It has created a landscape of excessively angry, obsessed Catholics focused on the wrong things. I’ve been bitten myself by the bug before. There are many salt of the earth contributors of a lesser degree not looking for fame or to capitalize on religion. Yet, this needs to be said.
Fr. Chad Ripperger. Ok, it’s good he was formed in the FSSP, and should be praised for starting the Doloran Fathers exorcist society. But if you follow anything Catholic on YouTube, Trad or not, you’ll keep running into his videos or people referencing him like he is the guru of the Catholic Church.
When you put yourself out there publicly so frequently, you open yourself up to necessary scrutiny. Fr. R behaves as if his status has gone to his head. He is often somewhat authoritarian and arrogant in his talks, encouraging a Cult of Personality around him. There should be a moratorium on all things Fr. Ripperger, that is on the internet.
Frank Walker of Canon 212. It has been difficult to follow Church news without viewing his site, but he is beyond obsessed with all things Pope Francis. He scorns bishops or anyone publicly for being overweight, which is creepy. He has advanced Ann Barnhardt’s ridiculous idea that Pope Benedict didn’t resign the papacy, making rejection of Pope Francis like a dogma. It’s maddening to read. Recently objecting to anyone praying for the pope. Not healthy material. Better to occasionally check in instead at Life Site News. Or tune out the news cycle, ecclesial and secular.
Taylor Marshall. Textbook narcissism and profiteering off of the Faith. Case in point he lying he didn’t know the Pachamama Dunker but he did, orchestrating the whole thing for clicks, for profit. His channel breeds religious narcissism. His latest was his argument Joe Rogan should have him on to talk Catholicism since they both have black belts and like guns.
The Gordon Brothers. These guys are very narcissistic. The skateboarder Trad starting each “show” DJ’ing Gregorian chant is very odd. It’s like making Catholicism into a clown show. He and his wife literally present themselves to be excellent examples of man and wife (a middle aged skateboarder dude and his overbearing, loud wife). They literally “teach” classes on marriage and hold themselves up as matchmakers. He was a high school teacher who claimed he was fired for his views, true or not, gaining enough money from donors to buy a gigantic house beyond his means as a YouTuber.
Kennedy Hall. I like his views and promotion of Tradition, but let’s be real, it’s another clown show. Another one man show pundit paying all his bills off of YouTube viewers. He takes more of a secular, hyper-masculinity view of manhood, focusing more on things like beards, sonorous voices, and physical prowess than on interior masculine virtues like St. Joseph. And he loves to incessantly stroke his beard.
Mundabor. This guy is so full of vitriol and judgment, what he says comes across bat sh*t crazy.
Ann Barnhardt. For someone who gave talks about narcissism, she is clearly full of herself for her own fame, domineering, and proud. Nobody should take that woman seriously. She behaves like she has gender dysphoria.
Anthony Stine. I'll got light on Anthony since we attend the same church. I will say he is hyper focused on evil in the Vatican and from Pope Francis, and uses too sensational headlines. Since it is his full time job, I fear it will eventually burn him out. A lot of his content is triggering, it seems deliberately so, and in my experience not conducive to good mental health when watched frequently.
The Professional Catholics, Trad Inc., they all have things in common. Jeopardizing their long term careers, hire-ability, and incomes to spread obsession about the crisis in the Church and society.
It feeds a cycle of obsession across Traddom and the mainstream Church. It harms minds and souls. Not all Catholic bloggers or YouTubers, but most of the celebrities. Not all the time, but most of the time enough to call it out. The focus is all wrong.
Give me one day a channel or blog that focuses directly on the good, true and beautiful, like I at least try to do, that when talking about Pope Francis or the state of the Church, puts more time and energy into being optimistic about the good than cynical about evil. There is a time and place for cynicism, but it shouldn’t be front and center, especially to make people like you or for $$$.
At the center should be God, the Faith, the perennial Church, faith, hope, and, God forbid, love.