CHARITABLE TRADITIONALISTS

SOME VALID POINTS FROM THE iTALIAN TRADITIONALIST BLOG CORDIALITER

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 7, 2013

Traditionalists bergogliani

An Italian lady told me that she had been a few years in Buenos Aires 

and had met Cardinal Bergoglio. The first time I saw

 him he was dressed in a plain black cassock, he had a worn pair of

 shoes and a worn black bag. She thought he was an ordinary priest, but other

 people recognized him and came up to greet him affably. She was very

 surprised to see the humble lifestyle of the Archbishop and the kindness

 with which he dealt with people. All three meetings took place in Buenos

 Aires on public transport (bus and metro) and this was a surprise to her,

 since in Italy she was used to seeing churchmen travel in expensive

 big cars.

Another thing that struck her was the fact that Cardinal Bergoglio

 headed towards the city's most infamous and degraded areas in the Argentine

 capital, where he went to help the poor who were materially and spiritually 

abandoned by all. He went there alone, without an escort, but no one

 ever dared to attack him and rob him. He was much loved by the

 common people. 

When he was elected to the throne of Peter, the sister of Pope

 expressed the desire to come to Rome to continue to help him, 

but the Pope replied that the Vatican did not need her, and he

 urged her instead to continue his apostolate in the slums of Buenos Aires.

 He asked also to give the poor the clothes he had left in Argentina.

One should not be scandalized the humble lifestyle led by the then 

Archbishop of Buenos Aires, in fact even the saints behaved the

 same way. For example, the great St. Alphonsus Maria de Liguori,

 when he was elected bishop, instead of a gemstone ring he

 embeded a piece of glass made from a bottom of the bottle in it.

 Also, he lived in poverty (even slept on the floor), gave everything 

to those in need, and once even gave his black cassock and

 was forced to walk around with the purple dress used for the liturgy.

 In short, although a bishop, he did not live in a gorgeous (as unfortunately

 many other priests did who were raised to the episcopal dignity), but always 

maintained a style of austere life as a true successor of the apostles.

If we want the traditional movement to expand the most, we need to have

 traditionalists "bergogliani", ie, people who live in a simple way, 

actually help the poor, are jovial and friendly with others, have a 

great love for the old liturgy and the doctrinal and spiritual patrimony

 of Catholic Tradition. This is the right mix to "break left" and to spread

 the traditional movement.

The halt in the advance of the movement is not so much the fault

of the modernists, but rather the attitudes of some traditionalists who

 behave coldly with others, often have a sour face, live a comfortable life,

 they waste money on useless things and maybe they speak about not being

 able to help the needy. In short, with their un-Christian behavior,

 the people move away from the Catholic Tradition,

 because they lead people to believe that the traditionalists are people

 cold, haughty, full of pride, insensitive to the suffering of others,

 and so on.

The real traditionalists must have models as St. John Bosco,

 St. Leopold Mandic, St. Luigi Orione, St. Alphonsus Maria de Liguori,

 St. Vincent de Paul, and all the saints. His Holiness, Pope St. Pius X 

said that the traditionalists are the true friends of the people. So if the people

 do not consider as "friends" such traditionalists, evidently meaning that they 

do not act like real traditionalists.