Novus Ordo Clerics and the Veneration of St. Agatha’s Relic: A Catholic X-Ray
Prologue: Catholic Tradition Examined Through a Fourfold Lens: Recent public veneration of the relic of St. Agatha, led by a novus ordo “archbishop” during a series of “Pontifical rites” presided by a supposed “papal legate”, has provoked reservations from his coreligionists, among whom are certain novus ordo clerics. One would have thought that giving the supposed ecclesiastical personages directly involved in the procession, ceremonial honours, and crowning of the Saint’s skull, due rubrical and ceremonial exactitude would be presumed . There should, therefore, have been no cause for alarm, or for the reservations now being expressed. Be that as it may, their concerns deserve to be examined seriously. Catholics should not become so defensive of traditional practices that they refuse to distinguish authentic devotion from superstition, or legitimate liturgical development from theatrical excess. But there is another danger: examining Catholic tradition with theo...