Traditionalists in the Times

The L.A. Times Magazine has an article this morning called either "Strictly By The Book" or "Beyond The Trappings" depending upon whether you rely on the magazine cover or the table of contents. The web version is here where it is called "Beyond The Trappings".

It's surprisingly even-handed for the Times. Things did not look promising based on the table of contents blurb: ". . .the breakaway faction rejects the Vatican and some followers hold fast to a fundamentalist dogma that stigmatizes Jews -- a controversy surrounding the film by a fellow traveler, Mel Gibson." In fact, the author fails to find any anti-semitism and discovers the priests and people to be rather normal and rational, if a tad un-P.C.

The disappointment is that there is hardly a word about indult traditionalists. The concentration is on the SSPX and the various local (L.A. area) independent chapels. No traditionalists in union with Rome are interviewed and no Mass centers are referred to. There are 5 in the L.A. Archdiocese and 2 in the Orange Diocese. And one or two in San Bernardino. It would have been nice to have our existence acknowledged.

What is appreciated is that Hutton Gibson's nut-cake views are put on the far outer fringes of the conservative/traditionalist continuum where they belong. The author was not able to find anyone, SSPX or independent, with a kind word to say about them.

Well, you can read it for yourself at the link above. But if you're going to, then do it this week or you'll have to come up with 3 or 4 bucks to ransom it from the Times' archive.