“Men of Catholic views are truly but a party in that Church.”
Category archives: Tradition
Collective Punishment: Open Letter to Latin Mass Catholics – Part I
“Are you not trying to be Catholics in a church which doesn’t want you?”
The doctrinal authority of the episcopal magisterium – what is it? JMA Vacant answers
“The body of the episcopate can never perish or err, but each bishop can fall into error and even separate from his brothers through schism or heresy.” Image: Bishops at Vatican II, Wiki Commons As we already noted, the author J.M.A. Vacant was the initial director of the Dictionnaire de Théologie Catholique and was a seminary professor. …
Can the ordinary magisterium create new dogmas or obligations of belief? Fr Vacant explains
“Is a solemn definition by a Pope or a Council necessary to make a doctrine heretical?” Image: The Immaculate Conception, Wiki Commons As we already noted, the author J.M.A. Vacant was the initial director of the Dictionnaire de Théologie Catholique and was a seminary professor. This short work was awarded the prize for the theological competition in La …
What obligations are imposed by the “ordinary magisterium”? – Chapter IVa of Fr J.M.A. Vacant’s nineteenth-century work
“What are the signs that identify a doctrine taught infallibly by the ordinary and universal magisterium?” This is the first half of Vacant’s long Chapter IV, which considers again the different ways in which the Church’s ordinary magisterium teaches us, and the obligations corresponding to these ways. As we already noted, the author J.M.A. Vacant …
On the immorality of labelling other Catholics as “radical traditionalists”
“A little historical awareness, humility, respect and basic human kindness would go a long way.” Image: David Gilbert Wright, ‘Queuing for Holy Communion at the top of the mountain.’ This article is an expanded excerpt from our essay What does Michael Lofton mean by “tradition”? In order to address this topic, we have to remember …
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What does Michael Lofton mean by “tradition”?
“It is absurd, and a detestable shame, that we should suffer those traditions to be changed which we have received from the fathers of old.” The Decretals, cited by St Thomas AquinasSumma Theologica, Ia-IIae, Q. 97 A. 2Photo by Thays Orrico on Unsplash In this piece…– What is tradition?– Can abandoned or forbidden practices be …
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L’Abbé Henry Essex Edgeworth, Louis XVI’s heroic Anglo-Irish confessor
“I am the priest whom he intends to prepare him for death.”
How should we behave towards those whom we think are in error? Fr A. Vermeersch, 1913
“Do not seek the malicious satisfaction of having discovered an additional enemy to the Church.” Editors’ Notes In his Apology, the early Christian writer Tertullian imagined pagans looking at Christians and marvelling at our mutual love: “‘See,’ they say, ‘how they love one another’ – for the pagans themselves are animated by mutual hatred. ‘See …
What is the difference between an excommunicate and an open heretic?
“Such legalistic and positivist ideas are an implicit denial of the visible unity of the Church.” Image: Excommunication of Robert the Pious, Wiki Commons CC In previous parts, building on my review of the Tradivox Catechism series, we saw the following points across three theses: The nature and centrality of the Church’s visible unity of …
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