This writer has written extensively about the late Pope Francis and his war on the traditional Catholic Latin Mass (TLM). His final dig at priests who celebrated TLM was to say they had a 'mental imbalance, emotional deviation, behavioral difficulties,' embracing the socialist tactic of accusing one's opponent of being crazy.
His Traditionis Custodes gave anti-TLM bishops the leverage to shut down TLM in their dioceses, and some -- like Cupich in Chicago and Vigneron in Detroit -- gladly made the most of it, issuing almost total bans on TLM.
Turns out Traditionis Custodes was based on a lie:
Wow. We suspected it and now we know. Traditionis Custodes was based on a flagrant lie. Well done, @dianemontagna https://t.co/paFDQMa2Ps pic.twitter.com/fNCr2DQ6qB
— Damian Thompson (@holysmoke) July 1, 2025
A flagrant lie.
EXCLUSIVE: Official Vatican Report Exposes Major Cracks in Foundation of Traditionis Custodes.
— Diane Montagna (@dianemontagna) July 1, 2025
Previously undisclosed text raises serious questions about the stated rationale for Pope Francis’ decree restricting the TLM. My inaugural article on Substack: https://t.co/em3E9IVpJj pic.twitter.com/ua0DG4S3K1
Here's more from Diane Montagna:
This journalist has obtained the Vatican’s overall assessment of the consultation of bishops that was said to have “prompted” Pope Francis to revoke Summorum Pontificum, Benedict XVI’s 2007 apostolic letter liberalizing the vetus ordo, more commonly known as the 'Traditional Latin Mass' and sacraments.
The previously undisclosed text, which forms a crucial part of the official report by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith on its 2020 consultation of bishops concerning Summorum Pontificum, reveals that 'the majority of bishops who responded to the questionnaire stated that making legislative changes to Summorum Pontificum would cause more harm than good.'
The overall assessment directly contradicts, therefore, the stated rationale for imposing Traditionis Custodes and raises serious questions about its credibility.
When, on July 16, 2021, Pope Francis promulgated Traditionis Custodes, he said the responses to the questionnaire 'reveal a situation that preoccupies and saddens me and persuades me of the need to intervene.'
Do read her entire piece. It's a fantastic work of journalism.
We all knew it was based on a lie -- but it is still shocking that a POPE openly lied to the Bishops and the Faithful.
— Rorate Caeli (@RorateCaeli) July 1, 2025
Repulsive.
Shameful, really.
The timing of this disclosure is interesting. There has always been a suspicion that the results of the questionnaire were manipulated to confirm the prejudices of a minority hostile to the TLM, but it’s startling to see quite how much the overall positivity was airbrushed out.
— Fr Mark Elliott Smith (@MarkElliottSmi1) July 1, 2025
TLM was the normal form of Catholic worship until the 1960s, when those who sought to 'reform' the church did away with it -- and a lot of other pre-Vatican II traditions -- and then ruthlessly enforced those changes.
It is time for this farce to be ended @Pontifex please rescind TC completely
— OMB Reviews (@OMBReviews) July 2, 2025
It needs to be rescinded.
It's done more damage than good.
With Popes like that, what need has the Church for enemies?
— Victor Lams (@victorlams) July 1, 2025
A very good point.
Excellent reporting.
— Carl E. Olson (@carleolson) July 2, 2025
Not shocked. At all. The amount of duplicity, nastiness, ugliness, incompetence, corruption, and general mendacity during the Francis pontificate is, in my view, beyond remarkable. It is scandalous.
And this, in my estimation, is something far too many… https://t.co/9otexCOlsw
The entire post reads:
And this, in my estimation, is something far too many Catholics don't want to consider: Pope Francis and Co. worked long and hard to undermine and damage the pontificates of John Paul II and Benedict XVI, especially in the realms of moral doctrine and liturgy.
This Catholic considered it, because the agenda was obvious.
I’ve thought about this all day. It’s absolutely astonishing. Basically, if true, the prior pontiff lied to billions of Catholics and committed calumny against hundreds of thousands of us. All because he couldn’t stand or believe that bishops and laity enjoyed the Latin Mass. https://t.co/SSBkDBar4G
— TLM Anon ☧ 🇻🇦❤️🔥🇸🇴 (@LPhitney) July 2, 2025
That's the summary.
He lied to us. He smeared us. He ostracized us.
Some shephard of souls.
Well done, @dianemontagna
— Eccles (@BruvverEccles) July 1, 2025
This would have been very embarrassing for Francis if it had come out when he was alive, and if he were capable of being embarrassed by anything. https://t.co/tAzVfAGs8O
There's a reason it didn't come out during his pontificate.
According to this report, Pope Francis lied about the survey of the bishops regarding the TLM and the largely successful and beneficial policy of Summorum Pontificum in order to pursue a new policy that the bishops believed would do more harm than good. May God forgive him. https://t.co/xSqgJbsjCb
— Brian Holdsworth (@briankeepsworth) July 1, 2025
Amen.
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