Courtesy of Charlotte Latin Mass Community. (Attached to the door the day the last Traditional Mass was celebrated in this church.)

This is the face of the Catholic Church today: manipulation, despotism and deception. In addition to the Church’s other moral problems……

An article today in the leading Swiss newspaper (the “NZZ” of Zurich) on the most recent statistics of the Swiss Catholic Church. The Catholic Church in Switzerland is a smaller scale version of the German Catholic Church, with similar economics and ideology.

“The objective has to be that the Church diminishes in an orderly manner.” Urs Brosi, the general secretary of the Roman Catholic Central Conference of Switzerland, said that Friday while presenting the latest Church statistics. Thus, even the representatives of the Church have given up the hope that their institution can preserve today’s dimensions. In any case, nobody talks any more about the possibility of a “return to religion” in Switzerland – let alone that the churches could even grow again.

Hehli, Simon, “‘Geordnet schrumpfen’: Den Kirchen laufen und sterben die Mitglieder weg” (“To Decline in an orderly Manner”: Members run and die away from the Churches), www.NZZ.ch (9/26/2025)

At least they are honest there.

At St. Mary Church, Norwalk, CT:

At St. John the Evangelist Basilica in Stamford:

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.

We welcome this history of the Viri Galilaei written by member Steven Merola:

On September 9, 2015, a group of men under the direction of David Hughes met in the basement chapel of St. Mary’s parish in Norwalk to begin to learn to chant the office of Vespers. They toyed with several ideas for a group name,  including the incipit of Psalm 132, Ecce quam bonum (Lo how good and pleasant it is, for brothers to dwell in unity). Ultimately, they settled on the name Viri Galilæi, Men of Galilee, the incipit of both the first vespers antiphon and the introit of the Ascension. This name, connected both to the traditional Office and Mass, would prove fitting: after a year of practicing Vespers, the Viri began to sing the propers and ordinary of the Wednesday night Mass at St. Mary’s. 

Throughout the past decade, Viri Galilæi has met continuously on Wednesday evenings to chant a Missa Cantata and the office of Vespers. The group has also studied medieval polyphony like Machaut’s Messe de Nostre Dame and the chants of the Codex Calixtinus. After an initial four years at St. Mary’s, the Viri has traveled all over the Diocese of Bridgeport and brought sung Mass and Vespers to no less than six different parishes and visited many more. The group has provided music for weddings, Requiems, first Masses, Tenebrae, and other occasional liturgies throughout the tristate area. At present, Viri regularly sing for a Wednesday Missa Cantata and Vespers at the Oratory of the Sacred Heart in Georgetown, CT. 

In honor of their tenth anniversary, the Viri Galilæi will be chanting Solemn Vespers at St. Cecilia Church in Stamford, CT on the day of their founding, Tuesday, September 9th, 2025 at 7:00 PM. Fr. Richard Cipolla will officiate. All friends of the Viri are most warmly invited to attend to celebrate this milestone. 

The nave of St. Patrick’s cathedral today – pews and side altars – was mostly occupied by images of fentanyl victims. It seemed as if worshippers were only in only a few pews at the very front…..