Tuesday, February 10, 2009

1789 and the SSPX

Unlike many bloggers, I've so far refrained from posting anything about the controversy over Pope Benedict XVI lifting the excommunications of the four bishops of the Society of St. Pius X. While the matter is hardly uninteresting to me, having attended (though without converting) an SSPX chapel for over two years, during which time I even met the now-infamous Bishop Richard Williamson, at this blog I prefer to focus on monarchy. Most readers are probably familiar enough with the SSPX topic that even now I will not be providing a plethora of links or writing as much as I perhaps could, my feelings on the subject being deeply mixed and complicated.

However, while I disagree with almost everything that Catholic neocon George Weigel stands for, this irritating article (via Roman Christendom) indicates that unlike many commentators he at least understands that the SSPX situation is about much more than the Latin mass or the revisionist historical views of Bishop Williamson, though Weigel--being an Americanist with no love for "Altar & Throne"--is on the other side. And his opening paragraph makes it clear that this subject, as dealt with by him, is not really "off-topic" for monarchists.

4 comments:

Aaron Traas said...

Thinking Catholics have no use for Weigel. He simultaneously worships JPII while supporting neocon Americanist government. I really can't wrap my head around someone who believes JPII was the most perfectest man who ever lived, yet supports the Iraq war... JPII, for all his faults, got that one right.

Anonymous said...

Interesting... are you drawn to the beauty of the Traditional Latin Mass?

Theodore Harvey said...

Yes, at least in theory...but it was precisely what I perceived as the SSPX's lack of concern for beauty that, among other things, eventually disillusioned me. I prefer the Institute of Christ the King, which unfortunately has not established itself in Texas.

I cannot stand the attitude of some traditionalists that the mass should always be simple, quiet, and "humble"; I find "Low Mass/Chant-Only" puritanism almost as irritating as the modernism of the Novus Ordo. And there are also some other issues I won't go into here. I now attend and sing in the excellent choir of a relatively conservative Episcopal church and intend to be baptized and confirmed there this spring.

Anonymous said...

Baptized? Well, that's a start.