It isn’t often that I title a blog post in the imperative; so pay attention.
Today I finally (FINALLY) got around to beginning my copy of Edmund Mazza’s Saints vs. Antipopes: Evil in the Church of Rome Convicted and Evicted (Mazza, 2026). This is my second copy as I gave the first away before I had a chance to sit down with it.
As I just messaged the good doctor, I have not been this invested in a book since I picked up a copy of Adrian Fortescue’s The Roman Mass a few years ago. I am not an idle flatterer.
What has impressed me most in this work is just how scholarly it is. I shouldn’t be surprised though, as this is the author’s hallmark. A professor of dazzling intellect, Mazza is equally at ease citing ancient texts from the Fathers as he is in dropping pop culture references (this book is appropriately absent any of those) in his weekly appearances on The Barnhardt Podcast. Bright, witty, engaging – Dr. Mazza lays out the most solid case employing the greatest economy of ink on the current situation viz. the antipapacies of Bergoglio and Prevost. This is indeed a work of which I will be sending copies to many, especially to those most “on the fence” regarding this issue.
Dr. Mazza is fond of using the phrase (I believe it was coined by Barnhardt) of “the unlettered lay-nothing”. I am a proud member of that group. True, I am not exactly unlettered. I have a few advanced degrees in subject matter pertaining to these things; but I am aware that these degrees when coupled with a Sacajawea coin might get me a cup of coffee. It’s that last word, “nothing”. I am a nothing. The sole authority I possess was given to me by God for the express purpose of sanctifying the wife and children He gave me and then for the proper disposition of the worldly goods He likewise gave me. The question has come up in online fora recently: “Would you trust Robert Prevost (or James Martin, et al.) to catechize your children?” The answer for any faithful Catholic is a resounding, “Hell nein.” And that’s the point. I have authority to teach my wife and children and to “rule over” this little quarter-acre of Texas for the greater honor and glory of God. That means I have a debt of obligation to study, to the best of my ability, the world around me and the Catholic faith because knowledge of the Beloved deepens one’s love for Him. That being said, I am so glad Mazza has shared his talents in authoring this book because it makes my vocation as a husband and father trying to raise a Catholic family to God that much easier.
Clarity, friends. That’s what this is all about. We all need to be able to give a clear and concise answer as to where we stand but we really need to know why we stand there as well. Saints vs. Antipopes is a great aide in not only understanding the crisis in which we stand but also in defending the truth to those who seem not to be aware that we are in a crisis.
Here is the link:
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