Catholic Traditionalism After Francis

I wonder what Bishop Marcel Lefebvre would make of Cardinal Raymond Burke celebrating the pre–Vatican II “Latin Mass” in St. Peter’s Basilica on October 25. Lefebvre, of course, was a seminal figure in traditionalist Catholicism, who early on distanced himself from the reforms of Vatican II and in 1970 founded the Society of Saint Pius X (SSPX) to train traditionalist seminarians. The SSPX was canonically suppressed by the Holy See in 1975, but Lefebvre termed the action illegal and decided to ignore it. Then, in 1988, Pope John Paul II declared that Lefebvre was automatically excommunicated for consecrating four bishops that year without the Vatican’s permission.