Catholic News Agency reports on December 23, 2025, about Bishop Michael Martin’s decree prohibiting altar rails and kneelers for Communion reception in Charlotte diocese effective January 16, 2026. The bishop claims standing constitutes the “normative posture” per U.S. bishops’ guidelines, dismissing kneeling as absurd despite massive lay and clerical opposition. This follows Martin’s earlier suppression of the Traditional Latin Mass, restricting it to one inadequate chapel despite the tradition-loving community producing 75% of diocesan seminarians. A diocesan priest anonymously condemns the “heavy-handed” approach causing division, while a canon lawyer’s circulating letter accuses Martin of governing by personal preference rather than Church law or tradition. The article notes parishes maintaining kneeling traditions yield disproportionate vocations compared to “mega parishes” embracing modern innovations.
Sacrilegious Assault on Eucharistic Piety
The decree constitutes direct attack on lex orandi, lex credendi – the foundational principle that worship forms belief. By removing physical aids to kneeling, Martin executes the modernist program condemned by Pius XII: “The Church is without question a living organism, and as an organism, in respect of her sacred rites too, she grows, matures, develops, adapts and accommodates herself to temporal needs and circumstances. But this must be done without compromising the integrity of her doctrine” (Mediator Dei, 1947). The bishop’s claim that “there is no mention in the conciliar documents” of altar rails deliberately ignores that Vatican II’s Sacrosanctum Concilium explicitly mandated preservation of “sound traditions” (Art. 23) while ordering that “there must be no innovations unless the good of the Church genuinely and certainly requires them” (Art. 23).
Martin’s assertion that kneeling is “simply absurd” constitutes blasphemous disregard for centuries of unbroken practice codified in the 1917 Code of Canon Law: “The faithful should be led to kneel in adoration before the Most Blessed Sacrament when it is exposed” (Canon 1265 §2). The Council of Trent anathematized those showing irreverence toward the Eucharist (Session XIII, Canon 6), while the Roman Catechism (1566) prescribed: “Christians should kneel when receiving Communion unless physically prevented.” The bishop’s war on kneeling echoes the Jansenist heresy condemned by Clement XI in Unigenitus (1713), which attacked devotional practices as “superstitious.”
Fruitless Vine: Vocational Sterility of Modernist Parishes
The statistical evidence proves the spiritual bankruptcy of Martin’s reforms: traditional parishes producing seven seminarians contrast with modernist mega-churches like St. Matthew’s (without altar rails) yielding only one seminarian despite “tens of thousands of families.” This confirms Pius XI’s warning that when “very many have removed Jesus Christ and His most holy law from their customs… the entire human society had to be shaken, because it lacked a stable and strong foundation” (Quas Primas, 1925). The diocese’s 44 seminarians predominantly from kneeling parishes demonstrates that ubi adoratio, ibi vocatio – where there’s adoration, vocations flourish.
“at least 75% [of seminarians] are from parishes where kneeling has been the practice” while “mega parishes that have embraced these liturgical changes” account for “maybe two of the 44 seminarians.”
This vocational crisis stems from desacralized liturgies where Communion resembles fast-food distribution rather than divine encounter. Martin’s decree violates Pius X’s condemnation of Modernists who “lay the axe not to the branches and shoots, but to the very root of the Church” (Pascendi Dominici Gregis, 1907).
Schismatic Governance Through Personal Dictate
The anonymous canon lawyer rightly identifies Martin’s governing by personal whim rather than ecclesiastical law. The bishop’s disregard for presbyteral consultation violates Pius X’s Vehementer Nos (1906): “The Church is essentially an unequal society. That is, it comprises two categories of persons: the Pastors and the flock.” Martin’s autocratic methods expose the conciliar sect’s inherent totalitarianism, where Vatican II’s promised “collegiality” proves hollow. His reference to “Pope” Leo XIV’s vision confirms submission to the antipapal agenda of suppressing Catholic tradition.
Liturgical Vandalism as Masonic Operation
The removal of altar rails completes the Protestantizing program initiated by Annibale Bugnini, the suspected Freemason who engineered the Novus Ordo. As documented in the file False Fatima Apparitions, Masonic strategy seeks to “divert attention from modernism” through synthetic devotions while dismantling authentic Catholic worship. Martin’s attack on lace vestments and Latin mirrors the 1786 Synod of Pistoia condemned by Pius VI (Auctorem Fidei), which sought to eliminate “superstitious” practices like Eucharistic adoration. The elderly women defiantly kneeling despite episcopal prohibition (
“many of them elderly women who needed assistance standing up after receiving”
) embody the sensus fidelium that instinctively resists modernist deformation.
Theological truth remains immutable: “The Church does not make laws imposingly, but in keeping with divine and natural law” (Pius XII, Mystici Corporis, 1943). Martin’s decree lacks canonical force, being contrary to divine law’s demand for Eucharistic reverence. As Leo XIII declared: “When the necessity of the Church requires it, the faithful should not be afraid to suffer for the truth” (Sapientiae Christianae, 1890). The Charlotte faithful must follow conscience, kneeling before their King regardless of modernist injunctions.
TAGS: Eucharistic sacrilege, Modernism, Diocese of Charlotte, Bishop Michael Martin, Altar rails, Kneeling, Vatican II, Liturgical abuse, Vocations crisis, Conciliar sect
[Antichurch] Bishop Martin’s War on Reverence: Kneeling Banned in Charlotte Diocese
Catholic News Agency reports on December 23, 2025, about Bishop Michael Martin’s decree prohibiting altar rails and kneelers for Communion reception in Charlotte diocese effective January 16, 2026. The bishop claims standing constitutes the “normative posture” per U.S. bishops’ guidelines, dismissing kneeling as absurd despite massive lay and clerical opposition. This follows Martin’s earlier suppression of the Traditional Latin Mass, restricting it to one inadequate chapel despite the tradition-loving community producing 75% of diocesan seminarians. A diocesan priest anonymously condemns the “heavy-handed” approach causing division, while a canon lawyer’s circulating letter accuses Martin of governing by personal preference rather than Church law or tradition. The article notes parishes maintaining kneeling traditions yield disproportionate vocations compared to “mega parishes” embracing modern innovations.
Sacrilegious Assault on Eucharistic Piety
The decree constitutes direct attack on lex orandi, lex credendi – the foundational principle that worship forms belief. By removing physical aids to kneeling, Martin executes the modernist program condemned by Pius XII: “The Church is without question a living organism, and as an organism, in respect of her sacred rites too, she grows, matures, develops, adapts and accommodates herself to temporal needs and circumstances. But this must be done without compromising the integrity of her doctrine” (Mediator Dei, 1947). The bishop’s claim that “there is no mention in the conciliar documents” of altar rails deliberately ignores that Vatican II’s Sacrosanctum Concilium explicitly mandated preservation of “sound traditions” (Art. 23) while ordering that “there must be no innovations unless the good of the Church genuinely and certainly requires them” (Art. 23).
Martin’s assertion that kneeling is “simply absurd” constitutes blasphemous disregard for centuries of unbroken practice codified in the 1917 Code of Canon Law: “The faithful should be led to kneel in adoration before the Most Blessed Sacrament when it is exposed” (Canon 1265 §2). The Council of Trent anathematized those showing irreverence toward the Eucharist (Session XIII, Canon 6), while the Roman Catechism (1566) prescribed: “Christians should kneel when receiving Communion unless physically prevented.” The bishop’s war on kneeling echoes the Jansenist heresy condemned by Clement XI in Unigenitus (1713), which attacked devotional practices as “superstitious.”
Fruitless Vine: Vocational Sterility of Modernist Parishes
The statistical evidence proves the spiritual bankruptcy of Martin’s reforms: traditional parishes producing seven seminarians contrast with modernist mega-churches like St. Matthew’s (without altar rails) yielding only one seminarian despite “tens of thousands of families.” This confirms Pius XI’s warning that when “very many have removed Jesus Christ and His most holy law from their customs… the entire human society had to be shaken, because it lacked a stable and strong foundation” (Quas Primas, 1925). The diocese’s 44 seminarians predominantly from kneeling parishes demonstrates that ubi adoratio, ibi vocatio – where there’s adoration, vocations flourish.
“at least 75% [of seminarians] are from parishes where kneeling has been the practice” while “mega parishes that have embraced these liturgical changes” account for “maybe two of the 44 seminarians.”
This vocational crisis stems from desacralized liturgies where Communion resembles fast-food distribution rather than divine encounter. Martin’s decree violates Pius X’s condemnation of Modernists who “lay the axe not to the branches and shoots, but to the very root of the Church” (Pascendi Dominici Gregis, 1907).
Schismatic Governance Through Personal Dictate
The anonymous canon lawyer rightly identifies Martin’s governing by personal whim rather than ecclesiastical law. The bishop’s disregard for presbyteral consultation violates Pius X’s Vehementer Nos (1906): “The Church is essentially an unequal society. That is, it comprises two categories of persons: the Pastors and the flock.” Martin’s autocratic methods expose the conciliar sect’s inherent totalitarianism, where Vatican II’s promised “collegiality” proves hollow. His reference to “Pope” Leo XIV’s vision confirms submission to the antipapal agenda of suppressing Catholic tradition.
Liturgical Vandalism as Masonic Operation
The removal of altar rails completes the Protestantizing program initiated by Annibale Bugnini, the suspected Freemason who engineered the Novus Ordo. As documented in the file False Fatima Apparitions, Masonic strategy seeks to “divert attention from modernism” through synthetic devotions while dismantling authentic Catholic worship. Martin’s attack on lace vestments and Latin mirrors the 1786 Synod of Pistoia condemned by Pius VI (Auctorem Fidei), which sought to eliminate “superstitious” practices like Eucharistic adoration. The elderly women defiantly kneeling despite episcopal prohibition (
“many of them elderly women who needed assistance standing up after receiving”
) embody the sensus fidelium that instinctively resists modernist deformation.
Theological truth remains immutable: “The Church does not make laws imposingly, but in keeping with divine and natural law” (Pius XII, Mystici Corporis, 1943). Martin’s decree lacks canonical force, being contrary to divine law’s demand for Eucharistic reverence. As Leo XIII declared: “When the necessity of the Church requires it, the faithful should not be afraid to suffer for the truth” (Sapientiae Christianae, 1890). The Charlotte faithful must follow conscience, kneeling before their King regardless of modernist injunctions.
Source:
‘Everybody’s had it’: Backlash to Charlotte bishop’s ban of altar rails, kneelers (catholicnewsagency.com)
Date: 23.12.2025