FROM Traditio:

Dear TRADITIO Fathers:

I have been in some purportedly traditional chapels that have Benedict-Ratzinger’s photo hanging, some have Francis-Bergoglio’s hanging, some have none at all. What do you think is appropriate?

The TRADITIO Fathers Reply.

We would go with the last option: none at all. Making the pope (whoever you think he may be) into some kind of “personality” or “celebrity” is against Catholic teaching and blasphemes God. Until the last fifty years or so, most Catholics didn’t even know the pope’s name. After all, it didn’t make any difference who the pope was. The Catholic Faith was the same, the Mass was the same, the Sacraments were the same, Catholic morality was the same. Fifty years ago Catholics knew that. Now they don’t.

In Newchurch, education is so bad that few if any Newchurchers know the seminal creed of the Catholic Faith, the Apostles Creed. There are many who have difficulty with the Hail Mary. Talk to them about her Magnificat, and they look befuddled. Having “celebrity” photos of popes hung up teaches exactly the wrong thing: that it makes a difference who the pope is. It shouldn’t make any difference at all. Many of these ill-educated Newchurchers probably think that the pope (whoever he may be) is some kind of demigod with semi-divine powers. Such a notion is a grave sin against the First Commandment of God, and those who believe it are showing themselves no better than pagans.

— Comments —

Sophia writes:

I think the Traditio response misses the mark about the question at hand. I have seen pictures of Francis in SSPX chapels, but it is clear that no one there, including the priest who keeps it up, actually likes him: hence, the idea that he is being made a “celebrity” by traditionalists is simply a strange misjudgment. The point being made is that they are not sedevacantists. The message is simply “he is still the pope.” He is there to represent the papacy…in their eyes.

Personally, I’ve always found it disturbing to walk out of Mass and be confronted by Bergoglio’s picture, as I do not believe he is the pope. And I’m not alone. Many “SSPXers” do not agree with that position of the Society, at least at a certain chapel with which I’m familiar.

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