“A word that frequently surfaced during the team’s discernment at the retreat was ‘messiness.’ Synodality is not always easy to comprehend; it can also be seen to be a complicated process.” (Final North American Synodal Document)

“And if Christ be not risen again, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain.” (1 Corinthians 15:14)

“Wait for the Lord, do manfully; and let thy heart take courage, and wait thou for the Lord. The Lord is my light and my salvation: whom shall I fear?” (Introit, Tuesday in Passion Week)

After ten years of destructive attacks on the Faith, it has now become clear to all with eyes to see that Francis’s vision for the Church is an unholy nightmare. Traditional Catholics knew this from the beginning, but today many people who respected John Paul II and Paul VI also wonder how we can see Francis as Catholic, let alone pope. Significantly, though, Francis follows his predecessors in claiming to adhere to Vatican II — is he mistaken in this regard or does his failed vision actually flow naturally from Vatican II?

“Something has changed within the Church, and replies given by the Pope to the most urgent questions, such as priestly celibacy and birth control, are hotly debated within the Church itself; the word of the Supreme Pontiff is questioned by bishops, by priests, by the faithful. For a Freemason, a man who questions dogma is already a Freemason without an apron.” (French Freemason Jaques Mitterand, as quoted in Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre’s Open Letter to Confused Catholics)

As Michael Matt highlighted in his recent Remnant Underground, tyrannical governments have occasionally banned the Traditional Latin Mass because they have hated the immutable Catholic Faith it embodies. The Church has always presented for our imitation the saintly examples of those Catholics who have risked their liberty, and even lives, to preserve the Mass in the face of such persecution. Today, however, those purporting to be the Catholic hierarchy in Rome have given us an unmistakable sign of the diabolically disoriented times: they are attempting to do more to outlaw the Traditional Latin Mass than tyrannical governments have ever been able to do.

“We hold fast, with all our heart and with all our soul, to Catholic Rome, Guardian of the Catholic Faith and of the traditions necessary to preserve this faith, to Eternal Rome, Mistress of wisdom and truth. We refuse, on the other hand, and have always refused to follow the Rome of neo-Modernist and neo-Protestant tendencies which were clearly evident in the Second Vatican Council and, after the Council, in all the reforms which issued from it.” (1974 Declaration of Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre)

“O God, Who by sin art offended and by penance appeased, mercifully regard the prayers of Thy suppliant people: and turn aside the scourges of Thine anger, which we deserve for our sins.” (Thursday after Ash Wednesday, Collect)

“May our fasts be acceptable to Thee, O Lord, we beseech Thee: and by expiating our sins, may they render us worthy of Thy grace, and lead us to eternal Remedies.” (Tuesday in Passion Week, Collect)

Going therefore, teach ye all nations; baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and behold I am with you all days, even to the consummation of the world. (Matthew 28:19-20)

In recent days, we have seen a few indications that more bishops are opposing Francis’s attacks on the Catholic Church. In her report on the prospect of further restrictions on the Tridentine Mass, Diane Montagna noted that members of the Roman Curia are resisting additional persecution of Traditional Catholics:

“[T]here is considerable resistance from members of the Roman Curia, who believe Pope Francis’ promulgation of either apostolic constitution would send the Church into uncharted waters, further wound Christ’s Mystical Body, and be seen (by Catholics and non-Catholics alike) as a cruel and divisive act.”