Latin Mass Society

Chairman's Blog

21/02/2022 - 14:02

London: Server Training this Saturday

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You can still book for the Society of St Tarcisius Server Training on Saturday in St Mary Moorfields in Eldon Street, London.

26th February, St Mary Moorfields, from 10:30 am to 4pm. Booking page.

More on the venue.

Other dates for server training for the first half of the year are also confirmed@

2nd April, St Dominic's Haverstock Hill, from 11 am to 4pm (please come to the parish hall on the left of the church). Booking page. Note the new venue.

21st May, St Mary Moorfield, from 10:30 am to 4pm. Booking page.

All these events will be accompanied by Vestment Mending Days with the Guild of St Clare, in the parish halls of these two churches. This means that different members of a family can take part in both on the same day.

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12/02/2022 - 14:10

Cause of Celebration, 2: a Successful Sewing Retreat

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From last Friday to Sunday, the Guild of St Clare Spring Sewing Retreat took place. The Guild is affiliated to the Latin Mass Society. They have two Sewing Retreats a year and booking for the next one can be done here.
This was the first time we have used this venue, Park Place Pastoral Centre in Hampshire, and we will be using it for the next retreat as well, and for the residential Latin and Greek Course the LMS is running in August (details).
The Retreat was fully booked, and led by Fr Stephen Morrison of the Norbertines at Chelmsford. Mass before lunch on Sunday, which I attended, was sung, with the assistance of two of the participants. 
The retreat was a huge success and we are grateful to Fr Morrison and to the staff at Park Place.

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07/02/2022 - 19:21

Cause for Celebration, 1: a reception into the Church and High Mass in Oxford

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Last evening we had a very special Mass at Holy Rood in Oxford. It was preceded by the reception into the Church (and Confirmation) of a University student, and by way of celebration we had a really splendid Mass: High Mass with deacon and subdeacon, a polyphonic choir singing Palestrina, and an organist. We also had a splendid team of servers.
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The architecture of Holy Rood is not what one might prefer but it does have an excellent acoustic and unimpeded sight-lines, and I got some nice photos of this lovely event.

The parish priest, Fr Daniel Lloyd, was celebrant; he was assisted by Rev James Forde-Johnson as deacon and Br Albert Robertson OP as subdeacon. The singing was led by Dominic Bevan, with Tom Neal at the organ. But to experience that, you had to be there.
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The music was sponsored by the Latin Mass Society and the vestments used belong to the Society. They were purchased in memory of John Herbert and Josephine Smith, who left the Society a legacy. Please remember them, and our new recruit to the army of Christ.

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04/02/2022 - 10:00

Confirmations, the SSPX, and Allessandro Manzoni

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Photo by John Aron

One of the greatest Catholic works of literature, of any age and language, is Allessandro Mazoni's novel Il Promessi: the Betrothed. Among the characters is Frederick, Cardinal Borromeo, of Milan, the nephew of St Charles Borromeo; the simple village parish priest, Don Abbondio, and the engaged couple, Renzo and Lucy.

In the opening pages of the book a powerful local landowner threatens Don Abbondio with death should he marry the young couple; he has designs on Lucy. The couple attempt to force the issue, by contracting marriage before the priest as an unwilling witness. This would be recognised by the Church, under the canon law of the day, as valid but illicit.

Eventually, Cardinal Borromeo hears of the case and confronts Don Abbondio. The latter protests:

“But these persons who have told your lordship these things, have they not also told you that they introduced themselves treacherously into my house, for the purpose of compelling me to perform the marriage ceremony, in a manner unauthorised by the church?”

“They have told me, my son; but what afflicts and depresses me, is to see you still seeking excuses; still excusing yourself by accusing others; still accusing others of that which should have formed a part of your own confession. Who placed these unfortunates, I do not say under the necessity, but under the temptation, to do what they have? Would they have sought this irregular method, if the legitimate way had not been closed to them?”

It is interesting to note the forceful nature of the obligation to provide the sacraments, which the Cardinal insists on. Marriage, unlike Baptism and Confession, is not a 'sacrament of the dead': it is not a matter of spiritual life and death. And yet, all the same, the people have a right to it.

Earlier, the Cardinal had remonstrated with Don Abbondio. The latter protested:

“Perhaps I have not clearly explained myself. It was under pain of death that they ordered me not to perform the ceremony.”

“And this reason appeared sufficient to prevent the fulfilment of a rigorous duty?”

“I know my obligation is to do my duty, even to my greatest detriment; but when life is at stake——”

“And when you presented yourself to the church,” said Frederick, with increased severity of manner, “to be admitted to the holy ministry, were there any such reservations made? Were you told that the duties imposed by the ministry were free from every obstacle, exempt from every peril? Were you told that personal safety was to be the guide and limit of your duty? Were you not told expressly the reverse of all this? Were you not warned that you were sent as a lamb among wolves? Did you not even then know that there were violent men in the world, who would oppose you in the performance of your duty? He, whose example should be our guide, in imitation of whom we call ourselves shepherds, when he came on earth to accomplish the designs of his benevolence, did he pay regard to his own safety? And if your object be to preserve your miserable existence, at the expense of charity and duty, there was no necessity for your receiving holy unction, and entering into the priesthood. The world imparts this virtue, teaches this doctrine. What do I say? O shame! the world itself rejects it. It has likewise its laws, which prescribe good, and prohibit evil; it has also its gospel, a gospel of pride and hatred, which will not admit the love of life to be offered as a plea for the transgression of its laws. It commands, and is obeyed; but we, we children and messengers of the promise! what would become of the church, if your language was held by all your brethren? Where would she now be, if she had originally come forth with such doctrines?”

Today bishops and priests all over the world are steeling themselves to tell us--because this is the logical next step in the process unleashed by Traditionis Custodes--that we may not have many of the sacraments in the traditional form; that they are available from the SSPX (among others); to seek them from these would be, admittedly, valid, but, they will insist, illicit; and they cannot recommend such a step. Well, who could recommend such a thing?

It is certainly not for me to do so. I would just like to draw to the attention of these bishops and priests the words of Manzoni, placed in the mouth of the great Cardinal:

Who placed these unfortunates, I do not say under the necessity, but under the temptation, to do what they have? Would they have sought this irregular method, if the legitimate way had not been closed to them?

I would recommend those who seem so pleased with the prospect of Catholics attached to the traditional liturgical forms being driven out of the canonical structures of the Church to tear their minds away from the state of conscience these individuals may or may not have, and examine their own. Are you innocent here? Are your intentions charitable? Have you done what you could to preserve the unity of the Church? 

They would do well to meditate on the words of Pope Benedict XVI:

Looking back over the past, to the divisions which in the course of the centuries have rent the Body of Christ, one continually has the impression that, at critical moments when divisions were coming about, not enough was done by the Church’s leaders to maintain or regain reconciliation and unity. One has the impression that omissions on the part of the Church have had their share of blame for the fact that these divisions were able to harden.

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30/01/2022 - 10:00

The LMS and the SSPX

I can't find an image of Houghton-Brown online,
but he was an artist and this is by him:
Richeldis founding the Holy House at Walsingham.

The long-lost autobiography of Fr Bryan Houghton is being republished by Angelico Press. It contains a description of a famous meeting, which Fr Houghton attended himself, between the Chairman of the Latin Mass Society, Geoffrey Houghton-Brown, the President of Una Voce International, Eric de Saventhem, and some others, with Archbishop Lefebvre, in 1969. At this meeting it was agreed that Latin Mass Society/ Una Voce groups should stick to seeking permissions for the Traditional Mass from bishops and the Holy See, while the Archbishop, and the fledgling SSPX which he founded, could continue to act as he saw fit, with or without permission. (Fr Houghton was a cousin of Houghton-Brown, incidentally.) 

From Unwanted Priest, p141
I may say that this was not the first time that I met Monsignor Lefebvre. I had already met him (perhaps in the summer of 1969) at the Kenworthy-Browns. There had been present: Mr and Mrs Kenworthy-Brown, Monsignor Lefebvre, Mr and Mrs de Saventhem, Mr Geoffrey Houghton-Brown, Mr Vernor Miles (representing the Countess of Kinnoull) and myself. Monsignor’s lack of English was a bit of a bore, but luckily the de Saventhems, Geoffrey and I were fluent in French, and the Kenworthy-Browns understood most of it, although a bit tongue-tied. But poor Vernor Miles was still at school-French: “My aunt’s pen: la plume de ma tante.” This was perhaps rather fortunate—divine Providence. Monsignor Lefebvre wanted money to start up in England in a big way. Now, Vernor Miles represented Lady Kinnoull, who had one of the biggest Catholic fortunes in England. It had been left to her by her husband and she was childless. At the crucial moment Mr Vernor Miles was unable to understand.
Anyway, the problem was: whether the Latin Mass Society should associate itself with Lefebvre or not? It was decided that the two organisations should remain divided: the LMS trying to get the hierarchy to admit the old Mass; Lefebvre producing the old Mass in spite of the hierarchy. I felt quite sure that this was the right decision.
With hindsight the wisdom of the decision may seem evident, but of course in 1969 the SSPX had not been suppressed (1975), and the Archbishop had not been excommunicated (1988). Neither side knew how the situation of the other would develop, what threats and opportunities it would face. In 1971 the LMS won the first great concession from the Holy See, the English Indult, under which it gained the thankless task of seeking permissions for celebrations of the ancient Mass. A world-wide version followed in 1984. These document rather defined the task of the Una Voce movement up to 2007, and it seems we are back to that situation again today. On the other hand, the SSPX gained complete freedom of action at the cost of canonical regularity.
Whether the Archbishop and his followers were justified in doing what they did I leave to readers to judge. What is perfectly clear is that it would not have helped the situation if the Una Voce movement had stopped trying to get permissions from bishops and popes. Insofar as we have been successful, we have carried on the same battle, the battle for the Traditional Mass and the Faith it embodies, as the SSPX, from another direction. Insofar as we have failed, we--or rather, the bishops and popes at issue--have provided the SSPX with evidence that their disobedience was necessary.
This has been true throughout our history, and it certainly has not ceased to be true today.
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29/01/2022 - 10:30

Learn Latin and become a citizen of Europe

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Reading the Epistle: Fr Gabriel Diaz at Corpus Christi, Maiden Lane
We are delighted to announce the opening of bookings for the Latin Mass Society's Latin and Greek Summer School: an intensive course of one week looking at the Latin of the liturgy for beginners and intermediate students, and New Testament Greek for students with the basics of the language. It will take place 8-13 August at Park Place Pastoral Centre in Hampshire. We also have on-line courses to recommend; all of these have huge discounts for clergy.

And here is an unexpected, but perfectly logical, new reason for learning Latin and Greek, which appeared in the press before the Christmas rush but is worth repeating.

Jean-Michel Blanquer, France's Education Minister, is re-introducing the study of Latin and Greek into France's professional schools: it will be possible to study them as part of the 'technical' baccalaureate. This is part of an international effort to 'strengthen the EU', alongside Italy, Greece and Cyprus.
Here is The Times, here is The Telegraph: both paywalled; here's a parallel report from RT.

It is part of President Macron's 'war on woke', apparently. Blanquer ridiculed the idea that teaching Latin promotes racism, which, predictably enough, has found a home in the once-elite University of Princeton.

Obviously one has to reject such an idea if one wants to promote the study of the Classics. But Blanquer's motivation is about putting young people in touch with the common cultural roots of Europe.

A similar idea was recently expressed in Le Figaro, where Sundar Ramanadane suggested that Latin be the language of the EU's institutions. Seriously! After all:

Latin carries within it two millennia of a culture as varied as its authors were: it was the link between a Europe of minds who, through time and across space, have debated, disputed, but always with a common identity as a backdrop. Latin also structured the languages ​​we speak today in Europe, in their grammatical construction or in their lexicon: it crosses national boundaries.
...

Finally, a Latin-speaking Europe would symbolize the strength, rigour, and will to power (something that Europe has recently attempting, albeit timidly, to assume), the will to unite many peoples around it. It would then be the language of an entity which would have another ambition than that of being a cartel of states representing, for the largest of them, just over one percent of the world's population.

So 'Latin deserves to become the language of Europe again.'

He concludes:

 
If Europe one day aspires to develop a European identity beyond national characteristics, and to be something other than a grant-giver and a great regulator, (things that are not criticized in themselves), it must acquire a language which, unlike this laboratory language that is Esperanto, has a rich history, and reflects a historical legacy in which the peoples recognize themselves and under which they can consider uniting. 
So maybe this has some traction. It would take fifty years of pushing Latin in schools across the EU to make the idea of using it as an official language even remotely plausible. Nevertheless, it is true that the multilingual European Union, since Brexit not so firmly hitched to English-speaking culture, has a common culture in the Classics. Latin is the origin of the Romance languages of western and southern Europe, and has in modern times had a very important place in the cultures of central European countries as well. Germans have less Latin influence on their language than the French, but they, like the Russians, have a case system, and German classical scholarship is renowned--or once was. It was an officially-used language in Poland, Hungary, and Croatia, for many centuries up to the 18th or 19th century. 
If the citizens of the EU are ever to feel at home with each other, they need to nurture this common culture. Teaching children Latin and Greek is an indispensable first step, even if they never get to the point of giving speeches in Latin in the European Parliament, as the Croats used to do in theirs.
Check out the LMS Latina and Greek residential course here.

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Fr John Hunwicke teaches Latin at the 2018 LMS Latin Course

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27/01/2022 - 10:55

Confirmations: Being Stricter than the Law

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My latest in the Voice of the Family Digest

Since 2004, with a break in 2020 for COVID, the Archdiocese of Westminster has supplied an auxiliary bishop to confer the Sacrament of Confirmation according to the 1962 liturgical books. In the 16 services which have taken place over 17 years, 593 candidates have been confirmed using this rite. These services were open to Catholics from all over England and Wales, and indeed beyond: occasionally we had candidates from Scotland and France. As time has gone on several other bishops have plucked up the courage to hold confirmation services in their own dioceses. One such was due to take place in just a couple of weeks, 6th February, in the Oratory at Birmingham.

These have now all been cancelled. It seems the bishops of England and Wales had a meeting, online, and decided that they must not be allowed, under the terms of the Responsa ad dubia, which the Congregation for Divine Worship published before Christmas. The Responsa ruled out the use of the older Pontifical, the liturgical book which contains the Rite of Confirmation, and also the Roman Ritual. Neither of these books was mentioned in Pope Francis’ Apostolic Letter, Traditionis Custodes. It is not clear how or why a Roman Congregation, supposedly interpreting Pope Francis’ document, is adding entirely new regulations not found in the original. They are, we might say, being stricter than the law.

Bishops in England and Wales, and around the world, have in any case the authority to abrogate from the universal law of the Church for the good of souls, under Canon 87.1. They referred to this Canon in addressing the problem thrown up by Traditionis Custodes, which appeared to say that parish churches should not be used for the traditional Mass, when the overwhelming majority of such masses are being celebrated in parish churches, with no practical alternatives available. This Canon has not been changed. If bishops, who can see the harm done to the good of souls by a strict implementation of the Responsa which itself does not have the force of law, want to implement it anyway, they themselves are being stricter than the law.

Read it all there.

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24/01/2022 - 10:59

Traditional Confirmations cancelled in England and Wales

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Bishop Sherrington, an auxiliary bishop of Westminster Diocese,
administers the confirmation 'slap'. He wears a cope and mitre, and holds a
crozier, symbols of his office.


Latin Mass Society Statement on Confirmations: January 2022

The Latin Mass Society regrets to report that Cardinal Vincent Nichols has made the decision (communicated to the Society by letter) that the Sacrament of Confirmation is not to be celebrated according to the 1962 liturgical books in the Archdiocese of Westminster. The annual celebration which has for nearly twenty years been organised by the Latin Mass Society at St James’ Spanish Place, at which candidates were confirmed by an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese—and on one occasion, by Cardinal Raymond Burke—will accordingly not take place this year, or until this decision is reversed.

We understand that another planned celebration of this Sacrament, by Archbishop Bernard Longley of Birmingham, has also been cancelled.

 

Comment from Joseph Shaw, LMS Chairman.

The Archdiocese of Westminster has provided an auxiliary bishop to confer Old Rite Confirmation annually since 2004. In recent years bishops in several other English dioceses have also organised traditional Confirmations in other parts of the country. These celebrations have been joyful occasions, attended by many children and young adults, their families, sponsors, and friends. They have been clear expressions of the importance the Societys supporters attach to their link with their bishops, and our bishopspastoral concern for us. They have enormously strengthened the sense of unity in the Church: both our sense of belonging, and, I believe, the bishopsown sense that we are indeed sheep of their flock.

The cessation of these celebrations implies the loss of much that the Bishops of England and Wales have sought, and achieved, in establishing a serene co-existence between the new and old liturgical forms. Confirmation is above all a sacrament for young people and converts. It will cut off many  from accessing it in a form ‘particularly suited to them’ (as Pope Benedict expressed it).[1] Others will be driven to seek it outside the structures of the Church.

We hope that the Bishops of England and Wales come to reconsider their decision, and allow once more the ancient Roman liturgy in all its manifestations to be part of the legitimate diversity of liturgical forms we have in this country.

Ends.

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Comment 

Reading of the difficulties and conflicts between groups of the faithful attached to the Traditional Mass and their bishops, in some parts of the world, we have long been able to say, in England and Wales: this is not the situation here. With regard to Confirmation, and in many other ways, our bishops have shown themselves willing to see us cared for using those liturgical forms which are, as Pope Benedict called them, treasures, which attract us because of their sacrality, and in which we are ‘formed’ (Letter to Bishops, 2007).

This is no longer the case. While this situation continues, it is implied that the liturgy of the Saints, Doctors, Martyrs, and holy Popes of twelve centuries and more is suspect, and that we ourselves are not worthy of the pastoral consideration given to all sorts of groups in this country: Polish Catholics, Syro-Malabar Catholics, Ukrainian Rite Catholics, and many others, who receive pastoral care distinct from the standard English-language Novus Ordo liturgy.

I hope the Bishops of England and Wales appreciate the deeply problematic nature of this situation, particularly in light of the steps which Pope Francis has taken to legitimise the ministry of the Society of St Pius X, whose members will not feel themselves bound to observe any restrictions on the use of the Traditional Sacraments.

In light of the Canon law guidance which we have published, which confirms that the recent Responsa ad Dubia issued by the Congregation for Divine Worship, which appear to prohibit the use of the 1962 Pontificale, does not have the force of law, we call on His Eminence, Cardinal Nichols, and the Bishops of England and Wales, to reconsider their position, before real pastoral harm is done, and damage to the fabric of unity which will not easily be repaired.

 




[1]

Letter to Bishops 2007. 

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23/01/2022 - 10:00

Server Training in London: February, April, May

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Server training in St Mary Moorfields

Cross-posted from the Society of St Tarcisius blog.

We have booked dates for the first half of the year as follows:

26th February, St Mary Moorfields, from 10:30 am to 4pm. Booking page.

2nd April, St Dominic's Haverstock Hill, from 11 am to 4pm (please come to the parish hall on the left of the church). Booking page. Note the new venue!

21st May,  St Mary Moorfield, from 10:30 am to 4pm. Booking page.

St Mary Moorfield's is 4/5 Eldon Street, London EC2M 2LS: more on the venue.
St Dominic's Priory is at Southampton Rd, NW5 4LB: more on the venue.

All these events will be accompanied by Vestment Mending Days with the Guild of St Clare, in the parish halls of these two churches. This means that different members of a family can take part in both on the same day.
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The Dominican Rite at St Dominic's, Haverstock Hill (Fr Lawrence Lew)

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22/01/2022 - 10:00

Are Traditional Catholics 'corrupt'? A response to Austen Ivereigh

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Mass of Reparation, celebrated in response to clerical abuse revelations in 2018.
Cross-posted on Rorate Caeli.

Austen Ivereigh writes that he has been troubled by a criticism of the restrictions on the Traditional Mass brought in last July by Pope Francis' Traditionis Custodes. This is the point, made even by people with no particular interest in the ancient Mass, that it was an example of collective punishment: the innocent were being deprived of the Mass alongside those, whoever they are, who are truly guilty, of whatever it is they are supposed to be guilty of. Even if we accept Pope Francis' characterisation of Bad Trads, it can't be true of everyone who has derived solace from the old Mass. It can't, in fact, even be true of most, because it implies a degree of theological engagement which is unusual. Most Catholics don't spend their time talking about Vatican II's teaching on Religious Liberty, for example, because most Catholics, whether they have encountered the old Mass or not, don't have a very clear idea of what it is -- the idea is absurd.

Ivereigh even takes a moment to consider those simple faithful who really aren't involved in these disputes: people who appreciate the ancient Mass because they find it predictable, orderly, and calming, like the neuro-diverse: people with Aspergers and the like. Austen's comment: they are 'oddballs'. They are beneath his consideration. 

Furthermore, we have been told over and over again that Pope Francis is all about 'dialogue', 'meeting people where they are', not expecting people to be perfect, seeing the Church as a 'field hospital', not 'throwing stones' and all the rest of it. His treatment of Catholics attached to the Old Mass seems, to put it mildly, in tension with this

Ivereigh quotes Greg Hillis: “At a time when we as a church are embarking on a synodal path,” Hillis wrote, “I have difficulty understanding why a more synodal—a more dialogical—approach is not being taken with traditionalists.”
This 'nagged' at Ivereigh, he tells us. But he has come up with a solution. He has dug up something written by the Pope back in 1991, which distinguished 'sin' from 'corruption':

Hence, writes Bergoglio, “we could say that while sin is forgiven, corruption cannot be forgiven,” for at the root of corruption is a refusal of God’s forgiveness. The corrupted person or organization sees no need of repentance, and their sense of self-sufficiency gradually comes to be regarded as natural and normal.

This is the use of words not with the usual meanings, but let's go with that. The first problem is that it is no clearer than before that all, or a majority, or even an important minority of Catholics who attend Mass regularly or occasionally in the Old Rite should be categorised in this way. It is still an unjust collective punishment. Ivereigh deals with this, however, by saying that the rest of us are guilty by association because we have not attacked the guilty ones.

I think I know what Pope Francis, and indeed everyone else, would think of a Traditional movement filled with people denouncing each other. Readers may think there is too much of that already. Not enough for Austin: certainly quite enough for me.
What, though, is this accusation? In Ivereigh's way of talking, it would seem that the unrepentant sinner is 'corrupt'. You mean, like the unrepentant adulterers invited by various bishops, apparently with the encouragement of Pope Francis, to receive Holy Communion? 
No, no! An exception must be made for them.
Conversely, the sinner—even when not ready to repent—knows that he is a sinner and yearns to throw himself on God’s mercy. This is the key distinction: the sinner remains, however obscurely and unconsciously, open to grace, while the corrupt deny that they sin. Enclosed by their pride, they shut out the possibility of grace.
Ok, so the corrupt deny that they sin. Would that be like the unrepentant adulterers who have been through a process of 'discernment' and decided that, really, they are in a state of grace despite their adultery, and so can fruitfully receive Holy Communion?
No, no! That's not what Ivereigh means. The process of discernment reveals that they are sinners, not ready to repent, not in a state of grace, and still ready to receive Holy Communion fruitfully, because, because, well because of something or other.
Let's look at the other side of the distinction. The adulterer is quite different from those wicked traditional Catholics. They are 'enclosed in their pride', not aware of their need for repentance. But this isn't quite right either: Austen has been trawling the Latin Mass Society website and old copies of Mass of Ages and found what I think is me saying “God is calling us to atone for our sins.” Indeed He is. 'Yet' (he comments) 'one searches their site in vain for any recognition of what those sins might be.' Er, well, naturally, Austen. How do I know what the sins of Mass of Ages readers might be? Particularly when the regulars are joined by random journalists like Dr Ivereigh. Would he hope to be included in the generalisation?
But this point seems to be the key difference between the unrepentant adulterer (good) and the Catholic who wants to attend the Traditional Mass in communion with his bishop and the Pope (bad). The adulterer refuses to repent; the latter, if we must generalise, likes to go to regular confession. Despite this, the latter is unforgivable and can't be dialogued with, because they aren't repenting of what Austen thinks they ought to be repenting of, something clearly far worse than adultery.
He quotes the Statement of the Religious Superiors:

“We are ready to convert if party spirit or pride has polluted our hearts.” Why if and may? Isn’t “party spirit and pride” one thing traditionalism has become famous for?
This looks very much like assuming what you set out to prove. Ivereigh thinks they are filled with pride. They say: we are open to considering that. How about a bit of dialogue so that we can clarify this? Austen says, no! Your failure to repent of what I criticise you for in advance of any dialogue, discernment, accompaniment, or sacrilegious Holy Communions, means that you are damned out of your own mouths. 
By showing that we are ready to repent, we Traditional Catholics are condemning ourselves as people who have failed to repent. Whereas the adulterer, who is not ready to repent, is vindicated as something who wants, deep down, obscurely, in some way not manifested in his words or actions, to throw himself on the mercy of God, at some future date yet to be determined. Is that it?
Or perhaps this is the idea. The Traditional Catholics have committed a sin, according to Ivereigh, which they don't think is a sin: it is a point of controversy. And that is unforgivable because they will never repent of it until they understand that it is a sin. 
But if so this is an objective but not subjective sin. It is like the sin of someone born into a schismatic ecclesial group, a Lutheran, say, who can't be blamed for being a Lutheran unless and until he realises that Lutheranism is wrong and he ought to become a Catholic: at which point of course he is likely to become one. Pope Francis is not noted for being hard on Lutherans.
But he is hard on Catholics who simply wish to attend the Traditional Mass. They, it seems, have committed the wrong kind of sin: the sin Austen Ivereigh doesn't like. That is what this great distinction comes down to. All sins can be forgiven, but not the sin Dr Ivereigh particularly doesn't like, even if it was committed unconsciously. 
Ivereigh is indeed the Savoranola of our time. Repent! he cries. You don't know what your sins are, and I am not going to help you discover them. But since you have not already repented, you are damned. All can be forgiven, but not the unfashionable sin, the sin disliked by those currently in power.
You'd best be careful, Dr Ivereigh, of the day the wind changes direction.
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Rosary Crusade of Reparation in London.

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