in Times of Confusion. A Traditional Catholic Reflection
by Archbishop Dr Fred Clary
“O Timothy, keep that which is committed to thy trust, avoiding profane novelties of words and oppositions of knowledge falsely so called.”
— 1 Timothy 6:20
In every age of the Church, there have arisen trials not merely of persecution from without, but of confusion from within. From the earliest heresies of Arius and Nestorius to the storms of the Reformation, the faithful have been called to cling not to the opinions of men, nor to the fashions of the age, but to the Deposit of Faith handed down from the Apostles through the perennial Magisterium of Holy Mother Church.
The faith is not ours to innovate, but to guard. Saint Vincent of Lérins, writing in the fifth century, gave the timeless rule: “In the Catholic Church itself, we must hold fast to that which has been believed everywhere, always, and by all.” This is the true measure of orthodoxy. The doctrines of the Church develop in expression, yet they can never contradict what has been solemnly defined or universally held. For Truth, being divine, cannot change into falsehood; nor can light become darkness.
Throughout history, when novelty or ambiguity entered the sanctuary, the saints did not accommodate themselves to confusion. Saint Athanasius stood almost alone against the world when the majority of bishops embraced the Arian compromise. Saint Jerome lamented, “The whole world groaned and marveled to find itself Arian.” Yet the few who held to the unchanging Creed preserved the faith for generations to come.
Thus it must be in every time of trial. The faithful Catholic clings to the unalterable truths defined by the Councils of Trent and Florence, to the perennial liturgy that embodies the theology of sacrifice, and to the moral law written not by man but by the eternal God. The Fathers teach that worship shapes belief: lex orandi, lex credendi — the law of prayer is the law of belief. Therefore, when the worship of God is altered or diminished, faith itself is imperiled, for prayer is the soul’s theology in act.
Pope St. Pius X warned in his encyclical Pascendi Dominici Gregis that the modernist seeks to dissolve the faith in subjective experience, replacing divine revelation with human sentiment. The sure remedy, he taught, is to return to the scholastic method, the sacred tradition, and the unchanging dogmas of the Church. Fidelity to Tradition is not obstinacy but obedience — obedience to Christ who said, “Heaven and earth shall pass away, but My words shall not pass away.”
In our day, the Catholic must cultivate three virtues:
discernment, to recognize error even when clothed in pious language; courage, to stand firm when fidelity is ridiculed; and humility, to trust the wisdom of the saints rather than the theories of men. The true spirit of the Church is not novelty but continuity — the same Creed, the same Sacrifice, the same devotion to the Mother of God and the saints who have gone before us marked with the sign of faith.
Let us then anchor our souls in the rock of unchanging truth, nourished by the ancient liturgy and instructed by the fathers and doctors of the Church. Let us guard the Deposit of Faith as a sacred inheritance, untainted by the world, unbent by compromise, and unstained by error — so that when the Lord returns, He may find faith still burning in the hearts of His faithful remnant.
“Hold fast that which thou hast, that no man take thy crown.”
— Apocalypse 3:11
The Spiritual Troubles in the Modern Liturgy
“We have received, not the spirit of this world, but the Spirit that is of God.”
— 1 Corinthians 2:12
For nearly two millennia, the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass stood at the heart of Catholic life as the most sacred act on earth — the unbloody renewal of Calvary. Through the traditional Roman rite, the faithful encountered the mystery of the divine Victim offered for sin, the priest standing as mediator between God and man. Every gesture, prayer, and silence carried a theological meaning that formed the soul in humility, reverence, and the sense of the supernatural. In recent decades, however, the Church has witnessed widespread spiritual unease surrounding the new form of the liturgy, commonly called the Novus Ordo Missae. This modern form has been accompanied by troubling tendencies that have affected the interior life and devotion of countless faithful.
The Diminution of Sacred Silence
Traditional Catholic worship has always been characterized by holy silence — a silence filled not with emptiness, but with adoration. The priest, turned toward the Lord, spoke prayers quietly at the altar, while the people prayed in recollected union. Saint John of the Cross wrote that “God’s language is silence; all else is a poor translation.” Yet in the new liturgical atmosphere, constant verbal participation and musical interruption often displace contemplation. The absence of silence leads the soul outward rather than inward, away from adoration toward distraction. Without stillness before the Eucharistic mystery, the faithful easily lose the sense of standing on holy ground.
A Weakened Sense of Sacrifice
The essence of the Mass is the Sacrifice of Calvary made present. The Council of Trent solemnly taught: “In this divine sacrifice which is performed in the Mass, that same Christ is contained and immolated in an unbloody manner who once offered Himself on the altar of the Cross.” In many modern celebrations, however, the atmosphere has shifted from sacrificial solemnity to communal celebration. When the priest faces the people across a table-like altar, the symbolic orientation toward God is obscured, and the liturgy may appear as a gathering rather than a sacrifice. This change of emphasis affects faith itself, for as the Fathers warned, lex orandi, lex credendi — “the law of prayer is the law of belief.” When the visible sign of offering fades, the interior awareness of sin, atonement, and the priest’s mediating role weakens.
Loss of Sacred Gesture and Posture
In the traditional Roman rite, reverence is embodied in movement: the genuflection before the tabernacle, the careful handling of the Sacred Host, the quiet bow at the holy Name of Jesus. These gestures catechize the soul. Saint Thomas Aquinas taught that “the body’s reverent gestures stir the heart to interior devotion.” Where casual posture replaces kneeling, or where lay handling of the Eucharist becomes common, the faithful may unconsciously lose the instinct of adoration. External reverence is not mere formality — it is theology made visible.
The Fading of the Sacred Tongue
For centuries, Latin united the Church in worship and preserved the liturgy from secular influence. Pope Pius XII called it a “bond of unity and a safeguard against corruption.” Its reverent distance lifted the soul above the ordinary, reminding the faithful that divine mysteries surpass human speech. The abandonment of Latin, while intended for accessibility, has in many places led to a loss of transcendence. The sacred has become familiar, and the language of heaven has been replaced with the language of the marketplace. Yet the faithful need mystery, for mystery protects faith from the trivial and lifts the heart toward God.
A Worldly Spirit in the Sanctuary
Perhaps most troubling is the infiltration of a worldly tone into divine worship. Modern music, casual dress, and improvisation within the liturgy often obscure the heavenly majesty that once marked the Mass. The Church’s worship was meant to be a window into eternity — a foretaste of heaven, not a reflection of the world. Saint John Chrysostom wrote, “When you see the altar surrounded by lights, do not think you are on earth but in heaven.” When this vision is dimmed, souls lose their sense of the sacred and the transcendent call to conversion.
The Call to Interior Renewal
The remedy to these spiritual troubles is not disobedience or despair, but a return to the spirit of reverence, silence, and sacrifice that animated Catholic worship for centuries. Pope Pius XII in Mediator Dei urged the faithful to “foster interior participation” above all — to unite heart and mind to the mystery of Christ’s sacrifice. True renewal of worship begins within the soul, when Catholics once again kneel in awe before the Lamb of God, mindful that they stand at the foot of Calvary.
The traditional liturgy continues to nourish countless souls because it embodies the timeless Catholic sense of the sacred: humility before the divine, reverence for the mystery, and beauty ordered to God. Whether in Latin or the vernacular, whether in ancient or modern form, the Mass must never lose its character as the Sacrifice of Christ offered for the salvation of the world. When reverence is restored, faith is rekindled; when the sense of the sacred returns, the Church’s heart beats strongly once more.
“Let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably, with reverence and godly fear.”
— Hebrews 12:28
Pope Michael II and the Vatican in Exile: Mission and Leadership
The Vatican in Exile represents a continuation of what it professes to be the true Catholic Church, preserving the unbroken deposit of faith, doctrine, and traditional liturgy that were held universally before the Second Vatican Council (1962–1965). This movement arose from the conviction that modernism and doctrinal errors had entered the institutional Church, leading to a loss of fidelity to the authentic Magisterium and Tradition. Within this context, Pope Michael II has been recognized by his followers as the legitimate successor of Pope Michael I, and as the true pontiff of the Catholic Church in Exile.
The Rise of the Vatican in Exile
The Vatican in Exile traces its roots to the papal election of 1990, in which David Bawden was elected as Pope Michael I. His election came amid a perceived apostasy following Vatican II and the promulgation of the Novus Ordo Missae in 1969. Believers in the Vatican in Exile assert that this “new mass” and the conciliar reforms represented a rupture with the traditional Catholic faith and the theology of the Council of Trent.
After the death of Pope Michael I in 2022, the College of Electors convened and elected Pope Michael II as his successor, maintaining continuity of leadership and apostolic purpose within the exiled Church.
Pope Michael II: Leadership and Vision
Pope Michael II leads the Vatican in Exile with a mission grounded in the timeless truths of the Catholic faith. His pontificate emphasizes:
Preservation of Sacred Tradition – safeguarding the liturgy, sacraments, and theology as they were handed down before the Second Vatican Council.
Restoration of the True Church – calling for repentance and reparation for the errors and heresies perceived to have entered the post-Vatican II Church.
Spiritual Renewal – guiding the faithful toward holiness through prayer, penance, sacrifice, and total fidelity to the Deposit of Faith.
Under his leadership, the Vatican in Exile operates as a spiritual remnant, emphasizing obedience to the perennial Magisterium and the unity of faith that once defined the universal Church.
The Mission of the Vatican in Exile
The mission of the Vatican in Exile is profoundly spiritual and restorative in nature. It can be summarized under five guiding principles:
Reparation – Offering acts of love and sacrifice in atonement for the sins of the world and the errors that have obscured the truth of the Faith.
Prayer – Encouraging constant devotion through the Rosary, the Traditional Latin Mass, and the Divine Office.
Repentance – Calling souls back to conversion, humility, and obedience to the teachings of Christ and His Church.
Sacrifice – Uniting personal suffering with the Cross of Christ for the sanctification of souls and the triumph of the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
Abandonment of Sin – Preaching detachment from the world and conformity to the will of God in all things.
Through these spiritual means, the Vatican in Exile seeks to restore Catholic unity, purify the Faith, and prepare the world for the Triumph of the Church as foretold in Scripture and prophecy.
Conclusion
The Vatican in Exile, under Pope Michael II, stands as a voice of fidelity to the unchanging truths of the Catholic faith amidst widespread confusion and apostasy. It proclaims that Christ’s promise to be with His Church “all days, even to the consummation of the world” (Matthew 28:20) remains fulfilled in the preservation of true doctrine and the continuation of legitimate authority through the papacy in exile.
In a world darkened by spiritual compromise and secularism, the Vatican in Exile seeks to keep alive the light of Tradition — unbroken, undefiled, and unwavering — until the visible restoration of the Church in full glory.