Leaked: Diocese of Charlotte Responds to TLM Shutdown Concerns

One of the stages of intellectual life is realizing that, practically speaking, one can formulate a “response” to any proposition, and what really matters is the reasoning behind those responses.

Just because a response is given, doesn’t mean that the assertion is correct. Often, people switch positions or even churches based on who had the last word, who had the unanswerable assertion. But such a thing doesn’t exist. If you go chasing after this, you will always be disappointed.

The document below, which attempts to respond to concerns about the TLM shutdown in Charlotte already is and will be used to say, “Look, your concerns have already been answered, get with the program.”

But this is the problem with Legal Positivism (often just termed Legalism) in the spiritual and ecclesiastical life.

“I am the law, and I have said it! Now follow it or we will beat you with a stick!” One would think in our so-called enlightened era of renewal in the Church, we would have stopped using such fallacies.

Does this not contradict what is at the core of the Gospel? One could then claim anything by authority, even contradicting the rulings that came before, or even undermine its own authority, and we will be forced to accept it merely because “The Bishop said so.” All of a sudden, the Hermeneutic of Continuity is being used to undermine the Hermeneutic of Continuity. The Liturgical “Re-form” undermines the liturgy it was supposed to reform. The Roman Rite itself is banned, and the Church’s defenses of it are contradicted.

This is a fundamentally different version of reality, without stable essences, and is exactly why this sort of reasoning cannot stand in the Catholic Church. There is a reason why the pre-conciliar pontiffs went to great lengths to establish the truth of what they were saying in their encyclicals; they believed in one truth.

What must be seen vividly is that the responses here given are operating under false assumptions

“Francis was right, Benedict was wrong, the pre-conciliar Church was even more wrong.” or worse yet, an Orwellian “Benedict and the pre-conciliar pontiffs were merely stating what Francis said. The Novus Ordo is better for the Church than the Traditional Mass. It has always been this way until we reverse it again.”

But there is also a notion that the only thing that matters in the spiritual life is merely following the law. Catholicism is a mere game of Simon says. If one stops playing the game and leaves the Church, we are immediately met with a contradiction: “Oh well, that’s too bad. Donate more money to the Church and do penance! Get with the program!” and yet when met with Protestants, Orthodox or any brand of non-Catholic, such churchmen roll out the red carpet, establishing Ecumenical offices, apologizing profusely, and demeaning Catholic doctrine.

In either case, there doesn’t even seem to be a care for the person’s *soul* or his working towards theosis, or towards growing in devotion. There is no pastoral care here, there is no respect for the human person. And yet I thought that was what the renewal of the post-conciliar period was supposed to be all about? Walking together?

It is not for me to judge what those of the TLM community there in Charlotte do regarding whether they go to the SSPX in Charlotte, go to this TLM ghetto, or go to underground masses. There are communal divisions that aren’t just doctrinal at play in every traditional Catholic community. But what I know is that these responses make me more assured that Catholics must have a more nuanced approach to following legal commands than a mere “follow the leader.”

Below are the leaked responses: