Not just for Austin!

Posted on 15 November 2025 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Posted in Lighter fare, Liturgy Science Theatre 3000, Pò sì jiù | Tagged , ,
12 Comments

Daily Rome Shot 1483

Posted on 14 November 2025 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Please remember me when shopping online and use my affiliate links.  US HERE – WHY?  This helps to pay for health insurance, utilities, groceries, etc..  At no extra cost, you provide help for which I am grateful.

Welcome registrant:

nbtx90

Black to move and mate in 3. How fast were you (… how fast and RIGHT were you)?

NB: I’ll hold comments with solutions ’till the next day so there won’t be “spoilers” for others.

Posted in SESSIUNCULA |
7 Comments

Pope Leo XIV will not overturn Francis’ limits on the TLM but will grant dispensations to bishops who ask – AKA – “Please, sir, I want some more.”

Posted on 14 November 2025 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

I’ll bet that Tweet yesterday freaked out the usual suspects.  Hence…

From the USCCB website:

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Pope Leo XIV does not intend to overturn Pope Francis’ limits on celebrating the traditional Latin Mass but will grant two-year dispensations to bishops who ask, a nuncio said.

Archbishop Miguel Maury Buendía, the apostolic nuncio to Great Britain, told bishops Nov. 13 that Pope Leo told him he would not abrogate “Traditionis Custodes,” Pope Francis’ 2021 letter greatly restricting the celebration of Masses according to the 1962 Roman Missal, the Latin liturgy in use before the reforms of the Second Vatican Council.

The Vatican press office did not respond to a request for comment.

But the archbishop made headlines by telling members of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales that the pope would grant bishops who request it a two-year, renewable exemption.

The exemptions are nothing new, a Vatican official told Catholic News Service Nov. 14.

“This is no more than a restatement of the practice of the Dicastery for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments since the motu proprio (‘Traditionis Custodes’) came into force,” said Msgr. Enda Murphy, an official at the dicastery.

What the nuncio is clearly referring to is the necessity for a diocesan bishop to request a derogation from art. 3 § 2 of ‘Traditionis Custodes’ in order that Mass according to the Missale Romanum of 1962 can be celebrated in a parish church,” he said.

The subsection referred to by Msgr. Murphy says that a bishop can designate one or more locations where the faithful who had been celebrating the older Mass could continue to do so, “not however in the parochial churches and without the erection of new personal parishes.”

In late October, various Catholic news outlets reported that the Diocese of Cleveland, led by Bishop Edward C. Malesic, had received permission for the older Latin Mass to continue at two parish churches in his diocese. In July, Bishop Michael Sis of San Angelo, Texas, confirmed that he had made a similar request, which was granted.

Pope Leo also personally granted permission for U.S. Cardinal Raymond L. Burke, a former Vatican official, to celebrate the older form of the Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica in late October.

[…]

At the time, Pope Francis said his decision was meant “to promote the concord and unity of the church.”

“concord and unity”

Uh huh.

YouTube thumbnailYouTube icon

Posted in Traditionis custodes | Tagged
28 Comments

Bishop of Austin to Pastors: Make it hard for people to kneel for Communion

Posted on 14 November 2025 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Click for larger

One may legitimately ponder the state of the hierarchy today.

Remember Bishop Garcia of Austin? Bishop Garcia, as the former bishop of Monterey, issued the letter to the Latin Mass community located at Sacred Heart Church in Hollister, CA, on 14 September (coincidently the anniversary of Summorum Pontificum going into effect) snuffing out their TLM and community. This was four days before he was installed as the new bishop of Austin, Texas.

Today I received a missive from Austin detailing more harsh news. This is a letter from the Vicar General of Austin to “Pastors”. Here’s the text. I also have an image of the letter (above), which was sent out only 55 days after the installation of Garcia in Austin.

I ask that you read it carefully.

To: Pastors
From: Very Reverend James A. Misko, VG
Cc: Most Reverend Daniel E. Garcia
Subject: The use of kneelers for Holy Communion at Mass Date: November 12, 2025

Over the past few years, the practice in some parishes of placing a kneeler (prie-dieu) out for the distribution of Holy Communion has become more common. Some priests report that the reason for bringing out the kneeler is that some people who kneel for the reception of Holy Communion are finding it difficult to stand back up after receiving. If this is the case, the priest should have a pastoral conversation with the communicant to explain that they are not offending God by not kneeling and that they have the priest’s recommendation to stand to receive Our Lord with reverence and devotion.

Bishop Garcia asks that the practice of setting out a kneeler for Holy Communion be discontinued. The basis for this decision is offered here:

1. The General Instruction for the Roman Missal (GIRM) states, “The norm established for the Dioceses of the United States of America is that Holy Communion is to be received standing, unless an individual member of the faithful wishes to receive Communion while kneeling,” (GIRM 160);
2. The placing of a kneeler near the distribution of Holy Communion could confuse the faithful regarding what is the norm while sending a message that one way of receiving Holy Communion is more, or less, appropriate; and
3. Placing a kneeler near the distribution of Holy Communion could put undue pressure on the communicant to receive Communion kneeling, which may not be his/her desire.

The bishop appreciates the reverence of our parishioners for the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist. The faithful are also permitted to kneel to receive Holy Communion. At the same time, it is important to catechize the faithful that one can receive Holy Communion with the same reverence while standing and that there should not be an emphasis on kneeling for Holy Communion by priests, deacons, and lay liturgical leaders.

Note a couple things.  This is not a decree.  This is not from the bishop.  The cited norm in the GIRM contains an “unless”, which effectively negates the first part.

Meanwhile:

To heck with seniors.
To heck with the sensibilities of individuals.
People are stupid and will be “confused” by a kneeler.
People mustn’t be pressured… except when WE want to pressure them.

 

Posted in Liturgy Science Theatre 3000, Our Catholic Identity, What are they REALLY saying?, You must be joking! | Tagged
22 Comments

Daily Rome Shot 1482 – “A…. ?… for your thoughts.”

Posted on 13 November 2025 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

My view during the Pontifical Mass in St. Peter’s a while back.

Please remember me when shopping online and use my affiliate links.  US HERE – WHY?  This helps to pay for health insurance, utilities, groceries, etc..  At no extra cost, you provide help for which I am grateful.

Black to move and win.

NB: I’ll hold comments with solutions ’till the next day so there won’t be “spoilers” for others.

Meanwhile, the SSPX speaks up about the recent document on Marian titles.

Oh my…,

Posted in SESSIUNCULA |
5 Comments

REPORTED: Pope Leo says any bishop who requests dispensation for TLM will have it granted

Posted on 13 November 2025 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Interesting development. I hope this is true.

Posted in SESSIUNCULA |
12 Comments

About the Patrick O’Brian’s Aubrey/Maturin series at The Catholic Thing

Posted on 13 November 2025 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

I read at The Catholic Thing a piece by Stephen P. White about Patrick O’Brian’s Aubrey/Maturin series. Which it begins, as Preserved Killick would say, with Master and Commander, both not to be and to be confused with the homonymous movie with Russell Crowe which deftly pieces together scenes from later books in the series.

Note: White begins his presentation by writing about J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings trilogy. The idea being that the writing draws you in and it is long enough to be profound and engrossing. Hence…

[…]

The English novelist Patrick O’Brian was no J.R.R. Tolkien. But in O’Brian’s series of historical novels – 20 in all, plus one unfinished – I have found, if not a rival to Tolkien’s beloved masterpiece, then at least a compliment. O’Brian portrays the careers of Captain Jack Aubrey of the Royal Navy and his friend Stephen Maturin, a physician, naturalist, and intelligence agent, through the Napoleonic Wars.

O’Brian invented no languages or mythologies. His novels are set amongst historical events, sometimes described with slavish accuracy. But in his characters –particularly Aubrey and Maturin – one discovers an astonishing breadth and depth of reflection on human nature.

[…]

The first novel opens with the protagonists as young men, Aubrey a newly promoted “Master and Commander,” and Maturin an impoverished, disaffected would-be revolutionary. Neither is married; both are at the beginnings of their careers (though with very different prospects before them.)

The friendship of Jack and Stephen – an unlikely pair, contrasting in physical appearance, temperament, religion (Stephen is a Catholic), and all interests save a love of music – allows for a fascinating study of human character, but perhaps more so, a study of the effects of time and fortune.  [One might be tempted to compare them to Kirk/Spock.]

As their friendship deepens, each friend has time to notice and reflect on the sort of man his friend is becoming, and to wonder at the slow but seemingly inexorable changes in themselves. Years of physical hardship, danger, love, loss, sadness, and joy work upon the men.

And the reader has twenty volumes (about 15 years in the novels’ time) to grow intimately familiar with each character and to savor every detail of the slow work of time upon the human soul.

It is ultimately this moral realism – the surety that these characters inhabit our world, fictional though they may be and as flawed and sometimes disappointing as they are – that make O’Brian’s stories so engrossing, so true.

O’Brian was not a Catholic, though he lived for many decades in the south of France. His familiarity with Catholicism, and with the Mass especially, decidedly alters his understanding of time. Consider the following passage, in which Maturin attends Mass in Boston during the war of 1812:

[…]

I cannot recommend the O’Brian books warmly enough.

BTW… the whole series is read by Simon Vance. He really hits his stride in the second book in which he has all the voices figured out. Two others tried reading as well, namely Patrick Tull and John Lee. A big “Nope!”, to both.

I looked for Vance’s version on Audible and didn’t find it. Back when, I had to check the CD discs out from the public library. More effort, but worth it if you want audio versions.  One of many examples comes to mind, namely, Vance’s reading of the chase by the Waakzaamheid, a Dutch 74, in the raging seas south of Cape Horn. Pure mesmerizing genius.

NB: But read the book first. Always. Book first, to form your own mind pictures and voices.

How important was that for us who had the privilege of reading The Lord of the Rings unsullied by the movies?  Or any other great books, from Jane Austin to Jack Reacher.

Posted in SESSIUNCULA |
4 Comments

Daily Rome Shot 1481

Posted on 12 November 2025 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Please remember me when shopping online and use my affiliate links.  US HERE – WHY?  This helps to pay for health insurance, utilities, groceries, etc..  At no extra cost, you provide help for which I am grateful.

White to move and mate in 4.

NB: I’ll hold comments with solutions ’till the next day so there won’t be “spoilers” for others.

Posted in SESSIUNCULA |
1 Comment

Roman Rota rules against dioceses, orders publishing ‘credibly accused’ clergy lists

Posted on 12 November 2025 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

I don’t want to reproduce much here so, regretfully, I’ll send you over to The Pillar for more.

  • The Roman Rota, the Church’s highest ordinary court, ruled in favor of an American priest who sued his religious order over being included on a “credibly accused” list of clergy.
  • The legal basis cited is canon 220 of the Code of Canon Law, which protects the good reputation of persons against “illegitimate harm.”
  • According to the Italian daily La Repubblica, the case was heard on June 26 of this year, though the parties were unnamed.
  • The article states that various Vatican departments have for years objected to the practice of publishing “credibly accused” lists without adequate canonical or civil process, especially if deceased persons are involved.
  • Although the Rota’s decision would not automatically bind all U.S. dioceses and religious orders, it might spark similar defamation suits by priests whose names appear on such lists, thereby putting pressure on U.S. bishops and religious superiors to reconcile civil-law guidance with Roman canonical norms.
Posted in 1983 CIC can. 915 | Tagged
1 Comment

Daily Rome Shot 1480

Posted on 11 November 2025 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Please remember me when shopping online and use my affiliate links.  US HERE – WHY?  This helps to pay for health insurance (massively hiked for this new year of surprises), utilities, groceries, etc..  At no extra cost, you provide help for which I am grateful.

Welcome Registrant:

lbarry

This, my friends, is what the internet is for.

YouTube thumbnailYouTube icon

This too…

NB: I’ll hold comments with solutions ’till the next day so there won’t be “spoilers” for others.

Mate in 4. It’s black’s move.

Posted in SESSIUNCULA |
9 Comments