unless we understand precisely the weak points of Summorum Pontificum, we will not be able to understand why we are still so vulnerable to the machinations of Francis and his circle, and, more to the point, we will not be able to summon the necessary strength to ignore or to oppose what the Vatican might do to reduce or prevent the celebration of the classical Roman rite. For the motu proprio establishes or reaffirms false principles that are coming back to haunt us, or perhaps have never stopped haunting us. As much as the traditional movement has benefited pragmati­cally from Summorum (and of that, there is no doubt), we must learn to put our weight fully on our own two feet, so that when the legal crutch or brace is suddenly removed, we do not topple over helplessly.

 

Announcing the Publication of Defending the Faith Against Present Heresies

Paperback on the left, hardcover with dustjacket on the right

Arouca Press, rapidly establishing itself as the most interesting and valuable Catholic publisher in Canada, is much to be commended for its latest release, a 450-page volume entitled Defending the Faith Against Present Heresies: Letters and Statements Addressed to Pope Francis, the Cardinals, and the Bishops, with a Collection of Related Articles and Interviews.

Apostolic Letter PATRIS CORDE of the Holy Father, on the 150th Anniversary of the Proclamation of Saint Joseph as Patron of the Universal Church

APOSTOLIC LETTER

PATRIS CORDE

OF THE HOLY FATHER
FRANCIS

ON THE 150^th ANNIVERSARY
OF THE PROCLAMATION OF SAINT JOSEPH
AS PATRON OF THE UNIVERSAL CHURCH

 

WITH A FATHER’S HEART: that is how Joseph loved Jesus, whom all four Gospels refer to as “the son of Joseph”.[1]

Matthew and Luke, the two Evangelists who speak most of Joseph, tell us very little, yet enough for us to appreciate what sort of father he was, and the mission entrusted to him by God’s providence.

We know that Joseph was a lowly carpenter (cf. Mt 13:55), betrothed to Mary (cf. Mt 1:18; Lk 1:27). He was a “just man” (Mt 1:19), ever ready to carry out God’s will as revealed to him in the Law (cf. Lk 2:22.27.39) and through four dreams (cf. Mt 1:20; 2:13.19.22). After a long and tiring journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem, he beheld the birth of the Messiah in a stable, since “there was no place for them” elsewhere (cf. Lk 2:7). He witnessed the adoration of the shepherds (cf. Lk 2:8-20) and the Magi (cf. Mt 2:1-12), who represented respectively the people of Israel and the pagan peoples.

Joseph had the courage to become the legal father of Jesus, to whom he gave the name revealed by the angel: “You shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins” (Mt 1:21). As we know, for ancient peoples, to give a name to a person or to a thing, as Adam did in the account in the Book of Genesis (cf. 2:19-20), was to establish a relationship.

The Deafening Silence of Pope Francis on China's Persecution of Catholics

 We are praying to Immaculate Mary for the health and safety of Jimmy Lai and his family, and for all Catholic and non-Catholic victims of persecution in the most formidable tyranny of our age, Communist China.

From The Wall Street Journal's opinion page (Dec. 7, 2020), main excerpt:

Jimmy Lai has embraced his destiny. Last Wednesday the founder of one of Hong Kong’s most popular newspapers, Apple Daily, was arrested on ginned-up fraud charges. On Thursday he was clapped into jail as a national security risk. Thus did a man who started the week a Hong Kong billionaire end it a Chinese dissident.

Mr. Lai’s jailing has provoked condemnation from figures as diverse as Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, former Soviet refusenik Natan Sharansky and New York Rep. Eliot Engel. They have been joined by journalists, activists and politicians such as the Labour Party’s Sarah Champion and other members of Parliament who on Monday raised Mr. Lai’s plight in Britain’s House of Commons.

But there is one place where China’s bullying elicits only silence: the Vatican.

“We must love the Church more than ever”: Interview with Dr. Alice von Hildebrand (Rorate Exclusive)

Rorate is grateful to Annemarie and Thomas Thimons for providing this transcript of an interview they conducted with Dr. Alice von Hildebrand on September 3, 2018, shortly after the Viganò revelations about former Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, about whom the long-delayed and long-awaited Vatican dossier is supposed to appear imminently — though it remains to be seen whether it will, in fact, expose the many actual and suspected connections, which ought to bring down many powerful members of the hierarchy. This interview with Dr. von Hildebrand has not been published until now.

The interviewers begin by sharing that McCarrick had been stripped of his red hat by Pope Francis a month prior to our meeting and required to live a life of penance.

Alice von Hildebrand [AVH]. That was a good decision.