The Republic of Ireland: the Anti-Catholic Tyranny removes children from Traditional Catholic Man who filmed their invasion of Church during Mass

 Just last week, we retweeted this astounding event: the Police of the Irish Republic, the Garda, invaded a church (Society of St. Pius X) while Holy Mass was being celebrated, with a handful of people inside.

No respect for the Blessed Sacrament, for the building, for anything:

Irish police interrupting Traditional Mass this Sunday.

What a big struggle for nothing was Irish independence... https://t.co/sGlA1m6Azf

— Rorate Caeli (@RorateCaeli) April 25, 2021

As if that absurdity, under the banner of "health", were not enough, the Garda this past weekend paid a visit to the man who filmed their tyrannical action, our fellow traditional Catholic Pat Sweeney, and took away his children. Yes, you read that correctly. See below:

Just been contacted by Pat Sweeney, the man who videoed the Gardai in a church in Athlone last week that went viral. The Gardai have taken his two children from him last night at 3.30am. If you are near Longford please head to the Garda station to support him. Please share this. pic.twitter.com/eWqzsKFyYm

— Philip Dwyer (@PhilipDwyerNP) May 2, 2021

That is it: all Catholics worldwide must do all they can: contact embassies, Irish authorities, and the Garda itself. This anti-Catholic dictatorship must end now.

Should Sacred Ministers Mask? Observations and Analysis from a Woman in the Pews

The author of the following essay wishes to remain anonymous.

Should Sacred Ministers Mask? Observations and Analysis from a Woman in the Pews

In almost every Catholic church around the world, one can now find priests wearing masks. Most priests who offer the Traditional Latin Mass have adopted the mask only very reluctantly. Something within them protests against masking during liturgies, but then they dismiss this as imprudence, or aestheticism, or misguided zeal. They conclude that they must “mask up” and bear this cross for the good of their flock.

Ought they, though? Does this really help the flock?

Roberto de Mattei: Is the COVID vaccine morally licit for Catholics?

 [Translator's note: The following is a translation of a review by Veronica Rasponi that appeared on Corrispondenza Romana of Professor Roberto de Mattei’s just published book (in Italian)  called “On the Moral Liceity of the Vaccine”. As many Catholics who know and love the Catholic Tradition and the Traditional Mass know, Professor de Mattei is one of the most important leaders of the Traditional Movement not only in Italy but throughout Europe.  His conclusions are very important for those who are weighing a decision whether to receive one of the Covid-19 vaccines.  He concludes, after a rigorous discussion using the methodology of some of the greatest moral theologians of the Church, that the vaccine is morally licit.  In that conclusion he is in agreement with the recent statements of the Pontifical Academy for Life and of the Congregation of Doctrine and Faith. The review below offers highlights of what Professor de Mattei writes in his book. All the quotes are from de Mattei himself unless noted. - Father Richard Gennaro Cipolla]

***

Is the anti-Covid vaccine licit?  A response from Roberto de Mattei.

Op-Ed: All Genuine Roads must lead to the Tradition of the Church

 Fr. Richard Cipolla

The New York Times had a lengthy article recently on the “People of Praise”, that immediate post-Vatican II phenomenon that involved mainly lay Catholics, like the parents of Amy Coney Barrett, the nominee for the Supreme Court of the United States, and her family, but which also included priests who became the clerical leaders of this movement (Mrs. Barrett's father was eventually ordained a deacon). This movement was part of what became known as the “charismatic renewal” of the Catholic Church.  It was a reaction to both the “pay, pray and obey” mentality of the 1950s, a time when the Mass had become so objectified that it was difficult for the laity to understand the mysterium tremendum that Catholic Tradition insisted was at the heart of the worship of the Catholic Church in the Mass.  

In the terrible confusion and void that marked the immediate post-Vatican II period in the Church, it is understandable that families who not only still believed in Christ and the Catholic faith sought out kindred spirits and formed deep bonds of faith within families and small groups.  The excesses of these groups, which sometimes contravened the very Catholicity of the Church, should not make us forget their goal of preserving at a familial level a faith that was at once objective and yet subjective, open to personal manifestations of the Spirit to lead them into goodness and truth. And theirs was not only a reaction to the confusion after the Second Vatican Council but also a recognition that the Catholic faith in the United States was being crushed under the American steamroller of individualism and conformism.

Guest op-ed: Lockdowns, months later

During the first few weeks of the COVID lockdowns in the U.S. you may recall an excellent guest op-ed by a priest of the Diocese of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.  A half year later, with lockdowns -- or at least partial lockdowns -- still in place in many locations, we bring to you a follow-up piece by Father Naugle:

***

Social Justice of Lockdowns, Continued

By the Rev. Fr. John F. Naugle, M.A., S.T.B.

On April 20, my op-ed “The Ends Never Justify the Means: The Immorality of Indefinite Lockdowns" appeared on this web log as an attempt to trigger a much needed discussion about what the Church’s social doctrine has to say regarding the rights of laborers and how the indefinite lockdowns imposed by civil rulers represented an intrinsically evil course of action that could never be justified. It had been my hope that, as a result of this discussion, the Church’s sacred pastors would be roused from hiding in their residences to boldly defend the God-given right to earn bread for one’s family.

The basilica shrine in Washington, DC -- the largest church in North America --
still has a maximum legal capacity of 100 people.

Days and weeks went by. In the meantime, our malefactors in government and the media have implicitly admitted that they have no intention of returning our rights to us. Instead they have instructed us to completely forget our former lives and instead embrace the Orwellian “new normal.” My own governor, Tom Wolf, shockingly denied in federal court the existence of “any fundamental right to earn a living.” As I was beginning to despair that perhaps nobody else was willing to address the sinful economic damage being done to the working class, I came across these words in an interview published in an online magazine: “Yes, I think the lockdown is the worst assault on the working class in half a century, and especially on the urban working class.”

There was only one problem. I was not reading these words in a pastoral letter from a bishop. I was not reading these words in a Catholic journal. I was reading these words from a socialist magazine named in honor of the French Revolution political movement responsible for the Reign of Terror. The thought of socialists being bold enough to oppose what we have become accomplices in through silence and consent immediately turned my mind to God’s terrible judgement. 

The Church, in her repeated condemnation of all forms of socialism, has always put forth that it is the Bride of Christ who is actually the lover and defender of the worker and not the socialist revolutionary.  Her importance in the simultaneous fight against the evils of the Industrial Revolution on one side and the evils of socialist revolution on the other was cemented by the fact that her shepherds and her sheep were on the picket lines and also exerting their political will to bring worldly power into obedience to social doctrine. Indeed, beginning with Leo XIII, the assertion of a social doctrine was rightly understood to be a reclaiming of a “cross over crown” understanding of the relationship between the Church and the state. The Church has the right and obligation to pronounce moral judgement over nations in defense of the fundamental rights of man as contained in Divine Law. This claim can in no way be written off as belonging a pre-modern set of circumstances. We find it even in Gaudium et Spes: “It is only right, however, that at all times and in all places, the Church should have true freedom to preach the faith, to teach her social doctrine, to exercise her role freely among men, and also to pass moral judgment in those matters which regard public order when the fundamental rights of a person or the salvation of souls require it” (GS 76). As we now are over 200 days into “15 Days to Slow the Spread,” where are the ecclesial condemnations of the lies we have been told? Where are the reproaches of the so-called “experts” whose predictions of doom have made the false prophets of Israel look reliable by comparison? Where are the decrees that our leaders have wickedly imposed restrictions forbidden by Natural Law and therefore the faithful are not obliged to obey them.

"If any man have an ear, let him hear": The Mark of the Beast

 

If any man have an ear, let him hear. He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity: he that killeth with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints. 

And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon. And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed. 

And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men, and deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live. And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed. 

And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: and that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. 

Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.

The Apocalypse of Saint John (Revelation), 13:9-18

***

Related news item: Singapore to make travellers wear electronic tags to enforce quarantine (Reuters)

A Religious Superior Reflects on Wimples—and on the Current Masquerade

Rorate Caeli received the following text from a religious superior who gave permission to publish it anonymously. The substance is taken from a chapter talk in the community.

Portrait of a Woman, ca. 1430-1435, by Robert Campin

Although the veil is historically more ancient than the wimple, the recent order from the civil government, requiring the wearing of a mask in public places, has made me reflect on our wimple.

The wimple came into fashion during the Middle Ages, from about the 13th century onward. All women of good breeding wore a wimple, and, later on it was retained for some time (through the 15th century) for married women. The wimple was always worn with a veil. The idea for the wimple is that the woman’s face is visible, but her neck and her head are covered. Even if it seems that lay women sometimes showed some of their hair when they wore a wimple or veil, the hair seen was dressed or braided, not hair flowing freely (which is an important difference with regard to its attractiveness).

One reason for the wearing of a wimple is the same as the reason for wearing a veil: that of reserving one’s beauty for one’s spouse. This is the reason that married women, above all, wore the wimple (and the veil). As we read in the Song of Songs, even a woman’s neck can be beautiful to a man: “Thy neck, is as the tower of David, which is built with bulwarks: a thousand bucklers hang upon it, all the armour of valiant men” (4:4). A woman who is not “available,” that is, one who is married or given in religion, does not wish, in any way, to draw attention to her physical beauty, and so it became customary for such women to wear wimples and veils.

Fashions changed, but women religious retained the custom of wearing wimples and veils.

The wimple always leaves the face uncovered. What does the leaving of the face uncovered mean? First, it means that a woman who wears a wimple is not seeking to hide herself totally; she is not seeking to exclude or separate herself from others. She is not excluding communication with other persons. Her face is left free; in fact, the wearing of the wimple draws more attention to the face, since there is nothing else to draw our eye.

The wimple “forces” someone who meets us to focus on our face, not on our body. In a real sense, our face most fully expresses who we are. Our face reveals who we are more than our body does. Consider that we learn so much more about a person by looking at his or her face than we do by looking at his or her hands or feet. The eyes are called the “windows of the soul,” and these eyes are almost highlighted by the wimple. 

The wimple, then, helps us to relate to other human persons in a way that harmonizes very well with our vocation. The wimple draws attention to the “inner man” which finds expression in our face. Our wimple helps others to look at us in that way.

Last week, the civil government ordered that everyone must wear masks in public places. The mask covers half of the face: the nose and the mouth. It is hard to recognize people when they wear masks; this is why burglars wear masks (the same kind, where only the eyes are visible). We can look from our convent to see people walking the streets who wear masks, but who are otherwise dressed indecently. The symbolic message such people convey is almost an exact inversion of the message we convey. One cannot “see” the “inner man” because of the mask, but one’s eyes are drawn, instead, to the body.

The mask is a barrier to truly human communication, for communication is so much more than the exchange of words. We speak with our face, with our expressions. When we add the wearing of masks to the other regulations, especially that of so-called “social distancing,” and to the increase in “virtual meetings” and “on-line classrooms,” we can see the mask as just one element in the dehumanizing tendency of our society.

Even though people may think it “dehumanizing” that we sisters wear all the coverings we do as part of our religious habit, the truth is that the layers we wear can be aids to make our relationship with other human persons “more human,” more personal. Because the use of masks is an element that frustrates truly human relationships, we have an instinctive aversion to wearing masks. The mask hides the human person; the wimple reveals the human person. 

Let us thank God for the gift of our wimples!

Nicolas de Largillière, Elizabeth Throckmorton, ca. 1729

An Apologia for the Underground: Objections and Replies on the Subject of “Underground” Masses during COVID-19

The following article was submitted to Rorate from a writer in the American Midwest.

The unprecedented suspension of public Masses during COVID-19 left many lay Catholics with the question: “During suspension of public Masses ordered by the bishops of the Church in response to COVID-19, could members of the lay faithful assist with clear consciences at Masses where priests ignored their bishops’ rulings and did not lock the doors?” In the following objections and replies, I develop an answer to this question. I am not a canon lawyer; I claim to have no authority in matters of Church law. With Saint Teresa of Jesus, I simply say,

If these writings contain error, it is through my ignorance; I submit in all things to the teachings of the holy Catholic Roman Church, of which I am now a member, as I protest and promise I will be both in life and death. May our Lord God be forever praised and blessed! Amen, Amen. [1]

Objection 1: 

The lay faithful don’t necessarily have a right to be present at Holy Mass. Therefore, their concern at being barred from Mass by their bishops during the COVID-19 pandemic is not warranted.

Deacon Nick Donnelly's new book: A Catholic Survival Guide For Times of Emergency (TAN)

Based on his important posts for Rorate on guides for Catholics in times of emergencies, TAN Books invited Deacon Nick Donnelly to turn his important suggestions into a full book: A Catholic Survival Guide For Times of Emergency.

This practical and devotional guide is a very important reading for Catholics facing the emergencies that life brings and is particularly relevant for times of pandemic. Deacon Nick Donnelly clearly outlines how God in His providence never abandons His people. Drawing on sacred doctrine and traditional devotions of the Church, he guides the reader to the strength and consolation God offers us in difficult times. Definitely a book to keep ready to hand!

The book is now available on TAN Books online and physical bookstores, and we'll bring more news about it once it's released.

A Victory for the Liberty of the Church in the Courts -- But When You Need to Count on the Bishops, Don't (John Rao)

Snatching Defeat From Victory

by Dr. John C. Rao

[For background: Judge rules New York churches can reopen in line with businesses.]

Chris Ferrara’s victory in the case he represented against the City and State of New York was the first really happy moment I have experienced in these three and one half months of medico-media mayhem. I could not wait to enjoy that victory with my fellow traditionalists at mass the Sunday after the judge’s decision.

But once again I was, as a friend frequently chastises me, “surprised by the obvious”. Why, in heaven’s name should I have thought that the bishops of the State of New York would be thrilled by Chris’s victory and make proper use of it? Sure enough, they were not, and did not. Twenty-four hours had not gone by before the following announcement was published: "The New York State Catholic Conference, which represents the bishops of the state, told CNA on Friday that churches would probably continue to follow state health guidelines for reopening, even though they are no longer bound by law to do so." The only thing that seems not to have been accurate in that statement was the word “probably”. It was definitely true. Our noble prelates had snatched defeat from victory.

There seem to be only two reasons for this craven episcopal sell-out, both of them rooted in a fear that does no honor to their noble position. The first is fear of lawsuits on the part of unscrupulous fortune hunters claiming that the church authorities, allowing bigger crowds than the State deems suitable, created a situation where they fell ill with the Plague. The second is a deeper fear: that of offending the Zeitgeist and the Cuomos and Di Blasios that administer its ever more willful, ignorant, perilous, and anti-Catholic demands. Supermarkets do not seem to be terrified by the lawsuits in question; the Successors of the Apostles in the United States are. Quite frankly, there is not a single opportunity for secular bootlicking that the bishops seem capable of resisting and which the grotesquely materialist and legalist world in which we live can provide some “practical” explanation for justifying.

De Mattei: Gregory XVI and the epidemic of his time

Roberto de Mattei

Corrispondenza Ronana

June 3, 2020

The cholera that flagellated Europe in the 1800s, started off on the shores of the Ganges, India, in 1817. The passage of the disease was slow but relentless.  The pandemic made its way into China and Japan, then Russia and thus spread to the Scandinavian countries, England and Ireland. From there, during the 1830s, it reached America with the immigrant-ships, striking Canada, the U.S., Mexico, Peru and Chile. In 1832 it arrived in Paris, then Spain and finally in July 1835, it passed through the northern Italian borders at Nice, Genoa and Turin.

           

The historian, Gaetano Moroni (1802-1883), in his famous Dictionary of Erudition, when addressing the “destructive and desolating scourge of the Indian or Asian Cholera morbus ” calls it “pestilence” and presents it in these terms: “pestilence signifies every sort of scourge, a divine chastisement which incites salutary dread and fright in everyone, by jolting obstinate sinners into true repentance, effecting wonderful results, sins being the perennial cause of all kinds of adversity.”  (Dizionario di erudizione storico-ecclesiastica, Tipografia Emiliana, Venezia 1840-1861, vol. 52, p. 219). 

PENTECOST - Fontgombault Sermon: "Nine months are necessary for a child to be begotten in its mother’s womb. A whole life is necessary to earn Heaven."

WHITSUN

Sermon of the Right Reverend Dom Jean Pateau

Father Abbot of Our Lady of Fontgombault

Fontgombault, May 31, 2020

Illumina cor hominum.

Illuminate the hearts of men.

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

My dearly beloved Sons,

During this time of pandemic, the feast of Pentecost call for a new outpouring of the Spirit of God upon us, upon all the faithful, all men. May God renew our so desolate earth, may He illuminate and give peace to so many men ensnared by disease, poverty, rebellion, or murmuring against the virus, and the measures taken by the civil and ecclesiastical authorities to limit its spreading.

Our joy is great in these days when many Christians can at last go back to church and receive again, after long weeks of deprivation, the sacraments of the Eucharist and penance.

Yet, many questions are left unanswered. Why this disease, inexorably roaming through cities, countries and continents? Who is responsible? Is it Nature and its chances, or man’s imprudence or wickedness, is it God’s wrath? 

Whatever the answer may be, it is a harsh lesson for man, who has been for many decades now pushing back, apparently without any hindrance, the frontiers of what is considered possible in almost all known domains. Ever faster, ever farther, ever stronger... But many are left over, forgotten, wretchedly remaining on the roadside, and contenting themselves with watching through the media the world and its achievements. In this wild and crazy race, the sacred domain of life hasn’t been forgotten: human enhancement, children conceived in a test-tube, then available for self-service... we might draw a long list, witnessing to a freedom that was hoped to be limitless.

And, now, a tiny virus calls all this into question! No one is spared. The whistle signal has been blown in the world of the first creation, turned into a playground for re-creation. The return to reality is rough. “God always forgives, man seldom, Nature never.” Family and home become shelters when everything is crumbling away. Shall we be humble enough to keep remembering, when these days have gone away?

Letter from a Catholic Medical Doctor to His Bishop: "I beg you, open wide the doors of our churches, and may they never be closed again"

Rorate was given a copy of this moving letter, written by a Catholic medical doctor to his bishop, who has continued to uphold severe restrictions on Mass attendance and sacramental reception.

The Ascension of Our Lord

May 21st, 2020

Your Excellency,

Last Monday, I received a copy of the diocese’s letter regarding the opening of our churches as we enter the “yellow phase.” After being denied access to the Sacraments for two months, I cannot begin to tell you how absolutely heartbreaking the letter was to read.

Fontgombault Sermon for the Ascension: "We feel a deep sorrow when we read that the experience of virtual Masses seems to satisfy a not inconsiderable number of Christians."

Ascension of the Lord

Sermon of the Right Reverend Dom Jean Pateau

Abbot of Our Lady of Fontgombault

Fontgombault, May 21, 2020

Eritis mihi testes... usque ad ultimum terræ.

You shall be witnesses unto Me... even to the uttermost part of the earth.

(Acts 1:8)

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

My dearly beloved Sons,

The event of the Ascension comes and closes the time when the Lord was present with His disciples. After His resurrection, Christ had appeared again many times to His friends. But contrary to the three years of His public life, already He was no longer with them in a way that could be felt and seen. Now, the Ascension deprives them even of this presence.

The time is now come for the last words, the ultimate sending on mission. Three of the evangelists, Matthew, Mark and Luke, will remember that. As to St. John, he doesn’t evoke the moment of the Ascension, since the others had already told it before him, but he concludes his Gospel with the episode of the miraculous catch of fish, near the shore of the Sea of Tiberias.

Whereas the night had already elapsed, and they still had caught nothing, the Apostles see a man on the shore. They don’t recognize him. He invites them to cast again their nets, which get full of fish. “It is the Lord!” (Jn 21:7) exclaims St. John. After a meal of bread and fish taken around a fire of coals, Jesus asks Peter three times this question, “Lovest thou me?” Then He adds, “Feed my lambs... Look after my sheep... Feed my sheep.” (Jn 21:15-18)

Traditional Catholics get French Highest Court for Administrative Matters to Act for the Liberty of the Church when Bishops didn't

Note: The following is an article published in the French daily Le Monde, not known for Catholic sympathy.  The remarkable fact referred to in this article is that a group of Traditional Catholic priests and laity brought a suit to what is the French equivalent to the Supreme Court on administrative and governmental matters to celebrate Mass within the situation of the Covid-19 crisis.  The French Bishops Conference protested against the situation but did not follow up with an appeal to the Court.  This shows where the power lies in the battle that will be engaged in the future between a secular state that is inimical to the Christian faith and its practice and those Catholics who believe and will fight for their rights against a secular and anti-religious State.  

The original decisions of the Conseil d'État are available here (the main one is number 440366)

 Conseil d’Etat lifts the "disproportionate" ban on religious celebrations in France

By Cécile Chambraud for Le Monde 

May 19, 2020

The government has eight days to relax the ban on public religious ceremonies in places of worship, in effect since March 15. The Conseil d’Etat ruled Monday, May 18, that the general and absolute ban on all gatherings in churches, temples, synagogues and mosques, if it could be admitted in the first phase of the fight against the epidemic Covid-19, is “disproportionate” during this period of post-confinement.

Rao: "Follow-up on the Pandemic: Committing Suicide in the War of All Against All"

Committing Suicide in the War of All Against All:

Addendum to My Previous Remarks

John Rao

“Had I but served my God with half the zeal I served the Zeitgeist,

He would not in my age have left me naked to mine enemies.”

I. An Addendum

A commentator on my recent letter regarding the pandaemonium now diabolically disorienting almost every nook and cranny of our Global Fatherland wondered whether it might not be more accurate to categorize the planetary imprisonment as a Thomas Hobbes-down rather than a John Locke-down. He definitely has a point with respect to the roots and the historical chronology of the problem, but not in terms of marketing what is indeed at base a Hobbesian weapon of mass destruction. Here, Locke beats the author of Leviathan as an arms dealer hands-down. 

Still, the point is well taken, and serves the purpose of addressing something weighing heavily on my mind: the need for a brief, three-fold and admittedly somewhat disjointed addendum to my initial words on the Hospital of Earthly Delights that the Medico-Moonshine Complex has brought into being with a panache that Hieronymus Bosch could never have matched. This tripartite addendum concerns 1) the War of All Against All in and of itself; 2) the appropriateness of our chaplain, Fr. Richard Munkelt, baptizing that conflict in its current manifestation with Johnny Pluralist’s name; and, 3) the utterly astounding fact that the Church has decided to “do herself in” just when there is an elegant sufficiency of external warriors ready to administer the coup de grace more honorably.

De Mattei: The “confinement” of the Sanctuary of Fatima

Roberto de Mattei 

Corrispondenza Romana

May 13, 2020

On the eve of the 103^rd anniversary of the apparitions at Fatima, we learnt that the Portuguese National Republican Guard (PNRG) since May 9^th has  been conducting operation “Fatima at Home” with the aim of impeding pilgrims from entering the Marian Sanctuary on May 13^th. The news was given by the Director of Operations, Vitor Rodrigues, who praised the ‘fantastic collaborative position’ of the members of the Catholic Church, which the PNRG had been working with ‘for many weeks’.* Following this operation of “confinement”, the Fatima Sanctuary was placed under surveillance by 3500 National Guard soldiers, with the duty of assuring that no member of the faithful might approach the place without reasonable justification.** And, for the authorities, prayer obviously doesn’t constitute a valid justification. Basically, all means of access to the Sanctuary have been cordoned off, but even other places of devotion as well, such as  Aljustrel, the village where Lucia, Francesco and Jacinta were born, Valinhos, the apparition site of August, and even the Via Crucis.  

It’s as if we are on the eve of the French Revolution again, when Jansenism, Gallicanism, the Enlightenment and enlightened Catholicism  - different and varied forces, but united in their hate for the Church of Rome – linked together and multiplied their forces, under the shadow of the Masonic Lodges, to destroy definitively the religious and social order founded by Christianity.

A theologian analyzes the morality of the cancellation of public Masses and the closure of churches by the State — superb Thomistic treatment

The author of this letter, a priest and an experienced teacher of moral theology, shared the following text with Rorate Caeli. It was originally prepared as a letter to the priest’s local ordinary. I find it the best treatment I have read so far of these questions.

Letter Reflecting on the Cancellation of Masses and Closure of Churches

+Pax+

8 May 2020

Our Lady, Mediatrix of All Graces and Queen of All Saints

Your Excellency,

For nearly two months now the Catholic faithful have been deprived of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, of Holy Communion, and for many, even of Confession, many priests refusing this ministry. This time has been one of great suffering for all. The unexpectedness of the situation found us all wondering what to do, and those in positions of leadership had to make some very tough and very quick decisions.

"A controllable pandemic has been transformed into a totally unnecessary pandaemonium": John Rao on the mass hysteria

Rorate appreciates John Rao's permission to post here part of a letter he recently addressed to friends of the Roman Forum. It is an excellent analysis of our situation. 

“The more the panic grows, the more uplifting the image of a man who refuses to bow to the terror”. (Ernst Jünger)

                                                                                                                   May, 2020

                                                                                                                   The Month of Mary

Dear Friends of the Roman Forum,

The purpose of the Roman Forum is educational, and it would be a dereliction of duty not to make some comment on what we are witnessing around us and what it means for us as Catholics, as citizens, and as civilized men and women. I do not feel competent to discuss the initial cause of a disease that has affected the entire globe, nor would I in any way wish to minimize the real suffering and loss that this malady has entailed for many people. But what I do believe an educator needs to stress is the way in which a controllable pandemic has been transformed into a totally unnecessary pandaemonium; a horrifying illustration of the diabolical disorientation accompanying all of the ravages of modernity, and one that has allowed a painfully hollow modern society to titillate itself with the “feel” of living through the Bubonic Plague without actually doing so.

Coronavirus Crisis - URGENT APPEAL OF PASTORS FOR THE CHURCH AND THE WORLD: to Catholics and all people of good will

APPEAL

FOR THE CHURCH AND THE WORLD

to Catholics and all people of good will

“Veritas liberabit vos.” (“The truth will set you free.”)

John 8:32

    In this time of great crisis, we Pastors of the Catholic Church, by virtue of our mandate, consider it our sacred duty to make an Appeal to our Brothers in the Episcopate, to the Clergy, to Religious, to the holy People of God and to all men and women of good will. This Appeal has also been undersigned by intellectuals, doctors, lawyers, journalists and professionals who agree with its content, and may be undersigned by those who wish to make it their own.

    The facts have shown that, under the pretext of the Covid-19 epidemic, the inalienable rights of citizens have in many cases been violated and their fundamental freedoms, including the exercise of freedom of worship, expression and movement, have been disproportionately and unjustifiably restricted. Public health must not, and cannot, become an alibi for infringing on the rights of millions of people around the world, let alone for depriving the civil authority of its duty to act wisely for the common good. This is particularly true as growing doubts emerge from several quarters about the actual contagiousness, danger and resistance of the virus. Many authoritative voices in the world of science and medicine confirm that the media’s alarmism about Covid-19 appears to be absolutely unjustified.

    We have reason to believe, on the basis of official data on the incidence of the epidemic as related to the number of deaths, that there are powers interested in creating panic among the world’s population with the sole aim of permanently imposing unacceptable forms of restriction on freedoms, of controlling people and of tracking their movements. The imposition of these illiberal measures is a disturbing prelude to the realization of a world government beyond all control.