Best Traditional Catholic Communities in the US?

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strivingforsainthood

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Hello Everyone!

I was just wondering if you have witnessed or knew of any Traditional Catholic communities that are thriving in the US?

I understand that there will never be a utopia for Catholic Christians, however, I was just wondering if you have ever experienced a traditional Catholic community that is growing, tight and devout in America?

Thank You and God Bless.
 
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“Traditional Catholic” is problematic. Perhaps you mean parishes that offer the Extraordinary Form?

Any parish in good standing with Rom,e is “Traditional Catholic”…End of discussion.

The form of worship does not determine reverence, nor the heart of the worshipper.

Peace and all good!
 
What about the Canons of the new Jerusalem.
They seem to be nice. They dont seem to be anti-OF. They even have the tonsure.
 
strivingforsainthood said:
I was just wondering if you have witnessed or knew of any Traditional Catholic communities that are thriving in the US?
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I don’t live in the USA , but from where I am all Catholic communities are Traditional .

For a Catholic not to be traditional would be theological nonsense . It is of the very essence of Catholicism to be traditional . All that I am and have as a Catholic has come to me by way of tradition . It can’t be otherwise .
 
I’m pretty sure the OP is referring to communities or localities where the Traditional Latin Mass is offered at least every Sunday, in at least one diocesan-approved location, and where there is a stable enough “critical mass” of faithful who support it. I would also consider how friendly the local bishop is to the TLM, and whether one can assume that it is going to be around for awhile.

Just from what I have read, several come to mind:
  • Now, I am not advocating any Masses outside the purview of the diocese (much less sedevacantism), but that said, the Coeur d’Alene area of northern Idaho has several opportunities for the TLM, including an FSSP chapel. (If the regularization of the SSPX takes place, that would add another location.) But I understand the job market is kind of tight around there.
  • Front Royal, Virginia wouldn’t be bad, with access both to the TLM and Christendom College, but it is a very rural area and jobs are probably scarce. They say “commuting distance from Washington”, but that is for people who are willing to get up in the middle of the night, deal with the traffic, then do the same thing again in the evening. I lived in the DC area for almost a decade and that was never my cup of tea. I moved closer to work and paid more for a smaller place and a sane commute.
  • There is, of course, St Mary’s, Kansas, but that is SSPX (see above point), also a rural area with few jobs.
  • Closer to home for me, there is a thriving community in Charlotte (NC) where the TLM is offered multiple times a week, and every Sunday, at St Ann’s. Bishop Jugis of Charlotte is very generous regarding the TLM and even offers confirmation in the old rite. I am considering the logistics of having my son confirmed there, even though we do not live in NC, but that will be at least a couple of years. The job market is robust though very competitive.
 
Clear Creek in Hulbert Oklahoma. Latin mass every day of the week. The families near the monastery have a home school co-op. Everyone is “old school”
 
The Hanceville/ Cullman area in North Alabama seems to be. That is the home of the Shrine of the Most Blessed Sacrament, just a little ways north of EWTN headquarters (Our Lady of Angels monastery which is where the daily mass on EWTN is filmed) a Benedictine monastery- Saint Bernard’s abbey and the home of Ave Maria Grotto, and Christ is King monastery which offers TLM mass. Also many convents, a school and seems to be a high population of Catholic families. I am blessed to live just north of here. North Alabama is actually a really good place to live as a Catholic if you are between Huntsville and Birmingham.
 
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I forgot about Cullman. I’ve been there twice (to Christ the King Abbey before EWTN moved there). Again, usual caveats — small town, jobs probably aren’t in abundance, considerable commute to Birmingham or Huntsville. The area has a strong German heritage and they have finally begun serving beer at their Oktoberfest :smiling_face_with_three_hearts:🍻
 
I attend SSPX and its thriving. We just had to add new masses because the Church is too full at the current mass times.

There is FSSP also but the parish is much further drive plus the Priests only say one mass there per week so are only there for one hour per week so there is not a “traditional Catholic community” at that parish like there is at the SSPX parish near my house where the Priests live full time and there are daily masses, and weekly activities, etc.
 
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One thing that “bugs” me about the SSPX (aside from their irregular status, which Deo volente will be resolved one of these days) is that, generally speaking, the priests do not live near the chapels they serve. They are concentrated in a few priories and fly all over the country on weekends. I’ve also heard it said that “they are not trained to be parish priests”. Why not? Don’t get me wrong, in places where the SSPX is the only non-sedevacantist option for the TLM, I’m grateful for it, but I’ve never understood the “almost all priests in a few priories” thing.

I would hope that with increased vocations over time, the SSPX would actually be able to station priests in the areas they regularly serve. This would allow for daily Mass in more locations, and allow the priests to minister to the sick and homebound during the week.
 
Decatur is a medium sized city (by Alabama standards) with lots of industry and plenty of jobs and would only be about a 30 minute commute or so.
 
That’s circular logic - stating more SSPX vocations are needed but then publicly criticizing SSPX for their status as well as using hearsay (“I’ve also heard it said that…”) which only undermines the achievement of future vocations.

It would be like me saying “Catholic Church needs more members” followed by me criticizing the Catholic Church and using hearsay to do it. I just undermined my stated goal of “Catholic Church needs more members”
 
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I didn’t criticize the SSPX. I have very high regard for them, and once in a great while, I attend their Masses. I will simply state it as “at least you know what you are getting”. I’d like to see their situation regularized.

My comment wasn’t hearsay. It comes from what I found to be an excellent, even-handed article on Religion Dispatches:


Here is the quote: “Father Paul Vassal is the Prior of the Post Falls community, and he stresses that the SSPX is primarily a priestly order, and the fathers are not specifically trained to be parish priests.”

I don’t see how that “undermines the achievement of future vocations”.
 
It’s nice to see that we’ve moved past the deliberate obtuseness of the first few respondents and are actually addressing (what we all know is) the poster’s actual question. :roll_eyes:

There are some excellent recommendations here. It’s always inspiring to hear about places serious about our holy faith, and many of these were unknown to me. Deo gratias! I can say that here in the Los Angeles area we have a thriving little FSSP community, as well as a rather large SSPX parish in Arcadia. Not sure I’d recommend anybody move to LA for all that, but things have come a long way in the last decade or so!
 
HomeschoolDad said:
an excellent, even-handed article
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Opens with a false title in bold caps:

“A Catholic Town in Idaho Where The Pope is a Heretic”
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SSPX don’t believe Pope is a heretic. I’ve been to SSPX masses and events for over 9 months and not once heard anyone call the Holy Father a heretic.

Then the article mischaracterizes SSPX
Society of St. Pius X (SSPX), a priestly fraternity whose founder ran afoul of the Vatican in the 1970s and whose members—although ordained— do not have official permission from the Church to engage in priestly duties.
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Another false statement, since SSPX has official permission to do confession and certain marriages.
HomeschoolDad said:
I don’t see how that “undermines the achievement of future vocations”.
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Citing an article which defames and mischaracterizes SSPX is undermining SSPX ability to achieve future vocations.
 
The Mission of Divine Mercy near New Braunfels,TX is , I think, a very reverent and devout community. They do not do the EF Mass. They do the OF but many of the ordinary parts of the Mass are done in Latin; the Gloria, Sanctus,and Agnes Dei for sure and frequently the Creed. Communion is at a rail on the tongue. They have a dress code. They are a mission and not a parish so those that frequent the Mission are members of surrounding parishes.

Their web site is www.missionofdivinemercy.org

Check it out if you are ever in the area.

Patrick
AMDG
 
Aquinas11 said:
“A Catholic Town in Idaho Where The Pope is a Heretic ”
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Not the SSPX, but most if not all sedevacantists regard this Pope as a heretic. CDA/Post Falls is home to a number of traditionalist groups of all stripes, including sedevacantists.
Aquinas11 said:
Society of St. Pius X (SSPX), a priestly fraternity whose founder ran afoul of the Vatican in the 1970s and whose members—although ordained— do not have official permission from the Church to engage in priestly duties .
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They do now, but they did not at the time the article was written (April 2016).
Aquinas11 said:
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HomeschoolDad:
I don’t see how that “undermines the achievement of future vocations”.
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People are always going to perceive things differently, but I don’t think this article defames or mischaracterizes anyone. It’s basically a neutral article from a secular-tinged website that reports on religious matters. If anything, it makes traditionalists look good and, dare I say it, “normal”. The traditionalist movement looks much better in this article than it would in something from (for instance) Our Sunday Visitor or the National Catholic Register.
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I stand corrected, but it wasn’t a willful “misrepresentation”. I thought it happened in 2016. I see now.

I don’t mean this in any bad way, but I am going to stand aside and let you represent the SSPX instead of me. I admire the SSPX and they do great work in places where it is needed, and where there is no one else to do it who is in union with the Holy Father (which I think they are — others would disagree, wrongly I think, but would disagree nonetheless). I would like to see their situation regularized, and have them to be on the same level as the FSSP. Being regularized is better than not being regularized.
 
The Sisters of Life, they don’t celebrate the EF form but are very traditional. So are the Poor Clares of Belleville, and Dominicans of Mary.
 
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