Each week when I post “Your Sunday Sermon Notes” I ask about news where you are and about developments, attendance.
In the wake of the SSPX consecrations and the Holy See’s sloppy draconian reaction, I thought it might be interesting to see what the result has been at SSPX chapels. I am also, of course, interested in FSSP and, especially, diocesan chapels and churches.
First… Idaho
There is a line out the door to get to the SSPX Mass in North Idaho.
It’s been like this all morning. Packed, standing room only….
This is the 5th mass today, and it’s not the last either. pic.twitter.com/jllGlLGeVm
— David J. Reilly ?? (@realDaveReilly) July 5, 2026
Brazil…
Fila no Priorado para Missa das 9 h.
Aguardando a saida dos fiéis da missa das 7h.Pessoal ainda não preencheu o “Formulário” do Tucho! Rsrs
FSSPX SÃO PAULO BRASIL. pic.twitter.com/22seH8dYpV
— Trad+ (@RoiChrist34672) July 5, 2026
Barcelona…
FSSPX Barcelona, misa cantada 05/07/2026 pic.twitter.com/FcsIXsywIg
— El Patriarcat ?? (@Masculinitat) July 5, 2026
Perhaps there will be more.
I wonder how this will turn out because as I was listening to a sermon from SSPX Asia this morning, the priest asked “where is everyone today?”
The Gospel passage as Jesus enters Jerusalem in triumph comes to mind, Luke 19:40, “…He said: ‘I say to you, that if these shall hold their peace, the stones will cry out.’” Those in power in the Church cannot deny the People of God from giving right worship to God. To those that want to promote the Novus Ordo, they should have ensured it was always celebrated properly. They also should not have emasculated its sacrificial nature in the liturgy.
It is my hope that the authorities in the Church will be forgiving to the SSPX and be gracious to the People of God by canceling the restrictions against the Vetus Ordo.
Pray for the Pope, pray for the Church that the Wisdom of God guides both.
I am one who has been blessed to have a Diocesan Traditional Community with normal Mass times for the past 15 years. TC hasn’t impacted us (yet?). We go there because we want to give God the worship He deserves and I want my children to be immersed in the faith the way my grandparents were. I know many N.O. people who are also good faithful Catholics (though they seem to be in the minority). I don’t think I’m better than they are. But as a father of eight, I am responsible for how they are raised. If any of them is lost to hell, I’m sure I’ll be held to account for it as their father. I just want the consistent liturgy and teachings that were more commonplace in the Church before the craziness/infiltration around the 1940’s and 50’s into the 60’s and 70’s.
I see large, young families at the our Masses and I hear about them from others in stable TLM parishes around the country. I try to keep a positive attitude about the Magisterium’s actions. However, when I see TC being brutally enforced in Detroit and Kentucky, the FSSP being restricted in Detroit, and the SSPX being calumniated this week. A “Declaration” and a “Note” which are non-specific, bullying, and dishonest about the validity of SSPX confessions and marriages… The same ambiguity and innuendo that everyone knows has been a problem since “The Council”… How do I keep a “positive attitude”? Our holy father in Rome treats us badly. He seems to stand by and let those around him sow confusion in his name, abusing our siblings in Christ, our Mother the Church. Yet we are supposed to give him the benefit of the doubt time and time again when we are spiritually abused? It is hard to believe he doesn’t see any of the online talk… the canon lawyers who point out the problems with Cdl. Fernandez’s documents. Surely Pope Leo knows of “Heal Me With Your Mouth, the Art of Kissing”. He knows about the images of him bowing to an idol in his younger years. But those things are ignored and it seems we are expected to ignore them to. If the pope says the sky is green, must we assent? Say that it “must be green in a spiritual sense”?
It is so horribly disordered. Horribly. I don’t go to the TLM because it’s my “personal preference” which must be curbed. I go to the TLM because it clearly gives great glory to God, which He deserves.
I noticed quite a few new faces at our 8 am Diocesan Latin Mass Parish.
Fr talked about Increase in Religion. The necessity of being in a State of Grace. Then putting our Faith into action.
Discussed the seriousness of Excommunication.
Cut off from all the Sacraments.
Attendance at our FSSP mass in DFW was packed at 1:30. Not a seat left. It is usually quite full, but everyone had to squeeze together in the pews. They also filed the choir loft. Again, not totally unusual, but it felt more full.
The homily was on the baptism and false religions. Excellent as always.
Pray for all of our priests, bishops and our holy father.
FSSP in Alberta had many new faces today. My family has been there 20 years. Definitely new families that we have not seen before. A significant amount more.
I attend an FSSP parish every Sunday. I normally attend the 7 am low Mass and then usher at the 8:45 sung Mass. this week we saw a slight rise in the attendance at the 7 Mass, but a bigger increase at the 8:45! Normally our 8:45 has around 250 in attendance, yesterday we had over 325. I hope it continues.
Father gave a nice, strong homily about the things that some in the Church hierarchy are accepting while trying to stop the TLM. He mentioned the LBTQ, irreverence to the Eucharistic Lord and other things. I can only think it had to do with the excommunication going on.
We must pray for everyone involved!
I think an excellent outcome from this bitter fiasco would be increased diocesan provision for the Latin mass and a decrease in the numbers attending SSPX chapels. Disobedience to the pope should be like bitter gall to Catholics, not give rise to a supercilious attitude that the pope is mistaken and he will come round eventually.
It has become clear to me that there is a faction in the SSPX who are the mirror image of Hans Kung. Funnily enough, Kung wrote a book called Can The Catholic Church be Saved? Obviously I haven’t read it, but many SSPX would ask the same question and probably give the same answer. We need to peel off Catholics who want the Latin rite within the hermetic of continuity from those who are now enemies of the Church.
Saw some new faces at our diocesan TLM. I think one of them may have been coming from the SSPX chapel, which according to someone who attends there, is not a very family-friendly place (kids can’t make a peep).
I spent almost 8 years at an SSPX chapel. If the Vatican thinks that there’s going to be a massive exodus as a result of the new excommunications, etc., then that just proves how out of touch the Vatican is – not only out of touch with Tradition, but out of touch with the prevailing mood among SSPX laity…and even their clergy.
That prevailing mood, sadly, is highly combative regarding the endless disgraces, sacrileges and heresies that seem to flow from the “mainstream” Church on a daily basis.
The SSPX wants nothing to do with the Novus Ordo world, as they would put it. Clearly, they have forgotten that we are in the midst of the Passion of the Church. And I would encourage the commenter “george,” above, to remember that as well, and not lose faith or hope.
I have never attended a SSPX Mass and never would have except in an emergency, but now I’m actually tempted and considering it as a show of support for them in the face of what I consider to be the imposition of an unnecessary and harsh sanction where a modicum of mercy, understanding, and compassion were called for. In the meantime, yesterday our parish had its first Novus Ordo Mass in Latin, meant by our bishop as a response to our rejected pleas to allow our parish Traditional Latin Mass of the last ten years to continue. Our new pastor, our dedicated altar servers, and choir did their best, but frankly it was just a sad affair. As one of our adult altar servers said to me afterwards, we asked our bishop for bread and he gave us a stone. What is literally missing in the Novus Ordo was exposed and actually made clearer. In spite of what our bishop seems to assume, the TLM is not really just about the Latin language. If the TLM is like whole milk, then the NO is skim milk, and the NO in Latin is still just 1% milk, perhaps a little bit better, but still weak and watery.
To describe any mass as a stone is completely foreign to a Catholic sensibility. You do know that is Christ on the altar, don’t you?
FSSP in Alberta had many new faces today.
Not sure which apostolate you’re referring to, but I went just to see what was going to be said about the SSPX. I was a long time member who switched back to the OF.
During covid many people from the FSSP apostolate started attending the sspx and never came back. I worry about them. Some of them are close to death.
Our Mass at an SSPX chapel in the Pacific Northwest was packed yesterday. There were so many communicants that a Low Mass took an hour and a half. There were I’d say 20 unfamiliar faces. Most notably, folks who recently started attending from diocesan Latin Mass parishes were all there in full force. And as always there was a line for confession yet when Father left the confessional to begin Mass. The fervor and devotion were palpable. The importance of the moment was lost on no one.
Tom of John….
I’m trying to figure out – who are all these folks that just showed up on Sunday ?
Why aren’t they there every week ?
A few weeks back I attended Mass in the ordinary form. I was struck by a few things. First, the people in the pews. I think I could learn so much from them about virtue. I noticed their humility, a simple, strong and sincere faith, and charity, too. The homily was beautiful and moved me to tears. Perhaps the reason why God chose someone who denied Him three times to be the first leader of His Church is to remind people that the Church is made up of sinners and we should never expect perfect earthly leaders. Christ told us to be perfect as His Heavenly Father is perfect. He did not say: “Be perfect only if you have perfect leaders in the Church.”
In searching for how to go about dealing with “issues” like (the spirit of) Vatican II and the recent excommunications, I keep encountering efficacious spiritual warfare tactics provided, apparently inadvertently, by the enemy himself. Case is point, experiences of a freed Jewish Israeli hostage, Rom Braslavski, while he was held captive in Gaza. His captors repeatedly tried to get him to convert to Islam. Not being religious at all prior to 7 Oct, he had turned to God, and had a theological exchange with a senior sheikh from Palestinian Islamic Jihad whom he approached for assistance with religious rituals. “I told him, ‘Listen, I want to pray to G-d, but I don’t remember the prayers, they’re long and in the prayer book,'” Braslavski said. The senior sheikh advised him to take what he remembered and create his own personalized prayer. He started reciting biblical lines from memory multiple times a day. Not exactly what the sheikh had in mind, but it led him to overcome his obstacles with the mechanics of prayer and get on with the transcendental substance of prayer. (From Hamas Psychological Warfare: Former Hostage Rom Braslavski Reveals At Least 60% of Captives Converted to Islam)
I watched the Consecration Mass the very early morning of 1 July, then attended, in person, morning Mass at a local SSPX chapel: 2 Masses before 9:00 AM on the same day. I hadn’t really attended SSPX Masses very often before all this was brought this to my attention by the current hierarchy. And I didn’t have to kiss anyone.
@haydn seeker
In a black mass it is also Our Lord on the altar.
Just because He is present it doesn’t prevent harm being done to those present. If a priest is preaching heresy in his sermon then it is going to cause harm to those in the pews.
I’m not making ANY judgment on any particular Mass. I’m simply making the point that we need to understand the reality of the crisis we are all facing and have been facing for a long time.
I have come to the conclusion that the problems we face can really only be resolved by God. I, like all of us, am struggling to work out what to do. I am very reticent to condemn anyone doing their best to make their way through it.
@prayfatima
Christ also said, “Get behind me, Satan” to Peter, and excoriated the religious leaders of his time, the Pharisees, calling them sons of the Devil and as vile as tombs containing rotten bodies. So, I doubt Christ would encourage people to praise Cardinal Tucho and the cabal of freemasons and LGBTQ+ activists who have infiltrated the priesthood and episcopacy to wage war against the Church from the inside.
But certainly we should be thankful for and support good priests wherever we find them, whether they offer the NO or the TLM, and whether they’re diocesan priests, in the FSSP or ICKSP, or in the SSPX.
@monstrance
My diocesan TLM had a huge upsurge in attendance last Sunday, and most of the folks were coming from Maryland where yet another Diocesan TLM which had been sneaking under the radar was discovered and quickly dispatched. Because within the diocesan Church the persecution against the TLM is still very much underway.
There might be a silver lining in this mess, for us lovers of Tradition. I see that many US Bishops are publishing very traditional-sounding letters (markedly different from the usual gibberish about listening, accompanying and synodality), cautioning their faithful to have nothing to do with the SSPX. Perhaps the TLM-hating Bishops will now be encouraged to reverse course and re-open their closed TLM sites, in order to accommodate departing SSPX laity?
In today’s edition of Rod Dreher diary he has remarks that many of Father Z’s supporter might find interesting. He draws on Carlos Eire’s book “Reformations” in which the historian points out that the Vatican’s initial response to the Protestants was logical arguments and reason something completely unsuccessful because people were simply sick of the corruption in the Church.
Dreher also draws on the work of a sociologist who studies religion and has found that dissent on Church teachings is very high even among regular Mass attendees.
Here is a link to his diary entry:
https://roddreher.substack.com/p/authority-modernity-and-church-disintegration
There is also a talk by the late Father Hunwicke that can be found here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_rTS5X1D6FI&list=PLEGoRwL9yA_NWxvpRsE9tAfFdPgIdPiQq&index=3
In it, Father Hunwicke discusses what it was about the changes imposed on the Church by the English reformers that rural Catholics objected to. It turns out it was only the changes in the Mass and the closing of the monasteries. They did not seem to care about whether it was the King or the Pope who was in charge.
At the local FSSP parish, we were subjected to unseemly triumphalist crowing by the pastor. I’m having a difficult time discerning what to do.
People ignorantly talk about SSPX “propaganda.” From my last 7 or 8 years of attending a Society chapel, I can say they do, indeed, promote propaganda: the propaganda of Jesus Christ crucified. That is the message that draws souls and that sustains them. That is the core of who they are, not all the political drama about the “crisis in the Church.” Souls want Jesus Christ–that is what the SSPX offers them, and why so many faithful find solace in their ministry.
I’ve never found a more deeply Christocentric community in my years as a Catholic, and I am deeply sorrowful to think I may have to go elsewhere.
@Tomasthetorque
As the saying (sort of) goes, wish in one hand and synodalize in the other, and see which fills up faster.
While I’d be happy for a whole sale reversal on TC by the bishops, I’ve yet to see anything that indicates it’s even under consideration. My diocese is taking means to keep the suppression of the TLM in the diocese going for the long run by bringing in some FSSP nomad priests in order to offer baptisms (making it clear they don’t believe diocesan priests will be allowed to baptize in the Old Rite any time soon).
The US bishops seem happy to act very formal and regal when it’s lashing out at the scapegoat, er, SSPX, and they are able to find the full force of their “authority” when it comes to bullying the Traditionalists in their own diocese . . . but those seem to be the only two occasions where they are able to find their “bishop” voices. LGBTQ+ activist Masses? Meh. Outrageous crimes committed by illegal aliens? Yawn. Liturgical abuses? Whatevs.
I was somewhat amused by the recent announcement by the bishop in Oslo – he may be a good bishop, I don’t mean this as a criticism against him. But his official response to the SSPX consecrations was to say something along the lines of, “I understand the pastoral needs of the Traditionalists in my diocese, therefore I pledge not to cancel the single TLM Mass you have in the single location. And I might even consider giving you more Masses at some undefined point in the future if it seems warranted.” The Traditionalists are crowing over the moon as if T.C. has been fully overturned when, in fact, they gained absolutely nothing concrete whatsoever. THIS was deemed the “generous” response after the SSPX Consecrations.
I’m just too much of the “don’t, er, spit on my head and tell me it’s raining” stripe to cheer on the maintaining of existing restrictions.
I can appreciate what the bishop in Oslo said because it was somewhat positive and at least not punitive. Unlike our bishop who just banned our parish TLM despite all of the pleas to allow it to continue. Unfortunately, I suspect that if there was an SSPX chapel in our diocese our bishop would have acted differently.
I went to an ICKSP Mass for the holiday weekend and they had printouts of the Vatican statements about the consecrations, per orders of the Bishop. Every printed copy was taken and there weren’t enough for everyone. I didn’t get the impression that Canon wanted to talk much about it, though; he’s probably sharp enough to realize that he likely has people in the pews who were married by the SSPX, Confirmed by the OG Bishops, etc., and considered it beyond his job description to figure out who’s validly married, Confirmed, etc.
WVC: you’re right, He said that to him first. He at one time called Peter out (before He made him Pope) in a way that probably shook him to his core: “you mortal, just like Satan you think you know better than God Almighty! I have work to do now, I’ll make use of you later!” And then later, He makes that mortal man the leader of His Holy Church. Pretty wild, isn’t it? That’s our beginnings! God saw Peter’s denial, all three times, even before He created him. Peter was the planned first Pope before he even existed in time. God knows everything that has happened and will happen, He knows it outside of time in an eternal “now”, and so we should call to mind often: that as long as someone is still alive, there is hope for their soul.
Life is a continual conversion process and I believe that exchange between Jesus and Peter illustrates how we need to stop casting stones at sinners because 1. we never know the good that God has in mind for a particular soul and how He may be intending to use that person later on and 2. the obvious: we are sinners, too. Fernández has yet to separate himself from the Church (but even if he did, God forbid, there would still be hope for his soul, so perhaps just don’t read the books he writes or pay attention to any of the scandalous news and pray for him instead. Whatever is good, true and beautiful: think of those things.
St. Augustine is another example and since our Pope has a strong devotion to that saint, I’m pretty sure he loves radical conversion stories and has unending hope, patience and prayer for even the most public sinner.
I have pretty much ceased using the terms “Ordinary Form” and “Extraordinary Form” for the Novus and Vetus Ordo masses: This innovation in terminology by Benedict was an attempt to square the circle: to get the TLM its own “space” as a form of mass, without upsetting the Novus Ordo’s notional position at the mass of the Latin Rite Church. The innovation failed in practice because hardly anyone could enunciate a clear sense of what MADE the difference and why it should be distinguished in that way; and after Francis issued TC, it has (arguably) failed de jure as well: Francis’s avowed purpose was the eventual eradication of the TLM, and (to him) all provisions for its use were intended to be temporary.
The institutional Vatican insists that the Novus Ordo isn’t “a different Rite” of mass from the Vetus Ordo, but I have yet to find a definition of “rite” that would prove this to be true as a matter of principle. The “Church of Vatican II” wants the Novus Ordo not to be a different rite so that they can continue to declare that it is “the reform of the mass” demanded by Sacrosanctum Concilium. But if in 30 or 50 years enough bishops simply don’t care about that particular complaint, a pope could easily admit that what happened in fact was the production of a new rite of mass, and just grant both rites room to be their own proper rites, not trying to compete with each other for space as “the” rite of the Western Church.
I would love for many bishops to expand TLM usage in diocesan churches (e.g. shrines) to accommodate former SSPX laity, but in the CURRENT climate I fear that would be papering over the real problem: Francis (and, it appears, Leo) determined that the (slim) room they granted for TLM is supposed to disappear in a short time, not continue permanently.
@prayfatima – somewhere along the line you’ve gotten “not judge the sinner” confused with “allow the sinner to do as much damage to the Church as possible without resisting” – and I don’t think this is either correct or healthy. Of course, as everyone knows, when Peter, then clearly Pope, slides again he is corrected, famously, by St. Paul. There’s simply no scenario in Church teaching or history that says Church leaders should not be resisted or criticized when they take public actions to the direct harm of the Church and the faithful. I can criticize Cardinal Tucho all day long without passing any judgment on his immortal soul.
@ TonyO
I generally refer to “the Mass for grown-ups” and “the kiddies’ Mass”.
Just thought I’d share.
WVC: Good points. It’s actually a work of mercy to admonish the sinner and instruct the ignorant.
You write:
“There’s simply no scenario in Church teaching or history that says Church leaders should not be resisted or criticized when they take public actions to the direct harm of the Church and the faithful.”
So, building off of that, it seems totally reasonable to criticize a group that has just done something contrary to canon law, right? Does canon law not exist to protect the Church and the faithful? It kicked in automatically with their grave actions, so who in the Church hierarchy is to blame for that? It’s like arguing with a police man when you ran a red light – after the police man specifically warned you that you’ll get a ticket if you run the red light.
The police man isn’t personally responsible for creating the traffic laws, he’s like the middle man between the law and the person.
@prayfatima
I don’t believe I’ve ever said the SSPX should be free of criticism. That’s a far cry, though, from saying one would rather attend the most heretical Mass imaginable rather than step foot in an SSPX chapel. Criticism shouldn’t be used as an excuse to be uncharitable and unjust and unnecessarily severe towards a group that, consistently, has claimed they are doing what they sincerely believe is for the good of the Church and have invested much to provide sacraments to souls all over the world.
The saddest part of this affair, for me, is watching so many “good” and “conservative” and even “traditional” Catholics feel like the excommunications equate to carte blanche to slander, denigrate, and rail against all things SSPX.
My comment was simply that I find it spiritually dangerous and therefore scary, to willingly receive a sacrament that I know is not allowed by the Bishops and the Pope in the Visible Catholic Church. If licitness didn’t matter to the Catholic Church, then the Catholic Church wouldn’t have a word for it. I steer clear because the spiritual realm is real and I cannot afford to mingle where God has not given His permission. Maybe you have no problem receiving illicit sacraments, but that doesn’t mean I should also have no problem with it or that others currently aren’t having any spiritual problems with it. And it certainly doesn’t mean that God is okay with it, as His ways are far above our ways.
There are a lot of groups that think they’re doing something that God wants them to do. Isn’t that basically the starting point for every break away church? Isn’t it always some form of “that ugly, scandalous, sinful, goofy Catholic Church is doing or saying ____, and we are not like them, just read our long, rather contradictory ideas, and you’ll see how we are the ones to be trusted with your eternal salvation.” It’s a claim that so many break away churches have employed, except this time, this group is hanging onto our preferred form of worship and adding to their own hierarchy apart from the established visible hierarchy on earth, all the while claiming to still be “one with us”, but not be in reality, one with us. That’s our Mass and those are our sacraments. They belong in the Visible Catholic Church under the authority of Pope Leo.
If Jesus is truly God, and if that Jesus truly started the Catholic Church with the explicit command to stay in His Indefectible, Infallible Church, does it really matter to you what other people are “convinced” they should do? What “emergency” trumps the explicit promises that Jesus, the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity, gave to us regarding His Holy Church? God cannot be a liar or He wouldn’t be God. He cannot deceive. We were told that no Pope can ever declare or teach error on matters of faith and morals. Do we believe that or not? Many people don’t. Everyone should.
Just by staying within the Church and remaining in the state of grace, we should have all the truly necessary tools we need for holiness. It’s meant to be really simple because God is simple. He made holiness possible with little complexity because He knows not everyone is that smart. He wants holiness for everyone: the Catholic Church is Universal. One shouldn’t have to fall down a rabbit hole or obtain 4 doctorate degrees just to decipher someone’s “declaration of faith”, to discover what some claim is “the true church”. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: the true Church on earth is the Visible Catholic Church. The one with 1.3 billion members, the one made up of and run by fallen human beings, guided by the Holy Spirit. The one that the grocery store clerk can define in under 1 minute.
Whatever anyone else has going on is just not cutting it. Outside of the Visible Catholic Church, God has given us no guarantees, no promised spiritual protections. That, to me, is scary and dangerous.