The EWTN News portal (November 10, 2026) reports that the “Archdiocese of Portland” has issued an instruction forbidding the laity from holding hands or adopting the *orans* posture during the Lord’s Prayer at the Novus Ordo service, citing the General Instruction of the Roman Missal (GIRM), *Sacrosanctum Concilium*, and the 1983 Code of Canon Law. The “archdiocese” argues the posture is proper only to the “priest” celebrant. This bureaucratic micromanagement of gestures within a fabricated rite exposes the conciliar sect’s radical emptiness: it polices the choreography of a Protestantized meal while having abandoned the Unbloody Sacrifice of Calvary and the Social Kingship of Christ the King.
The “Archdiocese” of Portland: A Parody of Jurisdiction in the Service of Nullity
The article cites the “Archdiocese of Portland” as the authoritative source. From the perspective of integral Catholic faith, this entity possesses no jurisdiction whatsoever. It is an administrative branch of the conciliar sect occupying the visible structures of the Church. The “archbishop” Alexander Sample is a layman masquerading as a prelate, consecrated in the invalid Pauline rite of 1968, devoid of sacramental grace and canonical mission. His “instructions” carry the weight of a private opinion, binding no Catholic conscience. As Pope Pius XII taught in *Mystici Corporis*, jurisdiction is received from the Roman Pontiff; with the See of Peter vacant since the death of Pius XII (1958) and the subsequent usurpation by the Modernist antipopes beginning with John XXIII, the chain of jurisdiction is broken. The “archdiocese” is a persona ficta, a legal fiction of the paramasonic structure headquartered in the Vatican.
The source article itself notes the reporter, Kate Quiñones, is a staff writer for “Catholic News Agency” – an organ of the neo-church propaganda machine, funded by the Knights of Columbus, itself a compromised organization long infiltrated by the very forces condemned by Leo XIII in *Humanum Genus*. The “news” is not the proclamation of the Gospel but the internal memoranda of a false church.
Factual Deconstruction: Rubrics for a Rite That Does Not Exist
The “instruction” obsesses over the *General Instruction of the Roman Missal (GIRM)*, *Sacrosanctum Concilium*, and the 1983 Code of Canon Law (CIC 907). None of these documents possess legislative authority for a Catholic.
- The Novus Ordo Missae (1969/1970) was fabricated by the Freemason Annibale Bugnini and his Consilium, explicitly designed to appease Protestants. Cardinal Ottaviani and Cardinal Bacci, in their *Critical Study* (1969), demonstrated it represents a “striking departure from the Catholic theology of the Mass.” A rite born of heresy cannot generate obligatory rubrics.
- *Sacrosanctum Concilium* (1963) is a conciliar document of the robber council Vatican II, which taught religious liberty (*Dignitatis Humanae*) – condemned by Pius IX (*Quanta Cura*, *Syllabus*, Error 15, 77, 79), Leo XIII (*Libertas*, *Immortale Dei*), and St. Pius X (*Pascendi*, *Lamentabili*). A council teaching heresy has no authority. As the Syllabus states: “Roman pontiffs and ecumenical councils have wandered outside the limits of their powers… and have even erred in defining matters of faith and morals” (Error 23). Vatican II is the embodiment of this error.
- The 1983 Code of Canon Law was promulgated by the antipope John Paul II. It enshrines the novel “rights of the Christian faithful” (c. 208-223), subordinating the Divine Law to a democratic ecclesiology. Canon 907, cited by Portland, forbids laity from “offering prayers… proper to the celebrating priest.” In the true Church, the laity *never* “offer the Eucharistic prayer” – only the priest offers the *Sacrifice*. The very framing of CIC 907 presupposes a false theology of “presidential” priesthood versus “common” priesthood, blurring the essential distinction of orders instituted by Christ.
The “archdiocese” argues: “Prior to the New Roman Missal of 1970, only the priest prayed the Lord’s Prayer… Nothing in the Roman Missal of 1970… indicated that there would be a change.” This admission is devastating. It confirms the Novus Ordo introduced a novelty – the communal recitation of the *Pater Noster* – unknown to the *Lex Orandi* of the Roman Rite for over a millennium. In the True Mass (*Missale Romanum* 1962), the *Pater Noster* is recited *only* by the priest *secreto* (silently) until the final clause *sed libera nos a malo*, sung aloud by the server/choir. The communal recitation is a Protestant import, emphasizing the “priesthood of all believers” over the ministerial priesthood. The “archdiocese” now tries to put the genie back in the bottle regarding *gestures*, while retaining the Protestant *structure* of the rite. This is the definition of strained gnats, swallowing camels (Matt 23:24).
Linguistic Analysis: Bureaucratic Newspeak Replacing Sacred Theology
The language of the “Divine Worship Newsletter” is revealing. It speaks of “liturgical norms,” “posture,” “guidance,” “instructions,” “principal celebrant,” “concelebrants.” Absent entirely are the words: Sacrifice, Victim, Propitiation, Transubstantiation, Real Presence, State of Grace, Mortal Sin, Hell, Judgment.
The “orans posture” is discussed as an anthropological phenomenon: “common in most ancient religions,” “seen throughout Scripture,” “depicted in early Christian art.” This is the historico-critical method condemned by St. Pius X in *Lamentabili Sane Exitu* (Prop. 12, 13, 14, 15): treating Scripture and Tradition as mere human documents subject to evolution. The “newsletter” reduces the liturgical gesture to an aesthetic or archaeological datum, stripping it of its sacramental causality. The priest extends hands *because* he acts in persona Christi Capitis, offering the Divine Victim. The layman does not. The “archdiocese” cites GIRM 152: “the priest is instructed… to extend his hands.” Instructed by whom? By Bugnini’s rubrics. Not by Christ, not by Tradition.
The phrase “praying on behalf of the people” is used, but the sacerdotal mediation is evacuated. In the true theology (St. Thomas, *ST* III, q. 22, a. 1; Council of Trent, Sess. XXII), the priest offers the Sacrifice *for* the people *propitiatory*. In the Novus Ordo theology, he merely “presides over the assembly.” The “archdiocese” defends a distinction of gesture without the distinction of ontological priesthood that grounds it.
Theological Level: The Abomination of Desolation Masquerading as Order
This is the core. The “instruction” is a symptom of the total apostasy of the conciliar sect.
1. The Primacy of the Social Kingship of Christ Denied
Pope Pius XI, in *Quas Primas* (1925), teaches: “When once men recognize, both in private and in public life, that Christ is King, society will at last receive the great blessings of real liberty, well-ordered discipline, peace and harmony.” He condemns laicism (secularism): “This plague is the secularism of our times… It began with the denial of Christ the Lord’s reign over all nations.” The “Archdiocese of Portland” operates entirely within the framework of the civil state (Oregon, USA), recognizing the “separation of Church and State” (condemned by Pius IX, *Syllabus*, Error 55; Leo XIII, *Immortale Dei*). It has zero concern for the Reign of Christ over legislation, education, or public morals. It polices hand-holding at a simulated supper while the State legalizes infanticide, sodomy, and euthanasia. This is the “laziness and timidity of the good” Pius XI denounced.
2. The Invalidity of the “Mass” and “Orders”
The “priest” extending hands at the Novus Ordo service is, in the vast majority of cases, invalidly ordained (Pauline Rite of 1968, deficient in form and intention). The “consecration” uses a form (“for all” / “pro multis” mistranslation, or the vernacular narratives) that casts doubt on the intention to do what the Church does. Even if validly ordained (pre-1968), celebrating the Novus Ordo is a grave sin, a participation in a rite that objectively expresses a Protestant ecclesiology. St. Alphonsus Liguori teaches: “He who celebrates Mass in a heretical rite sins mortally.” The “orans” posture of a false “priest” at a false “altar” (table) is not a liturgical gesture; it is a theatrical prop in a Masonic psychodrama.
3. The “Laity” in the Neo-Church: A Protestant Category
The document distinguishes “deacons,” “lay faithful,” “principal celebrant,” “concelebrants.” This taxonomy derives from *Lumen Gentium* (Vatican II), which teaches the “People of God” ecclesiology, blurring the hierarchical constitution *jure divino* (Trent, Sess. XXIII, can. 6; Pius XII, *Mystici Corporis*). The “lay faithful” in the neo-church are empowered as “liturgical ministers” (lectors, EMHCs, cantors) – a functionalism condemned by Pius XII in *Mediator Dei* (1947): “The priest acts for the people only because he represents Jesus Christ… The people… do not possess the priestly power.” The Portland instruction tries to clamp down on *one* lay encroachment (orans) while the entire Novus Ordo structure is built on the usurpation of priestly functions by the laity (Communion in the hand, standing, lay “ministers” distributing the “Eucharist”, girls at the “altar”). It is hypocrisy squared.
4. Canon 188.4 and the Vacancy of the See
The “Defense of Sedevacantism” file cites Canon 188.4 (1917 Code): “Every office becomes vacant… if the cleric… publicly defects from the Catholic faith.” The “bishops” of the conciliar sect, by adhering to Vatican II (religious liberty, ecumenism, collegiality), have publicly defected. They hold no office. The “Archdiocese of Portland” is a vacant see administered by a lay intruder. Its “newsletter” is waste paper.
Symptomatic Level: The Neo-Church’s Death Rattle – Ritualism Without Reality
Why does the “archdiocese” issue this *now*? The Novus Ordo is collapsing. Attendance is plummeting. The “faithful” are aging. The “priests” are vanishing. The sect is desperate to impose uniformity on the ruins. It mimics the disciplina arcani of the true Church – rubrics, postures, gestures – but possesses the spirit of the world.
This connects directly to the False Fatima analysis provided. The Fatima operation (condemned as Masonic) focused on external acts (consecration of Russia, Rosary, scapular) while ignoring the internal apostasy (Modernism). The Portland instruction is the same dynamic: focus on the gesture (orans) to distract from the void (no Sacrifice, no Priesthood, no Faith). As the *False Fatima* file states: “The efficacy of Holy Mass is diminished in favor of spectacular acts.” Here, the “spectacular act” is the *enforcement of a rubric* in a void rite.
The “Two Lucia Sisters” theory in the file highlights the control of narrative by the Modernist hierarchy. The Portland “archbishop” controls the narrative: “We tell you how to hold your hands.” He does not tell them: “The Novus Ordo is invalid; return to the Traditional Latin Mass; the ‘pope’ is an antipope; the Vatican is occupied.” Silence about supernatural matters (sacraments, state of grace, final judgment) is the gravest accusation. The newsletter mentions “Divine Worship” – a blasphemous title for the regulation of a Protestant service.
The Only Catholic Response: Non Possumus
No Catholic bound to the integral Faith (pre-1958) can obey this “instruction” because it emanates from a non-authority regarding a non-sacrifice. The obligation is not to “refrain from orans at the Novus Ordo” but to refrain entirely from the Novus Ordo as from a pestilence.
St. Athanasius: “The floor belongs to us, but the Faith is yours.” Today: The buildings belong to them (by usurpation), but the Mass, the Priesthood, the Jurisdiction, the Faith – belong to the Remnant preserving the *Missale Romanum* of St. Pius V, the *Catechism* of Trent, the *Syllabus* of Pius IX, the *Pascendi* of St. Pius X, and the *Quas Primas* of Pius XI.
The “Archdiocese of Portland” has spoken. Christ the King, Whose reign they deny in public life, will judge them. “His power is an everlasting power, which shall not be taken away: and his kingdom, that which shall not be corrupted” (Dan 7:14, cited in *Quas Primas*).
Source:
No hand holding or raised hands during the Our Father prayer at Mass, archdiocese says (ewtnnews.com)
Date: 10.11.2026