Episode 3133: False Shepherds, Falsified Surveys: The War on Catholicism - Morning Episode

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Book Recommendation of the Day
“Mary, the Refuge of Sinners” by Rev. Michael Müller, C.SS.R.
• About: This is a traditional Catholic booklet that focuses entirely on Mary under this title.
• Content: Emphasizes her role in salvation, her maternal heart for the fallen, and numerous stories of conversions through her intercession.
• Publisher: Often reprinted by traditional publishers such as TAN Books or Loreto Publications.
Traditionis Custodes Controversy
Based on disclosures by Diane Montagna
Background: What is Traditionis Custodes?
On July 16, 2021, Pope Francis issued the motu proprio Traditionis Custodes, severely restricting the celebration of the Traditional Latin Mass (TLM), which had previously been liberalized under Pope Benedict XVI’s Summorum Pontificum (2007).
Francis justified the new restrictions by stating that the use of the 1962 Missal was creating division and rejection of Vatican II. The document claimed its reasoning was based on a global consultation of bishops conducted in 2020.
The Vatican's Claim
The Vatican claimed that the majority of bishops worldwide had responded to the survey negatively reporting division, resistance to Vatican II, and pastoral problems linked to the Traditional Latin Mass communities. Based on this, Traditionis Custodes was released, reasserting the bishop’s authority and encouraging a return to the Novus Ordo as the "unique expression of the lex orandi" of the Roman Rite.
Diane Montagna's Investigation and Claims
Diane Montagna, a respected Catholic journalist and Rome correspondent for outlets like The Remnant and LifeSiteNews, began investigating the survey process. Her reporting, especially in late 2021 and 2022, raised serious concerns about the credibility of the Vatican's claims.
Here are the key points from her disclosures:
1. Survey Results Were Not Published
The Vatican never published the actual data from the 2020 bishops’ survey. Only vague generalizations were offered. This raised red flags and calls for transparency. Montagna began contacting bishops and sources with access to the survey.
2. Contrary Testimonies from Bishops
Montagna received numerous private testimonies from bishops around the world who said their responses to the survey were either:
• Positive about the TLM’s presence in their dioceses,
• Neutral, or
• At the very least not aligned with the dramatic claims made in Traditionis Custodes.
Some bishops expressed shock when the Vatican claimed they were part of a “majority” who were concerned about the TLM.
3. Allegations of Data Manipulation or Misrepresentation
Montagna reported that insiders at the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) had compiled the survey results and submitted a report showing:
• A diverse range of responses, not a landslide of concern.
• A significant number of bishops in favor of keeping or even expanding the TLM.
She and others reported that:
• The CDF’s internal report was allegedly ignored.
• The final summary presented to Pope Francis may have been altered or filtered by a small circle of curial officials opposed to the TLM.
4. CDF Officials Excluded or Overridden
Sources close to the CDF claimed that key officials who had been responsible for compiling and interpreting the survey were sidelined, particularly by officials close to Archbishop Arthur Roche, who would later be promoted to Cardinal and head the Dicastery for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments.
5. Lack of Transparency Called Out
Montagna called for the full publication of the survey results, which would allow the global Church to verify whether Traditionis Custodes was truly based on a legitimate pastoral concern, or whether it was a policy decision in search of justification.
Despite widespread calls from clergy and lay faithful, the Vatican has never released the raw survey data.
Key Quotes from Montagna and Related Sources:
"Multiple bishops I contacted expressed surprise that their own reports had been used to justify the motu proprio — some saying their diocese was peaceful and grateful for the Latin Mass."
— Diane Montagna, 2021 interview
“It seems the real intention behind Traditionis Custodes was to implement a theological and liturgical reset, not to respond to an actual crisis on the ground.”
— Fr. Gerald Murray, EWTN panel, citing Montagna’s reporting
Broader Implications
If Montagna’s reporting is accurate and many credible clergy and theologians believe it is then the moral and procedural legitimacy of Traditionis Custodes is seriously called into question. It would mean that:
• Pope Francis acted on partial or distorted information, and
• The document reflects an ideological agenda, not authentic pastoral necessity.

It has led many traditional Catholics to call Traditionis Custodes an act of liturgical suppression without due cause, in contradiction to Pope Benedict XVI’s statement that the TLM “was never abrogated.”
Conclusion
Diane Montagna’s investigative work has brought to light what appears to be a lack of transparency and potential manipulation surrounding the Vatican’s decision to issue Traditionis Custodes. While the full truth remains obscured due to the Vatican’s refusal to release the raw data, Montagna’s efforts backed by testimony from bishops point toward a top-down suppression of the Traditional Latin Mass under the false pretense of widespread episcopal support.
For traditional Catholics, this confirms the need for vigilance, fidelity to the Church’s liturgical patrimony, and prayerful resistance to unjust restrictions.
The Secular Saint: Society’s Shift from the Catholic Priest to the Moral Teacher in Good Morning, Miss Dove With a Contrast to Jennifer Jones’s Role in The Song of Bernadette
In the 1955 film Good Morning, Miss Dove, starring Jennifer Jones, we are presented with a portrait of a stern, disciplined, and morally upright schoolteacher whose influence shapes generations of children in the fictional town of Liberty Hill. Though the film is endearing and resonates with themes of respect, sacrifice, and the nobility of education, it also subtly reflects a larger cultural transition in mid-20th century American society: the gradual replacement of the spiritual guidance of the Catholic priest with the secular moral authority of the public schoolteacher.
A Secular Parable of Influence
Miss Dove is not a religious figure, nor does she overtly invoke any divine authority in her teaching. Yet she assumes a near-sacred place in the hearts of her former students and townspeople. She becomes a source of wisdom, direction, discipline, and consolation. In a way, she is canonized in the memory of those she teaches. The film reveres her almost as a saint not for sanctity in the Catholic sense, but for her moral perseverance and civic virtue.
Here, we begin to see the subtle replacement: the priest, once the spiritual father of the community, is now sidelined. In fact, there is little to no mention of clergy or religion in the town. The role of moral instruction, traditionally the domain of the Church, is placed squarely in the lap of Miss Dove. She provides counsel, instills virtue, and directs the consciences of young and old alike not as a representative of God, but as an agent of civil decency and cultural stability.
This mirrors the broader post-World War II trend in American society where increasing secularization saw a turn toward humanistic and psychological models of virtue and authority. The school replaced the sanctuary; the teacher, the priest.
Contrast: Jennifer Jones as Bernadette of Lourdes
Contrast this with Jennifer Jones’s earlier, profoundly Catholic role as St. Bernadette Soubirous in The Song of Bernadette (1943). In that film, Jones portrayed the humble, illiterate peasant girl who saw visions of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Lourdes. Bernadette is obedient to both Church and Heaven, her sanctity not self-generated but responsive to grace. The Catholic priest in Lourdes, Fr. Peyramale, plays a central role in interpreting, testing, and eventually accepting Bernadette's claims. In that world, the priest is the moral and spiritual shepherd of the flock, and Bernadette submits herself to both his authority and that of Holy Mother Church.
The contrast is stark: St. Bernadette exalts obedience to divine truth and ecclesiastical authority; Miss Dove exalts personal conscience and civic virtue. Where Bernadette was the humble instrument of a heavenly message, Miss Dove is the autonomous dispenser of earthly wisdom. One kneels before the Sacred, the other stands tall before Society.
The Broader Implication
This shift was not accidental it reflected a deeper change in American values. By the 1950s, Catholic identity, though still strong in ethnic communities, was being diluted by the pressures of assimilation and Americanization. The secular humanist vision of public life became dominant, particularly in education and civic institutions.
While Good Morning, Miss Dove was not a direct attack on religion, it represented a society increasingly comfortable with replacing religious figures with secular role models figures that could be celebrated across denominations and beliefs. The priest became a peripheral figure in Hollywood, and the schoolteacher took center stage. Authority was democratized, not sacramentalized.
The Loss of the Supernatural
In The Song of Bernadette, there is mystery, suffering, and grace. The supernatural is real. Heaven intervenes. God chooses the lowly. In Good Morning, Miss Dove, the drama is entirely horizontal between man and man, teacher and student, town and tradition. There is no mention of divine providence, salvation, or grace. Morality becomes a set of virtues without reference to God: discipline, order, self-sacrifice good, but incomplete.
This is perhaps the greatest departure between the two films. Jennifer Jones, once the face of mysticism and Catholic innocence, becomes the icon of secular nobility. The character of Miss Dove is respectable, even admirable, but she is not holy in the Catholic sense. Her legacy ends with death; Bernadette’s begins with it.
Conclusion
Good Morning, Miss Dove is a beautiful film on one level, yet it reveals an underlying cultural pivot: from supernatural faith to civic morality, from the priest to the public schoolteacher. Jennifer Jones’s two roles Bernadette and Miss Dove mark the boundaries of this transition. In the first, she is chosen by Heaven; in the second, by Society. Both are admired, but only one is truly sanctified.
For the traditional Catholic viewer, this evolution should not go unnoticed. As we continue to reclaim our heritage, we must remember that true virtue is not merely civic, but theological rooted in God, nourished by grace, and directed toward eternal beatitude.
“Our Refuge and Our Strength: Living Justice, Bearing Hope”
Introduction
We wake today deeply unsettled—not only by the moral confusion of our times but by another troubling episcopal appointment from Pope Leo XIV. Many faithful Catholics long for clarity, conviction, and truth. We are not seeking perfect men but faithful ones. We remember Pope St. Pius X, who said, "To restore all things in Christ" must be the Church’s eternal motto.
In contrast to our modern crisis, today’s feast gives us a double consolation: Our Lady of Refuge, whose maternal protection never fails, and St. Theodore, soldier of Christ and martyr, who reminds us to fight the good fight for the faith.
On this Thursday after the 2nd Sunday after Pentecost, the 1962 liturgical calendar gives us readings that call us to inward transformation: justice not as external observance, but as a matter of the heart and hope that outlasts suffering.
Epistle – Romans 8:18–23
“For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory to come that shall be revealed in us… For the creature itself shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God… and not only it, but ourselves also… groan within ourselves, waiting for our adoption…”
Reflection
In these words, St. Paul elevates our vision above the chaos of this life. We are children of hope even when surrounded by scandal and suffering. This groaning creation mirrors the Church Militant in travail, yet we are not forsaken. The martyrs, like St. Theodore, endured greater storms, but their endurance was not rooted in institutions it was rooted in grace.
When bishops fail and confusion reigns, we remember that our final adoption our glorification has already begun in hope. And in that hope, we persevere.
Gospel – Matthew 5:20–26
“Except your justice exceed that of the Scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the Kingdom of Heaven… Whosoever is angry with his brother… shall be in danger of the judgment… if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there remember that thy brother has ought against thee, leave there thy gift… first be reconciled to thy brother…”
Reflection
Our Lord warns us: external observance is not enough. True justice is interior. He raises the bar not only must we not kill, but we must uproot the seeds of hatred, resentment, and pride. The traditional liturgy forms us to worship rightly; but our hearts must match our rites.
It is no coincidence that today we celebrate Our Lady of Refuge. She is the refuge of sinners. She intercedes to reconcile us to her Son. And she, more than any other creature, knew what it meant to forgive, to suffer, and to love.
When we bring our gifts to the altar, let us bring also clean hearts hearts purified by confession, reconciliation, and humility.
Feast Day Reflections
Our Lady of Refuge
Under this title, Mary is honored as the place where souls especially sinners flee for safety. Originating in 17th-century Mexico and spreading through missionary lands, devotion to Our Lady of Refuge has been a lifeline for countless suffering Catholics.
As bishops scatter the sheep and wolves circle the flock, we turn to our Queen and cry: “Mother, be our Refuge!” She covers us with her mantle, points us to her Son, and calls us to deeper prayer, penance, and trust.
St. Theodore – Martyr
Though there are multiple St. Theodores in Church history, today we traditionally honor one of the early soldier-martyrs perhaps St. Theodore Stratelates who died under Roman persecution for refusing to sacrifice to idols. His witness is a sharp contrast to today's clergy who bow to the idols of modernism and diplomacy.
He reminds us: fidelity is costly. But the crown is eternal.
Quotes & Themes for Meditation
• Romans 8:18: “The sufferings… are not worthy to be compared with the glory to come.”
• Matthew 5:20: “Unless your justice exceed that of the Pharisees…”
• St. Pius X: “The Pope is not an absolute monarch… he is the guardian of the Deposit of Faith.”
• St. Theodore: “I will never sacrifice to false gods, for Christ is my King.”
• Our Lady of Refuge: “In dangers, in difficulties, in doubts, think of Mary, call upon Mary.” — St. Bernard
Concluding Prayer
Let us pray.
O God, who dost console the sorrowful and strengthen the faithful in trial, grant that, through the intercession of Our Lady of Refuge and St. Theodore, we may be found steadfast in justice and overflowing with hope.
Deliver Thy Church from confusion. Raise up holy bishops and faithful shepherds. Inspire in the heart of the Pope the zeal of St. Pius X. May he appoint not the well-connected, but the courageous.
Our Lady of Refuge, pray for us.
St. Theodore, pray for us.
Sacred Heart of Jesus, have mercy on us.
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.