What do you do when they kick you out of your own parish?
There is no getting around the fact that the Pope intended Traditionis Custodes to bring about the immediate suppression of the Traditional Latin Mass (TLM), and it doesn’t take much guesswork to conclude that his long term goal is the complete elimination of the TLM from the face of the earth. This pontificate has made masterful use of evasive and vague wording on almost every controversial statement or decision, so much so that the new phrase “weaponized ambiguity” has come into common use.
There is nothing, however, about Traditionis Custodes which is the least bit ambiguous. He wants us gone, and the sooner the better.
In diocese after diocese across the world, faithful (and yes, loyal) Catholics are being told to get the hell out and to take their accursed Latin Mass with them. Pastors of diocesan parishes which offer a TLM in addition to their standard Novus Ordo fare have been put on notice: “Kick ’em out. Now! And if we ever catch you sneaking around to say a pre-Vatican II mass, we’ll kick you out as well.”
Thankfully, not every bishop has rolled over. Although many are complying with the diktat from Rome, there are bishops who are showing some form of resistance to this vindictive set of orders. Some are invoking Canon 87 and refusing to change a thing, while others–perhaps because they’re 100% on board with the Papal Pogrom or because they’re simply scared–are executing the plan as ordered. Masses are being suppressed, Traditional Catholics are being told to hit the road.
There are some bishops who fall somewhere in the middle of the spectrum. Although they’re intent on carrying out Papal orders, they do have a sense of obligation to their flocks who have become the objects of the Vatican’s ire. These are the bishops who are attempting to ease the “transition” in some fashion. Oh, they are forcing the TLM out of the parishes, sure enough, but they’re doing so in a way to assist with some sort of “soft landing” for the hapless Traddies who will now be searching for some alternate venue where they can still attend the Mass of the Ages.
In my particular situation, I am a member of the local FSSP parish which has (as of late August 2021, anyway), not yet been actively targeted for elimination. I also help out at a Novus Ordo parish which has been offering the TLM for many years. Traditionis Custodes has clobbered that parish pretty hard, as you might imagine. The good news is that our local Ordinary has been helpful in facilitating our search for a new home. For that we are truly grateful, while at the same time being more than a little disappointed that he didn’t invoke Canon 87.
Trying to set up a new venue for a renegade TLM in short order is not an easy thing. There are challenges aplenty, as this video describes…