TRADCATKNIGHT INTERVIEWS BRIAN MCCALL ON THE CRISIS IN THE CHURCH
Brian M. McCall
Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, Associate Director of the Law Center, and Director of Legal Assistant Education
Orpha and Maurice Merrill Professor in Law
University of Oklahoma
I recently interviewed Mr. McCall on this crisis in the Church and wait till you here what he has to say...
Current State of the Catholic Church.....
Tell us a little bit more about your background and why you are a Catholic?
I was born
and baptized in 1970 just after the change to the New Mass. I went to
12 years of Catholic schools. Philadelphia, where I was raised, was a
fairly mild dioceses (delaying communion in the hand for many years).
Yet, my experience with the Faith was superficial. Doctrine was
oversimplified and de-emphasized. Liturgies were mundane and
uninspiring.
I attended
college at Yale and graduate school at the University of London and
focused on Medieval Literature and History. I was fascinated by the
worldview and liturgical/cultural richness of the Church in that age.
Yet, I think at the time I did not see a connection to my life. The
Church that appeared in literature of the period was not the same entity
I met on Sundays. I saw no connections. Then years later I attended a
Traditional Mass. Like a bolt of lightning it hit me: the Catholic
Church of today should be the same Church of the past. Something had
changed it integrally. I started to read everything I could about
Vatican II and the liturgical and doctrinal changes. I found the truth
and beauty of the Church hidden under the disfiguration of the post
Vatican II façade. Until that time I was a cultural Catholic. I had
some trappings of Catholic culture and some vague vestigial elements of
the Faith but I had no interior life and these trappings had no real
impact on my moral life. The more I read, the more I found the depth
and breadth of the Faith. Through the guidance of holy traditional
priests over the past two decades I have been guided to begin a true
interior life.
What are Catholics to make of the Second Vatican Council?
It
is an historical fact, albeit a tragic one. It is a reality that
cannot be ignored. If you are not against its errors you are with
them. It is the French Revolution in the Church. It was the Trojan
horse through which dangers to the Faith were introduced into the
intellectual life and praxis of the Church. We need to see the Council
for what it was in fact historically, a power shift from the traditional
authorities to the Modernists whom all the popes from Pius X to Pius
XII had been trying to keep under control. This question should be
distinguished from the documents of Vatican II. As to the documents,
Catholics must believe anything in the documents which is clearly a
repetition of the deposit of the Faith and refuse any statements that
are contrary to the Faith as always and everywhere believed, and should
out of prudence avoid as dangerous any ambiguous or unclear statements
capable of, or favoring, erroneous concepts or ideas.
Why is there so much confusion in the Church?
In
order to advance the Modernist agenda, the drafters of the documents
made extensive use of ambiguous and vague language. They could not
obtain the assent of the fathers to clearly Modernist or erroneous
doctrine. They had to resort to ambiguity. Ambiguity by definition
breeds confusion because it is open to multiple interpretation.
Ambiguity in doctrine has given birth to anew Babel of doctrine thus
there is no canon or rule of Faith assented to by all. To defend the
Council the authorities have had to resort to a violation of the
principle of non-contradiction. They claim they are teaching the same
thing as the Church has always taught and that the liturgy is the same
liturgy in essence as always offered, yet that statement contradicts the
reality before all to see. This contradiction breeds confusion just as
if I showed you compass indicating we are walking North but I told you
to believe we were walking South. This contradiction between my claim
and your perception of reality can only lead to confusion.
What should Catholics make of the direction Francis is pursuing?
It is merely
the natural and logical conclusion of the new orientation of the
Council. He is merely advancing the direction chosen. He is doing so
in a more accelerated manner than his predecessors and he has abandoned
the charade of claiming he is not changing anything. He is in a sense
the most honest of the post Vatican II popes as he makes no pretense of
what he intends and does.
Can traditionalists ever get along? Or will it be a fruitless struggle between all the varying camps?
Christians
have always faced the temptation to strife and sins against charity.
St. Paul is already correcting and warning the early Church. Yet, when
the shepherd is struck the sheep will scatter. Scattering sheep will
inevitable crash into each other. Thus, the temptation to strife and
disagreement is radically greater when there is a collapse of authority
as we have experienced since the Council. The only hope to curb this
tendency is for all traditionalists to unite under a legitimate
authority. If all traditionalists had remained united under the
authority of Archbishop Lefebvre, many of these problems would not have
arisen. This is why the Roman authorities have worked for decades to
keep traditional leaning groups divided and pitted against each other.
They know that if they were united under a single authority, they would
wield incredible influence in the Church.
Given Pope St.
Pius X, Fr. Malachi Martin, Cardinal Biffi and Archbishop Lefebvre all
stated the Antichrist was close why do Catholics have such a hard time
accepting this declaration?
Accepting
reality is often frightening and so denial and delusion are emotionally
easier. It is a fact that since the coming of Our Lord, every single
day brings us closer to the last days. How much farther away are they
specifically? None of these great Churchmen knew for certain. What
they did know was that the spirit of the Antichrist, the spirit that
would be necessary for the world to be seduced by him has been growing
steadily since the sixteenth century. The more this spirit of
Antichrist, the more prepared is the world to receive him. It is this
that Catholics should accept and not merely a sensationalist
millennialism.
So many Catholics are falling into despair. What can Catholics do to keep in Faith and preserve unto the end?
Find
a good traditional spiritual director. Only through developing a deep
interior life fortified, when possible in this crisis, by the Sacraments
can we avoid the pitfall of despair. Developing a deep relationship
with Our Lord is the only way we can stay rooted to the truth that this
is His Church and the partisans of error who pillage it do so only so
long as He permits them. Without the anchor of an interior life guided
by a traditional spiritual director we are in grave spiritual danger.
We have to make every effort, including the prudent use of modern
technologies that can be used to transcend space, to find and place
ourselves under the direction of a traditional spiritual director.
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look for more interviews this week
ReplyDeleteGreat interview, thank you.
ReplyDelete:)
ReplyDeleteFind a good traditional spiritual director? You got to be kidd'n. There is not one within 200 miles of my home. The BVM (Our Lady of Fatima) already told us the only recourse we have left is Her Immaculate Heart and Her Son's Sacred Heart. The institutional Catholic Church, as our grand parents knew it is experiencing its Good Friday.
ReplyDeletetough sledding yes
DeleteI am going to start a novena to Our Lady of Perpetual Help that she will intercede for you. From a practical stand point I can certainly understand your perspective but from a spiritual one nothing, I mean absolutely nothing is impossible for her to do, especially something as important as this. I've heard of traditional priests who offer spiritual direction over the phone to souls in similar logistic situations .Of course, confession can't be done this way. You sound like a practical person who is making a conclusion based on sound human logic. With all due respect, please do not disregard all the impossible things Our Lord and Our Lady have done in past and are still doing for those that humbly ask!
DeleteFAITH AND HOPE, TWO WINGS OF AN EAGLE
DeleteThank you for asking such great questions...just the things I want to know. As for the spiritual director...I agree with Nick Fluh. I can't even find a spiritual director in my area, let alone a TRADITIONAL ONE. I had a good spiritual director priest for a few months but then he was transferred. I believe that by alluding to using modern technology, Mr. McCall is speaking of the internet and getting direction from groups like yours Eric. Tag, you're it!! The best spiritual director on the web that I know of, TRADCATKNIGHT! I know you are up for the job. I have learned more in the past few weeks from you and your interviews, postings, videos, etc. then I have in several months. Can't thank you enough Eric! God Bless!
ReplyDeletekeep praying for a good director
DeleteI will!
DeleteThis is very simple - ITS TO LATE - for talking we have gone long pass this point - NO MORE TALKING - About the church its now dead. EITHER TAKE ACTION OR SHUT UP STOP TRYING TO WHITE WASH OVER THE RUST CORROSION DESECRATION AND EVIL OF THIS CHURCH. Shut up and take action do not support this church in anyway or burn in Hell
DeleteThis is very simple - ITS TO LATE - for talking we have gone long pass this point - NO MORE TALKING - About the church its now dead. EITHER TAKE ACTION OR SHUT UP STOP TRYING TO WHITE WASH OVER THE RUST CORROSION DESECRATION AND EVIL OF THIS CHURCH. Shut up and take action do not support this church in anyway or burn in Hell
DeleteTHE CHURCH CAN NEVER DIE FRIEND GOD IS ALLOWING IT ONLY FOR HIS FUTURE GLORIOUS REBIRTH OF IT
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteIt's understandable the good Professor wasn't able to speak more clearly. I had a feeling he wished to say more, that he wanted to be more specific. People in the public arena have a lot to lose when they speak out on controversial issues. Jokes about the "thought-police," are no longer jokes. This man has a lot to lose, he could lose tenure, grants, endowments, his publisher, even his position.
ReplyDeleteAll in all, the little information he gave was good. Even the impossible advice he offered to locate a good spiritual director. Easier said than done.
TOUGH OUT IN INTERNET LAND YES
ReplyDeleteTip: promote TLM available online for the faithful who don't have TLM in their region. Is Saint Gertrude the Great of OHIO still online? Please continue to share your recommendations to watch a TLM online.
ReplyDeleteLive MASS:
Deletehttps://sggresources.org/products/webcasting-the-traditional-liturgy-to-the-world
http://www.sgg.org/for-newcomers/mass-streaming/
http://www.livemass.net/LiveMass/live.html
http://www.ustream.tv/channel/daily-traditional-latin-mass
https://www.wftsradio.org/program-schedule
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmVTdc_5AEUXP3td8glSIog/videos
http://catholichour.org/holy-mass-live/
https://www.youtube.com/user/469fitter
This is very simple - ITS TO LATE - for talking we have gone long pass this point - NO MORE TALKING - About the church its now dead. EITHER TAKE ACTION OR SHUT UP STOP TRYING TO WHITE WASH OVER THE RUST CORROSION DESECRATION AND EVIL OF THIS CHURCH. Shut up and take action do not support this church in anyway or burn in Hell
ReplyDeleteTHE CHURCH CAN NEVER DIE FRIEND GOD IS ALLOWING IT ONLY FOR HIS FUTURE GLORIOUS REBIRTH OF IT
Delete