Do you visit traditional-leaning blogs?

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I sometimes visit traditional(ist) Catholic blogs and read the comments.

Let’s just say sometimes it’s startling the accusations that get thrown around – conspiracies and insults against Holy Father.

I’m not a “traditional Catholic” but many concerns do resonate with me and I would attend TLM if I had someone go with me. At least once.

If you read the comments or participate, do they represent the average traditional Catholic?

I’ve faced insults when discussing a particular matter, and if commenters represent the traditional Catholic, then I would like to know beforehand before I attempt conversation with traditional Catholic in real life.

What’s your general “feel”?
 
I regularly read one traditional Catholic blog. I used to read some of the other ones but so many of the posts were negative and critical of the Church that I stopped reading them.

I go to Mass most often at my Novus Ordo parish, but it’s pretty conservative, meaning we chant the Gloria, Sanctus and Agnus Dei in Latin. We sing traditional Catholic hymns and do not have altar girls.

I also go to the TLM at least once a month. Some of the people I have met there are quite rigid and critical of the Novus Ordo Mass while others are ok with it. A few people will only go to a TLM but most are like me and go to both forms of Mass. Mostly what I hear from people at the TLM is they find it to be more reverent, they like the traditional hymns and the Latin chanting.

Some people at the TLM express anger about the Novus Ordo Mass but some people at my Novus Ordo parish express anger about the TLM. As with any parish or group of people at Mass there are differing opinions and a wide range of personalities. it only takes a couple of conversations to see where a person falls on the spectrum.

If you want to experience the TLM don’t worry about going alone. I went alone and sat beside someone who had a missal and quietly asked her how to follow along. There is usually a program available for Mass along with a booklet explaining each part of the Mass and what the priest is saying.
 
People who post on trad blogs are often the “Catholic” equivalents of Dale Gribble from “King of the Hill”. They see a conspiracy under every bush.

You don’t need someone to go with you to go to a TLM. The attendees won’t eat you or anything. Just dress nicely (unless you want to stand out in the crowd by not being well dressed) and go. If you’re a woman, you can veil, but you don’t have to, not every lady there does. There’s usually some type of little paper booklet provided so people without their own Missals can follow the Mass. I go to a few TLMs a year because I like to experience Mass the way my mother did before I was born.
 
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I am more interested in online discussions. Rarely do I visit blogs - of any kind.
 
If by traditionalist, you mean someone that just prefers the Latin Mass, sometimes. Some of those, I try to stay away from, when I was in my early twenties, I had very high blood pressure, I’m trying to keep it down. Even comment sections on just normal Catholic blogs can be insane.
 
They tend to be wanting in obedience.
 
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Nope. I avoid most blogs like the plague.
Particularly one that seems to be a favorite of the legalists. 😯:roll_eyes:🤔😉🤣
 
I recently had a very negative experience engaging couple people on a certain blog.

It didn’t help that the matter involved SSA and confusion in language, nuances, definition, Inclination versus Willful action, etc.

Learned my lesson: just because someone is traditional doesn’t mean they always practice Christian charity.

But it did help me to realize when I get “dogmatic”: it’s the pride of wanting to be right, not love of God or neighbor, or hatred of offense done to God. Listening is important. Even if I happen to be right, it must always be oriented towards the good of the other person so that they will grow closer to God.

Also made me realize I have anger issues. 😐

(Had the thought, “Golly, CAF is a cake-and-tea party compared to this place.” 😎)
 
I visit a couple just to see what’s going on in the Church these days…but realize there’s very little good that comes from engaging in the comment box (at least to me, it just seems like preaching to the choir that agrees with you anyways). It evokes a desire for validation from others, which I don’t think is always helpful.
 
Preferring TLM is one thing…but some seem to denounce Vatican II and think it’s bringing about the downfall of the Church.

I just don’t know what’s going on anymore. It’s all very shaky and confusing.

Maybe the key is to not have fretful opinions and just trust God…somehow.
 
I would not recommend anybody get involved in traditionalism. If a person is inserting adjectives before “Catholic” (except for the obvious, like “Roman/Latin” or such), it probably means they are making a statement and being political.

If you want to grow as a Catholic, do what is time-tested. Read the Bible. Read works of the saints. Read material with the imprintur of the Church. Receive the sacraments. Join a parish group. Go to adoration. Learn how to better pray and then pray. Corporal works of mercy. Give a plate of stromboli & a beer to a neighbor, and pray for them. Spiritual works of mercy. Devotion to Our Lady. Devotion to Our Angels. Over and over and over again until your death.

Don’t spend hours on a blog theorycrafting over things that are 100% or 99% outside of your control. That is the near-equivalent to reality TV.
 
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I don’t spend a whole lot of time on blogs. Occasionally, if something interesting pops up in my Facebook feed or on the front page of NewAdvent, I’ll give it a read. But considering most blogs don’t have any quality control beyond what the individual blogger feels like saying, there’s a much higher potential for misinformation. And the comments sections are even worse than the blogs in that respect. I only read through them if I feel like my blood pressure is too low. 🤣😝
 
I recommend only blogs, or any other media, that are part of an overall agency in union with its local bishop. I realize the overall website may have a statement that they do not necessarily agree with opinion expressed, but even so, if it in union with their local bishop, there is a kind of a minimal standard of credibility they meet.

If a blog is freestanding, I would inquire if the blogger currently holds some position in the Church. If someone holds a position in their local diocese, or is a pastor, that is some reassurance, not a guarantee.

Some people say, “I go on X website (either ultra conservative or ultra liberal), but I take it selectively. I just look at facts, I am not affected by their extreme views”. But of course you’re affected. And when you see an excerpt from some document or current event, you don’t really know if they omitted some more relevant portion of that document, or other, perhaps more accurate news about that current event.

So I don’t recommend all Church-approved websites, but recommend you choose good blogs only from those that are approved.
 
That’s sensible. I am more likely to read through blogs on places like the NCRegister or some such outlet that has connections to the Church.
 
TK421 said:
They tend to be wanting in obedience.
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True, if you refer to traditional-leaning blogs that are not in union with their local bishop. Their supporters may argue that by being independent of the Church, they can see and speak the truth more objectively.

The downside is that in recent years there has been an anti-religious-authority tidal wave hitting North America and Western Europe. This impacts on - biases - limits - sometimes distorts - the vision and communications of all of us at times. The trad blog might notice a given fish, but lose sight of the tidal wave.

The trad blog might be “independent” of the local diocese, which certainly has flaws (let me tell you about my battles with my liberal diocese!). But it is not independent of the anti-religious-authority bias. These blogs compete with each other to see who can be the most defiant of bishop and pope. Surely this clouds their judgement.

Traditional leaning blogs in union with the Church are extremely valuable.
 
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I used to be a traditionalist, when I was baby Catholic. I recommend avoiding them. Nothing wrong with the EF of course. But the mentality of traditionalists is similar to fundamentalist; which is intellectual suicide at best.
 
Many Traditionalists anyway. My family used to go to the EF parish around 20 years ago. However, they left not long after that because of the fundamentalist mentality that most of them had. However, we now go to the same EF parish and most of those fundamentalist folks are gone. I think the influx of younger folks into the “traditional” movement has brought with it some welcome respect for the Pope and the Council. It is changing.
 
Such persons clearly do not understand the difference between divine and ecclesiastical law.
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Does Communion on the tongue versus receiving in the hand qualify as such?

I was told receiving in the hand was disrespectful and that one has to kneel, leading to anxiety and nervousness during Communion.

I confessed this scrupulousness to my priest and he assured that the supreme authority of the Church allows reception in either manner.

So now I receive Communion in the hand (bowing beforehand).

I still have the anxiety, but it’s been abated somewhat.
 
Receiving Communion on the tongue versus hand is ecclesiastical, not divine law. It can change and has over the centuries. It is in no way shape or form disrespectful to receive our Lord on the hand, instead of the tongue.
The early Christians received Communion in the hand btw.

CountrySteve
 
Entwhistler said:
Many Traditionalists anyway. My family used to go to the EF parish around 20 years ago. However, they left not long after that because of the fundamentalist mentality that most of them had. However, we now go to the same EF parish and most of those fundamentalist folks are gone. I think the influx of younger folks into the “traditional” movement has brought with it some welcome respect for the Pope and the Council. It is changing.
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Locally, some of the pioneers in the Latin Mass group years ago I think had some issues with Vatican II, and were highly defensive in response to the negativism coming from the diocese. Those coming in now, mostly young adults, don’t have those same issues.

Some priests years ago went out of their way to criticize the restoration, or belittle the Latin Mass itself. I don’t hear about that happening nowadays.
 
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