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A publication of
Traditional Catholics of America, Inc. Vol. I, No. 2
Editor: Fr. Francis E. Fenton, STL March 1, 1980
-R. Lance Lohr
Saint Athanasius, the patron of this newsletter, was one day playing near the sea with some
is one of the several saints of the Church who chums. Unknown to them they were being ob-
suffered trials that have become all too common served by Archbishop Alexander of their
over the past fifteen years or so to tradtional town. The boys were playing "church" and
Catholics around world, bishops, priests and Athanasius, in role of a priest, was
lay people. A Doctor of the Church, St. "baptizing" them in turn. The Archbishop upon
Athanasius bears the glorious title: "Champion seeing this was not at all scandalized. He sent
of Orthodoxy." The famous convert to the them and, in questioning Athanasius, he was
Church, John Henry Cardinal Newman, de- amazed at the boy's faith and intellect.
scribes him as a "principal instrument after the that time on Alexander supervised his education
Apostles by which the sacred truths of Christi~ and eventually made the young man Athanasius
anity have been conveyed and secured to his personal secretary.
the world."
Athanasius was born at the end of the third
For most Catholics of the last two generations century the greatest center of Graeco-Rornan
"orthodoxy" has been a difficult to under- scholarship of that age, Alexandria in
stand. Most of us have up associating it the most cosmopolitan city in the
with the various Orthodox Churches, those Empire, was tile c.enter of "philosophizing
Eastern sects that have a Mass and Sacra- Christianity." He thrived in this atmosphere and,
but are nonetheless schismatic. Well, after what was most likely a thorough classical
being schismatic makes one far from orthodox. education, began preparation for the priesthood.
for an appropriate definition for should not misled into thinking that
is essential to understand- Athanasius was just an intellectual. While ser-
ing St. the most appropriate one ving as Archbishop Alexander's secretary
was penned by a It was written by came to know holy hermit of the Egyptian
an independent-thinking Protestant who desert, Anthony. It is probably
appears to have differed from most of his fellow Anthony's influence that Athanasius became an
heretics by being optimistic about man, ascetic, which led him to seek refuge among the
his nature and his future. A contemporary desert monks during several exiles for the Faith.
scholar, Merrill Root wrote:
Athanasius must have very early become de-
" … orthodoxy simply means "straight voted to the study of the central mystery of the
thought"; it means that one does not con- Faith – Incarnation. While still a deacon
form, but confirms … the laws rules wrote "Adversum Gentes Duo Libri", works of
set in Nature by the absolutes and Faith and intellect defending belief in the
eternals reality." ity of Jesus Christ. Continued on page 3
Truer words cou not apply to St. Athanasius, Subscription Envelopes
the confirmation of straight thought being his If a subscription envelope is enclosed with
life's work and the wellspring of his sanctity. this issue of the newsletter, it means that the
Tradition tells that the young boy, Athanasius, recipient's subscription is due for renewal.
H's Still Heresy –
R LIGIOUS INDIFFERENTISM
-Father Francis E. Fenton
"We all worship the same God"; "we're all on dif- though, unique among all the world's religions,
ferent roads that lead to the same place"; "it's certain obligations are incumbent upon its
deeds not creeds that count". These are a few of members as a consequence of this. Regardless
the sayings expressive the false doctrine of of the circumstances, a Catholic, for example,
religious indifferentism, that doctrine which may never verbally deny that he is a Catholic nor
holds that all religions are equal and ac- take any public action which is equivalent to a
ceptable before God. Because practice of denial of the Faith. An instance the latter
religious indifferentism is becoming ever would participating a Protestant com-
creasingly widespread respectable among munion service. Another would be a priest con-
the clergy and laity of Conci! Church, the celebrating a Protestant minister a
subject well warrants the attention of traditional testant religious service. Although Church law
Roman Catholics. forbids it, Pope John Paul II actively participated
in the Eastern Orthodox Liturgy when visited
Religious indifferentism in a word, heresy for Turkey some months ago. There are situations
it an One Church. If too where a gravely bound to
all religions are equally good, then the of or
Roman Catholic Church is no better, – while a
tially no different, than or I the
it is ly I or no
son so
honestly is a
the doctrines of
example, in the
rejected
What a
then, on
of mor-
he
a colos-
have given
the cen-
testimony the when,
according to advocates and practitioners of
religious indifferentism, it's quite insignificant But only is denial the forbidden,
to what Church one belongs or religious whether by word, action or omission, but also
creed, if any, one accepts! the saying or doing of anything which implies, or
might reasonably convey the impression of, a
"For this was I born, and for this came I into the denial of the Faith or of the One True Church.
world, that I should give testimony to the truth" For a Catholic to say, then, either in so many
(John 18, 37) – so spoke the Son of God to words or in effect, that one religion is just as
Pilate on Good Friday. The contention that one good as another is a clearly implicit denial the
religion is just a good as another makes a mock- Roman ic Church as the One
ery of truth, in this case, divine truth, and contra- · Church. same holds true of any on
dicts the record of history as well. (It was the the part of a Catholic, be he priest or layman,
tinguished convert from Anglicanism, John Car- which could readily give the impression that all
dinal Newman, who stated that "to be deep in religions are equally good and acceptable
history is to cease to be a Protestant"). God. Any Catholic worthy of the name knows
and believes, unless his religious education has
To present the standard proofs that the Roman been woefully deficient, that, among all the reli-
Catholic Church is the One True Church is be- gions and denominations and sects in the world,
yond the scope of this article. That is here taken there it but One True Church – and that is the
for granted. Because it is the One True Church, Roman Catholic Church. That being understood,
Continued on page 7
2
Athanasius Continued from page 1
Instead of Athanasius' brother bishops rallying
to the Faith they fell to the political pressure of
But not all clerics under Alexander had this Arianism. Even Pope Liberius himself turned on
same devotion. About the year 323 a priest Athanasius and collaborated with the heretics.
named Arius began teaching that Jesus was not Remember, we are writing of the denial of the
eternal but created in time by the Father. He was divinity of Jesus Christ!
condemned by the Bishop of Alexandria and
later by a Council of Egyptian bishops. Athanasius Of course this is similar to our own time when
composed the official letter announcing Arius' the traditional theological arguments are almost
condemnation. Arius was not so easily subdued, completely ignored and a contrived charge of
however, and gained the support of the Bishop disobedience is being used to deny official hear-
of Nicomedia. He also appealed to various dis- ing of our position. Politics prevails and the
sident religious and political factions in and out- Faith suffers.
side Egypt.
What Athanasius witnessed has repeated itself
The student of this heresy should fully realize time and again in the history of the Church. But
that the complex theological debate associated our century and in particular the post-Vatican II
with Arianism was really quite secondary. This era has no historical peer. Pope Pius X saw this
pervasive heresy was not nurtured or spread by "intrigue" as a conspiracy of theologians (here-
religious argument at all. tics) who refused to submit to the authority of
the Church. He wrote in Pascendi, his work on
" … the prestige of Arianism never lay in its Modernism:
ideas. From whatever school it may be
logically derived, the sect, as a sect, was Their own partisans shower the Modernists
cradled and nurtured in intrigue. Save in with inordinate, never-ending eulogies and
some few instances … , its prophets relied they greet their books, which teem with in-
more on curial influence than upon piety, or novations from beginning to end, with loud
Scriptural knowledge, or dialectics." applause; the more boldly one knocks down
anything old and rejects tradition and
(Catholic Encyclopedia) ecclesiastic doctrine, the more learned he
is considered to be; and when one of them
Even though the Council of Nicaea, at which is finally condemned by the Church, he is
Athanasius was present, reaffirmed Arius' con- not only, to the horror of all good Catholics,
demnation and produced that beautiful profes- loudly and publicly praised by a whole
sion of Faith, the Nicene Creed, politics horde of admirers but also practically ven-
eventually and for quite some time prevailed. erated as a martyr of the truth.
When Alexander died he named the young We have not seen solely legitimate theological
Athanasius as his successor to the See of dispute over the past decade but, increasingly,
Alexandria. Meanwhile in 330 Arius' ally, Bishop the actual popularization of heresy – with the
Eusebius, appealed to the Roman Emperor to Vatican remaining silent, at best, during the past
pressure Athanasius to reinstate Arius. Of twenty years, in the face of this onslaught.
course, the new bishop refused.
In 340 Athanasius issued a circular letter to all
Intrigue followed intrigue as the Arians spread his fellow bishops. Distraught by the advance of
calumny after calumny. Athanasius was Arianism and the condition of the Church
accused of stealing food for widows and or- he wrote:
phans, destroying a chalice, murder, and even
fostering treason against the emperor. Butler What we have suffered is terrible and quite
reports in his classic The Lives of the Saints that intolerable; … the whole Church is suf-
Athanasius was banished five times and spent fering injustice, the priesthood has been
seventeen years in exile, once in faraway Gaul. insolently abused – and what is worse –
During these years Alexandria was controlled by the God-fearing persecuted by the god-
the Arians, and the faithful loyal to their exiled less … Today the whole Church is seen
bishop suffered much as their city became the dismembered . . . Let yourselves be scan-
scene of sacrilege and violence. The usurpers dalized, I implore you, not as if we here but
occupied the churches and the positions as if all of you had suffered injustice. Each
of authority. Continued on page 6
3
Immaculate Heart of Mary Chapel
Great Falls, Montana
Rear view of chapel
Close-up of altar and sanctuary
{l ~ A portion of congregation at Mass
Father Jones delivers sermon
"Benedicat vos omnipotens Deus … "
4
LOOKING TO THE FUTURE
-Father Daniel E. Jones
Looking to the future and trying to visualize how appreciation of the Communion of Saints, a love
the priests of the Traditional Catholics of Amer- of truth and a real loyalty in preserving and
ica (TCA) and the lay leaders working with us passing on the deposit of Faith?
might be more effective in our apostolate, I've
decided it might be useful to write down a Yet even though they have the many advantages
few ideas. and blessing of the Faith, a number of
traditional Catholics regrettably fail short of let-
Wherever I travel I find faithful Catholics hungry ting God rule their lives, of living by His Holy
for good leadership and organized direction. Spirit and therefore enjoying and exhibiting the
They want true priests, the true Mass and Sacra- fruits of the Holy Spirit such as charity, joy,
ments. They want effective organization on their peace, patience, etc. For many there is much
local parish level and thirst to see a unified, pro- progress yet to be made in the spiritual life.
ductive, real Catholic apostolate functioning on
a national and international level. A great catalyst in winning converts and in
strengthening the spiritual life of remnant
In the 1970's numerous groups of Catholics Catholics is a unified ministry of faithful priests,
loyal to the Catholic Faith and Tradition came and a well-organized lay apostolate. I think the
into being here and there. Some have found a young TCA can and will help provide a catalyst.
priest to serve them full time, many have a priest It is designed to unify the ministry of the priests
come to them once or twice a month, and others belonging to it. The resulting coordination of
are lucky to see a faithful priest once a year. effort and system of communications which the
TCA will be able to provide to the priests and
Some groups are banded together under the groups associated with it should also greatly
banner of a national organization such as the enhance any present or subsequent organiza-
new Traditional Catholics of America. A con- tion of the lay apostolate.
siderable number of places are simply indepen-
dent, either with or without a priest to serve At St. Jude's Shrine in Houston, some very effec-
them. Some groups are achieving noticeable tive professionally made spot radio announce-
growth, acquiring chapel facilities and in some ments have made many people aware of this
cases setting up private schools. Some are chapel's existence and apostolate. They have a
gaining converts from the Novus Ordo Church superb slide presentation which has made many
and elsewhere, others are having a hard time of their congregation better informed about their
holding their own. faith and more committed to the traditional
Catholic apostolate. A well-organized TCA with
Tens of thousands of Novus Ordo and fallen- sufficient financial backing and a competent,
away Catholics in America and many thousands dedicated headquarters staff could have well-
of non-Catholics are basically well-disposed to made radio or TV spots produced and distri-
the traditional Catholic cause, but, oh, so very buted to any number of chapels, Mass centers,
many do not really know about it or understand or even to groups still waiting for a priest to
what is at stake. They are acquainted with very serve them someday. They could compile and
little if any good Catholic literature, and often send out clear, easy-to-follow instructions with
have no faithful Catholic friends eager to show these taped radio or TV spots, guiding the less
them where the one true Religion is, to guide experienced group leaders in how best to use
them to an understanding of their duties before these spot recordings and how to finance get-
God, and to let them know how they can benefit ting them on the air.
from so many of God's merciful gifts available
primarily and often only within the framework of When that time comes someone in the TCA
the true Church. Except in true Church where headquarters might be assigned to help make
can you find the true offered, the Real Houston's Gary Giuffre slide presentation,
Presence revered, forgiveness sins in the le Missam – Tolle Ecclesiam" into a qual-
fiimstrip distributed and used in
or
Continued on page 6
Athanasius Continued from page 3
Our Lady of Victory Chapel in Aurora, Colorado,
of you should offer his aid as if he himself has an active Altar and Rosary Society providing
were the victim of it. Otherwise the order a source of health, vigor and organizational care
and Faith of the Church may shortly go to within their chapel. Why could not this and other
ruin. For both are threatened if God does "parish" societies be organized here and there
not quickly repair the crimes through your to assist with the various aspects of the
agencies and expiate the injury inflicted on Catholic apostolate? Something organized after
the Church. the spirit and example of the Legion of Mary,
let's say, might just bring about a few miracles
Athanasius' trials, unlike many saints, came to for our cause. In a systematic way – fortified by
an end before his death. And it was not the prayer, sacrifice and solid organization – shut-
bishops or the Pope who restored him to his ins could be visited, good literature distributed,
See. Fearing an insurrection of the faithful in radio and TV stations contacted, converts made
Egypt who were tired of the abuse suffered by and instructed, etc., etc.
themselves and their bishop, the Roman Emper-
or revoked the edict banishing Athanasius. He Surely you can see that much good can be done.
lived in peace for seven years before his death in Will it be done? Will converts be won like they
373. With his return the influence of Arianism should be, and will the spiritual lives of the
slowly declined. faithful remnant be deepened and perfected?
Parish advisors, parish consultors, and lay
While this saint's life ended in triumph and leaders who are already doing very good work
peace, we Catholics have yet to experience such here and there must have help. A broader visible
sweetness. Our condition is more similar to the unity and a more efficient system of communi-
lament of St. Jerome on the Church of cation among the scattered and often isolated
Athanasius' time: "The whole world groaned groups of faithful Catholics seems to be a para-
and marvelled to find itself Arian." It appears mount priority if we all are to become more
that we also will continue to groan for the Faith effective in our so important apostolate.
for some time. Some of us will not be as for-
tunate as St. Athanasius, to taste the victory of The Traditional Catholics of America has come
our struggle before our death. But our quest to into existence these last few months and is or-
revive the failing Church of Jesus Christ will con- ganizing a new base backed by several years of
tinue even if the "many" continue to dwindle. It experience in the traditional Catholic aposto-
is our prayer that the humble efforts of The late. With the spiritual foundation and organized
Athanasian, through its patron, the "Champion united effort that is now taking shape, we do
of Orthodoxy," will contribute to the hope for many substantial good fruits to be
forthcoming from the TCA. May God enlighten
preservation of Catholic orthodoxy and, thereby,
someone among us to come up with a practical
to the greater glory of God and salvation
and effective way to improve the catechetical
of souls. instruction of the younger set in the chapels and
Mass centers associated with us! May Our Lady
show, inspire and guide us so that an effective
Future Continued from page 5
organized arm of the lay apostolate, such as the
Legion of Mary was until the Vatican II Council,
bring about more understanding and dedication may become a reality in the Remnant Church
to the Catholic Church in those who get to of today!
·———-
see it.
At Our Lady of the Rosary traditional chapel in
Rochester, Minnesota, Mr. Ray Sibley frequently
shows inspiring filmstrips on the Rosary, Our
Lady, the Saints, etc. to that portion of the con-
·———
;
J
-··———·
-··——-··t
Mass equests
As of this writing I have a total of 74 Mass requests to be
fulfilled. Since every once in a while one or another tradi-1
t
gregation willing and able to stay at the chapel t tional priest writes to me for Mass stipends, that number t
after one of their twice-monthly Masses. A pot t would not necessitate my refusal of further requests. Not t
wishing to accumulate too sizeable a backlog of Mass .a
luck lunch usually follows each Mass and the t intentions, however, I ask only that those who ask me to l
"education hour" takes place right afterwards.
Why couldn't we round up a supply of these
! offer Mass(es) limit the number of Masses they request to l
tone or two at a time, say, between newsletter issues. I will, ;
quality, inspiring, educational Catholic film- t then, be able to fulfill within a reasonable time the Mass ,.
strips and movies and make them available on a t intentions I receive and also be able to fulfill requests from 3
loan or rental basis to traditional groups? ;:ore individuals. J
WWWW'N'W'IC''llf'"ff'W'llf''lll"R'WWWWWW'H''lf'WW"I
6 6,M,"11&,,N,tiH,,M,,16,M,,M,,H,,,H,,,H,,.a11,—–. . .- – – – – – ·
Editorial Continued from page 2 Christ Himself, its Founder. So forceful and
a Catholic must always and everywhere speak convincing are the arguments for its uniqueness
and act accordingly, never even implicitly con- among all the Churches of the world that untold
veying the erroneous notion that one religion is millions have entered its fold over the course of
just as good as another. Loving our non-Catholic some 19% centuries, included among them
fellow man in Christian charity is one thing; some of the greatest minds of every generation.
explicitly or implicitly condoning his religious
errors is something else. Although we may hold Of the many obligations, then, which being a
this or that non-Catholic high regard for one Catholic entails is the positive one of professing
reason or another, this must not mean approval the Faith when circumstances require it, and the
of his igious errors or the false religion he pro- negative one of never denying the Faith either
fesses. if we are true followers of Christ, it is our explicitly or implicitly. igious indifferentism,
duty to intolerant of and especially of or as it is called today, "ecumenism", is an
error in form of false igions and religious implicit denial of Catholic Church as
beliefs. love relation to our non- the one and only true Church. And so no
..,… ,~ … a ntances consists,
Catholic, however laudable his intentions
tactfully and be, talk or in a manner which even con-
into the veys impression that one religion is as
good as another. This, again, is the of re-
ligious indifferentism. This is, in
"ecumenism" so widely vogue
Ordo Church. Once
American it
scale.
must
it most
of the
to
of
months back
at their annual Not content the vernacular
of the words of the Son of God from "for to
as religious "for all men" at the Consecration of the Mass, the
as "ecumenism" voted three to two in favor of removing the
word "men" altogether. Because of a 213's majority was
a legitimate ecumen-
required for passage the change was but the
led, though, it's ii fact is that well over half of the bishops voted in
was con- favor! "Men," you see, is a "sexist" term! Christ died for
because it was an implicit women too, you know. What, I wonder, will be the next
as the one ridiculous action on the part of the American Novus Ordo
then "ecumenism" bishops? And these men are the successors of the
as condemnable today for the same Apostles?
reason. The difference, of course, is that in the
past all truly Catholic bishops and priests Circuit
believed in the the Church as the Of the fourteen locations listed in the TCA circuit Mass
One True Church as the Mystical Body of schedule on the back page of this newsletter, six of them
have permanent chapels (Aurora, Pueblo and Stratton,
Christ, whereas there are undoubtedly
Colorado; Opelousas, Louisiana; Rochester, Minnesota;
many self-styled priests, and perhaps and Great Falls, Montana). In Virginia,
more than a few such bishops, who simply do acres of land were recently purchased by the traditional
not believe this. another way, the difference Catholics there, and architectural plans are presently
is between logical position on the subject of being drawn for the construction of a chapel in that area.
the real (traditional) Catholic Church and In the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania area too encouraging
equally that progress is being made towards the acquirement of a per-
is no longer it manent traditional chapel by the congregation there.
name. With the one might very Hopefully, the day may not be too far distant when hun-
well indeed be just as good as another. dreds of traditional Roman Catholic chapels will be found
across the length and breadth of the USA, concrete testi-
The Roman Catholic Church is not one of many. mony to the preservation of the Faith despite all efforts of
It is unique. It is the One True Church whose his- its enemies to destroy it.
tory can be traced back to Apostles and to
7
TCA TRADITIONAL LATIN MASS SCHEDULE
8
CALIFORNIA MINNESOTA
PETALUMA (San Francisco area) ROCHESTER
SAINT MARY'S OUR LADY OF THE ROSARY CHAPEL
Hermann Sons Hall 5820 Viola Road. NE
860 Western Ave. (at Webster St.) (507) 282-5163 or 289-8522
(707) 823-3610 or (415) 924-2587 Mass at 11 :00 a.m.:
Mass at 9:00 a.m. (every Sunday) Mar. 9. Mar. 23, Apr. 6
Mass at 10:00 a.m.: Apr. 13
WALNUT CREEK (Oakland area)
OUR LADY OF THE ROSARY MONTANA
Veteran Memorial Hall GREAT FALLS
1250 Locust Street IMMACULATE HEART OF MARY CHAPEL
(415) 837-6499 2020 Second Avenue North
Mass at 11 :30 a.m. (every Sunday) (406) 452-8826
COLORADO Mass at 11 :00 a.m ..
AURORA (Denver area) Mar. 2. Mar. 30. Apr. 6. Apr. 27
OUR LADY OF VICTORY CHAPEL
2566 Sable Boulevard NEW
(303) 321-3683 BUFFALO
Masses at 9 & 11 a.m. (every Sunday) OUR LADY OF THE ROSARY
Weekday Masses at 8:00 a.m. CHARTER HOUSE
5643 Transit Road
DURANGO (NY Thruway Exit 49-near Airport)
OUR LADY OF THE ROSARY (716) 897-3755 or 692-5308
Florida Grange Hall (SE of Durango) Mass at 10:00 a.m. on 1st and 3rd
(303) 884-2878 Sundays of month
Mass at 10:00 a.m.
PENNSYLVANIA
Mar. 30, Apr. 27
ESSINGTON (Philadelphia area)
PUEBLO OUR LADY OF THE ROSARY
IMMACULATE HEART OF MARY CHAPEL Holiday Inn
1406 East 21st Street 45 Industrial Highway
(303) 544-0336 (one mile from airport)
Mass at 10:00 a.m. (215) 328-1348
Mar. 2, Mar. 30, Apr. 20 Mass at 10:00 a.m.:
Mar. 16, Mar. 23, Apr. 13
STRATTON UTAH
OUR LADY OF FATIMA CHAPEL
SALT LAKE CITY
(303) 348-5454
OUR LADY OF PERPETUAL HELP
Mass at 5 00 p.m.: Mar. 30
Hilton Inn
Call for time: Apr. 20
154 West 600 South
LOUISIANA (801) 278-7501
OPELOUSAS (Lafayette area) Mass at 11·00 a.m.: Mar. 9
OUR LADY OF THE ROSARY CHAPEL
Route 1, Box 195
(318) 942-9053 RICHMOND
Mass at 10:30 a.m. on 2nd and 4th OUR LADY OF FATIMA
Sundays of month Jefferson Hotel
Main & Jefferson Streets
NEW ORLEANS (804) 737-8211 or 262-4354
OUR LADY OF SORROWS Mass at 11 :00 a.m.:
Quality Inn Midtown Mar. 9, Mar. 23. Apr. 13, Apr. 27
(504) 454-3449 or 834-0730
Mass at 5:00 p.m. on 2nd and 4th
Sunday_s of month
THE ATHANASIAN
Published by Traditional Catholics of America, Inc.
-Eight issues a year (Jan. 15, Mar. 1, Apr. 15, June 1, July 15, Sept. 1, Oct. 15, Dec. 1)
Subscriptions: -$6.00 per year (via First Cl,iss Mail) for the USA, Canada and Mexico
-$ 7 .00 per year ( via Air Mail) for all other countries
-Bulk orders: -3 copies for $1.00 (minimum order)
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-Mailing address: P.O. Box 6827 -Telephone: (303) 636-1575
Colorado Springs, CO 80934