Can Catholics Oppose Traditionalism?

Employing “traditionalism” as a pejorative term while retaining a respect for tradition and even some traditionalists is at best confusing.

Naturally the piece I recently wrote for Crisis, “Modern Catholic Recovery Conference,” provoked wildly different responses. Some who fully endorsed my expressions of distress at so many lamentable elements in the modern church were almost giddy with delight at my humorous proposals. Others misconstrued my purpose and thought I was mocking the TradRecovery conference in spite of the fact that I mentioned it only in the opening paragraph and there gave my support for attempts to heal those who have been harmed by traditionalist communities. 

The thought of a conference directed towards Catholics who have left the Church because of “traditionalism” led me to ponder the need for a conference for those who have been harmed by the modernistic Church of the last 60 years or so—which spans my adult years in the Church. I alluded to a lot of horror stories from these years, and unfortunately the horror stories are not abating (although some things, like the Novus Ordo liturgy, have improved in many places). 

My proposal for a healing conference was largely playful (yet based on serious matters), but some have genuinely argued that healing for those of us who have lived through the hey days of liturgical abuse, theological dissent, sexual abuse and cover-up, and (to put it mildly) the myriad of curiosities that currently come out of Rome on a regular basis is very much needed. 

Read the full article at Crisis Magazine.