STEREOTYPICAL CARICATURES OF A SMALL MINORITY OF CATHOLICS, MINISCULE AT THAT, DOES NOTHING TO PROMOTE POPE LEO’S VISION FOR SYNODALITY BASED UPON DIALOGUE RATHER THAN BROADSIDES!

I have been impressed with Pope Leo’s willingness to listen to the greatest promoters of Pope Benedict's liturgical vision as expressed in Summorum Pontificum. He has met with Cardinals Burke, Sarah and the former head of Ecclesia Dei. I would think, too, he’s met with Cardinal Mueller. 

Pope Leo is a pope that is not moved by diatribes against this, that or the other ideological movements in the Church. 

With that in mind, I’d like to call your attention to a “way too long” commentary by Michael Lewis at “Where Peter Is” which should be renamed “Where Pope Francis Was”as they still haven’t gotten over the fact that Pope Francis is dead and Pope Leo isn’t Pope Francis!

Harkening back to the good old days of Pope Francis, Lewis creates a diatribe against Catholics who desire the TLM and ancillary liturgies/sacraments as all being ideologically motivated and against the Faith and Morals of the Catholic Church, against the Deposit of Faith, against Pope Francis and against everything Catholic.

You can read his “way too long” commentary here. 

But I’d like to focus on these stereotypical points he lists:

• Calling the pope a heretic or otherwise constantly criticizing his teachings and decisions as contrary to the Catholic faith. (It was Pope Francis and yes, a handful of heterodox right Catholics hold that position but not the vast majority of Catholics who lean toward being orthodox. It’s the heterodox left, and the majority of the left that reject Catholic papal teachings on sexuality while not calling those who promote it heretical but simply anti-Francis.)
• Claiming that official teachings — such as Amoris Laetitia, Fiducia Supplicans, or the revision to the Catechism on the death penalty — are doctrinally erroneous or incompatible with tradition. (There are bishops and cardinals that question these things too, especially the majority of African bishops and their laity. So, I am stunned at Lewis making this a rad trad thing!)
• Accusing major papal documents of promoting Marxism, Freemasonry, or other ideological corruption (e.g., Fratelli Tutti, Laudato Si’, the Document on Human Fraternity, Dignitas Infinita). (Yes, that’s a shame, but no calling out progressives who want to dismiss Humanae Vitae, promote LGBTQ+++ ideologies and changing the Sacraments of Matrimony and Holy Orders to fit that ideology! And that’s not a small minority of progressives but the majority!)
• Attributing the liturgical reform to Masonic, Jewish, or Protestant infiltration. (On a positive note, this is true and a part of Vatican II’s interfaith and interfaith dialogue and compromises)
• Signing petitions or open letters accusing the pope of heresy or calling on the cardinals or bishops of the world to rebuke the pope. (The heterodox left, of course, has never done this?????)
• Insisting that synods and synodality are part of a coordinated plot to destroy the Church or undermine its doctrine. (There are cardinals and bishops, fully in Communion with the Pope, who have been warning about this also! No one in the Catholic Church, clergy, religious or laity, are called to check their brains at the door of the pope or any bishop’s door!)
• Declaring that traditionalism is “true Catholicism,” while dismissing the Church after Vatican II as a different or false religion (“Novusordoism,” “NuChurch,” etc.). (Yes, I have heard that and worse from rad libs and their diatribes against orthodox Catholics—just read Lewis’ points here!)
• Treating Bishop Joseph Strickland, Cardinal Raymond Burke, Father James Altman, or the excommunicated Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò as martyrs for defying the pope and his teachings.(The last time I checked, the only one that is excommunicated is Vigano and yes he is being used and instrumentalized by the small minority of schismatic tending rad trads. As far as the others, is it any worse than the rad libs canonizing Jesuitical Father James Martin and a Franciscan Bishop in Kentucky?)
• Giving platforms to figures like Strickland, Burke, Viganò, Altman, Fr. Chad Ripperger, Bishop Athanasius Schneider, Taylor Marshall, Peter Kwasniewski, and so many others — all of whom routinely undermine or reject papal authority and post-Vatican II magisterial teachings. (I get it that Lewis “hates” these people and breaks half of the two greatest Commandments our Lord gave us, Love of God and Neighbor. But apart from Vigano, all these Catholics are Catholics in good standing with Pope Leo and Cardinal Burke of note!)
• Falsely accusing Indigenous Amazonian Catholics of idolatry and stirring moral panic during the Synod on the Amazon in 2019. (Mike Lewis needs to cite sociological surveys to give us the proper percentage of Catholics who have accused people of this! Where are those surveys Mike Lewis and how many people are you accusing? And when you find out, let’s burn them at the stake!)
• Falsely accusing indigenous Canadians of paganism during the pope’s visit. (How many, give us the numbers of Catholics who have done this, Mike Lewis!)
• Referring to the older liturgy as the only true “Roman Rite,” in contrast to the current liturgy used by almost the entire Church. (How many are doing this Mike Lewis, how many! Sheesh!)
• Praising the founder of the Society of St. Pius X (SSPX), Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, who was excommunicated for the “schismatic act” of illicitly ordaining bishops as a prophet or future saint. (Mike Lewis, Pope Benedict XVI lifted the excommunication of their bishops—get over it! They are not in schism, compared to those Catholics belonging to sects ordaining women at “priestesses”. Sheesh!)
• Deriding Pope Paul VI as unworthy of canonization or as a disastrous leader. (How many Mike Lewis, name the numbers! Sheesh!)
• The refusal of many traditionalist clergy, such as members of the FSSP, to have anything to do with the Vatican II liturgy, not even concelebrating the annual Chrism Mass with their local bishop and brother priests. (How many traditionalists Mike Lewis, give the numbers! Cite the surveys! Sheesh!)
• Promoting nationalistic ideologies, praising 20^th century political movements such as Action Française or Franco’s Spanish dictatorship (and even Vichy France), as the political ideal. (Mike Lewis is unhinged!)
• Denigrating members of other religions, such as Muslims and Jews, and minimizing the Vatican II teachings pertaining to them. (Cite the numbers based upon sociological surveys on this! Sheesh!)
• Praising and promoting antisemitic and racist figures of the past like Fr. Denis Fahey and Fr. Charles Coughlin. (WOW! Unhinged!)
• Calling religious liberty “heretical.” (How many traditionalists, give the numbers based on science!)
• Promoting conspiracy theories — this became especially public and widespread during the Covid pandemic. (And Mike Lewis isn’t promoting conspiracy theories in this unhinged commentary without factual numbers for those he accuses????)
• Subscribing to Judeo-Masonic conspiracies, including circulating antisemitic tracts like The Permanent Instruction of the Alta Vendita and The Protocols of the Elders of Zion. (This is really laughable! Does Mike Lewis think anyone takes this seriously except the echo chamber at “Where Pope Francis Is”?)
• Rejecting science and promoting pseudoscience, including theories like Young Earth Creationism and Geocentrism. In many cases, supporters will insist that Catholics must accept these pseudoscientific ideas as dogma. (And rad libs don’t reject science when it comes to LGBTQ+++ ideologies and are not misogynistic when men mock women by putting on female face?)
• There are many, many more examples. (You forgot the Palmarian Catholics, Old Catholics, and whatever else you can come up with!)

Me thinks Mike Lewis is unhinged! Prejudicial! A stereotyping Catholic who wants all these people excommunicated!