Traditionalist Catholic and traditional Catholic are terms used to refer to Roman Catholics who want to see the worship and customs of Roman Catholics return to those prevailing before the reforms of the 1960s.

Many of them claim that, since then, the presentation and the understanding of the Church's teaching have changed, at least in emphasis, to an unacceptable degree; some exclude from the meaning of the two terms those whose views on this matter are more liberal.

Survey of traditional groups

Traditionalist Catholics have in common dedication to attending Mass celebrated in Latin in accordance with a pre-1970 Roman Missal. Some reject the latest such Missal, issued in 1962 by Pope John XXIII, while a very few wish to return even to before the 1955 edition, which incorporates the numerous changes that Pope Pius XII made in the liturgy of the days from Palm Sunday to the Vigil of Easter (see Novus Ordo Missae).

While no organization links all or even a majority of traditionalist Catholics, some of them associate with a society or individual priest who provides the earlier-style Mass that they prefer. Some of these priestly societies are canonical institutes within the Catholic Church, of which they are fully part. These include the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter, the Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest, and the Personal Apostolic Administration of Saint John Mary Vianney. The Society of St. Pius X is a priestly society that, while not in "formal schism", is in a "situation of separation". The Society of St. Pius V, the Congregation of Mary Immaculate Queen, the Orthodox Roman Catholic Movement, and others that reject the Popes most recently elected by conclaves in Rome, come under the heading of sedevacantism (belief that the Holy See is in fact vacant). Other groups, such as the True Catholic Church and the Palmarian Catholic Church, are headed by a self-styled Pope, leaving no room whatever for doubt that they are in formal schism. There are also other Independent Catholic Churches, as well as individual priests who, after breaking with their diocese or religious institute, gain a personal following.

Traditionalist beliefs

Those who accept Pope Benedict XVI and his immediate predecessors as true Popes view the Second Vatican Council as a valid, albeit problematic, Council. But most "sedevacantists" regard Pope Pius XII as the last true Pope, and judge the Council, convened and ratified by his successors, to be as invalid as these were as Popes.

Traditionalist Catholics claim that what mainstream Catholics now accept would have been considered "Modernist" or "liberal" at the time of the Second Vatican Council, and that they themselves hold views that were then considered "conservative" or "traditional".

What Pope Benedict XVI called "the interpretation of discontinuity and rupture" of the Council’s documents is common among traditionalist Catholics, as opposed to the interpretation of "reform and continuity" proposed by the Popes, beginning with Pope John XXIII, who, on opening the Council, said that the Council "wishes to transmit the doctrine, pure and integral, without any attenuation or distortion", and added: "Our duty is not only to guard this precious treasure, as if we were concerned only with antiquity, but to dedicate ourselves with an earnest will and without fear to that work which our era demands .. This sure unchangeable doctrine, which must be faithfully respected, has to be studied in depth and presented in a way that answers the needs of our time. For the deposit of the faith, that is, the truths contained in our venerable doctrine, is one thing, and the way in which they are enunciated, while still preserving the same meaning and significance, is another."

Traditional Catholics, instead, largely believe that errors have crept into the presentation and understanding of Catholic teaching, either because of liberal interpretations of Vatican II documents, and/or because of post-conciliar pastoral decisions that they believe have harmed the Church, and/or, as some believe, because of the Council's documents themselves. Most traditionalist Catholics see the Second Vatican Council itself as a valid Council, but one that was pastoral and produced no infallibly-presented, solemn definitions that Catholics must accept as part of the Faith. Support for this claim is sought in Pope John XXIII's , Pope Paul VI's , the lack of formal definitions and anathemas in , and the alleged ambiguity of the documents themselves, which makes an "authentic" interpretation, other than that presented and acted upon by the Holy See, difficult to discern.

Allegations of discontinuity and rupture

Some traditionalist Catholics maintain

• A new understanding of collegiality that they claim has weakened the papacy and made bishops' conferences a veritable "second Vicar of Christ" for the Church. They see this as contradicting, among other documents, Pope Leo XIII's and the to Vatican II's Lumen Gentium.

• A new ecclesiology that they claim doesn't equate the Catholic Church with the Church established by Jesus Christ, but treats the Church established by Jesus Christ as merely "subsisting in" the Catholic Church in an undefined way. They claim that the typical interpretation of this "subsistence" contradicts Pope Pius XII's , among other papal documents, and leads to "false ideas" of ecumenism.

• A new focus on the natural world and the environment coupled with a de-emphasizing of the supernatural and preternatural worlds. This, they say, leads to Deism, Pragmatism, and moral relativism.

• A new focus on "the dignity of man", which they claim ignores original sin and the need for supernatural grace, and which they also claim has led to a sort of Utopianism that sees peace as possible without recognizing the Kingship of Christ. They see this attitude, and teachings rooted in it, as contradicting Pope Pius XI's , Pope Leo XIII's and , Pope Pius X's , and other papal and conciliar documents that deal with social teaching.

• A "false" ecumenism that has as its goal a religious unity that they see as not requiring conversion to the Catholic faith. They see this as contradicting Sacred Scripture, Pope Pius XI's , Pope Pius XII's and other documents.

• A new view of ecclesiastical tradition that sees it as extremely changeable and has led to what they see as dangerous modifications in Catholic practices, the liturgy, and the Church's pastoral orientation. They see this as contradicting, among other papal and conciliar documents, the , the teaching of the First Vatican Council (especially the document ).

• A new pastoral orientation and attitude toward novelty that they claim was unheard of in the Catholic Church before the Second Vatican Council. Some of them see this as contradicting the papal oath that they claim was taken by all Popes from Pope Agatho to Pope Paul VI, Pope Pius X's Motu Proprio (an oath taken by all priests prior to the Council), Pope Gregory XVI's , the Fourth Anathema of the Second Ecumenical Council of Nicaea, and other papal and conciliar documents.

• A new and critical attitude towards Sacred Scripture that contradicts Leo XIII's and Benedict XV's among other documents.

• An ignoring of the traditional belief that the Church and the world are at variance with one another to some degree, and that the Church has enemies. They believe that Pope Pius X's warnings in , Leo XIII's , and other papal warnings against secret societies and enemies of Christendom have gone unheeded and that the enemy warned against has entered into the human element of the Church itself.

• A new "Paschal theology", which they see as de-emphasizing the Sacrifice of the Mass and which they claim leads the faithful to believe that it is Christ's Resurrection alone, and not the Blood shed by His Sacrifice on the Cross, that saves. Traditional Catholics see the revision of the Mass liturgy under Pope Paul VI as a fruit of this "paschal theology," a theology they see as contradicting Scripture and Encyclicals such as Pope Pius XII's . They also see this paschal theology as de-emphasizing the meaning of suffering, ignoring Christ's admonition to Christians to "take up their crosses" (Matthew 10:38), and forgetting St. Paul's admonitions to mortify the flesh (Galatians 5:18–25, Colossians 1:23–24).

• A "new Mass", which they call the "Novus Ordo Missae" ("the new Ordinary of the Mass," incorrectly translated by some as the "New Order" Mass). This they construe as rooted in the aforementioned Paschal Theology and as accordingly de-emphasizing traditional Catholic teaching on the Mass as a Sacrifice (the offering up of Jesus to his Father in a re-presentation of Calvary and for the remission of sins). They contend that it: has been stripped of important Catholic prayers; is open to abuse because of the variety of options allowed; de-emphasizes the ordained priesthood; is divisive because of the abandonment of Latin which brought people of various nations together; is man-centered rather than God-centered; is less beautiful, poetic, and able to act as a sign of Mystery (cf. Ottaviani Intervention; and omits certain readings that mention Hell, miracles, sin, or might offend Jews (readings, such as John 3:1-12, absent also in the Tridentine Roman Missal). On the validity and acceptability of the Post-Tridentine Mass their views differ:
  • Some see it as valid, and as acceptable when necessary, though the "traditional Mass" should be attended when at all possible.
  • Some, including members of the Society of St. Pius X, hold that, though valid if offered with valid matter and the intention to do as the Church does, it must be avoided, on the grounds that the changes are sacrilegious and harmful to the Catholic Faith, and that the actual use of valid matter and the proper intention are often questionable.
  • Some, including most sedevacantists, see it as invalid and absolutely inacceptable.

Practices of traditionalist Catholics

Traditionalist Catholics are more likely than Roman Catholics in

• disciplinary practices such as abstaining from meat on all Fridays that do not coincide with an important liturgical feast, fasting from the previous midnight before receiving Holy Communion, and women covering their heads in church;
• devotional exercises such as the Rosary and wearing a scapular.

None of these practices or exercises is peculiar to traditionalist Catholics. Perhaps the only clear distinguishing mark of certain traditionalist Catholics in this field is non-acceptance of the additional five mysteries of the Rosary that Pope John Paul II added to the earlier fifteen (see Luminous mysteries).

As for the disciplinary practices mentioned above, most episcopal conferences have, since the Second Vatican Council, allowed other penitential practices to take the place of Friday abstinence, at least outside of Lent, and the Catholic Bishops' Conference of India has allowed abstinence from meat to be reckoned a penitential exercise only for those for whom meat is a normal part of their diet; Pope Pius XII, several years before that Council, reduced the obligatory fast before Holy Communion at first to three hours and later to a single hour; and, even before that, a head covering for women in church was not considered obligatory in every country.

Places of worship

Some traditionalist Catholics attend "Tridentine" Mass within diocesan structures. The Congregation for Divine Worship's of 3 October 1984 granted diocesan bishops an indult to authorize celebration of Mass according to the 1962 edition of the Roman Missal in favour of priests and faithful who request it and who clearly do not share the positions adopted by those who question the lawfulness and doctrinal soundness of the 1970 edition. The priests who offer these Masses may be members of priestly societies to which the Catholic Church grants recognition, such as the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter, or they may be ordinary diocesan priests or members of religious institutes. Cardinal Darío Castrillón Hoyos, President of the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei, himself occasionally celebrates Mass in public in accordance with the 1962 Missal, and other cardinals also have done so in recent years, though much less frequently.

The of the traditionalist International Federation Una Voce gives a list, with addresses and other contact information, of priestly societies and religious institutes in full communion with the Holy See and the Roman Catholic Church in general that are dedicated to preserving the "Tridentine" Mass.

No such list exists of the heterogeneous associations and unattached priests who celebrate the "Tridentine" Mass in a situation of schism or separation. The best known of these is the Society of St. Pius X, which does not accept the conditions attached to the Quattuor abhinc annos indult, and so is not allowed to operate within diocesan structures. Accordingly, it offers Mass according to the 1962 Missal in its own centres, maintaining that no authorization whatever is required. It teaches that "the Indult Mass .. is not for traditional Catholics", and quotes an article that concludes that "those who are only near Masses 'of Pope Paul VI' or to traditional Masses said under the 'Indult'" are excused from the obligation of attending Sunday Mass, "irstly because of the danger for the faith coming either from the priests who celebrate or from the faithful who attend them; secondly, legitimization is given to the new liturgy and finally an approval more or less implicit of the work of destruction of the One, Holy, Catholic, Apostolic and Roman Tradition.". With regard to the Priestly Fraternity of St Peter, the Society of St Pius X declares that "a Catholic ought not to attend their Masses" because of what the Society calls the Fraternity's support for "the new religion which is being installed" and its "blanket acceptance of Vatican II's orthodoxy".

Other priests too, whether belonging to sedevacantist groups such as the Society of St. Pius V and the Congregation of Mary Immaculate Queen or unattached to any group, offer Mass in their own centres according to various editions of the Roman Missal anterior to 1970.

Those who thus worship outside of diocesan structures justify their position on the grounds that they must do so in order to ensure they are able to administer or receive all of the Sacraments - not just the Eucharist - in the traditional way, and to be able to give or hear sermons on controversial matters (e.g., ecumenism, evangelism, liberalism, sin, Purgatory, Hell, political issues, sex scandals, etc.) without fear of reprisal from disapproving Bishops.

Though there is a certain level of dispute among these various groups at the official level, traditionalist Catholic lay people generally tend to have good relations with each other, though often with some tension between sedevacantists and those who accept the acclaimed Pope. A given traditionalist Catholic might have strong opinions for or against worshiping outside of diocesan structures, or might instead worship at more than one of the above settings without qualm.

Relations with other Catholic groups

Traditionalist Catholics see mainstream Catholics as often careless of tradition, enamoured of novelty and unthinkingly compliant, sometimes using the derogatory term Cafeteria Catholics to describe them. For their part, mainstream Catholics see traditionalist Catholics as in great part merely nostalgic, afraid of change, and, if disobedient to the decrees of the Holy See, as those who, because of their picking and choosing, really deserve the name of "Cafeteria Catholics". Each side argues that the other's comprehension of its beliefs and practices lacks subtlety, and that the other's response to its criticisms is frequently emotional, misinformed, and based on a false understanding of Christian obedience and the Magisterium (the teaching authority of the Church). To each side the other recommends study for discerning the truth, and prayer for openness to accepting it.

Relations with the Holy See

The relations of traditionalist Catholics with the Holy See naturally vary according to their attitude in its regard.

In denying the legitimacy of the present Pope, sedevacantists also deny the authority of the decrees that he, and the Holy See in general, issue. If a sedevacantist group is headed by someone whom they call the true Pope, they may apply the term "Holy See" to their own group or part of it, instead of using it as ordinarily understood.

Some traditionalist Catholics do not deny the legitimacy of the Pope, but, as seen above ("Allegations of discontinuity and rupture"), they reject as illegitimate and even doctrinally erroneous certain recent declarations and decrees of the Holy See, which, they allege, contradict previous declarations by the Church. Some of these treat the decisions of the Pope and the Holy See as little more than opinions of individuals, to whom they may refer by expressions such as "Vatican hierarchs".

Finally, there are traditionalist Catholics who do not dispute the lawfulness and doctrinal soundness of decisions by the Holy See in recent decades on, for instance, revising the liturgy, but who do question the wisdom of those decisions.

The Holy See views as schismatic, not only sedevacantists, who clearly reject the present succession of Popes in Rome, but also many other individual traditionalist Catholics, particularly many of those involved in organizations in which priests act in complete independence of the Holy See and of the bishops whom the Pope recognizes as being in full communion with him, even in matters for which a link with those bishops is normally a condition for validity of the act. The personal situation of such individuals is thus distinguished from that of the associations to which they may belong: for instance, the situation of the Society of Saint Pius X has been described as a "situation of separation .. even if it was not a formal schism."

On the other hand, the Holy See recognizes as fully legitimate the preference for "the Latin liturgical tradition", of those traditionalist Catholics who do not dispute the authority of the Holy See. While the Pontifical Commission "Ecclesia Dei" normally leaves the decision to the local bishops, who have the advantage of direct knowledge of the situation in their dioceses, it recommends them to grant permission generously for the celebration of "Tridentine" Mass. The Personal Apostolic Administration of Saint John Mary Vianney and the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter are examples of associations of traditionalist Catholics that operate as a normal part of the Catholic Church in harmony with the Holy See.

The Holy See has never stated whether it accepts the view of those theologians who hold that ordination conferred merely on an individual as such and not for the service of an existing Christian community is invalid. But in regard to the ceremony carried out by Archbishop Ngó-dinh-Thuc at Palmar de Troya, Spain at midnight of 31 December 1975 and to later ordinations by those whom he consecrated as bishops, the Holy See has declared that, "as for those who have already thus unlawfully received ordination or any who may yet accept ordination from these, whatever about the validity of their orders, the Church does not and will not recognize their ordination, and will consider them, for all legal effects, as still in the state in which they were before, except that the .. penalties remain until they repent" (Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Decree Episcopi qui alios of 17 September 1976 - Acta Apostolicae Sedis 1976, page 623).

In contrast, the Holy See explicitly recognizes the validity of the episcopal consecrations conferred by Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre without papal mandate, for the service of his followers; but it sees the bishops involved as automatically excommunicated. It views the priests of the Society of St Pius X whom these bishops ordain as validly ordained, but considers them suspended a divinis, i.e. forbidden by the Church to celebrate Mass and the other sacraments. The Ecclesia Dei Commission gives assurance that those who attend Mass offered by these priests are not, for that fact alone, liable to ecclesiastical penalties such as excommunication (an unpublished communication from the Commission, No. 549/99 of 28 September 1999, is quoted as stating this explicitly, and the same is indicated implicitly in communications that have been published). On the other hand, the Commission has declared attendance at SSPX Masses to be "morally illicit" for Catholics in normal circumstances.

See also

Doctrinal and Liturgical Issues

• Extra Ecclesiam Nulla Salus
• Sedevacantism
• Papal Oath
• Tridentine Mass
• Novus Ordo Missæ

Important Figures

• Marcel Lefebvre
• Leonard Feeney
• Ngo Dinh Thuc Pierre Martin
• Francis Schuckardt

Historical Events

• First Vatican Council
• Second Vatican Council
• Council of Trent

Notable Organizations

• Society of St. Pius X
• Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter
• Personal Apostolic Administration of Saint John Mary Vianney
• Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest
• Congregation of Mary Immaculate Queen

External links

• The main international organization of traditionalists considered regular by the Holy See
• The largest traditionalist body considered irregular by the Holy See, founded by Marcel Lefebvre. Traditionalisme