“What is this about traditional catholicism?”  “Aren’t all Catholics traditionalists?”  “What is the difference between a traditional Catholic, and a regular Catholic?” - some questions you have?  Beware of wolves in sheep clothing.  We must be very careful navigating the waters of Religion.  It is the most important thing in our lives and these are some of the most dangerous times, as the degradation of society attests to.  One must learn as much about something as possible before he participates in it, otherwise, risk of breaking the 1st commandment is likely, so we must be diligent, as cunning as a serpent.  Read below to learn about what a traditional catholic is.

   When we talk about traditional Catholic issues, we have to distinguish between two heads of traditional Catholicism.  It is, quite simply, the good kind, and the bad kind. Tradition in itself is a very good thing - one of the Pillars of the Church. Though, one must remember, that before the death of Pope Pius the XII in 1958, there were no people who called themselves, traditional catholics.  It was enough to say that you were a Catholic, and this encompassed the traditional aspect of the Religion.  So we understand that this styling of ‘traditional catholic,’ or ‘traditionalist catholic’ or ‘traditional Catholicism,’ is in one sense, a novelty of speech, and this has always been a red flag to a Catholic.  Novel speech is expressedly warned about in Sacred Scripture, and for the reason that Catholics stick to the tradition of the Church (which is not novel in speech or otherwise), which is old, because it is founded on what Christ taught us, which was 2000 years ago.  We understand our religion more expressedly as time goes on, and we can expound the teachings.  However, new things in Religion must be scrutinized just as a serpent scrutinizes his prey.  Navigating these realms of life can be very tricky to-day, and with Faith, one must be careful to the utmost lest one be deceived and suffer a great loss (to say the least (about the the certainty of death, judgement, heaven, and hell))  by way of sin against the First Commandment.

    To say in one sense that traditional catholicism is good, is to say that the Catholic understands that one of the Pillars of Authority of the Catholic Church is Sacred Tradition (the other two being the Sacred Scripture, and the Living Magisterium of the Church).  This Catholic who understands that he is Tradtional, is taken in a different sense from the type of traditionalist catholic that typically is found today.  We can distinguish a Traditionalist, with a capital T, and a traditionalist with a lower case t.  The good Traditionalist is interested in avoiding heresies, sticking to the old ways of the Church, avoiding sin, saving their soul, devotion to the Blessed Virigin, dogma of the Papacy, etc..., all things that are Traditional in the good sense.  A traditionalist catholic, in the bad sense, is one who has succumbed to novelty of the times, and has only maintained an appearance of being traditional - more on this later.  For now, let us stick with the thought that, before Vatican II, and better yet, the death of Pope Pius the XII in 1958, there was no such thing as traditionalist catholic.  If you said that you were a ‘traditional catholic’ or a ‘traditionalist’ to somebody, you would immediately be met with suspicious eyes, and a curious demeanor of the inquirer.  It would have been completely novel in those times to say such a thing.  Confusing to say such a thing...  They might have quipped something like, “What Catholic isn’t a traditionalist?” One must understand that people today are using this word traditionalist in this new and novel way, a foreign way, and in this sense, it is still as novel today, as it was then, because we pray, “As it was in the beginning, it is now, and ever shall be, a world without end.  Amen.”

Please move on to - “What is heresy? - and why is this important?’