Where's Tulsa's "Fr. Stan Rother"? SSPX Packs Up And Leaves.

Bye, SSPX.
Fr. Stanley Rother was beatified last Saturday.  That's nice.  He was a nice guy who drove a tractor and died for the community he invested himself in.  Good for him. 

I wrote one of the few online articles critical of his beatification earlier this year (LINK HERE).   

But what about Traditional Catholicism in Tulsa?  Do we have a priest who will invest his life and soul into our community?

Fr. Timothy Davidson did.  Tulsa Traditional Catholics loved him.  But he was shoved off to went on sabbatical to Ohio for family.  His Trad friends, Fr. Ripperger and Mother Miriam were also given the boot. 

What about the priest who took over for Fr. Davidson?  Uhm, last I heard, he's flippantly and irreverently distributing the Eucharist in the hand to standing laity at the Novus Ordo English and Spanish Mass.  The clock is ticking for the Latin Mass congregation under his...watch. 

What about our new bishop?  Is Bishop Konderla able to move beyond the fawning adoration of young impressionable college students and adopt a new heart for Traditional Catholicism in Tulsa?  *crickets*   

Well, gollee.  How about the Society?  They've been the main warrior in the Catholic Church's battle against modernism for decades.  Can they offer refuge for Traditional Catholic Tulsans? 

Nope.  They pulled up the rug and left today.  I suspect that several people might not be maintaining Catholicism any longer after today.    


SSPX Leaves Tulsa

In a demoralizing display of "grab it and run" behavior, the priest at the Tulsa chapter of the SSPX pretty much told the laity during his homily: Sorry, we're done.  Did anyone even see this coming?  It just happened so suddenly.  The announcement came during the homily of the Mass, so the discussion wasn't really up for debate.  You don't just start objecting to something during the homily of a Mass.  It's not a moment for democracy.  So that was convenient for the priest.  Did he stay after the Mass, or did he duck out?  I'm unsure.    

But what is sure is that they abruptly pulled out without preparation or warning.  There is no longer SSPX Mass being said in this city.  


After SSPX headquarters seemed to force the community to (with great hesitation) sell off their church building (many community members put a lot of sweat into purchasing and keeping up the building; the SSPX was like an absentee landlord), the laity was then forced to attend Mass at a downtown funeral home for the next two years.  The image of a Mass in that funeral home left me wondering if either the Society was retreating to a catacombs or if it was pretty much dead and in a coffin.  Read about the Society's Tulsa history HERE.   

And so, as the Society priest drives off into the sunset towards Traditional Catholic Disneyland St. Mary's Kansas, not only does he take with him the last embers of any hope this city's Trads had, but he also probably takes with him unknown tens of thousands of dollars.  If the district functions the way that it ought to, then the Society held the Tulsa community's money in their coffers.  Now that the Society is gone, so is the money.  Where did it go?  Not here.  Is it the Society's money now?  The money received for selling the old church building?  Don't worry, it'll go to supporting the Society somewhere else.  But not Tulsa. 

I could be wrong.


What Could Have Been

It is no secret that Bishop Konderla has no love for the Latin Mass.  He is indifferent at best.  His actions against diocesan Traditional Catholics show a hostility emanating from either him or the presbyteral council that he acquiesces to.  The destruction of every beautiful thing Bishop Slattery tried to bring to Tulsa is evidence enough for all of this.  There is only a forced respect for Bishop Konderla's predecessor.


The diocesan Latin Mass community at Sts. Peter and Paul is on the wane.  The priest there is hostile to the Catholic Tradition of the parishioners under his...watch.  A Hispanic priest says the TLM for now, but how long can that last? 

It seemed clear to me that, once Sts. Peter and Paul went through its inevitable purging, there would be ample opportunity for the SSPX in Tulsa to attract members.  The Society was well-positioned to increase its Tulsa congregation.  Think about it: a wholesome and traditional underdog (SSPX Tulsa) versus a well-established modernist goliath (Bp. Konderla)?  It was a perfect formula for an explosion of laity. 

What a squandered opportunity. 


Konderla Has TLM Tulsa Right Where He Wants Us

The Tulsa Trads are now getting quarantined into their own little places.  The events of the past year have been a controlled and heavy-handed herding of people and resources. 

If the Society of Saint Pius X gets regularized in Rome, the SSPX can only stay in places where it is already established with a building.  Well, we don't have that in Tulsa, so that's one less thing for Bishop Konderla to worry about. 

There is no Society for us to run to now.  So when the diocesan TLM is rubbed out at Sts. Peter and Paul, off we go to the FSSP across the river. 


I've nothing against the FSSP.  I'm happy they have a building now.  That's good.  I've been to the Mass at Most Precious Blood, and I know some of the people.  But when the new bishop came, we wondered if even the FSSP would survive his purging.  And if the FSSP goes?  Tulsa is full-on modernist Catholic.  The Novus Ordo laity will be able to happily exist in their controlled environment with the surrounding Protestants, here in the buckle of the Bible Belt.   

For now, in my opinion, it really looks like the FSSP will be the last holdout for Traditional Catholics in Tulsa five years from now. 


Overall Implications

As I said earlier, I think that today, some people will not likely be engaging in Catholic practice any longer.  This act will actually harden these already-hardened people even further.  There have been so many abuses and scandals in the Catholic world.  I'm sure the families of the community are quite bitter for this seeming betrayal--if not for the loss of their invested money.   

For the people who only attended SSPX Mass, I imagine that worship life, for them, will begin to resemble life for Japanese Catholic communities that were once not allowed to have priests.  They will become what are called "home aloners," who content themselves to listening to a broadcast, reading spiritual literature on Sundays, but not going to Mass.  Others, perhaps, will drive to Oklahoma City every Sunday, where there is still a stable SSPX presence.

Will we hear about this in a public newspaper?  Ha!  Don't make me laugh.  Tulsa--and the New Order Catholic World--are currently agog about the beatification of Fr. Stanley Rother.  He died for those poor Guatemalans, don't you know?  (President Donald Trump would never understand!  WE NEED MORE IMMIGRATION!  VIVA LA RAZA!)  The SSPX is the odd family member who, during Thanksgiving dinner, sits at the table in the back of the house. 


Foucald's chapel.
Shortly after I was converted, I read a book about Blessed Charles de Foucald.  This priest wanted to be a missionary after converting to the Catholic Church.  He was very excited.  He became a priest and rushed out into the Sahara Desert to attempt to evangelize the local Tuaregs.  Not a single person converted to Catholicism during his life out there--not even the guy who assisted him during his Masses, who remained a quiet Muslim.  Fr. Foucald nevertheless ardently fought for the necessity that Catholic Mass be held out there in that wasteland.  Even if no one attended his Mass, at the very least, it was there for anyone.  The potential for growth was there. 

So where is our Charles de Foucald?  Where is our Stanley Rother?  Do we have such men to advocate for our cause?  Do we have someone like Fr. Rother who will help us build our Traditional Catholic community--even die for us?  Or do you only get that in FrancisNewChurch?  Do we only get the flashy buildings, the comfortable carpets, the Tulsa World ads and radio broadcasts if we go to Novus Ordo Mass?  Must we give credence to the ɧoɱosɛҳųαƖist Fr. Martin?  Are we forced to "raise Hell" for Pope Francis' socialist causes if we are to remain Catholics in good standing who are worth the time?  Must we become a Church of dandies and secret cocaine-fueled gαy orgies to keep our community buildings?     

Tulsa Traditional Catholics now experience neglect in many places.  We are an entire city of abused people, all of whom are abused in different ways.  Trad Catholics are no different, sadly.  No refuge for us.  There is no escape--except if you give in to the "love," turn on your NPR, give a wink and a nod to your gαy neighbor, throw up your hands, take a sip of champagne, and chuckle, "Who am I to judge?" 

Good bye SSPX.

For now, in my opinion, it really looks like the FSSP will be the last holdout for Traditional Catholics in Tulsa five years from now.

I thought you closed down the Hirsch Files.  What gives?

As for the SSPX, welcome to the club.  Apparently, Tulsa wasn't providing what the SSPX wanted.