One of the most generous and helpful ecumenical stances the Roman Church has taken in the last few decades is giving the benefit of the doubt to other apostolic churches on their canonizations. John Paul II had no problem referring to post-schism Russian saints like the great Seraphim of Sarov as “Saint.” And Pope Francis … Continue reading
The Ordinariates established by the late Pope Benedict XVI after 2009 for those coming from the broader Anglican tradition who wanted to reconcile with the Catholic Church came with a lofty and historically precarious mission: to effect a reconciliation that was not in the old tonality of the despising and complete abandonment of one’s previous … Continue reading
On May 2, 2024, the memorial of St. Athanasius of Alexandria (in both the old and current Roman rite), a small coterie of traditionalist scholars published yet another public accusation of formal heresy against Pope Francis, calling for his immediate resignation, or absent that, his deposition by the College of Cardinals and bishops. You can … Continue reading
I was talking to a Protestant friend recently about how he was “still on the hunt for a Protestant liturgical church,” when I responded, half-tongue-in-cheek, that he should perhaps give contemporary Catholicism and the current Roman rite a fair shake and may find the “liturgical Protestantism” he’s looking for. He said, “NEVER!” — because the … Continue reading
I have noticed an increasingly recurring trope in recent self-styled Roman Catholic “Trad” material of late. It is a tellingly defensive dig against the Orthodox Churches, and a disclaimer that “of course” the trad author or speaker in question is not advocating an “Eastern Orthodox ecclesiology,” which is supposedly showing its bankruptcy, because certain local … Continue reading
I have started reading a very interesting book by a 17th-century Dutch Reformed scholar and professor of ancient history, Campegius “Kempe” Vitringa, Sr. (1659-1722), titled “Ancient Roots for Reformed Polity: De Synagoga Vetere and the Ecclesiology of the Early Church – An Annotated Compendium.” It is a modern (2020) English translation and abridgment of his … Continue reading
Tom's Digest 