Turning up the Heat on Traditionalists

A growing euphoria seems to be gripping the Church Establishment and the forces of Catholic progressivism. Everyone from the German Catholic hierarchy to the LCWR is expecting great things from Pope Francis – for starters, the reversal of all of his predecessor’s initiatives and the confirmation of the Church Establishment in the national hierarchies and religious orders. Now from Germany comes the following early shot in this “Battle for the (Universal -not just the American) Church.” Daniel Deckers in the “FAZ” has penned “The Carnival’s Over.” The title refers to the supposed words of Pope Francis to Marini in refusing to don the complete papal vestments.  Deckers suspects this anecdote is apocryphal but nevertheless adopts it almost as a motto. His meaning: Catholic Traditionalism is finished.  For:

“Overnight the so-called “people’s altar,“ erected by John Paul II but removed by Benedict XVI, reappeared (in the Sistine chapel)… The courtly splendor and ceremonial pomp, which under Pope Benedict had spread like dry rot throughout the timber frame of the Vatican, has vanished. So do many people see it.”

Since the abdication of Benedict, Deckers explains, Catholic Traditionalists  “are the new orphans of Rome.”  That’s why they are opposed to Francis. They are joined in this resistance, however, by another group “which is partially identical with the Traditionalists: the homosexuals.”  As Deckers explains to his readers:

“…no group is more strongly attracted by the aesthetics of the old mass than men who love men. The cult of precious vestments and luxurious lace, the holy game surrounded by all kinds of erotic connotations, the asexual depictions of Mary, the Mother of God and the excessive veneration of relics –these are the public – and since Benedict XVI, once again papally approved  – counterparts to a private, parallel world. A world in which all kinds of fetishes correspond to these relics:  to the veneration of Mary, the cult of anorexic models and girlish pop stars; to the exclusively male sanctuary, the men’s sauna and the “darkroom;” to the Solemn High Mass with gold brocade, maniple and lace rochet – the queers’ ballet.”

So there we have it: Catholic Traditionalism has been foisted upon the Church by Benedict and homosexual networks in the Vatican. Note that these wild utterances do not appear in some blog but on the pages of the German equivalent of the New York Times. Please also note that the same statements were made in late 2010 during the struggle of hidden forces to make Summorum Pontificum a dead letter, by a colleague of Deckers who is also a frequent commentator on religious matters, in the same paper, relying upon the same source (David Berger, ex-“conservative Catholic” champion).

Do I need to state that this is nonsense? Do I need to remind our readers that clerical homosexual networks worldwide have consistently advocated anything but a return to the Traditional Liturgy? 1) And if these networks are so entranced by the old mass, why did they and their allies spend the last eight years in the Vatican and elsewhere blocking or slowing the promulgation and implementation of Summorum Pontificum, Universae Ecclesiae – and generally making it impossible for Benedict to rule?

We suspect that many of the big priests of the German Catholic Church are reading Deckers’ ranting attentively and with satisfaction. We would not be very mistaken if a time of trial for German Catholic Traditionalists may soon be at hand. And perhaps not just for the Germans…

See also  “Daniel Deckers flips out.” for a systematic critique.

1) Is the Catholic Church in England a partial exception to this statement? So some have claimed. The “Society of St. John” offered a further example.