The Catholic Blog of Shane Schaetzel
Some people call me “Dr. Doom.” This is probably because of my pessimistic outlook on some things. I understand. When the only nation you’ve ever known in life is destined to fail, and somebody tells you that, it can be a real drag. If I told you the Roman Empire was destined to fall, that […]
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The video above, from Church Militant, outlines the challenges facing Catholic schools today. It should be noted that Catholics schools have been in consistent decline for fifty years! The COVID-19 pandemic has only served to highlight and accelerate the problem. The chief causes of the decline in Catholic schools are listed as follows… Cost Basic […]
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The Catholic Church, especially in North America and Europe, is in a demographic nosedive. The writing is on the wall, and it cannot be denied anymore, at least not by any reasonably informed person. Throughout the United States, for example, parishes are closing. Congregations are being merged, and dioceses are downsizing. Our bishops today have […]
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It’s December of 2020, and this year I want to give a Christmas gift to any Catholic priest out there willing to receive it. It consists of some basic bullet points that, if implemented, should revive your parish in the face of creeping Secularization in our culture, and growing Evangelical sects that constantly pilfer our […]
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As a Catholic, writing something like this is sure to raise a few eyebrows, but I feel like it’s necessary. I may be Catholic, but I used to be an Evangelical, and I live in an area where I’m surrounding by Evangelicals of all stripes (Baptists, Pentecostals, Non-denominationals, etc.). I am a convert to the […]
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By now, most of you have seen the election results from last night, and you’re still wondering who the next president will be. The mainstream media says it may be three whole days before we know what the vote count really is, and weeks before the litigation is settled. In spite of all that, however, […]
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As of today, conventional wisdom is predicting more civil unrest in the days ahead, along with a spike in COVID-19 over the fall and winter, accompanied by the flu. In addition, conventional wisdom tells us the election may not be over on election night, due to the large number of mail-in ballots in many states, […]
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This essay builds on the logical conclusion that naturally follows my two previous essays on the current state of affairs in American society and the abysmal state of affairs in the Catholic Church. It’s based on realism, not idealism, digesting the data as is, without relying on some pie-in-the-sky hope that God’s just gonna come […]
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This is addressed to all of America’s Christian pastors, both Catholic and Evangelical; NOW is your moment to shine. Don’t miss it!!!!! Allow me to explain. Something very big is happening right now in the United States, and it’s the result of many different factors, but the big catalyst (and perhaps the final straw) is […]
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The first thing we need to understand about these #BlackLivesMatter protests and riots is that they were years in the making. The second thing we need to understand is that they’re not all about racial injustice and police brutality. There is something much deeper at work here. The third thing we need to understand is […]
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In recent weeks we’ve seen a remarkable Marxist coup unfold before our eyes. What began as a credible public-health threat from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Virus, has been hijacked into an attempt by Marxist leaders around the world to seize control of the people, business and economies for the purpose of “restructuring” according to […]
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What is the real state of the US Catholic Church? Well, it’s not good, but at the same time, it might not be as bad as we think. I started to run some statistics based on the EWTN News/RealClear Opinion Poll of the state of the Catholic Church. I decided that the best way to […]
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As I wrote in my previous essay, The Catholic Church After Quarantine, the emerging Church is going to be very different than it is today. It’s not going to be what traditionalists want: a return to the pre-conciliar era. Nor will it be what the modernists want: a total transformation of doctrine and sacraments. No, […]
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Here in the United States, most people associate prayer beads with the Catholic Rosary. However, Catholics aren’t the only Christians who pray with beads. The practice is common among Eastern Orthodox Christians, and is growing in popularity among Protestant and Evangelical Christians as well. The prayer discipline is nearly as old as Christianity itself, and […]
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. Catholics in the United States now have a resource that is the envy of many other countries, but hopefully, other nations will follow suit with their own version of the same thing. It’s called REVERENT CATHOLIC MASS, and it’s an online directory that tells Catholics where they can find reverent Catholic liturgies throughout the […]
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This is a friendly challenge, and a recommendation, to all individual American bishops who care about the spiritual safety of their flocks. Some of you may be aware that the US Bishops Voters Guide, Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship, is a complete flop among the laity. There are multiple reasons for this. First, it’s too […]
Read MoreHopefully, this will be my last word on the scandals that erupted in the Catholic Church in 2018-2019. People frequently ask me what we, the laity, can do about it. I always tell them the same thing. The laity have no ecclesiastical power over the hierarchy. So there really isn’t much we can do at […]
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It’s a little known fact, and seldom reported, that the Ordinariates of English Patrimony (UK, North America, Oceania) are for Catholics with a Methodist background, as well as Anglican and Episcopalian backgrounds. This is one reason why these ordinariates are often referred to by the term “English Patrimony” rather than just “Anglican Patrimony” which is […]
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Incarnation Catholic Church, Ordinariate Parish in Orlando, Florida with Bishop Steven J. Lopes on October 23, 2016. What is an Ordinariate parish? These are specialty parishes, designed to host a specialty liturgy that was originally designed to accommodate Anglican and Methodist converts to Catholicism. Thus, they are called the Ordinariates of English Patrimony (or “Anglican […]
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Divine Worship Mass, Incarnation Ordinariate Parish in Orlando, Florida with Bishop Steven J. Lopes on August 13th, 2017 It’s a little known fact, and seldom reported, that regular diocesan Catholics, who have no historical attachment to Anglicanism or the English Patrimony, can join Ordinariate parishes as full-fledged members. This is how it works… The Ordinariates of […]
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Faithful Catholics and American Patriots now find themselves on the same team, fighting against a cabal of Modernism, Marxism and Globalism that really and truly is hell-bent on world domination. Unlike the Soviet Union or the Nazi Third Reich, this cabal is not planning the military overthrow of Western Civilization, but rather a subversive and […]
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For Anglican converts to Catholicism like me, this whole year as been a déjà vu experience. When it comes to the Amazon Synod, and the ridiculous proposals being discussed in Rome this month, I can honestly say I’ve been there, brought the t-shirt, and quickly left — TWENTY YEARS AGO! The term déjà vu is […]
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I’ve been asked to write a short and concise battle plan for retaking the Catholic Church for traditional orthodoxy, and saving it from the crisis that is currently unfolding. The battle plan is simple and easy to follow. Victory is assured for those who follow it, both in their personal lives (short term) and reclaiming […]
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I’ve always been interesting in future trends, and I’ve found that when it comes to religion, the future can be surprisingly predictable, thanks to the fantastic records kept not only by various denominations, but also by research think-tanks (like the PEW Research Forum for example). I’ve also found that even real estate companies do a […]
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Your Excellencies, this is meant to be read as a friendly challenge, with nothing but love and respect as the tone and subtext. Please don’t interpret it any other way. Do you have a parish in your diocese that’s floundering? By that I mean, is it financially in trouble, and have you seriously considered the […]
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As a trained catechist, and Catholic apologist, I’m frequently asked by Catholic parents how to keep their kids Catholic. Let me begin by saying you have to do it yourself! You can’t trust Catholic schools or parish catechism programs to do it for you. We have 50 years of failed history as an example. If […]
Read MoreRod Dreher is an amazing author and columnist. He was an Evangelical Christian who came into the Catholic Church, where he was confronted by the “Spirit of Vatican II” (a bastardization of the authentic Vatican II) and the Lavender Mafia, which promptly drove him out of the Catholic Church and into the arms of Eastern […]
Read MoreA number of Catholics have contacted me recently, inquiring where they might find worthy, traditional, orthodox and reverent Catholic societies they might support in the wake of the current crisis now unfolding in the Church, both in the United States and worldwide. Naturally, the first thing I tell them is to support any traditional parish […]
Read MoreSince writing my previous essay entitled Where to Find a Traditional Mass, I have been inundated with emails and messages from people saying that they don’t live near any of these parishes, and asking me what to do. My first question is: what do you define as “near?” I know people who are driving over […]
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