Fr. Shane C. Pezzutti, SSPX

We need to discuss some serious setbacks that have been crippling the steadily-growing traditionalist movement within the Catholic Church for the last several years, and suggest some possible paths forward for the future. These issues are tough to talk about and even tougher to fully comprehend. They are sobering, dismally disappointing, and even shocking. We are talking about recent scandal and sexual abuse within the Church. However, this article will not be referring to the Church on a diocesan level which is infected by modernism and the “spirit of Vatican II,” but will rather hone in on scandal and abuse within “Tradworld,” the traditionalist movement, and even within the SSPX.

If we were to pen an article about scandal and abuse among the modernist clergy or faithful, such as exploded in 2002 in the USA or around 2019 with the Cardinal McCarrick scandal, it would be relatively easy to digest for us traditionalists. We “expect” those kinds of bad fruits from the liturgical insanity of the New Mass and the doctrinal liberalism of Vatican II. Yet here we must grapple with the shameful truth that this level of crime and sin has stained even the traditional movement. These painful events have caused ripples of confusion, horror, and especially scandal among our clergy, faithful, and families.

The fact is that traditionalist priests have committed and been convicted of real sexual abuse of minors and adults. Traditionalist faithful have also been convicted of these same crimes. What’s more, traditional priests and faithful are actually in jail for these unbelievable crimes. This is incredibly sad and almost inconceivable, and unfortunately there continue to be cases of abuse coming to light.

Traditional priests and faithful are asking: “How could this be possible? Wasn’t the reason we came to Tradition to be around holy priests and holy faithful, and leave the spiritually dangerous atmosphere of the modernist parishes?”

Moreover, as if this weren’t a heavy enough cross for Tradition, not only are traditionalists scandalized at these shocking cases of abuse, but they have also voiced sincere scandal and serious discontent at the various forms of response (or lack thereof) issued by superiors and leadership during and after these tragic incidents.

All of this is uncomfortable and unfortunate, and traditionalist faithful are troubled by scandal on all these different fronts. They are asking: “How could this kind of criminal abuse happen among traditionalist priests and faithful, and why are the superiors and leadership not telling us what we need to know? What really happened? Why aren’t they handling these things better?”

All this frustration and disappointment clearly shows that traditionalists have been deeply wounded by the scandals. Another tragic consequence is that some newcomers and veterans of the traditionalist movement are unfortunately abandoning the fight for Tradition, or at least suffering a serious loss of zeal and vigor precisely because of scandals in Tradworld.

There is obviously much that could be said about this situation, and in fact we would need a whole series of articles and books to adequately deal with it, but the issue we will try to specifically address here is how traditional Catholics, both new and old, might cope with these scandals in a supernatural way and temper the suffering and scarring that has resulted from them.

So, what should we do to cope with and temper the severe scandal we’ve all suffered because of these horrible things? As with every challenge in our spiritual life, our first care should be to place ourselves under the influence of God’s grace so that our natural reaction does not take over and carry us away. This is done primarily by turning to prayer to our Lord and His Blessed Mother which provides us both with the supernatural insight that we need to judge the situation properly and the strength necessary to bear with it. Unless we pray, nothing will really help us heal.

The next rational response for someone who is trying to deal with being severely scandalized by these kinds of serious sins should be compassion. Traditionalists should seek in one another real support and show real Christ-like compassion to one another as we all deal with these scandals and abuse cases. Of course, compassion should be shown first and foremost, and to the highest degree, to the victims of the various levels of abuse and to their family and friends, but also, in general, compassion and support should be sought by us and shown to all traditionalists around us who have been scandalized. We are all seriously struggling with dealing with the truth of these tragic incidents. We shouldn’t keep it all bottled up. We need to talk, seek support, and give support. This is where Catholic charity, mercy, and compassion must shine forth, for if we traditionalists are the ones working so hard at keeping doctrine intact, and we are, then we should be the furthest advanced in charity and compassion. We need to talk about our shock, disbelief, anger, outrage, growing mistrust, anxiety, fear, sadness with others and listen and be compassionate to them. This is critical.

Talking with each other about these things, while at the same time keeping away from gossip, excessive curiosity, calumny, or hearsay, is crucial to coping and tempering scandal. And this brings up a third necessary response to tempering our overbearing feelings of scandal, namely that we should really try and limit our exposure to negativity whether online or in person. This only intensifies the stress and trauma and can push us deeper into a real personal depression and bitterness. Along with this comes the necessity of doing our best to not join the “rumor mill” or attempt to speculate or add “information” to the false narrative that might be growing. This is one of the greatest ways we can help one another. Real trust in superiors and authority is necessary. This is the simple Catholic teaching on dealing with possible gossip and calumny.

This is not to suggest, however, that you must close your eyes and plug your ears. The facts, of course, should be openly discussed with discretion in order to psychologically deal with being scandalized to such a degree. We just have to realize that we don’t have access to all the facts. And if we don’t know all the facts, circumstances, and details in these intricate complicated cases then we must be very, very careful and tread very lightly for our own sakes and the sakes of others. We must temper our curiosity, temper our judgment, and temper our reactions. This is never easy, but it is so necessary for the common good of all those around us. Our tendency is to overindulge in this negativity and oversimplify, and this only blackens the waters.

“But what if we have available to us facts and circumstances that are indisputable, and these seriously scandalize us?” Well, as was suggested above (1.) prayer; (2.) compassion; and (3.) avoid excessive negativity and rumors. And here we can mention a fourth response and remedy for dealing with being scandalized on this level: (4.) trying to come to grips with the truth that any fallen human being is capable of heinous crime and sin. This is obvious enough, but easily forgotten.

Regarding this fourth response and remedy, a question arises: could it be at all possible that we have too high an expectation for traditionalist priests, superiors, chapels, and faithful? Now, don’t misunderstand this question: of course, we have absolutely every right to have higher standards for our priests, chapels, and faithful, and that’s exactly why all of us became traditionalists. Our priests are some of the best trained, best disciplined, and best men out there. But there is still a possibility that we can elevate this standard so high somewhere in our mind that we would expect there not only to be fewer scandals among traditionalist priests but no scandals at all. Moreover, therefore, somehow by demanding this tremendously high standard to be met, we could actually ourselves exacerbate our potential for being overly scandalized when it is not met.

Perhaps we can put it like this: because we traditionalists expect so much more out of our priests, chapels, and faithful, we can unknowingly, almost unconsciously, look for and expect a certain kind of chapel/community environment. What kind of chapel/community? Simply put, sometimes we can almost expect a chapel/community of saints and angels. Perhaps we can even unconsciously demand this. This would be, of course, a mistake…an honest mistake, but a mistake.

The mistake would go something like this. We unconsciously expect that because the Latin Mass itself is so reverent and holy and that we are, after all, at an SSPX chapel, and everyone there is a “traditionalist” with the proper attire and intention, that therefore the priest and the people there must all be exceptionally holy too. As such, our experience with the chapel/community, i.e. the other people attending Mass there, is going to be heavenly, perfect, truly Catholic, and this place will finally be a perfectly “safe” atmosphere. Then, when it’s not, we can become demoralized, disappointed, scandalized, and terribly let down.

How does this apply to the recent scandals of traditionalist clergy or laity? They have shocked us all to the bone and should be condemned by all traditionalists with all our might. Disgust and outrage are normal emotions in the face of such despicable crimes. Nevertheless, applying this fourth response and remedy, good and experienced Catholics should know how to temper disgust and anger with the doctrinal truth that all humans are sinners and capable of the most grievous and heinous sins. This applies to those who even occupy the most dignified positions on the earth, priests and religious, who are on the front lines in one of the greatest battles against evil the Church has ever waged. Upon some calm reflection, these good and experienced Catholics know that the Church is holy but filled with sinners, and that even traditionalist priests and religious are prone to fall. Yes, we should be able to expect more from our traditional priests, and hold them to a higher standard. But let us keep our feet on the ground and not get too carried away. Catholics who temper their feelings of scandal with this truth know that the traditionalist movement is a refuge and kind of oasis for Catholics during this crisis of the Church, but that it is still filled with humans who are capable of even terrible crimes such as abuse. God forbid such things! But, with humans these things are always possible.

However, unfortunately, some have allowed these abuse scandals of Latin Mass clergy or laity to severely damage their faith. But why? Shouldn’t we just accept the fact that the Church herself is holy but is made up of sinners? Yes, but that complicates matters.

Human beings don’t like complexity. We like simplicity. The more complex a problem or reality is, the worse life is for our little brains and intellects. People want simplicity, and so we tend to oversimplify in order to find quick peace or fast resolution. Just consider all the fad diets or quick fix health solutions that promise fast and easy results. People want instant and easy results and fixes. Think of the thousands of “get rich quick” schemes to help get you cash fast. Think about how quickly we oversimplify and judge other people’s behavior or choices. In fact, we always oversimplify when we judge others. This is precisely why our Lord Jesus Christ said, “Don’t judge, lest you be judged!”

We want simplicity and easily-attainable certainty, because we are constantly bombarded by a complex, chaotic, unpredictable world. This complexity causes anxiety and stress…and so an “answer,” no matter how wrong it might be, helps us to cope with the anxiety of not “knowing.” We alleviate this stress by imposing a false and illusory paradigm of “order,” a kind of utopia, that is, by imposing simplicity and subjective “certainty.”

Traditional Catholics must be careful of precisely this kind of oversimplification. It is very easy to come to the Latin Mass and be absolutely blown away by the reverence, beauty, and holiness of the ceremonies we experience in Tradition; the incense, Gregorian Chant, vestments, etc., and then, as it were, drenched in that Utopian “cure all” mentality, we can begin to oversimplify and start assuming that the Latin Mass must be everywhere filled with saints, that sin and scandal is impossible there, and that this Mass and chapel will make me and my family saints. We hear the Sanctus bells and smell the exquisite incense and see everyone dressed modestly, the ladies veiled and men in suits or formal attire, and in a moment of oversimplification we can think that sin, and especially sexual abuse, is impossible in such an environment. We hear the priest’s good sermons and see his grave demeanor. We can then imagine a utopia, a “cure all” environment for ourselves and our children. Our feet begin to float off the ground because we are idealizing too much. However, when scandal comes, the psychological damage is therefore catastrophic. This is a trap that all of us set can set for ourselves and it is this mistake that can set us up for massive demoralization and let-down when a scandal arises.

The bottom line is that we need to purify the very reason why we are “Traditional Catholics,” purify our intention, and look deep inside for unrealizable expectations we may have set. Of course there are many kinds of “purifications” which need to take place with respect to these kinds of scandals, like better abuse prevention programs, better response, etc. That is for another article. But, for starters, we can do our part by tempering the feelings of scandal and not spreading fear and anxiety.

The TLM, Tradworld, or the SSPX can never be some kind of “cure all” panacea that will provide us with a Utopian environment where the priest is always a saint, and the parishioners are angels. If we somehow expect this, even somewhat unconsciously, we can set ourselves up for serious disappointment. No, Tradworld is filled with sinners for sure. We all know that, and so we need to keep our feet on the ground.

Should we be scandalized at scandal within Tradworld? Of course. To not be scandalized by such things would be foolish and even inhuman. Nevertheless, let us strive always to temper that feeling of scandal within us by prayer, compassion, avoiding too much negativity, and the truth that even the greatest of men and women can fall very far.

May our Lady, Seat of Wisdom, help us to prevent all forms of abuse and to always respond to that abuse in a prudent and compassionate manner. May She help us to temper our reactions and actions in the midst of scandal, and to remember that the heart of man is indeed prone to evil from his youth, but the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, for those who are of the truth, truly does reform us and transform us into real adopted children of God.

 

TITLE IMAGE: David Gives Uriah a Letter for Joab, Pieter Lastman (1583–1633).