TIA responds:

Deacon Dr. D.L.,

You are correct that when answering the question to which you referred, we avoided entering into the moral consequences, whether it is or is not a mortal sin to attend or not attend the Novus Ordo Mass.

It is TIA policy to not overload traditionalist Catholics who come to us asking for orientation with more moral indictments in these difficult times in which we live, where Catholics have so much to respond to when they want to be faithful.

Many traditionalists superficially bombard others with such indictments, even when they have not made sufficient studies on the matter and are not sure of their position. Moved by insecurity they pressure others to come to their side by means of moral threats.

At TIA we give the principles pertinent to each case and leave their moral consequences to be taken by the interested parties. Doing so, we do not force our readers' decisions and we position ourselves outside of these wild skirmishes.

But since you asked straightforwardly whether or not it is a mortal sin to go to the New Mass, and you accused us of trying to circumvent the topic, we will open an exception to answer you and will set out what we think are the normal moral consequences of this action or omission.

We enter the subject matter.

1. Before answering your questions, we must clarify a presupposition: You believe that when we admit that a Mass is valid, we are automatically suggesting that it is a mortal sin to not attend it. This is not precise. Many Black Masses are valid and of course they should not be attended. Most of the Greek-Schismatic sacraments are valid and we believe they should be avoided always, even when they are the only sacraments available. So, your premise is wrong.
   
   
2. To your first question – Is it a mortal sin to go to the Novus Ordo Mass when it is the only available? – we simply answer: It depends; it may or may not be a mortal sin.
   
   
1. It is a mortal sin if the attendee is fully aware that the Novus Ordo Mass was conceived by Paul VI to remove from the centuries-old Mass the points that made it different from Protestantism. In this case, the attendee gives his complete adhesion to this change and agrees with the principles of Progressivism that inspired it. We believe that this person adheres to the errors of both Progressivism and Protestantism and, therefore, commits a double mortal sin by favoring heresy and by implicitly denying the Catholic Faith in those points that were removed from it, such as the sacrificial character of the Mass and of the Redemption, among many others.
   
   
2. It is not a mortal sin if the attendee is a child, an old person or naïve person who is unaware of the crisis in the Church and goes to the Mass believing that he is still attending the Mass of all times. Therefore, he goes there as an act of obedience to the Commandments of God and of the Church to assist at Mass on Sundays and the Holy Days of Obligation.
   
   
3. To respond to your second question – Is it a mortal sin to miss a Novus Ordo Mass when it is the only one available? – we have to distinguish two perspectives: In principle and in practice:
   
   
   1. In principle,
      
      
      1. If the person is not aware of the crisis in the Church, the habitual rules of attending Sunday Masses and the Holy Days of Obligation apply to him. That is, it may be a mortal sin if he misses this duty, depending on the cause in each case.
         
         
      2. However, if he is aware of the take-over of the Catholic Church by Progressivism, he must avoid going to this Mass so as not to fall into the sin of promoting an activity that has the flavor of heresy and for this reason is highly offensive to Our Lord. Therefore, he does not commit mortal sin by missing the Novus Ordo Mass.
         
         
   2. In practice, adding to the reasons mentioned for normal times (3.A.b.), since April 2020 no Catholic is under the threat of mortal sin when he misses the Novus Ordo Mass, for the following reasons:
      
      
      1. Pope Francis and the local Bishops dispensed Catholics worldwide from attending Mass under the pretext of avoiding the contagion of Covid-19. So, all were/are dispensed from attending it without pain of mortal sin.
         
         
      2. Even where the churches are reopening, the imposition of social distancing is limiting the number of attendees to a Mass to a very small proportion of the church's capacities. All the faithful who exceed these limits are dispensed from their Mass obligation. Many Catholics may simply not try to attend it and still benefit from the dispensation.
         
         In both of these cases – those who exceed the permitted number allowed in the churches and those who do not even try to attend – there is no mortal sin.
         
         
      3. If tomorrow the Conciliar Church were to return to normality in its Masses, it would be very difficult to convince Catholics that they must attend Mass under pain of going to Hell.
         
         Indeed, since the faithful see the ease with which the Pope and Bishops, just to follow the requests of the local governments, dispensed everyone from attending Mass and replaced it with the possibility of watching a streamed video "mass," it will be very difficult to convince those same persons that this possibility no longer exists and that they should physically assist at Mass under the former rule of commiting a mortal sin if they do not.
         
         Why not continue to just watch present or past "masses" on one's TV or electronic devices?
         
         
      4. In conclusion, the unwise handling of dispensations during this sanitary crisis seems to have compromised very seriously the teaching that those who do not attend Novus Ordo Masses commit mortal sin. This applies to the last months, the present and the future.

These are our answers to your questions, Dr. D.L.. We hope they clarify the points that concern you.

     Cordially,

     TIA correspondence desk