Bad news is on the horizon. Based on the latest moves of Pope Francis, and the work of the Synod on Synodality in Rome, it appears the Catholic Church is going into eclipse, and will remain so for a very long time. The word “eclipse” simply means that something is hard to see, because it’s obscured by something else. The Catholic Church remains, and always will, but due to recent events in the post-conciliar period, leading to where we are now with Pope Francis, it’s safe to say the eclipse is not nearly over, but maybe only half way through. We live in very dark times, and in such times as these, it’s very easy to curse the darkness. One cannot be blamed for doing so, and perhaps there is a time and place for this. When, however, that time and place has passed, a new time comes — a time of building and starting anew.
The Society of St. Pius X (SSPX) has shown us the way. No, I’m not telling anyone to join the SSPX, so spare me the hate mail, but I’m not discouraging anyone from joining it either. I love the SSPX, and its members, but that’s not what this essay is about. Rather, I want to point something out that they’ve done successfully. That means if they’ve done it once, they can do it again, and it also means that other jurisdictions can do it as well. Working together with other Traditional Catholics (FSSP & Diocesan), the SSPX has successfully created a Catholic colony in St. Mary’s, Kansas. Please watch this video below for details…
This essay is a message of hope! It’s a battle plan for the future. It’s a strategy for survival in the darkness ahead. What the SSPX has done, they can do again, and guess what? We can do it too! They have shown us the way.
Basically, it all amounts to an attitude adjustment. We simply have to change our thinking, and when we do that, we may also have to change our lives. The SSPX transformed St. Mary’s, Kansas, by doing the unthinkable. They put their money where their mouth was! They proverbially “voted with their feet.” They packed up their bags, sold their houses, and MOVED to where they could all work together as one parish. They created what is called an “intentional community,” perhaps the largest in North America, and they did this solely by their own will to survive. Their example should be an inspiration to all of us, and one we should follow.
Every generation must make sacrifices, some more than others. Our generation is called to preserve the Catholic Faith, and that means we must do whatever it takes to accomplish this, even if it means packing our bags, selling our homes, and leaving our comfort zones. The SSPX in St. Mary’s, Kansas, showed us this is not only possible, but extremely rewarding.
Fortunately for us, we have more options at our disposal than they did. In the map below, you’ll find a number of different Catholic communities of a traditional nature. Some are SSPX. Others are the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter (FSSP). Various other associations exist too. There is also the Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter (POCSP), which is a regularized jurisdiction within the Catholic Church that allows for traditional Catholic masses in sacral English. So if you want to go traditional, but you’re not too sure about all the Latin, you have that available to you as well.
Simply pick a community in an area that works for you. Investigate it, and the area, to see if it truly meets your needs. Visit the area at least once to make sure. Then, if it appears to be the right place, pack up your belongings, sell your house, and move there. Once there, dedicate your time, talent and treasure to building up this Traditional Catholic community. Do not try to place yourself in a leadership role of any kind. Come as a servant, and wait to see what God has planned for you. Work on building up the community in every way you can. This is the way. This is the only way forward now…
View the above map in a new window here. Keep in mind, this map is a work in progress. Please send corrections and updates to my CONTACT PAGE. I will require the physical address, phone number, and preferably the website of the church in question. If it all checks out, I will add to, or correct, the map. The church must be in communion with Rome, either regularly or irregularly, and must officially regard Francis as the pope. The Church must celebrate some form of the Roman Rite, and it cannot be the Novus Ordo (1970 Missal).
Shane Schaetzel is an author of Catholic books and he is an Evangelical convert to the Catholic Church. His articles have been featured on LifeSiteNews, The Remnant Newspaper, Forward in Christ, and Catholic Online. You can read Shane’s books at ShaneSchaetzel.Com
“The SSPX has successfully created a Catholic colony in St. Mary’s, Kansas.”
Eh, well, no, they really haven’t.
They have built a building they consider fitting for offering traditional Mass. FWIW, it probably is. Sadly, they’ve done so in direct defiance of the pope.
You’re quite correct that we do ourselves best to seek churches and chapels run by FSSP or similar. ..Certainly I intend remaining in this city lest I lose access to an FSSP apostolate.
However much we may detest Francis’ approach, …we still either do have a Holy Father with legitimate authority…or we don’t.
I was merely using the SSPX as an example, and I am aware of the FSSP presence in St. Mary’s as well. The intentional community at St. Mary’s is Traditional Catholic in general. The two jurisdictions (SSPX and FSSP) are two sides of that coin.
I agree, it is better to work with a Catholic community that has been properly regularized, like the FSSP for example. It’s always better.
One of my frustrations with the Church the last 30 years has been the refusal to teach clearly and act firmly. If I’ve been disgusted by abuses coming from the Left, these too often seem to be “cause” for the Right to ignore the Holy See too. Francis would do well to formally pronounce SSPX either excommunicate or exercising ministry within the Church. There would be rationale involved either way. Such business as six of one, half a dozen of the other, has never been a good idea.
..At the same time, I never get the impression from SSPX that they feel a need to be reconciled with the Holy Father. That’s rather a problem too.
Agreed. That said, this issue is primarily trust. That’s what Francis is working on. Whether he’s doing it correctly or not is something only historians will be able to measure at some distant point in the future. I think it’s the right thing to do. Less charity has produced full unity with some Anglicans, now manifested fully in the Anglo-Ordinariate.
“That said, this issue is primarily trust.”
Eh, what issue is primarily trust?
Most SSPX members want to be fully reconciled with Rome canonically. But the fear is that once they do, Rome will pull the rug out from underneath them, demand they make changes, refuse to allow them to ordain new bishops, discipline their clergy, and suppress their chapels.
“But the fear is that once they do,…”
If I may be so cruel, such thinking…is prime cause why I did not seek a traditional Mass for close to 10 years after Summorum Pontificum. SSPX doesn’t trust Rome, yet SSPX own actions mean Rome can’t trust SSPX either. Yet Rome has the recognized authority, Econe does not. It would be a good thing if traditionalists would recognize that SSPX efforts…ultimately do not fit within their own traditional teaching.
Some agree with you on that, which is why they attend FSSP, or some other regularized jurisdiction. I’m not a Latin Mass devotee myself, so all of this is merely observational on my part. I’m a former Anglican, now part of the Anglo-Ordinariate. In the SSPX I see kindred spirits who need to be fully reconciled with Rome, as we were in the Anglo-Ordinariate. The barriers that kept my people away from Rome were much bigger than what prevents the SSPX from full regularization. So I think every effort is worth a try.
What if anything can the Pope do to ban these communities? Can he take away their priests? Will they have a bishop? Are their sacraments authentic?
Pope Francis is a loose canon, rolling around the deck of the Barque of Peter. There is no telling what he will do next. That said, he can do anything he wants, to anyone he wants, for any reason, or no reason at all. Just ask Bishop Strickland. He’ll tell you all about it.
So nobody is safe from Francis, not even the SSPX. Even though they are safe from his administrative intervention, he could still excommunicate them all tomorrow. That would not be just, but we’re not talking about justice here, are we.
The other communities in the map all have regular canonical jurisdiction within the Church. That means Francis can do whatever he wants to them. That said, while nothing is guaranteed, his pattern has been to leave them alone. That could change tomorrow, but for now they are safe.
It is the fate of all Traditional Catholics, regardless of jurisdiction, to walk on eggshells under this pontificate. Francis only seems to be interested in persecuting those who directly challenge his authority and orthodoxy, which is why many Traditional bishops are keeping their heads down low right now. Strickland is a diocesan bishop, and a good one, who is loud and vocal. That is what put a target on him.
As for sacraments, all sacraments offered on the map are valid. I would never point anyone toward invalid sacraments. In the case of the SSPX they are valid but illicit, which means they’re not lawful under canon law. Still, Francis has given them a pass on everything, hoping to draw them back into regular status with Rome over time.
Thank you sir.
Shane…there is a TLM (Low) celebrated on Sunday at 8AM at St. Benedict’s Abbey on the campus of Benedictine College in Atchison, Kansas.
On it.