Have I turned anti-trad cath?

on my latest NCR piece

I wrote for the National Catholic Reporter about trad caths—again. It’s the third of my pieces for the site on the topic. Unlike the first two, this one was less generous, and got a lot of flack on X (even more flack than the allegedly “homophobic” one I published in First Things two day later!).

Here are some additional thoughts and clarifications:

• In 2020, our friend

  Țara Isabella Burton
  wrote about “weird Christianity” in the NYTimes, which gave visibility to the trad cath scene, inspiring many subsequent think pieces. One appeared in NCR by an older, rather liberal writer, which was rather dismissive of younger trads. I submitted a piece to NCR, attempting to gently defend the trend. I later wrote a piece for them about how Latin Mass attracts not only reactionary ideologues, but also “marginalized” and “misunderstood” folk—namely gays, autists, and those disillusioned with the assimilated suburban bourgeois ethos that has taken over many a Novus Ordo Mass.

  I went on to write several other pieces (here and here, and several more on this Substack) defending Latin Mass and trads, but never hiding my reservations about how ideological people who flock to it can be. I decided it was time to write a piece about these reservations.

• I acknowledge that it was inflammatory, perhaps even uncharitable.¹ A dear friend raised the concern that it sounded like a blanket condemnation of all trads. And I should’ve made it clearer that this wasn’t my intention. As someone who has been in and out of trad circles for 12 years, I’ve met plenty of great people…which is why I felt the need to write several defenses of trads (which very few trads ever thanked me for…but you best believe they had some choice words for me this one time I was critical of them!).

  I also want to emphasize that my criticism was coming from “the inside.” Many of my objections are based on things I’ve noticed myself thinking and doing while at TLM. I am not innocent here. And I still do go to TLM—and even receive on the tongue!—sometimes. But I can’t deny that I’m seeing this negative energy become the norm more and more in trad circles, thus why I felt the need to follow up my positive pieces with a critical one.

• I want to make it clear that I do think Pope Francis is in part responsible for exacerbating the ideological, oppositional fervor of trad communities. He thought that his motu propio would curb the nasty stuff going on in these communities, but it had the inverse effect. Francis seems to understand that telling the gays that sodomy is evil is not going to make them want to give their lives to Christ, thus why he’s used such a welcoming tone with them. Why not try the same approach with the trads? Major cognitive dissonance, which sadly seems to characterize much of his papacy (I still love—and obey—him, tho).

  And of course, I acknowledge that my piece probably will have the same effect on many trads, making them more determined that they are right and that people who criticize them are wrong. Mea culpa. I do pray that it does provoke them to question their intentions when sticking out their tongues for communion—the same why I try to do…

• A clarification on the alternatives I proposed:

  • I don’t think people should stop going to TLM—again, I think we should question our intentions if we choose to go.

  • I mentioned ethnic parishes/Masses as an alternative way to tap into tradition—a tradition that’s living and organic, and not stale and artificial. I felt this strongly while attending the feast of Guadalupe at the shrine on 14th Street. The celebration is extremely traditional—in the truest sense of the word. It is something that has been passed down from generation to generation. It is alive, vibrant, and full of faith and devotion. Really, you can see the depth of piety on the faces of the people wrapped around the block at 11:30 pm in the freezing cold (even in snow and rain) to go to Mass. Please go, it’s a magical experience.

    cracksinpomo

    

    A post shared by @cracksinpomo

  • I feel the same way when going to Italian Mass and Italian saint feasts in Newark and Brooklyn—again, a tradition that wasn’t made up by someone but that has been passed down through the ages. Or when I went last week to the Gospel Mass at St. Charles Borromeo in Harlem…seriously, Gospel music was passed down from the enslaved people through the generations, communicating their faith and hope in God in the midst of horrible suffering. Much more inspiring than curmudgeonly traditionalists.

    cracksinpomo

    

    A post shared by @cracksinpomo

  • I also mentioned how lay movements (CL, Neocats, Focolare, Sant’Egidio) are both doctrinally orthodox and very lively, missionary, and communal. I have a lot of hope for lay movements (as well as reservations, which I’ve written about here). But think people should really consider getting involved in them. (The liturgies in these communities tend to suck…except with the Neocats, for whom liturgy is a key part of their charism, and who might be the only community that seems to have applied Vatican 2’s liturgical reforms correctly).

  • And I didn’t mention this, but I also think going to a parish tied to a religious order (or better yet, joining one) is a great way to tap into a living tradition.

  • Lastly, I’ve mentioned elsewhere how Byzantine liturgies are deeply traditional but tend to be devoid of the ideological charge you find at TLMs (unless, of course, you’re an orthobro). But sadly, I’ve been seeing the same thing that happens to Novus Ordo Masses happen to Byzantine liturgies: when these communities move to the suburbs, they start assimilating, losing their ethnic aura, which ends up infiltrating the liturgy with the disenchanted, atomized, uprooted, bourgeois ethos that is part and parcel of living in the suburbs. They start falling into the trap Paglia warned about in her interview with America Magazine, where the priest panders to the flock like a PR agent, and the music is sapped of its enchanted feel. This is why I prefer going to Melkite/Greek Orthodox divine liturgy in the Brooklyn or Queens, rather than in Jerz.

Anyway, we love our trad followers. We love Latin Mass. Please take our critiques (and especially our trolling bit) with a grain of salt.

1. Those who are familiar with my work know that I do this bitchy/ironic/sarcastic bit, which is coming less from a place of uncharity, but rather of playfulness and humor. Of course I could—and should—be more charitable, just as I should do a lot of things that I don’t. But again, it’s a bit, and taken within the context of my web presence, I hope that people understand what I’m trying to accomplish when using this tone. Someone’s gotta play the troll/court jester. Also, it’s one thing if you tag me in your tweet wanting to engage in a rational debate about your disagreements. If you do that, I will gladly engage. If you tag me hurling ad hominems, I’m going to troll you. Is that charitable of me? No. But it’s fun!