Dear Pope Francis,
I wish you God’s grace and good health. And, I pray you re-discover for yourself, as I did in my twenties, as millions have since Vatican II, especially young people and young families, the Church’s Sacred Tradition, in how the Church has always clearly taught and defended the Deposit of the Faith given to us by our Lord, in Her Sacred Liturgy, and in a strong, trustworthy governance of the Church by the hierarchy. After all, there are more and more priests and bishops themselves reconnecting with Catholic Tradition. I wish and hope for this for every single Catholic including yourself, even as the pope, no matter how progressive or modern they are.
Writing a blog gives me the position to say this, what most like-minded priests and laity would never publicly say for fear of being somehow persecuted. This is one critical reason there are now Catholic blogs, to be a voice of the people otherwise restrained from speaking in any public way beyond whispers in the church parking lot.
There are those who question if you were validly elected. Objectively it is possible you were not, but I have no authority to say that, as only a future pope or ecumenical council approved of by the pope could determine that. So I recognize you as the pope, even though it is very difficult to understand how a pope can say and do some of the things you have said and done. As the Vicar of Christ, standing over the hierarchical Church, I look up to you in your holy Office, as Christ’s chief visible representative on Earth, giving you that solemn reverence that is due to you in your Office. And I beg you, for the love of God, and all that is holy, please use your office to restore the Church, since it must come one day first and foremost from the pope. The recent reforms we have seen the last sixty years have been met with the destruction of so much that must be restored.
I beg you to see the facts that the conciliar reform and liturgical reform practically resulted in much of the Church being turned on its head into a state of chaos and instability everywhere, not entirely but to a great degree, at least in the Latin Church, that so many holy things that can be destroyed have been unnecessarily destroyed. We see this first and foremost in the liturgy.
The shepherds have been struck, and the sheep scattered. Too many are now confused what to believe, and what to do as Catholics, and have to a great extent justifiably lost their trust in those men currently governing the Church, in the human element of the Church. Catholics who love Christ, the Faith, and the Church find it very difficult to know where to turn, to what bishops and priests we can trust and put our lives, our very souls, in their hands. Yet those in authority today are generally across the Church violating their sacred offices, by either espousing or actively tolerating heresy, which confuses the mind and divides the Church. On a material level at least, the hierarchy, as a whole, has fallen into modernism and liberalism, modernism itself being worse than Arianism. Too many bishops and priests permit heterodoxy or wrong ideas that go against our Faith, de-sacralized and sacrilegious liturgies, and an atmosphere devoid of beauty and authenticity. We are still recovering from that artificial ideological revolution began in the 1960’s by modernists and progressivists who somehow became mainstream in positions of power and influence. I trust you do not dispute that all of this is the historical reality, whatever you think of that historical reality.
Holy Father, Vicar of Christ, Supreme Pontiff, I beg you to go beyond your distrust and disdain shown towards traditionalists and conservatives, and Catholic bloggers, those objectively most faithful to Catholic orthodoxy and the Mass, despite some showing phariseeism or unrighteousness anger. Please look at the majority of us not in that category, sincerely wishing to maintain our Church’s Sacred Tradition, in the ancient Latin liturgy which is our birthright after baptism in the Latin Church, and please unyieldingly advocate for the Church to rid itself once and for all of the modern errors afflicting it. This task is on your shoulders first and foremost.
For everything there is a time, and since you are still alive, you are still given that time to do this true restoration, to at least start it, which is your duty, to begin this officially from the top down, to officially acknowledge the current Crisis and the necessity of maintaining and restoring our Catholic Tradition. That will need very clearly interpreting once and for all the Council in light of Tradition, to reconcile the problems. Others may say it is practically impossible that you would do this, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t possible if the laity urge you, which is our responsibility to try and do. As much as that would be a complete one-hundred-and-eighty degree shift for you, you can, and you must do this. The Church critically needs you to do this. Both you and your successors. For the love of God, and all that is holy, please take this to heart and be moved to restore the Church, which must be restored from the top down, first and foremost from the pope downward to the bishops, since the Office of Pope is supreme over and superior to the entire College of Bishops, not a first among equals which is an Orthodox heresy.
You have the keys, you are the Successor to St. Peter, the Vicar of Christ, for better or worse, despite how troubled we are by you and your policies, your attitude to us, and about certain parts of certain documents, please, for the love of God, and all that is holy, restore the Church. Bring it back to clarity, stability, strength in leadership, trustworthiness, and authenticity. Just imagine the results of this restoration, which would be mass conversions around the world and a deepening of the Faith in the lives of Catholics. Look no further for example of this than those parishes and chapels where the Ancient Mass is celebrated, where the majority are Catholics deeply committed to the Faith, to preserving Catholic Tradition, for the purpose of holiness, many who have a deep, mature knowledge of the Faith. Please look at pilgrimages like the annual Chartres pilgrimage promoting the Traditional Latin Mass, and the global growth of priestly societies like the Fraternity of St. Peter and the Society of St. Pius X, whose members do pray intensely for you daily.
I think it is possible this blog post might get read by someone in the Vatican, and it is not impossible you might read this or indirectly receive its message, or at least that it contributes to the collective voice of concerned Catholics eventually heard by you in some form or another. Miracles do happen, as I can testify to in my own life recently. Despite the objections we have related to your pontificate, we honor you as the Vicar of Christ, the highest visible head of the Church, and in devotion to that Office, we beg you to hear our concerns, our confession of the Faith, and public witness to that which we are seeing unfortunately happen to Christ’s Church.
Sincerely,
Joseph Ostermeir
The Okie Traditionalist blogger