How should laymen go about learning sacred theology? Should we just read spiritual books, popular apologetics, the Fathers, works by this or that theologian, modern crisis polemics, and papal encyclicals – and hope for the best? Theology is a science, with its own proper end and methodology. This three-part series is about how laymen can …
There are many moments of beauty and pathos in the Church's year. But, in my opinion, few are so equally filled with both bitterness and glory as the feast of the Holy Innocents. It is very noticeable that Christ's coming to the world is marked with blood from the very beginning, both in time and …
Essay by John Lane, edited with permission by S.D. Wright. Originally published on the St Robert Bellarmine Forums as a printable PDF here. Image is from Wikicommons. Editor's comment: Whatever some may think about Archbishop Lefebvre, his thoughts, words, and deeds, it is clear that he was an enormously significant figure in the twentieth century …
This article is a set of reflections and observations, rather than a more tightly-argued essay. While it has arisen from my ongoing study of de Mattei and his concept of a “heretic pope,” and addresses certain relevant points, it is supplementary and informal. As a very wise man once asked: If the pope dies and …
This essay consists of two parts: Part I - Review of Baronius Press's edition of the Roman Catechism Part II - The Roman Catechism itself Historical backgroundThe authority of the Roman CatechismClergy and theologians on the CatechismComparison with the modern catechismThe Roman Catechism and the crisis in the ChurchThe nature and structure of this Catechism. …
Introduction In the first three parts of this series, we have seen that: The Catholic Church is a perpetually visible society which must therefore consist of members whose identity is discernible by the senses;The sacrament of baptism is necessary and sufficient for constituting an individual as both a subject and a member of the Catholic …
Continue reading Membership of the Church: Part IV – Schism & Excommunication
“Have they forgotten who these Romans are, whose faith was praised by the Apostle himself, and in whom 'error cannot find access’?”St Cyprian [1] This essay continues my response to Professor Roberto de Mattei’s call for the Catholic world to “unite […] on the basis of the Tradition of the Church.”[2] Throughout this series I …
Continue reading Pope Honorius and Roberto de Mattei IIIb: Magisterial Heresy? Trust in the Church