“I’m Sick of the Lying”

Matthew Walther writes in The Wall Strreet Journal on the persistence of the Latin Mass and on a distresssing aspect of Catholic culture:

The best sermon I’ve ever heard was delivered by Father James Richardson in Kalamazoo, Mich., in 2018. It was the Sunday after news broke about the proclivities of the late Cardinal Theodore McCarrick. “I’m sick of the lying,” Father Richard began. For the next 10 minutes, he repeated “I’m sick of,” anaphora-like, with each instance followed by another scandal….

I still feel that way. Lies are the air Catholics have breathed for decades, which is why it was startling to witness a priest simply stop inhaling.

The stench of untruth, it seems is still with us.

(Mr. Walther goes on to discuss the revelations about the survey which allegedly supported Traditionis Custodes and the Vatican’s reaction to the disclosure.)

Walther, Matthew, “The Latin Mass Lives on,” at A13 The Wall Street Journal (8/29/2025)

Now I made the same point some years ago:

“But out of this seemingly inevitable tragedy (the likely collapse of the institutional Church as a result of the Francis papacy) may come at least one advantage: the truth.  For far too long the Catholic Church has continued to take refuge in fantasies of stability and success, of secular standing and influence.  You need look only at any of the official Catholic media to confirm this – isn’t the Al Smith Dinner in New York the incarnation of this self-deception? Even the supposedly hard-nosed liturgical traditionalists remained to some extent in thrall to these mirages. The poison of dishonesty has eroded the faith more surely than any persecution or loss of worldly advantages could do.

Let be be finale of seem! Jettisoning the Catholic culture of pretend is the first, most necessary step towards reform.” (“Let be be Finale of Seem,” The Society of Saint Hugh of Cluny ( 11/11/2017)

More recently, Ed Condon has asked: “Can Pope Leo resist the Vatican Culture of ‘Alternative Facts’?” (The Pillar, 8/19/2025)

Even from the outside looking in, it seems clear that, at least at some level, the Vatican’s official response to evidence of potential wrongdoing is to deny either the evidence or the wrongdoing could exist.

(Regarding the Vatican’s aggressive response to the disclosure of a letter by the late Cardinal Pell and a critical report on Vatican financial practices) In so doing, the press office appeared to prefer a version of events in which Pell’s letter and Milone’s report simply never existed, rather than engage with what either document said.

While there is no means for journalists to compel any different approach from a press office, the problems which would arise if the same “alternative facts” were imposed upon the pope by his officials are obvious.

As Matthew Walther says, the Catholic culture of deceit is alive and well. It remains to be seen whether and how Pope Leo will start to confront it.