Dr. Thomas E. Woods and I have written a book, The Great Façade, which analyzes a phenomenon that is rightly called neo-Catholicism. The New Catholics who practice this new strain of Catholicism are distinguished by their seemingly inexhaustible willingness to defend, in the name of "obedience," every destructive innovation of the past 40 years, merely because some level of ecclesiastical authority has approved it.

        One of the premier neo-Catholic organizations is Catholics United for the Faith (CUF), which can always be counted on to tout "obedience" to the latest liberal innovation of the North American hierarchy. And now, believe it or not, CUF is telling Catholics that they must stand to receive Holy Communion because the liberal North American bishops wish it so. In an article ludicrously entitled "Standing Up for the Church," CUF President Leon Suprenant, Jr. notes that "the long-standing tradition in the Western Church was to receive Communion kneeling." Longstanding? Try 2,000 years, Leon! But now, says Suprenant, the Vatican, in its General Instruction on the Roman Missal (GIRM), has approved an "adaptation" in North America by which the bishops "specify that ‘the norm for reception of Holy Communion in the dioceses of the United States is standing.’"

        While Suprenant acknowledges that the Vatican has said that no one may be forced to stand if one prefers to continue the Church’s traditional practice, he also claims "This doesn’t let the faithful off the hook…." Oh no, no, no. For you see, our marvelous North American bishops have spoken, and they would have us stand to receive Our Lord. As Suprenant puts it: "The bishops, then, were left with choosing among two legitimate ways of physically expressing reverence during Communion and selected one of them. The Church desires uniformity in bodily gestures and posture as a sign of unity among members of Christ’s body." Uniformity? Is he kidding? The New Mass is a hopeless hodgepodge of disunity already, including Communion in the hand or on the tongue, under one kind or both kinds, and so on. The Mass can vary from diocese to diocese, and even parish to parish, depending on which "options" the priest chooses to employ.

        But Suprenant doesn’t seem to notice this situation. In true neo-Catholic fashion he declares: "Off your knees and on your feet, citizen! Kneeling must cease immediately!" Even more bizarre, Suprenant claims that we must now stand in the presence of God in the Blessed Sacrament because "if Simon (Peter) says stand, we stand. If Simon (Peter) says kneel, we kneel." And if Simon (Peter) says wear a propeller beanie to Mass, then we must wear propeller beanies.

        Of course, Simon Peter has said nothing of the kind. The Vatican has said, on the contrary, that no Catholic may be required to stand to receive Holy Communion. But Suprenant and CUF are so eager to truckle to the latest innovation that they confuse Peter with the North American bishops, and they interpret the Vatican’s weakness in allowing kneeling to be reduced to a mere option as an order to cease kneeling.

        The term "quisling" is derived from the name of Vidkun Quisling, the head of Norway’s government, who sided with the Nazis during the German occupation of Norway from 1940-1945 in the wrongheaded belief that this would be best for Norway’s common good. Today "quisling" connotes one who serves as the misguided puppet of an occupying force.

       In this case, Suprenant and CUF, in the name of a false obedience, serve as the puppets of the liturgical Nazis who have occupied the seats of episcopal authority since Vatican II. These liturgical Nazis have presided over the destruction of the traditional Roman liturgy throughout North America, not to mention ecclesial scandal and dissolution on a vast scale. And the legacy of the quislings who have collaborated with this occupying army of Church-wreckers will be the same as that of Vidkun Quisling himself: a legacy of shame.