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Pope Saint Paul VI (3 April 1969): “Although the text of the Roman Gradual—at least that which concerns the singing—has not been changed, the Entrance antiphons and Communions antiphons have been revised for Masses without singing.”

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Views from the Choir Loft

In 1991, Buchanan Predicted Ratzinger’s Election

Corpus Christi Watershed · April 10, 2019

An article from Easter Sunday, 1991:

84987 Patrick J. Buchanan Predicted Benedict XVI in 1991


A transcription of the article, first published on 31 March 1991:


UESDAY OF HOLY WEEK came news from France of the death of Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, 85, the traditionalist prelate who had led tens of thousands into the first schism with Rome since the Old Catholics departed in 1870 over the doctrine of papal infallibility. Pope John Paul II had tried to keep the archbishop in the fold, offering to consecrate a bishop of his choosing. But, in June of 1988 Lefebvre—to the rejoicing of the modernists who despised him and his cause—broke with the Holy See and consecrated four bishops. “I prefer to be in the truth without tile pope,” the archbishop said, “than walk a false path with him.” Yet, in death, one of the archbishop’s causes, restoration of the Latin Mass, is making a comeback. For the archbishop was not the only Catholic sick at heart over the evisceration of the liturgy by the talentless and tin-eared who rose to the surface in the churning of Vatican II.

On CNN’s Larry King Live, popular actor Mel Gibson lamented openly that his Church “is not the same as it was…it’s missing some very important things. I don’t believe that transubstantiation occurs anymore…I mean, if there’s not rules, if there’s not an absolute, then it’s not worth much. If it shifts like that, I don’t want to build…on that kind of shaky foundation. And it is shifting every day. They contradict one another. It gets more and more laughable by the day. If you weren’t crying, you’d laugh. […] I probably sound like some egoist saying that the Roman Church is wrong, but I believe it is at the moment since Vatican II.”

Gibson is not alone in sensing something great and good has been lost. A Gallup Poll, commissioned by the new Washington-based St. Augustine Center Association, reports that, if the Latin Mass were available, 8 percent of Catholics would go every Sunday, 17 percent would attend frequently and 51 percent occasionally. Considering how many millions no longer attend Mass at all, that is extraordinary.

Aware of his empty churches, the pope in 1984 issued an indult for the Latin Mass if parishioners requested it. In 1988 he urged a “wide and generous application” of the indult. Yet, only one in three Catholics even knows about that right. Often, where they do petition, the same bishops who are forever carping about the “authoritarian” style of the pope refuse. These intolerant and imperious prelates do the real trampling on the principle of “unity in diversity” from Vatican II.

Since 1965 it has been Father Gommar De Pauw, founder of the U.S. Catholic Traditionalist Movement, an adviser at Vatican II, who has kept the flame alive at Ave Maria Chapel, Westbury, Long Island. Now, at Old St. Mary’s in Washington’s inner city, Supreme Court justices and ex-senators can be found at the communion rails on Sunday; and the number of attendees at the Latin Mass is growing. Across the river in Virginia, however, the Latin Mass is still disallowed.

In Wigratzbad, Bavaria, the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Peter (set up by Lefebvrist clergy who broke with the old archbishop when he broke with Rome) have set up a seminary. Run by 39-year-old Father Josef Bisig, the Priestly Fraternity has the blessing of John Paul II and was visited last Easter by an approving Cardinal Josef Ratzinger, who many believe may be the next pope—an idea that is increasing Rolaid consumption at the National Conference of Catholic Bishops.

As Father Bisig writes his supporters: “We will not give you a stone when you have cried out for bread. No social workers, no community animators, no half-baked theoreticians of revolutionary liberation will come out of Wigratzbad.”

While America’s media are forever interviewing the turtle-necked theologians of the talk-show circuit, here is where genuine renewal is taking place; here is where the action is. In June two Americans will be ordained in Wigratzbad; 15 more are studying there; another 150 have applied. There is talk of a seminary in the U.S. if a bishop can be found to take the heat. While millions of Catholics prefer Mass in English with the guitars, folk music, priest-facing-the-congregation, hand-shaking, theater-in-the-round churches, for millions of others the sense of loss was captured in March’s issue of The Homiletic and Pastoral Review. The piece was titled “The Tridentine Tragedy.”

“What is involved here,” wrote Father William C. Van Breda, “is not a nostaliga trip or a romantic attachment to the classic languages, as the liturgists well understand. What is at stake is the solemn majesty of the Triune God claiming an authentic ceremonial of divine worship and a ritual proclamation of the Sacred Truth. Modern theologians have transformed the eucharistic worship—the adoration of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—into a social event, a so-called celebration of the Christian Community. Every faithful Catholic understands only too well that the elimination of liturgical Latin, the transformation of the Church edifice, the forced exodus of the Communion of Saints and the disappearance of the traditional signs and symbols herald the establishment of a new doctrine and a new religion.”

“Hatred of the Latin language,” Dom Guéranger wrote a century ago, “is innate in the hearts of all the enemies of Rome; they perceive in it the universal bond of all Catholics and the arsenal of orthodoxy against all sectarian subtleties.”

“It is no coincidence,” Father Van Breda adds, “that the doctrinal dissenters, the moral muddlers and the loathers of Latin are lodging at the same address.” Amen, and Happy Easter.


Patrick J. Buchanan (31 March 1991)

Opinions by blog authors do not necessarily represent the views of Corpus Christi Watershed.

Filed Under: Articles Last Updated: January 1, 2020

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President’s Corner

    “Music List” • 28th in Ordinary Time (Year C)
    Readers have expressed interest in perusing the ORDER OF MUSIC I’ve prepared for 12 October 2025, which is the 28th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C). If such a thing interests you, feel free to download it as a PDF file. As always, the Responsorial Psalm, Gospel Acclamation, and Mass Propers for this Sunday are conveniently stored at the dazzling feasts website alongside the official texts in Latin.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    PDF Download • “Offertory” for this Sunday
    This coming Sunday, 12 October 2025, is the 28th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C). Its OFFERTORY ANTIPHON (PDF) is gorgeous, and comes from the book of Esther, as did the ENTRANCE CHANT last Sunday. Depending on a variety of factors, various hand-missals (all with Imprimatur) translate this passage differently. For instance, “príncipis” can be rendered: King; Prince; Lion; or Fierce lord. None is “more correct” than another. It depends on which source text is chosen and what each translator wants to emphasize. All these pieces of plainsong are conveniently stored at the blue-ribbon feasts website.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Why A “Fugue” Here?
    I believe I know why this plainsong harmonizer created a tiny fugue as the INTRODUCTION to his accompaniment. Take a look (PDF example) and tell me your thoughts about what he did on the feast of the Flight of Our Lord Jesus Christ into Egypt (17 February). And now I must go because “tempus fugit” as they say!
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Quick Thoughts

    New Bulletin Article • “12 October 2025”
    My pastor requested that I write short articles each week for our parish bulletin. Those responsible for preparing similar write-ups may find a bit of inspiration in these brief columns. The latest article (dated 12 October 2025) talks about an ‘irony’ or ‘paradox’ regarding the 1960s switch to a wider use (amplior locus) of vernacular in the liturgy.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    “American Catholic Hymnal” (1991)
    The American Catholic Hymnal, with IMPRIMATUR granted (25 April 1991) by the Archdiocese of Chicago, is like a compendium of every horrible idea from the 1980s. Imagine being forced to stand all through Communion (even afterwards) when those self-same ‘enlightened’ liturgists moved the SEQUENCE before the Alleluia to make sure congregations wouldn’t have to stand during it. (Even worse, everything about the SEQUENCE—including its name—means it should follow the Alleluia.) And imagine endlessly repeating “Alleluia” during Holy Communion at every single Mass. It was all part of an effort to convince people that Holy Communion was historically a procession (which it wasn’t).
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    “Canonic” • Ralph Vaughan Williams
    Fifty years ago, Dr. Theodore Marier made available this clever arrangement (PDF) of “Come down, O love divine” by P. R. Dietterich. The melody was composed in 1906 by Ralph Vaughan Williams (d. 1958) and named in honor of of his birthplace: DOWN AMPNEY. The arrangement isn’t a strict canon, but it does remind one of a canon since the pipe organ employs “points of imitation.” The melody and text are #709 in the Brébeuf Catholic Hymnal.
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Random Quote

Ronald Knox explained why the Modernists do not compose hymns: “Birds of prey have no song.”

— Fr. George William Rutler (2016)

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