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Homo Carmelite, SPLC & TLM Truce
SPLC under Scrutiny by the House
It was with satisfaction that I read the news that SPLC is under scrutiny by the House of Representatives.
Since SPLC included Tradition in Action among the Catholic organizations it accused of “hate crimes” and “terrorism,” and passed these accusations on to the FBI, which ordered an investigation on you, I believe you should feel vindicated with this act of justice made by our House.
We still do not know the final conclusions, but it is indisputably a great progress that SPLC’s accusations have boomeranged against it.
You may read the news report, which I am attaching.
Best regards,
G.L.
Joshua Arnold
December 17, 2025 - After years of tolerating its unwarranted influence in federal decision making, Congress finally directed long overdue scrutiny at the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) in a Tuesday hearing of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution and Limited Government, “Partisan and Profitable: The SPLC’s Influence on Federal Civil Rights Policy.”
Subcommittee Chairman Chip Roy (R-Texas) organized the hearing, he said, “to examine a troubling reality: that one of the most politically motivated, financially lucrative and ideologically extreme nonprofits in America, the Southern Poverty Law Center, has been permitted to wield extraordinary influence over federal civil rights policy, federal law enforcement training, and the private sector mechanisms that increasingly dictate who is permitted to participate in civic life.”
The atmosphere was combative but collegial; Roy conferred frequently with Ranking Member Mary Gay Scanlon (D-Pa.), but neither pulled any punches in their statements. A large crowd of left-wing activists brought enough people (30 or 40) to fill every open seat in the audience, but aside from an admonishment for loud conversation while waiting for admittance, they managed to behave themselves.
Continue reading here
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Papal Nuncio: Leo Will Be Lenient toward TLM
I am sorry to end a news report from one month ago, but since I did not see you addressing this topic, I am forwarding this Zenit’ press release to you. It dealt with the guidelines of Pope Leo XIV for allowing the Traditional Latin Mass to be said.
It quoted words of the Vatican Nuncio to England.
To make it easier for you and your readers to go straight to the points of importance, I am highlighting them.
In Christ Jesus,
E.J.
Elizabeth Owens
November 16, 2025 - When Pope León XIV stepped onto the world stage last spring, many wondered whether he would reopen one of the most sensitive liturgical debates of the past two decades. The question was simple but fraught: Would the new pontiff loosen the tight limits Pope Francis had imposed on the pre–Vatican II Roman Rite, the liturgy that for some Catholics is not simply a form of prayer but a cultural and spiritual home? Half a year into his pontificate, the outline of his approach is beginning to emerge. According to information shared privately with bishops in England and Wales, León XIV appears inclined neither to undo the liturgical reforms advanced by Francis nor to enforce them with the same rigor.
What is taking shape instead is a policy of pragmatic leniency. This shift was first hinted at in mid-November, when Archbishop Miguel Maury Buendía, the Holy See’s representative in Britain, informed the bishops’ conference that the Pope was prepared to grant renewable two-year dispensations allowing continued celebration of the 1962 Missal in parishes where it has remained pastorally important. León XIV, he reportedly stressed, has no intention of revoking Traditionis Custodes, the 2021 motu proprio by which Francis dramatically curtailed the use of the so-called Tridentine Mass. But he is open to granting bishops broad leeway in its application.
Such exemptions, Vatican officials later noted, are not unprecedented. Since Traditionis Custodes came into force, diocesan bishops have been able to request permission for traditional Latin Masses in parish churches where communities depend on them. The process, however, has often been slow, uneven, and overshadowed by the perception that the dicastery responsible for enforcing the restrictions took a firm, sometimes unyielding stance. For that reason, the nuncio’s comments landed with unusual force. They suggested that the atmosphere around the older liturgy might be shifting – and that a new balance might be emerging between unity, which Francis saw as jeopardized by liturgical parallelism, and pastoral realism, which León XIV appears to view as indispensable.
The signal was welcomed in Britain, where the debate over the Tridentine Mass has long had an outsized resonance. Several dioceses there had recently received permission to continue traditional liturgies, and the archbishop of Westminster, Cardinal Vincent Nichols, had spent the past two years navigating the issue with a pragmatism that contrasted with more restrictive interpretations elsewhere. British Catholics attentive to the Latin Mass – some of whom had once appealed publicly through the press to Francis to moderate future limitations – were quick to interpret the nuncio’s remarks as a sign of a gentler era.
The contrast with the previous direction of the Dicastery for Divine Worship was not lost. Under Cardinal Arthur Roche, himself British, the dicastery had issued follow-up documents tightening the application of Francis’s motu proprio, narrowing the space for diocesan discretion. León XIV’s willingness to allow bishops greater autonomy implicitly softens that line, even while leaving the fundamental legal framework untouched. The implications are broader than the British Isles.
If Rome is prepared to grant exemptions widely, dioceses around the world may soon experience a quiet recalibration: not a restoration of the old liturgical liberalization, but an easing of tensions that have strained relationships between bishops and tradition-oriented communities. Some will be disappointed that Traditionis Custodes itself remains intact; others will see the new approach as a step toward healing. In an unrelated but symbolically significant episode, an Italian tribunal this month ruled in favor of a traditionalist Catholic blog (Messa in Latino) that had been abruptly blocked in July, a decision that emboldened online communities already heartened by signs of moderation from Rome.
The judgment was celebrated not only as a legal victory but also as a cultural moment for those who feel their identity has been misunderstood in recent years. For now, León XIV appears intent on stabilizing rather than revolutionizing. His quiet authorization for Cardinal Raymond Burke to celebrate the older liturgy in St. Peter’s Basilica, and his willingness to extend existing permissions where pastoral needs justify them, fit a pattern: continuity without confrontation, flexibility without a reversal of course.
Original here
Posted December 18, 2025
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The opinions expressed in this section - What People Are Commenting - do not necessarily express those of TIA
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Re: Brazilian Carmelite in Homo Activity
It is difficult to remain calm when blatant homosexuality is tolerated but the Latin Mass banned.
My question is: do you forward this information directly to the Bishop of the involved Diocese? One would hope the bishop would know, but you can never assume in the fight for truth and orthodoxy. Keep up the good work, have a Blessed Advent and a Joyful Christmas Season.
God Be Praised in ALL Things
Deacon D.L., D.O.
TIA responds:
Hello Deacon D.L.,
Yes, you are correct to say that there is injustice in the picture.
The Heralds of the Gospel, whose headquarters are in São Paulo City, Brazil, are under the intervention of the Vatican. The appointed arbitrator is Card. Raymundo Damasceno. Later, the Vatican through Card. Braz de Aviz, named another arbitrator, who is the same Fr. Evaldo Xavier Gomes whose photos you saw on our website. These two official vatican go-betweens are euphemistically called pontifical Commissioners.
According to the book The Commissioner of the Heralds, as soon as someone sent those photos to the Heralds, they delivered them personally to Card. Damasceno, who, in turn, went to Rome to deliver them to Card. Braz de Aviz, Prefect of the Dicastery for the Institute of Consecrated Life. Braz de Aviz saw the photos and affirmed to Damasceno that he would not punish the Carmelite fray due to his previous “good services.”
When an ecclesiastical organization is under the intervention of the Vatican, it relies directly on Rome, which overrules the jurisdiction of the local archbishop. We do not know whether the local archbishop follows all the steps that take place in this type of procedure.
At any rate, the due authority was perfectly informed and refused to punish the guilty monk.
Cordially we wish you a Merry Christmas,
TIA correspondence desk