Remember St. Augustine's City of God and City of Man?

Or the famous "Love of God unto contempt of self" vs. "Love of self unto contempt of God"?

Well, I have another big picture for you --

Truth vs Numbers.

On the one hand, you have Bishop Williamson, pushing for the WHOLE truth, even about matters like the h0Ɩ0cαųst. He has a small audience, but they are all solid Catholics possessing the full Catholic Faith. Their chapels are homes, hotels, garages and workshops.

On the other hand, you have the Novus Ordo, who doesn't preach anything, even Catholic dogmas, which might offend and "drive some people away". They have the largest audience, but they have the LEAST to talk about. Their homes are centuries old Cathedrals, every large Catholic Church in the phonebook, the beautiful architecture in Rome and the rest of Europe, etc.

In the middle you have the SSPX, who disowned +Williamson because his insistence on truth over compromise "cost them some parishioners".  Their buildings, as well as the level of respect from the general public, is also somewhere in between: small chapels, mostly dedicated buildings, usually converted from protestant buildings, basically better than the Resistance has, but far less than what the Conciliar Church has.

Their whole "new orientation" is embraced and admitted by them in this way: They want to have access to the greatest number of souls, so they can work their magic on them.

Now towards which camp is the neo-SSPX headed? I think most honest men could answer that question only ONE WAY: Towards the Novus Ordo "strategy" of numbers, compromise, silence on various matters that would limit your "reach".

But that's the problem -- once you compromise, there's not much good you can do. They (and anyone else) HAVE no "magic" outside of the TRUTH. What use are these compromisers? They are de-fanged and impotent; salt that has lost its savor and fit only to be cast out on the street to be trodden on by men.

Once you begin to chase numbers, you NECESSARILY begin to leave the cause of truth. Truth and Numbers are like good and evil; you have to choose which you love more.

That doesn't mean you can't convert people -- you want as many people to embrace the truth as possible. But you are prioritizing, pushing and preaching the truth. Those who respond, get baptized. But when you prioritize numbers as if they are the primary concern, you end up hiring Branding agencies, watering down your doctrine, and expelling good priests and bishops.

That applies in every case. Even a forum like CathInfo. Of course I want as many people here as possible -- as long as I can stay with the truth. Beyond that, I just have to settle for the # of Catholics interested in the truth. If I wanted to "chase" numbers, I'd have to compromise in some way.

The fact of the matter is, no matter how holy/smart/hard working/diligent I strove to become, there is no way CathInfo would ever have the traffic of Catholic Answers. They simply appeal to a wider audience. If I ever decided I *needed* more numbers, and wanted that above all else, something would have to give. I'd have to remove +Williamson from the footer. Or ban discussion of cօռspιʀαcιҽs. Or ban criticism of the Pope. Or even ban criticism of protestants if I wanted to be really liberal.

Again, I'd like to clarify that it's a question of PRIORITIES.

Of course CathInfo wants a million members. But only insofar as that can be done WHILE PROMOTING THE TRUTH. Truth is the first priority. Love of truth, unto contempt of numbers.

And of course the SSPX wants to be able to preach things they know to be true. But only INSOFAR AS THEY CAN PREACH THEM WITHOUT DIMINISHING THEIR FLOCK SIZE. Love of numbers, unto contempt of the truth.

And the famous quote about contempt of God vs. contempt of self: even those who prioritize "self" over God don't "enjoy" offending God; they just make that choice when there is a conflict between pleasing self and pleasing God.

You can't serve good and evil. You can't serve God and Mammon. And you can't serve Truth and Numbers.

"For either he will hate the one, and love the other: or he will sustain the one, and despise the other."

The problem is that there's no magic red line between "truths you can ignore" and "truths you must insist on". The line is blurry and tends to move over time, and it varies from priest to priest.

For one priest, it's just the h0Ɩ0cαųst. For the SSPX right now, they've decided to add "Vatican II" to the taboo list. For the next priest, he might add "talking about TV and the Internet". Another might think it imprudent to offend divorced people, since "sometimes it's not their fault" and so on.

Once you accept the mission statement that "we just want to get people in the door", it's all over. The devil does the rest. Compromise (and chasing numbers) is a trap, and it's hard to escape once you start down that path.

Vatican II itself was all about chasing numbers, regardless of what would happen to the truth or the Faith. That's really what it comes down to.

And don't kid yourself: a lot of "good Catholics" and a lot of smart individuals fell for it. Don't think a lot of good Catholics and smart individuals in the SSPX won't fall for the same trap today.

Quote from: Ladislaus

Quote from: Matthew

... SSPX ... disowned +Williamson because his insistence on truth over compromise "cost them some parishioners".

They disowned Bishop Williamson because he jeopardized the reunion with Rome.  I've actually never known the SSPX to give in even on relatively trivial matters at the cost of preserving some parishioners.  They've always been very stubborn in that regard ... too much so in many cases.

They want unification for the numbers, not for the sake of those already with the SSPX.

Fr Wegner is already boasting of an increase in confessions at the SSPX now that the Pope has 'officially approved' them for that sacrament.

(No mention that the Year of Mercy doesn't actually begin until December 8.)