THE TAOS TATLER.

It will be quite the battle.

Your Tatler wrote a screed not long ago that, among other things, suggested the Catholic Church should steal back from the Church of England its Book of Common Prayer, to supplant the lame, mediocre English used in vernacular masses. After all, the C of E was Catholic once, and so were the compilers of the Prayer Book.

Another theft, desperately needed, is the C of E’s musical tradition, famed worldwide for its beauty and suitability to each occasion. Not so in most Catholic churches, despite a musical heritage going back to the Middle Ages. Instead, on Sundays throughout the land, you’ll hear badly performed tripe like “On Eagles’ Wings,” or “I am the Bread of Life” at all times of the year, because that’s all the well-intentioned volunteer music director, whose knowledge of harmony is limited to the tonic, dominant, and subdominate, can play on an amplified guitar, and shriek into an equally amplified microphone.

So, before we swipe the Anglican choral tradition, we will somehow have to jetison “Gather Us In” before implementing chant, Palistrina, Victoria, Mozart, Haydn and countless other greats. A nearly impossible task, but your Tatler, sensing Pope Leo might care about this more than previous pontiffs, will somehow in his enormous agenda of reforming the Reform, squeeze deplorable music in the Mass into it. It will be an extraordinarily difficult task, but God and his holy angels will be with him all the way, as will Catholic music lovers.

Never mind stopping it, Governor. How did it get so far?

From Leading Report.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has announced that the state has halted the construction of EPIC City, a proposed 402-acre Muslim-centric residential development.

Even with DEI poisoning our society, now being remedied, it fairly boggles the mind that such an absurd project made it as far as it did. How far, for example, would a restricted project of this sort, but for Jews or Catholics, have survived zoning boards or public opinion, let alone the law?

Nor is it comprehensible why the excellent governor of Texas took as long as he did to quash this project. However, he must have had his reasons, and at last, quash it he did. Further, the developers of the absurdly named Epic City (East Plano Islamic Center) are now under several investigations concerning financial irregularities of the project, so it’s likely Epic City is done for, Deo gratias.

h/t Anita

From the General.

BREAKING:

Chinese officials told the Trump administration they disregarded their trade commitments under Biden, believing he was too weak to enforce them.

Of course, this is not news to the leaders of the Democratic Party nor the major news media. They moved heaven and earth to persuade the voters otherwise. Not all voters, only Democrats, most of whom were fooled or allowed themselves to be. As long as they were a majority, it didn’t matter if others were not fooled; the news media and celebrity elites would take care of the problem.

Once Democrats began to suspect their president was a non-entity, party leaders knew the show was over, and the sock puppet got the hook.

Since an earlier report in this space about things looking hopeful for Britain, but only in a small way, things have changed.  TCW’s Matt Goodwin reports, with regard to Britain’s Nigel Farage and the Reform Party,

We are, in short, witnessing a full-blown political revolution against the establishment. In the latest poll by YouGov, one of the most reliable pollsters, Reform is on 29 per cent, Labour is on 22 per cent, the Tories are languishing on 17 per cent, their lowest share of the vote since the party’s dark days of 2019, while the Liberal Democrats are on 16 per cent.

This not only puts Reform firmly in the lead and well outside the margin of error, but also points to a commanding Reform majority at the next general election

The number one reason, as reported before, Reform is doing so well should be familiar to most Americans, unchecked immigration. In the closing paragraphs of his detailed report, a report that ought to be read in full by all Anglophiles and others too, Goodwin repeats the bold statements above.

Nigel Farage and Reform are now seriously emerging as the main opposition to Sir Keir Starmer and the Labour government, while the political system is undergoing the most significant change since the rise of Labour in the early twentieth century.

A political revolution is now under way, and much like the rise of that embryonic Labour movement it looks likely to transform our politics and country.

Your Tatler has been burned in the past, and the website this report comes from, Facebook, is hardly the last word in credibility–which by no means is to impune the chap reporting it.

All caveats duly given, here we go.

BREAKING: Multiple sources confirm that Pope Leo XIV has privately celebrated the Traditional Latin Mass for years, including within the Vatican, with special permission from Pope Francis.

Reports indicate that his Latin is “fluent,” and photographs show him donning traditional vestments.

Additionally, it has been revealed that he offered the Traditional Latin Mass at the USCCB in the 1990s and again in Rome.

Could this signify a liturgical turning point?

#

Or could it signify mere wishful thinking? Your Tatler would love to know the unnamed “multiple sources” cited. Enthusiastic as this blogger is to see Usus Antiquior returned to its proper place in the Mass, he will acknowledge some of his fellow TLMers are, shall we say, not all there.

There is, however, always room for hope, prayer, and optimism. In time, Holy Church’s true language of the Mass shall return to where it belongs. Oremus.

Priestly formation must not be shaped by cultural trends, political correctness, or the spirit of permissiveness. It must be formed in the fire of truth, chastity, self-sacrifice, and Eucharistic love.

—Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost (Now Pope Leo XIV) Excerpt from the Speech: “Formation of Priests in the Truth”,March 12, 2022,Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas (Angelicum), Rome,Conference on Priestly Formation

–h/t Peter West

Photo: USA Today

Your Tatler is having second thoughts about Pope Leo XIV, which does not mean he is thrilled by the conclave’s decision; hardly, and the rather catty screed posted yesterday shall remain up, for now.

Extended claws retracted  though, our new pope hardly seems the villain, and the general reaction among your Tatler’s colleagues is, although admitedly we have little evidence to go on, Leo XIV is a decent, honorable man.

Regarding that, a friend posted on social media recently the following.

They chose a nonentity, someone who has spent his entire career as an obscure bureaucrat. The broadcasters were stupefied yesterday, no one knew anything about him, and there was a long patch of dead air after the announcement was made. The cardinals are obviously hoping for someone who will keep a low profile and not make much noise. That’s not a bad thing. Neither is his relative youth. He was chosen for the long haul, and for a long haul, you want to pace yourself and keep to a steady course. That’s not a bad thing, either. I think we could have done FAR worse.

Agreed.

An example of Leo’s improved disposition over his predecessor, he has no history of uttering  inflammatory anti-Americanisms, unlike his forebear, who issued them with tiresome regularity, which will come as welcome relief to most Catholics everywhere, but especially in the US, of course.

Leo XIV’s reputedly easy-going nature will  welcome. One issue of importance to your Tatler and watched closely will be Leo’s attitude toward celebrations and celebrants of Usus Antiquior, that is, the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite; or in short, the Latin Mass or TLM. Pope Francis had a particularly low regard for it bordering on contempt, ordering restrictions that made it nearly impossible for the Latin Mass to be celebrated. If Pope Leo makes it even somewhat easier for TLM, enthusiasts will be most grateful to His Holiness.

The positive signs beginning to emerge from this, let’s face it, fairly unknown pontiff, are hopeful indeed. However, even if they come to naught, Pope Leo XIV deserves our fervent prayers. He has a tough job in front of him, undoing the major damage suffered by Holy Church over the past years. He will need those prayers of ours.

Note: this post was published only a day after Robert Prevost was elected pope. It is sarcastic and wrong. It will remain posted however to remind this blogger not to be so hasty.

Sizing Him up.

So what is the best thing about our new pope? Without question, his new name, Leo XIV.

And the second best thing? His origin, Cardinal Robert Prevost is from Chicago, and is the first American pope.

And the third? Oh, c’mon, enough; okay, the third best thing about our new pope is . . . er . . .  hmm . . . um . . . gee . . . let’s see now . . . Ah, he’s the first pope younger–barely–than your Tatler.

One more, the fourth best thing? Stop this pestering! There is no more. The well’s run dry. Run away and pray for Holy Church.

The power of teaching frightens many people in and outside the Church. They wonder whether freedom of conscience is threatened or whether it is a presumption opposed to freedom of thought. It is not like this. The power that Christ conferred upon Peter and his Successors is, in an absolute sense, a mandate to serve. The power of teaching in the Church involves a commitment to the service of obedience to the faith. The Pope is not an absolute monarch whose thoughts and desires are law. On the contrary: the Pope’s ministry is a guarantee of obedience to Christ and to his Word. He must not proclaim his own ideas, but rather constantly bind himself and the Church to obedience to God’s Word, in the face of every attempt to adapt it or water it down, and every form of opportunism.

h/t Fr Christopher Stainbrook

From Life Site News.

The Trump DOJ has launched a federal civil rights investigation into a new Washington law that would jail priests unless they break the Seal of Confession, an excommunicable offense.

As well they should, and this preposterous law quickly overturned.

Here, the law’s supporters reveal their underlying motive, hatred of the Catholic Church.

“Worse, the law appears to single out clergy as not entitled to assert applicable privileges, as compared to other reporting professionals. We take this matter very seriously and look forward to Washington State’s cooperation with our investigation,” Dhillon stated.

The qualification claimed by the bill’s supporters: they kinda-sorta used to be Catholic. An example:

Democrat Governor Bob Ferguson [said] . . . “My uncle was a Jesuit priest for many years, (I’ve) been to Confession myself – and so I’m very familiar with that,”

Wow, you’ve been to confession, sir!? What did you think? Did you go again?

h/t WJT