Intellectual and Historical DNA' – Editors' Updates

'We must seize the moment, and explain the situation to those at a fork in the road.'

Dear Friends,

This is the first of our new series of Editors’ Updates.

Photo by Vladislav Babienko on Unsplash

These updates are for monthly and annual subscribers, but because of the importance of the issues – as well as it being the first – we are making this one open-access.

The week before last, Cardinal Vincent Nichols of Westminster announced that he would be forbidding the celebration of the Easter Triduum according to the 1962 Missal in his diocese.

There are so many well-intentioned people in the so-called “indult” or mainstream setting, and they need our help.

But before we can help them, we have to understand both them and the lay of their land.

A few years ago, our friend John Lane drew a distinction between two broad groups.

On the one hand, we have our people – the “historical traditionalists”. These are the ones “who descend from the original scattered remnant who declined to accept the New Mass”. This might be through actual biological lineage, or through being “grafted” into such groups by choice. We are their heirs, even if we are unworthy of them, and even if the arguments may have become more developed since their time.

We basically all realise that Paul VI was the one who took away the Mass and the traditional practice of the Catholic religion, and that his successors have been continuing this policy in one way or another ever since.

On the other hand, we have those attending “approved” Latin Masses. John wrote of them:

“‘Indult’ traditionalists, especially those who have rediscovered tradition via the Fraternity of St. Peter and similar sources, do not share this intellectual and historical DNA, so to speak, and this is why many of them cannot understand the apparently unreasonable inflexibility of the SSPX and associates.”

These men have a completely different relationship to the putative authorities. As John continues:

“To the ‘Indult’ mind, John Paul II and Benedict XVI especially are the authorities who gave the traditional Mass to the faithful, and those who have a different view seem ungrateful and insubordinate.”

But now, these men are being persecuted by those whom they have hitherto thought are the authorities and representatives of the Catholic Church.

As a result of their different “intellectual and historical DNA”, few of them are able to judge correctly what is happening to them.

They stand at a fork in the road – or at least, they are approaching one.

They must either:

1. Give up the practice of their religion at the traditional Mass by accepting these ever-encroaching suppressions; or

2. Give up their worldview.

But how can they give up their worldview?

One way is by embracing “hardline” conclusions, and accepting what our people have been saying for decades:

• The Vatican II revolution is wholly illegitimate

• The authorities imposing it are illegitimate

• What they considered to be the Church is not the Church.

But another way in which they can give up their worldview is by losing the faith, and falling into some form of heresy, schism or apostasy.

Both you and we know that this latter result is happening at an alarming rate – including amongst formerly committed Catholics with whom we have lived, laughed and worshiped.

It is so important to seize the moment, and explain the true lay of the land to those who are at, or are approaching, the fork in the road.

We cannot leave them at the mercy of those proposing “rethinkery” or the many other faulty explanations which will lead them out of the Church.

Their souls might depend on it.

This is why we’ve been publishing S.D. Wright’s “Open Letter to Latin Mass Catholics”.

This series explains exactly why (in his opinion) this is happening, and why it is reasonable to conclude that the “hardliners” have been right all along.

Here are the parts published so far:

Open Letter to Latin Mass Catholics
Part I – Collective Punishment
Part II – “An ecclesiology that is not part of the Church’s Magisterium”
Part III – The Judgment of Solomon

In addition, we are focusing on publishing our ongoing series on The Roman Liturgy.

In this series, we see the close links between the life of Christ, the history of the world, and the crisis in the Church.

Much of this material has been published elsewhere before, but with tighter limits. Here, we can provide fuller explanations and texts.

As you might have seen, these articles are reflections on the liturgical texts and seasons, with a special focus on keeping faith, hope and charity alive during the crises facing the world. As it says in the Communion of Gaudete Sunday in Advent:

“Say to the fainthearted, take courage and fear not: behold our God will come, and will save us.” (Isa. 35.4)

This is what we have to do, to anyone who will listen.

Here are the pieces we have published so far:

The Roman Liturgy – An ongoing series of standalone pieces
Septuagesima I: The Beginning of the Liturgical Year?
Septuagesima II: The Babylonian Captivity and the Crisis in the Church
Lent I: The Protection of God
Lent II: "What Think You of Christ?"
Lent III: Laetare Sunday and the Church

Christ the King: “Are you a King, then?” – Christendom and the Social Kingship of Christ
Advent I: The Advent Liturgy and the Apocalypse
Advent II: The Close Presence of Christ in Advent
Advent III: Advent and the Preparation for Victory
Christmas and Christ's Triumph over Darkness
Epiphany as the Manifestation of Christ's Kingship
Epiphanytide: Ordinary Time or our Entrance into Eternity?

We will re-publish a few more pieces before Easter, as well as (God willing) complete others planned.

This week, we will be publishing the first of two parts on Passiontide.

It will be online by Thursday – and we will try to make it available earlier for paid subscribers.

Thanks again for all your support. Anyone who has a subscription is supporting our mission to “Strengthen What Remains”, and showing us that we’re not just shouting into the void.

If you would like to help us out this week, please do share Part I of our Open Letter to Latin Mass Catholics with as many of your “indult” friends as possible.

We need to offer these people comfort and encouragement in the difficult times ahead.

And please do carry on sharing The WM Review with friends and family generally – especially anyone whom you think will benefit from our work.

Until next week,

S.D. Wright & M.J. McCusker

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PS: As you are probably aware, this week we launched The WM Review on Substack.

A lot of our traffic and exposure comes from Twitter, and Substack doesn’t work on Twitter – all tweets with Substack links appear to be suppressed on there.

It’s early days, so THANK YOU for subscribing so quickly.

To all those who have already taken out monthly subscriptions: We want to keep our main work freely available for everyone, and your support allows us to do that.

Nonetheless, we wanted to provide something just for you, and so these “behind-the-scenes” Editors’ Updates will be sent only to you going forward.