Seattle Catholic - The Wanderer's Attack on The Latin Mass

The Wanderer's Attack on The Latin Mass

Background

In its Winter 2002 issue, The Latin Mass magazine published an article written by John Galvin entitled "Humanae Vitae: Heroic, Deficient - Or Both?". The piece was an examination of Pope Paul VI's famous and controversial encyclical, including whether certain aspects of its construction and release were detrimental to its effectiveness. The article was followed by rebuttals from both Janet Smith and Ronald McArthur. Mr. Galvin was then given an opportunity to respond to the rebuttals. Links to the full text of each article are provided below:

Enter The Wanderer

The May 23, 2002 issue of The Wanderer contained a four-part attack on John Galvin, his article, editor-in-chief Fr. James McLucas and The Latin Mass publication as a whole:

The first article, "Quo Vadis, The Latin Mass Magazine?" written by editor A.J. Matt Jr., went so far as to declare that "...The Latin Mass cannot be considered a reliable source of true Catholic thought." and encouraged readers who know Latin Mass subscribers to send them a copy of the current Wanderer issue.
The second article was submitted by Frank Morriss and entitled "The Latin Mass Magazine ... Treatment Of Humanae Vitae Is More Denigration Than Evaluation". His response was very similar to Ronald McArthur's which makes one wonder whether the entire issue or just the initial article was read before The Wanderer launched this campaign.
The third piece, written by Fr. Joseph Wilson, was less of an attack on Galvin's piece than an appeal to the strange optimism of the time, putting the decisions made by Pope Paul VI in the context of the post-Vatican II era.
The final contribution was a bitter screed by Charles E. Rice mocking the author as "Pope Galvin I" and responding to several of his points with "so what" and "who cares?". Rice suggested that Catholic obedience entails adopting the particular philosophies of modern pontiffs (particularly the personalism of John Paul II).

Responses to the Attack

The first response came from former Wanderer contributor Thomas Droleskey who was puzzled by such an unwarranted assault:

"Room for Respectful Disagreement and Debate" by Thomas A. Droleskey

The second response came from Fr. James McLucas, editor of The Latin Mass magazine who was also surprised by the reaction and invited readers to judge the evidence for themselves:

Fr. McLucas' Response to Al Matt at The Wanderer

A third response was provided by John Galvin on May 30:

John Galvin Responds to The Wanderer