Traditional Catholicism in America

The following responses to a questionnaire about the state of Tradition in the United States come from people who are in the trenches working to restore and promote the Latin Mass and Catholic Tradition in America. They were compiled by William Heyer, who could have consulted pundits or academics but thought it best to ask those who are fighting every day to restore Tradition in towns and cities, dioceses and families, among friends and parishioners across America. The Latin Mass Society wishes to thank William Heyer of Una Voce Columbus for these interviews, published in our magazine Mass of Ages. The individual interviews can be found here.

The comments given are from the following people to whom William Heyer and Mass of Ages extend their grateful thanks:

(GG) Father George Gabet, Priestly Fraternity of Saint Peter (FSSP), Scranton, Pennsylvania – North American District Superior of the FSSP, and a native of the Midwest.

(MS) Monsignor Michael Schmitz, STD, Chicago, Illinois – Vicar General, US Province of the Institute of Christ the King, Sovereign Priest (ICKSP)

(FP) Father Frank Phillips, CR, Chicago, Illinois – Pastor of St. John Cantius, Chicago, a thriving Traditional parish; Founder of the Society of St John Cantius in 1998, a new canonically-approved priestly association dedicated to the restoration of the sacred through the Roman liturgical traditions within parish ministry.

(MK) Mary Kraychy, Chicago, Illinois – Executive Director of the Coalition in Support of Ecclesia Dei, a non-profit organisation established in 1988 to support John Paul’s Motu Proprio, and a Director on the Board of Una Voce America.

(JR) Doctor John Rao, New York, NY – Chairman of Una Voce America, Director of the Roman Forum founded by Dietrich von Hildebrand in 1968, and Associate Professor of History at St John’s University in New York City.

(PM) Peter Miller, Seattle, Washington State – Founder and Editor of SeattleCatholic.com, a popular online Catholic news source which highlights stories affecting Traditional Catholics around the globe.

(AH) Al Huntz, Buffalo, New York State – Chairman of Una Voce Buffalo, the oldest Una Voce organization in the USA, founded in 1983.

(BM) Brian Mershon, Greenville, South Carolina – Member of Una Voce Greenville, South Carolina who keeps track of Traditional growth in the Carolinas and the south-eastern US.

(JL) Joy Lafranchi, Orange County, California – Board member of Una Voce Orange County, California, a vibrant chapter sponsoring frequent lectures with guests such as Bishop Rifan which attract hundreds for each event.

Let us first define Tradition. By Tradition, we mean those principles, whether devotional, liturgical or cultural, which apply to the Roman Catholic Church and which were in existence prior to the changes brought about after the Second Vatican Council, and which are now being restored either by the laity, by a priest or bishop, or by the Vatican. At the pinnacle of Tradition under this definition is the Mass of St Pius V and all the devotions, rubrics, and Catholic cultural elements surrounding this Mass. This would naturally include the Church’s sacred music tradition of Gregorian chant and sacred polyphony among many other things.

1. With this definition in mind, how would you assess the state of Tradition in the USA today? What have you witnessed that leads you to your conclusions?

(MS) Generally the base for all of that [Tradition] is still very profound in the United States; even if they have partly lost the roots of traditional culture. There is less fear towards Tradition in the US, whereas in Europe there is great fear among the elderly generation towards bringing back some of the traditional lifestyle, in that they may be forced back into things they didn’t like. And then there is a position especially, as you well know, among the clergy that can be very ideological.

I have not found this ideological opposition in the US. My main experience is located in the Midwest but also in the West. On the East Coast, there is perhaps a little less openness but still not that fear of going back as in Europe. Especially in the more Catholic regions of the Midwest but also in other towns in more rural America, there is still a strong residue left of people who have contact with these values, these goods, and also they have a willingness to rediscover them. This willingness I have discovered among many young Americans. There is perhaps a greater gap between those who are very liberal and those who really want to live the tradition, but there is now a great group of young American Catholics who want to discover the treasure of Tradition as you have defined it.

(JR) This depends on what one is comparing things in 2005 against. Compared to 1975, the situation is much better. Compared to 2000, somewhat static, though that should change due to the new Pope. I judge this purely on the basis of the weariness of activists whom I know who have simply been waiting for something, anything, to happen. Also, I think that Tradition in the United States is hampered by political and social factors that are untraditional and have a tremendous influence over orthodox Catholics. These limit their ability to respond fully to the Traditional life.

(JL) I see a huge dichotomy in the state of Tradition in the US. On the one hand, I see thoroughly modernist parishes grudgingly incorporating Latin back into the Novus Ordo Mass, some of the traditional Latin hymns and sacred polyphony making appearances, and processions taking place, which was unheard of even ten years ago. I also know that every month there are new Indults being granted in dioceses all over the US. On the other hand, I see the Mass of the Ages being suppressed in areas where it previously flourished, or being granted with impossible caveats. Altogether, I would say it is a very mixed bag.

(AH) Well, I think it’s in good shape. We’ve made a lot of progress. For a lot of people, they may think it’s slow, but I’m encouraged. I’ve been at this since 1976 so I know what it was like before the Indult. I never thought I would see an Indult. I had given up all hope.

2. Please provide statistics from your parish, priestly order or diocese on the growth or decline of Tradition, particularly in the past twenty years.

(GG) The FSSP have priests permanently stationed in twenty-three dioceses of North America, for a total of twenty-four apostolates in the US and Canada, where at least one priest resides and offers daily Mass. This does not include the missions to which we travel on a periodical basis – either every week on Sundays or on certain Sundays of each month. We also operate St Gregory’s Academy, a boarding school with currently sixty-three boys. Some of our churches have their own schools attached to them as well.

(MS) In the last few years the Institute of Christ the King has had what I would define as an overwhelming growth because you know that we are a relatively young group and for a long time we have been concentrating on Europe and our work there is growing, too. We currently have eight priests in the US, sixty seminarians in all, 45-50 in seminary, ten in different houses of which seven are American. Relatively speaking I would say the US is where we now grow the most and we have been very blessed by important apostolates here in the past two years. We have been called to Chicago, St Louis and most recently to Oakland, among other apostolates in Illinois and Wisconsin. We have halted a little bit because we do not want to accelerate past the training of our seminarians. Also, we have been blessed with a very good growing group of American seminarians.

(BM) Being in the heart of the Bible Belt, the number of Catholics has tripled since my family moved here twelve years ago. While still only about three per cent of the state’s total population, Catholics in Greenville, South Carolina are upward of ten per cent. This has been caused by many transplants from the North, as well as immigrants from Mexico, Latin America and Asia. Significantly, many of our younger priests and seminarians are converts from Protestantism and other religions. The Holy Ghost seems to be working in the heart of the Bible Belt by preparing these young men prior to their coming to full conversion in the one, true Faith. And these young men are all interested in the classical Roman Rite. The younger they are, the more interested and devout they seem to be with respect to ancient customs, devotions and the Roman liturgy. Even those young men who are considering formation in the diocesan seminary are regular attendees at the twice-per-month Traditional Latin Mass.

(FP) Our society of priests is stationed at St John Cantius in Chicago and St Peter in Volo, Illinois, which also has the Traditional Mass. Presently we have five priests of the Society, one brother, two seminarians, four novices, and six candidates who entered in June of this year. All these men are residing at St John’s.

(PM) In the Archdiocese of Seattle, after years of outright refusal to entertain the notion, the bishop has approved a weekly Latin Mass under the terms of the Ecclesia Dei Indult. Although there are a number of difficulties with the situation and location, after a few short years, the chapel where Mass is celebrated is regularly filled to capacity. Like other Traditional Mass locations around the country, the demographics reveal that those attending the Latin Mass are not just the elderly, nostalgic for the Mass of their youth. The chapel is filled with people too young to remember the Mass before Vatican II but old enough to ascertain the emptiness and irreverence of most modern liturgies.

3. The laity, since the changes brought about after Vatican II, has become less aware of Tradition or simply does not know Church history and teaching regarding Tradition. What are you doing, and what can the Church in the US do, to improve knowledge of Tradition, its validity and great value?

(GG) More and more bishops are allowing the FSSP in their dioceses to celebrate not only the Mass in the Traditional Rite, but also to have an entire community life for the faithful, so necessary for a successful apostolate. Along with celebrating Mass and dispensing the Sacraments, we offer catechism and adult education classes. In some places we teach at the different academies; we offer a community atmosphere to the faithful, where many of them like to spend time socialising with each other and to enable their children to play together. This is indeed vital for any church. For, in this way, people who share the same values and traditions are able to communicate with one another and grow in these traditions, under the watchful eye and direction of the Fraternity priests.

(FP) Let me start in the middle: “…simply doesn’t know Church history…” One hundred per cent, I would say. It’s just not taught. Without knowing the historical roots of the Church, we find that we don’t know Tradition as well. “Less aware”? I would say totally ignorant of Tradition. Here’s why I say that. Many times when I have young people come here for Mass or if they are preparing for marriage, and we tell them things like co-habitation is a sin, they say, “Oh, no one ever told us that.” Or they’ll come to the High Mass and hear the Chant or polyphony and say, “Is this the music of the Church? Why were we never taught this?” So I think what it also goes to show is that the catechetical formation and the liturgical formation go hand-in-hand. Today, there is a total severance of these two. But people are finding out more and more what the Church teaches and that includes its traditions.

“What are you doing?” Here we have a great musical tradition; the art of the church, the preservation of sacred vestments, vessels, keeping things in order and good repair, that’s all important. And then we provide foundation in the homilies, but also in classes. Just a few weeks ago, I offered a class in how to use the traditional hand Missal. It was a five week class and there were 74-80 people each class. Our parish has a Latin and Greek language program with about 160 students. We also have a children’s choir with over 100 children, so they are learning Gregorian Chant, sacred polyphony. The other thing we concentrate on is confession. We had four confessionals in our church and I got rid of them. Now we have six. We average 4-500 confessions every Sunday. They begin at about 7.00 am and finish before Vespers.

(JR) I run the Roman Forum, which provides systematic teaching in Catholic culture, both in Italy and in New York City. More of this has to be done, both on the private level and for seminaries, where historical training is usually abominable.

(JL) Una Voce Orange County annually sponsors conferences, featuring well-known speakers, to educate Traditional and non-Traditional faithful alike in Tradition and traditional Catholic teachings. Our topics have included Obedience, the Virtues, the Passion of Christ, the Eucharist, Gregorian Chant, and our upcoming September conference, Church Architecture. Other topics have included world history from a Catholic perspective, Evolution, and Apostolic Administrations, featuring His Excellency Bishop Fernando Areas Rifan. In addition to conferences, UVOC sponsors pilgrimages within the diocese and to France; processions, both Marian and Eucharistic; and retreats with traditional themes. We find that many Novus Ordo Catholics who are observant are unaware of the rich history of the Church. Our experience has been that these Catholics are delighted to find the truth about their Church, and appreciate the opportunity to learn and use the devotions given to us through the ages.

(MS) What we do in the Institute of Christ the King is try to train well and profoundly our seminarians. Also, to develop a deep love of the Church and the Hierarchy, but we also try to get the laity to have a larger image of Tradition. Our founder, Mgr Gilles Wach, puts it like this: “The Mass is like a gem. It needs a beautiful setting.” You have perhaps heard that we have been called to restore churches in the United States and we are just now doing that in Chicago at the future shrine of the Divine Mercy. But we also immerse our seminarians, our priests, and also the lay faithful attached to the Traditional Latin Mass, into a large view of what Tradition is. That it is knowledge, that it is beauty, that it is art, that it is music, and that it is doctrine, and, on a certain level, also a traditional feeling to give this, I would say, total package. That is what we try to do in our apostolate. Also, by many times inviting people to table to show them how a traditional table in a family could look like. In Rockford every year we have a seminar, we have a Triduum and talks in Wausau, and our priests try to deepen this sense of Tradition everywhere we go.

4. How do you deal with Americans who were abused or shunned because of their questioning of changes after the Council, and, how do you defend Tradition against Americans who fight to keep Tradition away from the Church? What good has come from your confrontations?

(MK) Without the grace to see the necessity for Tradition, no amount of words will have any good ending. I certainly try not to be confrontational because I have learned it’s a great waste of time and energy; energy which is extended better elsewhere.

(AH) I use myself as an example. If I can stick it out…you know, I was with the independents from 1976 to 1984 and I left. People here get fed up and want to leave and go to the Society of St Pius X (SSPX). I say, you can’t do that. If you just reflect on what Our Lord went through in the Passion – if He could do that, what we’re going through is like a dry crucifixion. “It is one thing to suffer for the Church, it is a far harder thing to have to suffer by the Church” (Charles de Foucauld). And, you know, really we are no better off today in Buffalo than we were when the Indult started. The numbers are the same, but we have no sympathetic priest. It’s hard to hold people together. Confrontations? I try to avoid any.

(MS) The Institute of Christ the king has the Salesian spirituality. You have to cook the truth in charity until it tastes sweet. And we try to heal people by showing them that the spirit of negativity or polemic does not bring us a step further. We try to show them that you can live the Tradition in our places and around us in a very broad way and that we take care of the difficulties that may arise by doing that. So, I hope we create spaces where everyone who wants to live the Catholic traditions feels protected spiritually, theologically and also on a human level. Confrontations? We have always seen in France, where these confrontations can be very hard, that it is true that you catch more flies with a drop of honey than with a barrel of vinegar; and especially with the clergy. The apostolate of the table, of a nice agreeable gathering, makes it easier to speak even about controversial things; to create first an atmosphere of mutual esteem before you discuss the truths and the politics. We have been successful in approaching many priests, even lay people very far from the Faith, in that way. For instance, in Wausau, Wisconsin the mayor of the town and the architect who helped us to renovate our church both converted to the Catholic Faith.

(FP) When I come across people who are antagonistic towards the traditions, I just invite them to the church. And they may be very hostile, but once they are immersed in the mystery of the Mass, they just keep coming back. This happens all the time. So much of the turbulent 1970s was given over to personal conscience without correct formation, so, “As long as I don’t hurt anyone, as long as I’m not bothering anyone, it’s all fine.” Well, you see, there’s a higher Authority. And that’s what I think we’ve lost.

5. There are many factions within Tradition in the US toda,y including some that are seen as being outside of the Church. Have there been efforts among them that you consider positive and helpful for Tradition?

(MK) Not as organisations or groups, but as individuals, yes. An interesting thing happened in Chicago. There has been for a long time an SSPX chapel in Oak Park and they fly in a priest. And after the Indult Traditional Mass had been going on at St John Cantius for maybe a year, suddenly on the Feast of the Immaculate Conception a whole group of new people appeared in the church and there were enough of them to make it quite obvious. They were new and sort of stuck together. Well it turns out they came from the SSPX and I’ve got to know some of them through the years. At first we held back and didn’t want to say the wrong thing and alienate them, but we gradually got to know them.

(BM) I believe the SSPX serves a vital and necessary role, especially in the United States and Western Europe, in order to keep many of the modernist bishops honest. However, I do believe that Pope Benedict XVI will do everything he can to practice true ecumenism by aiding a reconciliation with the SSPX. Bishop Fellay and Fr Fullerton (Superior General, SSPX, and US Superior respectively) are both sharp priests and have solid formation and spirituality. If the SSPX were to reconcile, I believe many more laity would come to Tradition much more quickly. And I am sure this will cause a stir in the modernist dioceses, but the time is ripe. We could use 500 more priests for Tradition. And in my limited experience, as Cardinal Hoyos said to three SSPX bishops who joined him for dinner in 2000, “I detect no heretical doctrines nor schismatic attitudes among you.”

(PM) Oddly, I find that attacks against Tradition come not from the liberal and heterodox, but from those referred to as “conservative” Catholics. While liberal Catholics tend to ignore those fighting for Tradition or downplay their significance, Catholics who follow the teaching of the Church and are loyal to the Holy Father seem to have an ax to grind with Traditionalists. I find that patience is the best way to deal with such confrontations. Typically, Traditionalists are lambasted more for what they are thought to believe than what they actually do. Once a critic can be shown that you don’t live up to the ugly caricature they had imagined, it can be somewhat disarming.

6. The survival of the Traditional Movement in America depends on the Catholic youth. Is youth catching on? What evidence can you give?

(GG) In most of the FSSP’s apostolates, there are large numbers of young families. Some of the parents have never seen the Traditional Roman Rite before coming to us, but their children have since been baptised, received First Holy Communion and been confirmed in this rite. Yet, even more importantly, they were adequately prepared by proper catechesis before receiving these Sacraments. They know their prayers (especially the Rosary), the Ten Commandments, the Seven Sacraments, the Gifts of the Holy Ghost. We have altar boys who see in the service at the altar a stepping stone to one day offering the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass themselves as priests. Many of the young ladies are learning Gregorian Chant and the beautiful polyphony. We have seen some of them enter the convent, especially in the contemplative orders, becoming spouses of Our Lord, while others have gone to teach catechism in the classroom and at home to their own children. Even though these young people of ours are not a majority in society, they can have a positive impact on the Church in the future.

Homeschooling is a further blessing attached to the Traditional movement. Since the whole reason for worshipping God for these families by attending the Traditional liturgy is their desire of giving God all He deserves through the respect and the reverence of the rites and ceremonies, the beauty and the music, these families understand that this should not stop at Mass but rather permeate their whole lives. The parents, knowing that God is to be always worshipped and loved, rightly feel the necessity to take their little ones out of conventional schools, even Catholic schools, which often propose an entire view of life at odds with the traditional Catholic Faith.

(JR) Youthful priests and students have been a great source of hope. There are very many young priests and seminarians who are eager to support the Traditional Movement and say the Traditional Mass. As for students, I can safely say that all of the serious students whom I have taught immediately understand why I am a Traditionalist. Recently, I gave a lecture for the graduate student organisation at the Catholic University of America. I was stunned by how many of them are Traditionalists or Traditionalist supporters.

(BM) We have three parishes in the Greenville area that are about as good as the Novus Ordo gets in our country; but don’t worry. Slowly, but surely, the Holy Ghost is working on their sons and helping bring the parents to Tradition. In fact, we have had more than twenty young men each year attend our Traditional Latin Mass Altar Serving Camp in Sullivan’s Island, South Carolina. We have attracted the very young to many high school and college-age young men each year. We expect this year’s turnout to be even better, and I have already received phone calls from new people around the state interested in joining us. “If you build it, they will come. It is happening, of all places, in the buckle of the Bible Belt.

(AH) Oh definitely. That’s the brightest star in the Traditionalist camp. At least half of our Indult community is youth. These kids have a good basis. In some cases, when you’re in a parish like mine (and I know a lot of Indult communities are like this), the priest is almost hostile even to the youth. It hurts us. The kids are caught in the middle. We have fourteen altar boys and they hear the same things we hear from the priest. On the way home from Mass they have to listen to mum and dad harping on about the priest. And they sit there quietly and don’t say anything. But these kids, if they leave, will come back. They move on, go to college, get married, and then come back. They’ll return and have children and raise them with the Traditional Mass. It is what I am seeing already. We just need to have a sense of parish somehow. It’s the only way in the long run that we will survive. I’m getting tired and it has been my whole life, this struggle. You never get away from it.

(JL) Among the Latin Mass devotees are many young people who are inspired to try vocations. We saw the largest number of these at St Mary’s by the Sea in Huntington Beach, California before the Indult Mass was suppressed. Now, there are no young people left there who are considering the religious life. At the other two Latin Mass locations here, there are several young people who are in various stages of discernment and preparation. Contrast that with our local Novus Ordo parish, which has a congregation of over 3,000 families, and there is only one young woman considering religious life.

(FP) They are. The young people are having large families so there’s the future of the Church. They’re interested in promoting the Catholic Faith and Catholic teaching; they are interested in becoming saints. People are showing that they are yearning for more than just what the secular world has given them.

7. Even the editors of the neo-conservative This Rock magazine had to agree that Traditionalist families are quite possibly the future of the Church in America (June, 2000). Do you agree? What evidence can you give?

(MK) Yes. Definitely; a growing percentage. The opponents of Tradition are getting older and dying off. I think as far as conservative priests or laity warning their congregations not to attend the Tridentine Mass are concerened, it’s a turf war. They’re worried about their collection baskets.

(PM) It is not uncommon to walk into a Latin Mass and find pews full of young families. Mine is one of them. In what will surely be seen as one of the ironies of Church history, the liturgical revolution that attempted to make the Catholic Mass more “accessible” to modern man is being increasingly rejected by the next generation of American Catholics who have discovered the rich heritage of which they have been robbed.

(MS) At least according to my experience it seems so, because Traditional parents are the only ones who are having children; and many of them, fortunately. So we see in many of our apostolates here and in France and everywhere else many, many children and many vocations and so that is really the future not only for us but also for the whole Church. And we foster that by helping these families.

(FP) Father John Hardon used to say that it is a fact, that Traditional families are the future of the Church. The young parents who are of a Traditionalist nature are having large families. And with these large families comes a generosity towards vocations. So, from the Traditionalist families we’ll see more priests, brothers, numerous sisters, and new communities forming and old communities being taken over and re-founded.

William Heyer is Chairman of Una Voce Columbus, Ohio, a practicing traditional architect, and father of three children (soon to be four).

[Taken from the Latin Mass Society's August 2005 Newsletter.]