This past weekend, Brother Joseph and I were at the Catholic Identity Conference in Weirton, West Virginia. This is the conference which has been described as a traditionalist “unite-the-clans” event. In that regard, as in many others, it did not disappoint in the least. Among the priests who spoke, there was quite a variety of backgrounds (Institute of the Good Shepherd, Society of Saint Pius X, Fraternity of Saint Peter). Among the faithful, there was perhaps a wider divergence still, but there was a wonderful unity of purpose and spirit at the event.
We met some old friends and made new ones as well. That sounds pat, but it’s true. I met many readers of this Ad Rem column, and listeners to Reconquest. One thing that impressed me was that extra ecclesiam nulla salus lay at the heart of a few of the talks, seemingly taken as a given by the speakers.
Mike Church spoke, introducing yet another Catholic traditionalist audience to the informative and entertaining methodology he’s mastered as a seasoned talk radio host. Mike blamed Chris Ferrara (another speaker) and others, including yours truly, for “ruining his life” as a successful SiriusXM talk radio host. If you don’t know how we ruined Mike’s life, he explained it in his talk at our SBC Conference.
Our friend, Father Hugues Beaugrand, gave a manly and priestly presentation in his wonderful Breton accent entitled, “What Are We Doing? A New Community for a New Focus on the Current Crisis.” His talk was an invitation to armchair theologians to man up. (Among many other things, I am grateful to Abbé Beaugrand for introducing me to the useful descriptive, “Marshmallow Men.”)
Diane Montagna, a LifeSite News journalist, gave a riveting talk called, “Inside the Vatican Wall: V Is for Viganò,” which dealt with the recent revelations of the courageous Archbishop Viganò, but mostly covered the unspeakable chicanery on display at the 2018 Youth Synod, where she was a credentialed member of the press with many “informed sources.” Her presentation — about grave and horrible things, yet delivered with charm and humor — was a conference high-point for many.
This is not intended to be a write-up of the whole conference. But there is one talk I would like to consider here at some length, because for me, it epitomized what the conference was about, at the two related levels of good doctrinal content and inter-traditionalist unity. With no offense intended to any of the other speakers, the high-point for me was the talk given by a young priest of the Society of Saint Pius X, Father Jonathan Loop. Father’s manner was very understated and forthright. He made very powerful arguments with little pomp and fanfare (though, being a Texan, he did include a few ya’ll’s).
His talk was entitled, “Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre: The Exoneration.”
CONTINUED
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