The Roman Catholic Church is said to have more than one billion members worldwide. With this comes all sorts of groups and diversity. Diversity and a spectrum of groups can be great manifestation of God's work, but not always. This article is a quick description of some tendencies in the members of a group within the Church which could be labelled ultra-conservative or radical traditionalist. There is a whole spectrum of ultra-conservatism, radical traditionalism or plain conservatism but this list should be able to paint a sufficient picture:
* They tend to criticize or outright reject the teachings of the Second Vatican Council. Some in this group even think the evil in the Church and the World today was a result of Vatican II: a thought that is beyond insane. (historically, a group usually breaks away from the Church after each major ecumenical council.)
* They tend to favor the Traditional Latin Mass or in extreme cases outright reject the current form of the Mass in favor to the TLM.
* They tend to favor the 'good ole days' and in extreme cases want to go back to the good ole days.
* They tend to favor a stodgy and decadent form of Thomism/Aristotelianism. I would even suppose that some rad trads idolize Aquinas, maybe even Augustine, much to the ruin of their brains. (Note: there is literature of thousands upon thousands of good Catholic Christian thinkers)
* They have Pharisaical tendencies. All the criticism Jesus launched at the Pharisees can be applied to this group.
* They tend to act Triumphalist or take the attitude that before the 60's the Church was right about everything She did.
* They tend to overemphasize petty religious laws, rules, precepts, (e.g. Canon laws) in contrast to the immaculate morals in the Way of Christ Jesus.
* They tend to overemphasize eschatology, and I might add have a naive understanding of eschatology to the point of outright heresy, schism.
* Their personal interpretations of Sacred Scripture are appalling, or cut and paste
* Pending context, they tend to act domineering or the extreme opposite: overly submissive
* They tend to behave superficially or petty
* They lack critical thinking and rational analysis skills
* They have the habit of appealing to authority especially Magisterial documents without understanding how the Magisterium works or how Magisterial Teachings relate to Divine Revelation. Online they tend to blindly quote Magisterial documents without any sort contextual analysis or thought-process.
* They tend to overemphasize specific Marian Apparitions such as Fatima.
* Some in this group are European Monarchists.
* Some in this group promote a new wave of Geocentrism based in the U.S. Some in this general group actually believe in Geocentrism!!!
* Some of the more extreme members of this category doubt or outright reject the Messianic authority of the elected Popes since Vatican II.
* Some seem especially vulnerable to false private revelations and claims that so and so is this Petrus Romanus or the Two Witnesses.
* They tend to act prudish (which is not the tried and true virtue of chastity/modesty)
* They tend not to be uptight at Mass or in prayer
* They tend to have an unrealistic view of the Roman Catholic Church (not to mention the world)
* They are idealogues
* Some seem especially vulnerable because of mental illness or perhaps some other life trauma.
* Some cut themselves off from Pope Francis and the rest of the Church. In other words they are schizmatic.
The reason I made this list is because I have witnessed the young and the naive fall prey to the wolves of this group. I thoroughly understand how much direct and indirect harm the members of this group can inflict on the innocent sheep of Christ Jesus. It is a TERRIBLE thing to witness. These sorts of people need special help and healing that comes from Jesus alone.
I advise in all sincerity to not associate with these people. Turn away from them and never look back. Do NOT follow their teachings. There are other ways to learn and live the Catholic Christian Faith than through these people. Listen I'll be the first to admit that the world is messed up and the Church is suffering now, but this is no excuse to go extreme in your beliefs. Where is your Faith, your Hope, your Love. Your fortitude? Your brilliance? You invest yourself in these lunatics? You sit back whining and complaining like baby rad trads?
There is still a lot of good in the world, and this is inspired by the Spirit. Jesus alone has authority to heal the Church and the world. Not some loons who claim to be the Messiah, or Petrus Romanus or the Two Witnesses. Just look at these pale loons on youtube. They are clearly sick people. You can see it in there faces. Don't be daft. Something is not right with these people.
And don't follow me or my teachings. Follow Christ Jesus and use your brain. Be brave and be your own unique child of God. Follow and learn from Pope Francis who holds the keys. Follow the Scriptures; learn the Magisterial teachings; learn critical thinking and rational analysis skills. Again accept and follow Pope Francis, the Bishop of Rome and his valid successors!
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