The author who called the pope ‘a heretic’ to speak at the DC parish tonight

Tonight at 7 p.m., Holy Comforter-Saint Cyprian Catholic Church, a predominantly black parish in southeast Washington, DC, will host a talk by controversial traditionalist speaker Peter Kwasniewski on “Understanding Organic Development in the Catholic Liturgy: distinguish improvements from corruptions. The conference is sponsored by the Paulus Institute, an organization that “was created for the purpose of propagating the Holy Liturgy of the Roman Catholic Church” as it was celebrated before the Second Vatican Council.

Dr. Kwasniewski, author of numerous books and articles, is a well-known advocate for reversing the liturgical reforms of Vatican II, saying in a 2019 blog post that “it is legitimate, laudable and even necessary to seek the restoration of the plenitude of the Roman liturgy lost in the post-war period. In the same article, he described the process of reforming the Roman Missal as “the Montini-Bugnini reign of terror”, which culminated in the “coronation of disgrace of 1969”. Ordo Missae and other rites of that time. In a comment on the traditionalist website One Peter Five, he clarified his goals: “Generally speaking, we need to conquer every altar with a TLM and convince every priest to offer it. Reform will come from within, not from above.

In addition to his comments on liturgical reform, Dr. Kwasniewski has been a vocal critic of many Catholic Church leaders in recent years. He has made numerous inflammatory statements about Pope Francis and numerous bishops, including Washington Cardinal Wilton Gregory. Dr Kwasniewski’s rhetoric became particularly heated after the publication of Traditional custodians, a July 2021 document from Pope Francis imposing restrictions on the pre-Vatican II liturgy. In response to the papal decision, Dr. Kwasniewski wrote in the Stay, “this is a declaration of total war, and one must bravely resist every step of the way… If Francis wants war, I hope and pray that there will be enough men ready to enlist, and enough men able to lead them.” In the same piece, he also argues for the rejection of papal authority (a common theme in his work), writing, “It is too high a price to pay for obedience to a regime that crushes the soul, whatever outward signs of authority he claims to bear. .”

His most controversial act was perhaps adding his signature to an April 2018 open letter accusing the Holy Father of a “canonical offense of heresy” and calling on bishops around the world to begin a process to remove the pope. Francis from office. Dr. Kwasniewski defends his actions in a May 2, 2018 article in LifeSiteNews, in which he writes, “We will cry wolf! vulnerable sheep, and pray earnestly for other true shepherds to come to the rescue, in ways we cannot. Since then, he has continued to accuse the pope of a multitude of crimes. In a January 2019 article for LifeSite, he wrote, “Pope Francis has shown the world that he tends to be a manipulator, an ideologue, a dictator and a relativist about dogma.”

Dr. Kwasniewski has also made numerous negative statements in his writings and on social media about Cardinal Gregory, in whose archdiocese the conference is to take place. For example, in an October 26, 2020 Facebook post, he shared a LifeSiteNews article attacking Gregory’s nomination as cardinal, titled “The long list of anti-life and anti-family abuse by Abp.” Wilton Gregory, appointed cardinal by Pope Francis. With a link, Dr. Kwasniewski shared the following quote from the article on his Facebook page:

“Gregory will be the first black American cardinal, but one of the most deeply anti-family and anti-life cardinals in history. Below are Gregory’s worst assaults on marriage, the sanctity of life, and the Church during his long and scandalous career as a prelate.

Dr Kwasniewski also criticized Cardinal Gregory last year, following the cancellation of a pontifical high mass at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception following the publication of Traditional custodians. The mass was scheduled for August 14 and was to be sponsored by the Paulus Institute (the same group is listed as the sponsor of Kwasniewski’s lecture tonight). Dr Kwasniewski said the cancellation of the Mass was “a show of sycophantic zeal that does not think to marginalize and discourage Catholics from playing politics”. He went on to say that “Cardinal Gregory exhibits the most basic lack of courtesy, respect, hospitality, charity and pastoral sensitivity”, and added “It is shameful and I think that all the world can see it quite clearly.”

black catholic messenger reported that the Mass was canceled despite Cardinal Gregory offering the group permission to celebrate a Latin-language Mass according to the current Roman Missal, noting how in Traditional custodians, Pope Francis called the Reformed Missal “the unique expression” of the Roman Rite. Some traditionalists, including Kwasniewski, view the current Missal as inherently inferior and corrupt, regardless of the language used and the traditional elements – such as chanting and incense – that may be incorporated into the liturgy.

In recent years, Dr. Kwasniewski has taken many other blows to the cardinal. In response to Cardinal Gregory’s statement that he had no intention of denying the Eucharist to President Joe Biden, he wrote in a Facebook comment: “Perhaps another bishop could state that Wilton excommunicated himself and issue a decree prohibiting Wilton himself from receiving the Eucharist in their diocese and advising the faithful not to receive the Eucharist from HIM. Now, that would shake things up, wouldn’t it? In another comment, he wrote, “If +Gregory and his ilk do not convert and repent, they are asking for the full application of God’s justice. Also in the same thread, Dr Kwasniewski ‘liked’ a comment which read: ‘No sane person believes that Gregory is Catholic. The man would not resist the most abject evil.

In addition to his attacks on the pope and the cardinal-archbishop, some Catholics have questioned the relevance of Dr. Kwasniewski speaking about his ideas on the liturgy in a predominantly black Catholic parish that has a rich history of music. sacred in the African-American region. cultural tradition, “whose repertoire includes hymns, church hymns, spirituals, and traditional and contemporary gospel music”.

Kwasniewski seems to oppose any liturgical music that does not correspond to his traditionalist position. In a 2020 article for the New Liturgical Movement blog, Dr. Kwasniewski laments the current state of liturgical diversity in the United States, calling it “a misguided movement of modernization, localization of the lowest common denominator, and inculturation interpreted narrowly”. He’s complaining:

“You end up with masses for upper middle class white golfers, a mass with African American gospel music, a mass for Hispanics, a mass for Vietnamese, etc. etc. How can the Church it ‘unite the different races’ if it can’t even unite us in one recognizable Catholic worship?

As a solution to cultural divisions, he suggests that “the traditional Latin liturgy sung by minister and choir in the church is one and common to all, binding us together as a fixed, stable and reliable external ‘gold standard'”. Kwasniewski’s talk about what he sees as “corruptions” in the Catholic liturgy can easily be interpreted as implicit criticism of the music sung by the choir and the parish community.

There are many other examples of cases where Peter Kwasniewski has made accusations against Pope Francis and other bishops (several of these have been discussed at Where Peter Is). He regularly calls for resistance against the teachings of the Magisterium and the decrees of the Church. He even argued that the canonization of Pope Paul VI in 2018 must be rejected, stating that “Montini was a terrible leader of the Church, and if the virtuous discharge of his responsibilities in his state of life is constitutive of holiness , we can conclude that it is impossible to imagine a worse role model for a leader than Montini.

It is unclear how the invitation to the Holy Comforter-St. Cyprian has arrived. The Archdiocese of Washington did not respond to a request for information on whether a speaker approval policy exists in archdiocesan parishes (unlike some dioceses, there is no speaker policy). published on the Archdiocesan website). The archdiocese also did not respond to questions about whether to host a lecture by Dr. Kwasniewski on archdiocesan property. It is possible that the event was coordinated by the pastor of Holy Comforter-St. Cyprian, Msgr. Charles Pope, supporter of the old liturgy and frequent critic of Pope Francis. In response to the language and tone of Traditional custodians, for example, Msgr. Pope remarked, “It is very shocking and saddening to me as a pastor of souls that such vitriol should be directed against the flock which I have long cared for.”

It seems that now his parish, by welcoming Peter Kwasniewski, has become a center of resistance to Pope Francis.

Image: Presentation of the Czech translation of the book Resurgent in the Midst of Crisis (in Czech: “Povstávání z prachu”) by Peter Kwasniewski, presented by His Eminence Raymond Leo card. Burke, Strahov Abbey, Prague, October 2016. By Lucie Horníková – Lucie Horníková http://galerie.clovekavira.cz/fotografie/be9c2333-fba0-4e87-95f1-7070ab1021b8?relatedTo=be04a839-38ac-4174-8953-29b56ed8c0b6 , CC BY 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=68679928