Good Morning!

I'm from Manila, Philippines. After some time of spiritual searching - especially now that Pope Benedict has liberated tradition - I don't really get what I should think about some priest who 'returns to tradition' who has the heart to visit (if not to worship) in a non-Catholic temple!

I don't know where the real Tridentine Mass is here in the Far East which is supposed to be the only Christian nation in Asia. I have a link here. It supposed to be a blogspot of the priest here in the Philippines promoting the Latin Mass.

When I inquired, it seems many priests here may say the Latin Mass - but it is mixed with homilies that I think are not Catholic. I asked the UNA VOCE PHILIPPINES or other movements here what they think about it, but I'm not satisfied and very unimpressed by their arrogance.

Should I tell my friends to stop attending the Latin Mass or go on insisting about my 'dogma'? (By 'my dogma' I mean that I'm very meticulous regarding Traditionalist issues, which our priest and our Mass centers don't like). How I should go about promoting the Latin Mass and preserving the Catholic Faith if that is the case? I'm just a little worm who is striving to be a Catholic.

     Thank you.

     T.T.L., the Philippines



TIA responds:

T.T.L.,

If you do not have other options, we believe it is better to go to the Tridentine Mass you have in your area promoted by Una Voce or said by some Motu Proprio priest. Even if you have serious reservations about many of their points, at least you will have access to Confession and Holy Communion.

     Cordially,

     TIA correspondence desk

TIA,

Greetings in the name of Jesus Christ who we are serving for the glory of God! In Pakistan we saw your website and we are very impressed with your work.

Please continue to help us with your information.

     W.P.

Hello,

... I received the books and tapes yesterday, the first day of regular mail since ten days ago. Thank you.

I have started reading War, Just War and have listened to Dr. Horvat's tapes and also the DVD on Our Lady of Good Success. Excellently done. I truly believe that Our Lady of Good Success and Fr. Margil helped me make up for the loss of work and have my family with me (I had just finished a novena to OLGS).

Keep us in your prayers, for faith and good works and the grace of final perseverance.

     C.J.L.

Hello,

I have a poster of the American astronaut Buzz Aldrin on my wall. It is the famous Apollo 11 moon-landing picture. Buzz Aldrin was and is a 33rd degree Freemason.

He also brought the flag of his Masonic lodge to the moon. Seeing that Freemasonry is incompatible with Catholicism, should I remove the poster from my wall?

Please advise.

     E.T.

TIA,

Regarding the Soccer Pope.

In my youth, I remember a newsreel item about the Harlem Globetrotters playing for Pope Pius XII. I looked it up (the computer does have some good uses). Seems the Pope was an audience of one, in keeping with the dignity of the office. I do remember that the announcer on the newsreel mentioning that the Pope was tapping his feet to Sweet Georgia Brown, the theme of the Globetrotters. As I recall, he was seated in the stands while they performed. I do not know if he met them or just watched but in keeping with his station, perhaps not.

     H.V.

Dear Tradition in Action,

I have read your response to a recent question on your website about conditional baptism. I sincerely thank you for calling this issue to the attention of your readers.

I was baptized by an Episcopal "priest" as a very young child. I have the original certificate. Two years ago I converted to the Catholic Church. An independent traditional Catholic priest received me into the Church and heard my first confession afterwards, but there was no mention of conditional baptism. Later on I received the Sacrament of Confirmation.

I did not know that it was the usual practice to conditionally baptize converts until I read about it on your website, and I trusted that the independent priest had done everything that was necessary.

I'm very upset and confused now because I don't know if I still need to be conditionally baptized, or if my Confirmation and confessions have been valid. I don't know what to do or who to ask for help. Could you offer me any advice or point me in the direction of someone who could help me?

     Sincerely,

     J.K.



TIA responds:

Dear J.K.,

We are glad that some good came from the answer posted on our website.

We present our sympathy for your difficult situation. Yes, it is a centuries-old practice of the Church to conditionally administer Baptism to those who convert from Protestant sects.

As you may know, the Episcopalians in the United States are a branch of the Anglicans. The name changed after the U.S. declared its independence from England. In order to avoid the impression that those in the American Anglican confession still relied on England (Anglican =English), the name changed to Episcopalian. Essentially, however, the Episcopalians and Anglicans profess the same heresies and belong to the same sect.

The Anglican Orders were declared null by Pope Leo XIII. So, since you were Episcopalian, this would be an additional reason for you to receive a conditional Baptism when you entered the Catholic Church.

We have no idea why the traditionalist priest you mentioned did not administer a conditional Baptism. Perhaps he was unaware of your past. At any rate, if we were in your place, we would avoid a confrontation with that priest, look for another traditionalist priest and ask him to administer a conditional Baptism.

Regarding Confirmation, we would advise you to write a letter to the Bishop who confirmed you, asking his opinion about whether you should be re-confirmed or not. If the answer is positive, you can make arrangements to meet him for this purpose.

We hope this advice will help you. We ask Our Lady to bring this matter to a successful close.

     Cordially,

     TIA correspondence desk

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