FREQUENTLY-ASKED QUESTIONS
Question 1:
"What do you mean by 'Novus Ordo'?"
Answer: The term "Novus Ordo" is Latin and literally means "new order." The term as it is used here on this web site and among traditional Catholics in general comes from the phrase "novus Ordo Missae," literally, "new order of the Mass," which "Pope" Paul VI used in a draft of the 1969 document Missale Romanum, a supposed "Apostolic Constitution" in which he imposed what he claimed was a reform of the liturgical rite of the Roman Catholic Mass (see more information about this here). Paul VI used the term "novus Ordo Missae" also in a speech on April 28, 1969, at the creation of 35 new "cardinals" while discussing the "liturgical reform" of the new Missal he was introducing. This "new order of the Mass," a term perhaps more pregnant with meaning than he then realized, gradually came to be known as the "Novus Ordo Mass," or simply the "New Mass." Since then, true Catholics who have kept the Faith handed down to us unadulterated from Pope St. Peter until Pope Pius XII (who died in 1958), have come to label the entire new religion this "Mass" expresses as "Novus Ordo," and hence we refer to it as the "Novus Ordo Religion" and their establishment in the Vatican as the "Novus Ordo Church." This web site monitors this strange new church, and hence is called "Novus Ordo Watch." To sum up: The term "Novus Ordo" is Latin and means "new order." It was used first by Paul VI to refer to his strange new order of Mass, but has since been used to refer to anything that has to do with this New Mass and the entire new faith which accompanies it. So, for instance, people who adhere to the changes since the so-called Second Vatican Council, or Vatican II for short (1962-65), are often referred to as "Novus Ordo Catholics" or simply "Novus Ordos." This is not meant to be demeaning but simply to clarify what type of people we are referring to. Many Novus Ordos are in good faith, while many are not.
Question 2:
"Why do you put the word 'Pope' in quotes when referring to John XXIII, Paul
VI, John Paul I, John Paul II, and Benedict XVI"?
Answer: Because there is more or less sufficient evidence that none of these claimants to the papal throne were/are in fact true Catholic Popes. This is most manifestly evident in the cases of Paul VI (1963-78), John Paul II (1978-2005), and Benedict XVI (2005-present), and less so in the cases of John XXIII (1958-63) and John Paul I (1978). While this page is not the place to demonstrate that these men were not Catholics but heretics or even apostates, we occasionally link to articles demonstrating this at our Novus Ordo Wire blog, which also lists many news stories that demonstrate over and over again that these "Popes" were/are not true Popes but usurpers, Anti-Popes, who did not / do not hold the Catholic Faith but hate(ed) and destroy(ed) it.
Question 3:
"Why are you so sarcastic in many of your comments on this web site? You
seem to be very uncharitable and even resort to ridicule to make your
points."
Answer: Since a false notion of charity is very prevalent today, thanks in part to the influence of Freemasonry on our society, this question is a common one. We employ rhetorical devices to drive home very important, serious points and problems. Oftentimes we will use irony or satire to point out the sad, painful, and serious truth. This is not meant to suggest that what has happened to the Catholic Church is laughable. After all, it is Christ's Church they are offending, Christ's Truth they are mocking and trampling upon, Christ's Sacrifice and Sacraments they are profaning. This is no laughing matter. However, sometimes satire and irony are a good rhetorical means to convey these serious and difficult truths. In a way, such rhetorical devices can be used to point out that what is being passed off as a "Great Renewal" in the Catholic Faith today is nothing but a sick and cruel joke. The Novus Ordo Church has gone so far that it cannot be taken seriously in its attempts to claim being the Roman Catholic Church founded by the Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
Question 4:
"What is the purpose of this web site?"
Answer: The primary purpose of this web site is to educate. We wish to compare and contrast the Catholic Church and the Catholic Faith with the new religion instituted after the supposed election of Cardinal Angelo Roncalli as "Pope" John XXIII in 1958 and his disastrous Second Vatican Council (aka "Vatican II" - 1962-65). We are confident that our web site provides sufficient documentation, esp. at our continually-updated Novus Ordo Wire blog, to prove that since the death of the last known Pope, Pius XII (1939-58), the apparent Catholic establishment in the Vatican has been run by anti-Catholic infiltrators who have done everything in their power to destroy the Catholic Faith and cause scandal and impiety among the faithful, all under the guise of a "Great Renewal" of the Faith and ad nauseam references to a supposed "New Springtime" of Catholicism. The truth, however, is the exact opposite. This web site is dedicated to pointing out that truth. Novus Ordo Watch has been in operation since late 2002. It is visited by many Catholic traditionalists throughout the world, but our primary target audience is dear souls in the Novus Ordo Church who are realizing that something is woefully wrong and amiss but lack sufficient information to see the whole picture.
In 2005, the historic contribution and significance of Novus Ordo Watch (www.novusordowatch.org) was recognized by the United States Library of Congress. In fact, in April of 2005, Novus Ordo Watch was acknowledged by the United States Library of Congress as a "historic collection of Internet materials related to the death of Pope John Paul II and the election of a new Pope."
Question 5:
"Why do you sometimes call Benedict XVI 'Rabbi Ratzinger'? Why do you
call him a 'rabbi'?"
Answer: We sometimes refer to Benedict XVI, Fr. Joseph Ratzinger, as "Rabbi Ratzinger" because when he visited the Jewish synagogue in Cologne on August 19, 2005, he said, "Whoever meets Jesus Christ meets Judaism" (quoting John Paul II). Since Benedict XVI claims to be the Vicar of Christ (one of the papal titles), we figure that it follows logically that he is thus also the Vicar of Judaism. But if he is the Vicar of Judaism, he must certainly be a rabbi. Therefore, we like to refer to him as "Rabbi Ratzinger" on occasion. We're just putting two and two together, letting things lead to their logical conclusions.
Question 6:
"How many visitors does your site receive on a given day?"
Answer: This is really of no significance. Some Catholic web sites pride themselves on having a certain high number of hits or visitors every day; they may think that the more hits they get, the more successful or useful their web site is and the more God approves of their work. However, this is not how we measure true and godly success. This web site and apostolate will be successful not depending on a certain number of daily visitors, not even on a certain number of conversions in the end, but only by how much what we have done is in accord with the most holy will of Almighty God. This is the only true standard of success. Whether we get 10 visitors a day or 10,000 -- it is of no concern to us, as long as what we do is in accordance with God's will. Therefore, we do not care how many souls visit this site each day, or how many souls are (eventually) converted by our poor efforts, but only about whether our work and intentions are pleasing to the Most Holy Trinity. He who always acts in accordance with God's will in all things will be an eternal success, and this is the ideal for which we wish to strive.
Question 7:
"You sound like Protestants. You disobey the Church, you find your own
excuses for doing so, and you reject the Pope and his teachings. You're
nothing but Protestants in reverse!"
Answer: This answer will have two parts. First, let us assume this were true. Let us assume that, yes, we are just Protestants in reverse, we're Martin Luther to the other extreme. So what? The Vatican II Church does not have a problem with that. In fact, Vatican II even says (see Vatican II's Unitatis Redintegratio, no. 3) that as Protestants, we at Novus Ordo Watch "are correctly accepted as brothers by the children of the Catholic Church" and -- note well! -- we "have been by no means deprived of significance and importance in the mystery of salvation" because "the Spirit of Christ has not refrained from using [us] as means of salvation which derive their efficacy from the very fullness of grace and truth entrusted to the Church." There you have it! Lighten up already! We are very honored to be Protestants, since even God Himself makes use of us to save souls! In fact, when we baptize someone, we are using a liturgical action that "must be regarded as capable of giving access to the community of salvation," so stop complaining about us being Protestants. You should be proud that we are Protestants! We expect you to give us episcopal rings and pectoral crosses, sign theological agreements with us, hold joint vesper services with us, and, when one of us passes to eternity, we expect you to imitate Benedict XVI and declare him to have been a "faithful servant" and to have "attained eternal joy"!
Now to the second answer. Let's be serious here. Does Novus Ordo Watch assist at or promote an invalid Protestant-modernist worship service? No. Does Novus Ordo Watch sign theological agreements with Protestant heretics? No. Does Novus Ordo Watch say that the Holy Ghost uses Protestant sects as means of salvation? No. Does anyone at Novus Ordo Watch act as though Protestants had an apostolic mandate to preach the Gospel or make society a better place? No. Does Novus Ordo Watch give away Catholic symbols such as episcopal rings or pectoral crosses and hand them to Protestant laymen dressed up as clergy? No. Does Novus Ordo Watch invite Protestant clergy to have joint ecumenical worship services and even allow for the building of joint Catholic-Protestant churches, as John Paul II's Directory on Ecumenism says (nos. 137-140)? No. Does Novus Ordo Watch help any heretic celebrate his false worship "worthily" by lending him whatever may be necessary for it, as John Paul II said his bishops may do (no. 137)? No. Does Novus Ordo Watch deny, compromise, or equivocate on any doctrine, esp. as taught by the Council of Trent against the Protestants? No.
The Novus Ordo Church does all that. Novus Ordo Watch doesn't. And yet we are the Protestants? The Novus Ordo Church is a neo-Protestant church. It is not the Catholic Church, and that is why we have nothing to do with it.
