On another note you need to stop putting modernism and traditionalism in quotes. I put traditional in quotation marks because I’m usually addressing people who claim to be “traditionalists” (some genuinely are and I don’t put it in quotations when refering to them).
The Catholic Church is as traditional as it is Christian. You wouldn’t put “christian” in quotes when describing our faith would you? If I were addressing people who acted contrary to the faith and order of the Church, yes, I might well put “Christian” in quotes.
Secondly modernism is real and alive…and im afraid that New Advent is not infallible. (of course now adays only the Popes after VII have teaching authority. Popes like St. Pius V and St. Pius X need to reexamine their teachings in “the spirit of Vatican II” **Modernsim IS alive and well. It’s simply not a part of the magisterium of the Church or the authority of the Church (and was not suscribed to by any post-conciliar pope, contrary to those who don’t believe any thing good has happened since Pope Pius XII, of happy memory, died). That’s the problem: what some “traditionalists” consider to be modernism ISN’T modernism at all. I agree with you about the Spirit of Vatican II. That’s entirely seperate from the Vatican II Council, however, something some “traditionalists” seem to have difficulty sorting out. That’s the reason I recommend New Advent’s entry on what “modernism” actually IS (did you bother to read it?). It’s a credible, even traditional, source, whether you accept it or not. So many who run to Traditio or Novus Ordo Watch or the Remnant turn their nose up at what is simply a restatement from papal teaching (which is authoritative). **
Modernism was, is, and always will be whatever seeks to modernize the Church, it takes place in many ways. From a deep theological level, to simply changing the prayers of the mass, modernism is whats happening today in today’s Church and what St. Pius X feared. He didnt just write an Oath against modernism because he read it on a fortune cookie…there was modernism then and His Holiness wrote the Oath to fight it. Removing the Oath meant stopping the battle…at least symbolically. **This would depend on what you view modernism to actually BE (I happen to agree with Pope Saint Pius X as to what it is). If you’re talking about the vernacular Mass, we’d disagree. If you’re talking about the idea of subjectivism or indifferentism, then I would agree with you. The word’s of the oath itself go a long way in explaining what the pope was getting at. That doesn’t mean that a pope or a council who reform the Mass (for example) are guilty of modernism. Pope Pius XII, of happy memory, condemned the error of antiquariansim, that constant hankering after the “old way.” **
There is modernism now in Today’s Church thanks to VII…and putting it in quotes, citing online sources in what appears like a well hidden defense of modernism, and treating it like a delicate time bomb isnt helping…
