Danger -- Women in Mantillas

By Diogenes ( articles ) | Jul 11, 2003

Knight-Ridder carries a pretty much formulaic story on traditionalist Catholics in Silicon Valley, treating them with curiosity and controlled distaste, like mutant carp found in the town reservoir. The locals get the chance to express their feelings in monosyllables, then we hear the real story from the exotic species expert at the university:

"It's precisely because they're in the belly of the beast that they want to solidify," said William Dinges, a Catholic University of America professor and the nation's expert on Roman Catholic traditionalists. ... "They are angry that the bishops and the church authority haven't taken a harder line on dissenting Catholics," Dinges said. "The great irony though, is that they are bucking papal authority. They are holding themselves up as self-appointed watchdogs of Catholic orthodoxy and are in open conflict with the Vatican."

The article is pretty sloppy in its terminology, and I can't tell how many of these folks are true schismatics and how many are traditionalist Catholics. Phil Lawler made a point during our early-April discussion of "self-appointed watchdogs" that bears repeating: what more "appointment" does any Christian need to be a guardian of orthodoxy than the sacraments of baptism and confirmation?