Over the last few years, religious web sites of every stripe have sprung up across the internet. Not all of them, however, are what they appear to be at first sight.

     When I first began to browse the internet, I was drawn to the Catholic sites, and had a huge collection of them in my favorites folder. As soon as I found a new one, in it went. I spent hours typing religious words into the search bar to see what would come up, and followed all the links on the new sites I found. I was like a little kid in a candy shop ... or perhaps even more like a drunk in a liquor store, because it took me a long time to realize that some of the "Catholic sites" ... really weren't.

     They all looked so good! They talked about the Rosary, the Mass, the Blessed Mother ... they had all of those pretty pictures that I remembered from the holy cards the nuns used to hand out when I was a little girl in parochial school. They felt so "comfortable" that I never really explored the web sites very deeply. I never felt I needed to.

Need to dig a little deeper ...

     One day, I ran across a site called "Catholic Apologetics." It was such a nice site! They had Catholic Prayers, pretty icons, and all sorts of cuddly, fuzzy, warm Catholic things. I was so impressed with the site that we featured it! The fellow who runs the site and I exchanged emails, and over a period of time, I began to wonder about some of the stuff he was writing. Among other things that aroused my suspicions was the fact that he seemed to think that I would be better off missing Mass completely than attending a "New Mass."

     Going back to his site, I explored it more deeply. I was disappointed to find that his site was rife with articles in defense of the excommunicated Archbishop LeFebvre, condemnations of the "Novus Ordo" (New Mass,) condemnations of Vatican II, and a confusing mixture of articles that, on one hand, accept the Holy Father and his authority, and on the other, reject them both.

Hard to discern the good from the bad

     As bad as this last site sounds, it still isn't as bad as others I've seen. Some of them believe that the Papacy has been vacant since Pope Pius XII, and that all of the other Popes since then have been usurpers. Those who believe this are called "Sedevacantists."

     And then there are those who disagree with the original LeFebvrists on one point or another, and those who disagree with the "disagree-ers" on yet other points ... and on down the line, until they become indistinguishable from the original 'protest'-ants. Some of them belong to the schismatic SSPX society itself, and go so far as to deny that there even is a schism! And, almost unbelievably, some still call themselves Roman Catholic after electing their own pope!

     One thing they all have in common, however, is that they all call themselves "traditionalists." I beg to differ on that point, since "traditionally," Roman Catholics do not disobey the Holy Father and the Magisterium.

Doing the homework ...

     There are many levels and shades of these extreme right wing schismatics, and it makes it very hard for an obedient, faithful Catholic to tell if they've found a real Catholic web site which is faithful to the Magisterium, or if they've stumbled across a schismatic site that inserts little (or large) drops of poison here and there against Rome, Vatican II, the Holy Father ...

     In order to discover if a particular web site is really a true, faithful, traditional web site that loves the Traditions of the Church without promoting disobedience, or if it's a schismatic site that only calls itself "traditional," you have to dig deeply into everything they say, and all of the little links they provide for you. A good way to tell is if they promote other web sites that belong to the SSPX or SSPV, if they have articles in defense of Archbishop LeFebvre, or say they are trying to "convert 'Catholics' to Catholicism." (Humility doesn't seem to be part of the deal ... )

     Some are more difficult to pinpoint, although the overall tone is schismatic. The only thing to do when you're not sure is to keep the webmasters in prayer - and exercise great caution when visiting. Of course, if you can find other sites that are more trustworthy and provide the same services, you may be better off avoiding the more suspicious ones altogether.

How to use this page

     We've done a bit of research for you. We've included links to articles and letters that explain the schism in more detail, and give the views of Rome on the issue. Among those links, you can find Archbishop LeFebvre's Decree of Excommunication, and other similar documents.

     Also included on this page are two lists that should help you discern the faithful from the schismatic:

     One contains the names of websites that promote material we were able to identify as schismatic, either openly like the overt SSPX websites, or in a more subtle way, for example: including links to schismatic websites or articles as part of their own apologetics. Many of them openly don't say a word about not being in union with Rome, but have articles telling Catholics to not attend the "New Mass," or telling them that continuing to follow the Holy Father will lead to damnation. Some of them claim to still be within the Church, but their material indicates otherwise.

     I had wanted to color code the links in order to show what the particular problem with each site was, but there were so many factors involved that it wouldn't have been practical. We'd have had some gorgeous rainbows tho! ;)

     The second list contains websites that are both "Traditional," and faithful to the Holy Father and the Magisterium. These sites are a breath of fresh air for all of us, and a sign of hope for those who yearn for a return to the Tridentine Mass.

We will continue to add links to both lists, and any new articles that may surface. If there are any sites you would like us to take a look at,

A discerning spirit will be able to distinguish between "traditional," and "Traditional."

     One of our readers sent in a query about a web site that we had placed in our "Schismatic Sites" section. The query had gone to both Mary's Remnant Ministry, and to the owner of the web site in question. I went and reviewed the site in order to refresh my memory, and answered the gentleman who had sent the inquiry, and included the owner of the web site in my reply.

     In short order, I received a reply from the gentleman who had made the inquiry, concurring with my findings and thanking us for our work. A bit later, I also heard from the man who owns the web site in question. He pointed out that Mary's Remnant Ministry was not in a position to proclaim a site "schismatic," since only the Vatican has that authority. He was, of course, right, and we apologize for having lumped all of the sites that contain apparently schismatic material in with those who were proclaimed to be in schism by the Vatican. We also received yet another letter from the gentleman who originally made the query, recommending we put the web site in question in a diffent category.

     It was never our intention to make any "proclamations," but rather to simply, as we explain in the top section, warn our readers about web sites that harbor dangerous, insidious teachings, whether the web sites were posted by excommunicated groups, or by groups who were sowing division from within the Church. That some were particularly set apart by Rome only strengthened our position, but those were never the only sites we wanted to warn people about.

     I believe that there are, and will continue to be, sites which are not in "open schism," and are not necessarily adhering to factions that have been excommunicated, but which are, nevertheless, in apparent schism because of the content, or the general tone, of their sites. Recognizing this problem on some sites and warning others about it is not making a "proclamation," but rather an observation. Since there appears to be a growing number of such sites promoting the views of those who are not excommunicated by Rome, but who nevertheless spew divisiveness, align themselves with those who are excommunicated, sow confusion, and so on, there is a need to warn people about them.

     The sites by groups which have been outright excommunicated are far less dangerous to the faithful that those that haven't been. With those, there's at least been an official word sent down from above. Though even then, with excommunication proclamations as proof, it can be hard to convince some people. How much more insidious and dangerous are those sites that appear to be good on the surface, perhaps contain some good material, some pretty icons, good solid Catholic prayers, even some good articles and apologetics, but then also have articles that denigrate the Novus Ordo Mass, or the Holy Father, or Vatican II, or the Magisterium ... !

     So, Mary's Remnant Ministry will change the title of the section below to read: "Dangerous Sites - Including Those In Schism," rather than "Schismatic Sites." We apologize for any confusion we've caused, but we never dreamed that anyone would suggest we were making "proclamations" that are reserved only to the Vatican. We love the Holy Father, and we are obedient to Him and to His Magisterium. We accept humbly whatever Rome hands down to us. That said, we will continue to warn our readers about web sites that have what we consider to be dangerous, schismatic, or divisive material.

Point in fact: Please read the last three emails I received the day after I posted the change on this page. These came from the gentleman who first made the inquiry, and after he had also done some research of his own. Our own reply to him is at the end.