The Vibe Shift Comes for Bishop Martin

Bishop Martin's actions regarding the liturgy are worse than a crime. They are a mistake.

Bishop Michael Martin, OFM Conv. Credit: Diocese of Charlotte.

I haven’t written much lately, mostly because I don’t think its helpful to say much about what Leo XIV is or isn’t. I’ve been slowly trying to articulate my view on the current moment in the Church, and then news reminds us of what that moment is. This news allows me to better explain something I’ve said in the past and provide further evidence of what I argued.

The news (courtesy of The Pillar) involves two moves recently (one scrapped) by Bishop Michael Martin of Charlotte. The first, near and dear to lovers of the Latin Mass, regarding the “final implementation” of Traditionis custodes within the diocese of Charlotte, ending all Latin Masses in his diocese, and erecting one Latin Mass community in a former non-denominational chapel. (This was done against the opposition of all the priests who celebrated TLMs, who also celebrated the Novus Ordo regularly, who pleaded with him to be mindful of the souls of his flock.) Alongside this, he put out a series of talking points where he admitted:

• That the decision was completely arbitrary and could be overruled tomorrow by Rome, at which point he would then have to redesign everything.

• That it may very well lead to the closure of parishes which offer the Novus Ordo

• That it may very well lead to the diocese losing donations

• That it will likely lead to Catholics in the diocese leaving the Church.

• These parishes getting closed and people leaving the Church were sacrifices he was prepared to make.

• That any Catholic who still was attached to the TLM after his decree needs to perform penance for their selfishness.

These talking points were disseminated to priests, who he demanded explain them to the faithful. They responded by leaking them immediately to the press. The talking points were widely panned and criticized, even by those who aren’t friendly to the Latin Mass as excessively cruel and vindictive. Unfortunately for Bishop Martin, his name remained in the news, as a as yet unpublished pastoral letter was leaked to the blog Rorate Caeli in which the Bishop set forth his intention to:

• Ban Latin from the Novus Ordo in all parishes, even in prayers such as the Agnus Dei, on the rationale that nobody was smart enough to understand what the responses mean. (A case of self-implication MF Doom warned us about)

• Restrict kneeling for communion.

• Ban Altar Rails

• Restrict reception of communion on the tongue

• Ban classical vestments

• Ban Altar crucifixes

• Ban Altar candles

• Banning priests praying privately while vesting

• Banning optional prayers by the laity and priest after the conclusion of Mass

This plan was presented to his own hand-appointed liturgical councils within the diocese and was met with near universal opposition, to where it was alleged he backed off on its implementation. (The presence of the pastoral letter which was to be disseminated to every Church suggests he still very much wanted to do it) It was roundly rejected not just because it directly targeted things Rome has made clear are okay, but because it suggests a level of micromanagement that is impossible to enforce. Are we going to install cameras in the sacristy? Are we going to kick the lay faithful out of Church after the dismissal? Deny communion to people who want to kneel or receive on the tongue?

The Vibe Shift Striketh

While there is much unknown, a few things are clear. First and foremost, the Bishop has badly mismanaged both issues, and indeed mismanaged them in about every way possible. If you were to believe that Bishop Martin is an Op planted by traditionalists to undermine the credibility of progressive Catholics, we must insist not even we could have him act so cartoonishly evil and mad. The second is that opposition from traditionalists is among the least of Bishop Martin’s worries. The leaks clearly came from those within the diocesan staff and his own inner circle. The Bishop handpicked those liturgical committees, and its clear some of those members leaked their internal proceedings to make the Bishop not only look bad (crazy ideas), but look weak. (He backed down, and he doesn’t have the confidence of his priests no matter what he thinks.) The point of the leaks was to humiliate the Bishop, and those kind of leaks only come from friends, as foes normally lack the kind of inside information to humiliate someone. All of this could have been avoided had he been mindful of the vibe shift.

As mentioned in a previous post (and misunderstood by some), there is a clear shift going on within the wider culture of Catholicism in the West. As the West experiences a larger shift to the right politically (across the US, Latin America and Europe), conservatives and traditionalists within the Church suddenly find a larger field to operate within than they did during the post-concilliar years. Combining this with the demographic changes (where yesterday’s revolutionaries are now the old out of touch caricatures they railed against) and a Catholicism that no longer feels the need to root themselves in the debates of Vatican II, you have a wider culture that has left those in leadership struggling with how to respond. As a result, even many liberals have had to calibrate their enthusiasm for more ambitious liberal reforms, at least publicly. Yes, Cardinal Roche remains a dedicated foe of the Latin Mass in private, but in public he feels forced to say he loves Latin, says the Latin Novus Ordo, and that traditionalists deserve a spot within the Catholic Church, positions he only discovered only recently.

In short, if you were looking to launch a 1970s liturgical revolution in your diocese, right now would probably be the worst time to do it. It doesn’t matter who is pope, people don’t want this, and will react very loudly against it. What about those who like these changes? Certainly they exist! They do, but it is telling that we are going on almost a week of Bishop Martin being lambasted in the Catholic news world, and almost nobody has risen to defend him. Not in Charlotte, and not even in the wider progressive world.

Why? A possible answer might be in the old maxim of the French Revolution, when Napoleon, in a rare fit of rage, had a powerless rival assassinated. The pettiness and nastiness of the act had dramatic international ramifications, even if Napoleon could claim a short term victory in domestic security. When reflecting on the incident, someone (it is debated to this day who) uttered the phrase C'est pire qu'un crime, c'est une faute, roughly translated as It was worse than a crime: it was a mistake. The act showed a nastiness to Napoleon and drove those looking for an excuse to remain neutral into coalitions against him. Progressive Catholics might be looking at the nastiness of Bishop Martin and realizing that, even if they agree with his overall goals, ripping the mask off at this point just pushes people against you who would rather remain neutral.

In pure speculative terms, I expect the leaks to get worse. From here on out, anything he makes a mistake on will leak to the press, who will now report it. The only peaceful resolutions are the Bishop apologizes (displaying a degree of humility he has so far shown himself incapable of), or is eventually sacked (a possibility, but a move that Popes are reluctant to do). Barring that, Bishop Martin should probably prepare for a lengthy isolation and sense that all his allies might betray him, because they probably will. All of these lessons will be internalized throughout the episcopate, as other bishops will attempt to swim upstream in solidarity, and others, preferring peace, react accordingly. Pope Leo wants peace. He may soon find that peace out of his ability to provide.