The TLM offered at St. Peter’s Basilica on Saturday by Cardinal Raymond Burke sent the captains, crew members, and passengers aboard the Good Ship Tradipop tap dancing for joy. All concerned evidently fail (or refuse) to recognize, however, that their vessel of choice has far more in common with the Titanic than the Barque of St. Peter.
On Sunday, for example, Rorate Caeli posted an article quoting organizers of the event as saying:
The expectations at the beginning of this pontificate and the hopes linked to the unifying personality of Leo XIV are immense.
Just today, Rorate Caeli followed up with another saccharine article, this one declaring:
By authorizing [the TLM] Mass at St. Peter’s, [Leo XIV] has already put an end to the most drastic season of the liturgical war against the Vetus Ordo inaugurated with Traditionis Custodes.
Meanwhile, the Vatican has done absolutely nothing to dissuade those bishops who are determined to tighten the belt on the TLM, making it less and less accessible to faithful Catholics, with an obvious eye toward its total elimination.
Perhaps worse is the fact that Cardinal Burke committed what Canon Law refers to as nefas, a Latin word reserved for acts that are known to be grave offenses against the divine and moral order and, as such, are strictly forbidden.
For example, breaking the seal of the confessional is considered nefas, i.e., the gravity of such acts cannot be overstated.
So, how and why does this apply to the aforementioned Traditional Latin Mass offered by Cardinal Burke?
As regular readers of this space already know, St. Peter’s was violated last month when LGBTQ+ activists marched into the Basilica, turning one of Christnedom’s holiest places into a veritable Pride Parade.
As plainly stated in the 1917 Code of Canon Law, a violated church must undergo a Rite of Reconciliation as soon as possible, and it is nefas to celebrate Holy Mass there until such time as the rite has been properly performed as outlined in the Ceremonial of Bishops. This requirement of the law, and the prohibition attached to it, go back at least as far as the 13th century Decretals of Pope Gregory IX.
In his treatise The Desecration and Violation of Churches (1942), canonist Fr. John Theophilus Gueczynski, J.C.L. explained:
The reason for the prohibition is that in the moral judgment of man it is repugnant that before the place has been purified the Immaculate Host should be consecrated and the divine services celebrated in a place that has been defiled by evil deeds…
The lay leaders of Trad, Inc., the same who profit by stoking the flames of Leophoria, know damned well that St. Peter’s was violated. Michael J. Matt, publisher of the nation’s oldest… (oh, you know the rest) called the gay invasion of the Basilica, “The abomination of desolation in the holy place, in the holy year, and in the Holy See.”
Knowing this, one may have expected Mr. Matt to insist upon St. Peter’s reconciliation, prior to Cardinal Burke consecrating the Immaculate Host there, that is, if indeed he is more interested in upholding Catholic tradition than bolstering the financial success of his late daddy’s newspaper.
Even more scandalous is the fact that various celebrity bishops also evidently know very well that the Basilica was violated. On October 4, no less than four of them offered public prayers of reparation in light of the homo-assault on St. Peter’s. Clearly these men realize that a rite of reconciliation is therefore absolutely required.
But did any of them dare to say so publicly at the risk of raining on Cardinal Burke’s parade and perhaps missing out on future invitations to wine and dine on the Bishop’s Banquet tour?
As for Burke himself, the man is a canon lawyer and former head of the conciliar Apostolic Signatura, i.e., there is no question whatsoever that he is aware of what the law requires.
Then again, maybe Burke simply isn’t convinced that a homo-activist rally inside of St. Peter’s actually rises to the level of a violation. Allow Chris Jackson, writing on his increasingly entertaining and informative Substack, jog your memory:
In 1997, then-Bishop Burke elevated the Franciscan Servants of Jesus, a women’s order co-founded by “Sister Julie” Green, who had undergone sex-change surgery years earlier. The facts were not hidden, complaints were made, letters were sent to the papal nuncio, and Vatican consultations were acknowledged.
Burke’s written defense admitted the co-founder’s biological sex and the moral disorder of the surgery, yet still justified allowing “her” to found and participate in the order.
Whether or not Burke thinks the LGBT invasion of St. Peter’s constitutes a true violation of the Basilica, evidently he and other prelates present for the TLM on Saturday realize that the spirit of the Evil One has penetrated its walls.
As reported by Michael Matt, at the conclusion of the Mass, “Cardinal Ernest Simoni Troshani … stood at the pulpit and positively thundered an Exorcism prayer composed by Pope Leo XIII back in 1890.”
That prayer reads in part:
We cast you out, every unclean spirit, every satanic power, every onslaught of the infernal adversary, every legion, every diabolical group and sect, in the name and by the power of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Commendable as this prayer is, its recitation raises some obvious questions:
If indeed Burke et al. genuinely believe that the “infernal adversary” and his cohorts have infiltrated St. Peter’s in such degree that they must be exorcised therefrom, would it not have made more sense to cast them out prior to Holy Mass?
Would this not also be an indication that the exhibition carried out in the Basilica by rainbow clad members of a certain “diabolical group” in early October calls for a Rite of Reconciliation?
At the lavabo during Saturday’s Mass, Cardinal Burke silently prayed in preparation for the consecration of the Blessed Sacrament:
I have loved, O Lord, the beauty of Thy house, and the place where Thy glory dwelleth…
And the devil laughed.
