Traditionalist Catholicism

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Traditionalist Catholicism is essentially a Catholic analog of Protestant fundamentalism, generally based on the idea that the Catholic Church lost its way with the results of the Second Vatican Council ("Vatican II"), and looking for a return to those earlier halcyon days. Some remain as a dissident faction within the Church; others have formed their own splinter groups on the assumption that the current papacy is illegitimate (e.g. Sedevacantism). Some groups have even appointed their own popes.

Many traditionalists are merely sentimental conservatives who long for a return to the Latin Mass and the Douay-Rheims or ConfraternityWikipedia translations of the Bible because that is the Catholicism they remember from their childhood. Many others, however, are complete crank magnets who also promote…

Some of them seem to want to undo not just Vatican II, but also the entire Age of Enlightenment. As you might expect, they also tend to be rabidly anti-Protestant, and stake out an opposition to abortion so extreme it makes other anti-abortion advocates look liberal by comparison.

Notable adherents and groups[edit]

The enemy of their enemy[edit]

In a fascinating illustration of the horseshoe theory, crank booksellers are likely to stock books from both Omni Christian Book Club (traditionalist Catholic) and Emissary Publications (rabidly anti-Catholic) that both promote the exact same drivel about an international Jewish conspiracy.

Further, while Anti-Catholic conspiracy theorists may hold up the most extreme wingnut traditionalist Catholics (especially the pro-fascist ones) as representative of all Catholics, both groups tend to promote similar conspiracy theories about the current Catholic Church, particularly as regards alleged Communist influence and the ecumenical movement.

See also[edit]

References[edit]