Organizers of the recently concluded Restore Tradition women’s conference have restored Rachel Mastrogiacomo to the event’s website, but they still have not explained why she was removed from it in the first place and why her speech at the event last month was cut short.
Integrity Magazine was forwarded an email sent to conference attendees on the morning of Friday, October 9. Organizers said it was a “true joy to gather with so many inspiring, faithful women.” The email also said that registration included “the full video recordings of every speaker.” It then provided a clickable link directing attendees to the Restore Tradition YouTube channel.
Given that the link was intended for persons who paid to attend the conference, Integrity Magazine will not be sharing it with the general public. As can be seen from the screenshot below, a video of Mastrogiacomo’s full remarks has been uploaded to the channel alongside other speakers.
Presumably, the email was sent by event organizer Jane Brennan. Integrity reached out to Brennan earlier this week asking for details about Mastrogiacomo’s cancelation, though did not receive a response. At the very bottom of the email was a brief statement about Mastrogiacomo. It reads as follows:
Rachel Mastrogiacomo has been included in the Restore Tradition website. She delivered a speech at the 2026 A Return to Tradition Conference on September 26. The decision to remove Rachel from the Restore Tradition website was made solely by Restore Tradition. It was not ordered by the Archdiocese of Denver or by the Pastor of Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Littleton, Colorado.
As reported by Integrity earlier this week, Mastrogiacomo was not only prevented by the event’s emcee from finishing her speech, her headshot was taken down from the conference website and the time slot for her remarks on the conference schedule was removed as if she had never appeared there in the first place.
On the morning of Friday, October 9, however, both Mastrogiacomo’s headshot and the title of her talk were visible on the site. One may assume that the decision to restore her was motivated by the massive public outcry that followed her cancelation. One may also assume organizers were compelled by an email Mastrogiacomo sent to Brennan this week where she asked her to “consider making amends by restoring my name and photograph to the conference website, making my full interview available to the women who attended the conference, and issuing a public clarification?”
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The Dispatch
While Mastrogiacomo’s restoration to the conference’s website is welcome news, Brennan has yet to fully clarify why and who at Restore Tradition decided to remove Mastrogiacomo from the site in the first place. She has also not provided details as to why Mastrogiacomo was not allowed to finish her speech at the event and who made the decision to cut her remarks short.
In a post published on Mastrogiacomo’s Facebook wall this week, fellow conference speaker Abby Johnson said that the priest who serves as the pastor of the church that hosted the conference, Fr. Matthew McCarthy, FSSP, gave the green light to remove Mastrogiacomo from the stage before her allotted time was finished.
“What I do know to be true is that it was the priest of the church that asked for her to be removed from the stage. It was not the conference organizers. They were doing what the priest [Fr. McCarthy] asked them to,” she alleged. “Tis would have been a much different scenario if the priest himself would have come out and made a statement instead of passing it off on the women who run the conference.”
Mastrogiacomo has received an outpouring of support from Catholics on social media this week. Hundreds of positive comments have been made on her and on other Facebook accounts.
A woman named Carly Elaine, who claims to be Brennan’s daughter, has alleged that Mastrogiacomo “crossed the line” when she brought up “topics” that organizers “were not comfortable having discussed at this conference, and those boundaries were made clear to you. You chose to blatantly disregard that direction.”
Mastrogiacomo has denied those charges. On a phone call that took place before the conference, Mastrogiacomo was told by Brennan that “you don’t have to provide me with the outline [of your speech] … I have full confidence that you can tell your story the way you want to tell it.” Brennan did say, however, “you can’t talk about the SSPX or your affiliation with it or any support that you have for it,” a request that Mastrogiacomo complied with.
As of the publication of this email, neither the Archdiocese of Denver, Denver Archbishop James Golka, Brennan, or Fr. McCarthy has issued a statement clarifying the reasons that went into cutting Mastrogiacomo’s speech short. Neither have any of them fully explained why she was removed then restored to website. They have also failed to explain which specific parts of her speech violated the conference’s rules.
The Restore Tradition women’s conference was held from September 25-26 at the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter’s Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Church in Littleton, Colorado. Remnant Newspaper editor Michael Matt, commentator Matt Gaspers, and Fr. Chad Ripperger were among those who delivered remarks at the gathering. In his speech, Matt oddly referred to the Blessed Virgin Mary as a “feminist” while urging the woman to “lead us back to sanity.”
For respectful comments only:
- Archdiocese of Denver, Archbishop Golka’s Executive Assistant, Flor Sandoval, (303) 715-3100, office.archbishop@archden.org
- Archdiocese of Denver, Archbishop Golka’s Priest Secretary, Rev. David M. Hall, vice.chancellor@archden.org
- Our Lady of Mt. Carmel FSSP Parish, 5612 S. Hickory St. Littleton, CO, 80120; (303) 703-8538, Secretary: secretary@olmcfssp.org
- Restore Tradition Women’s Conference website; Jane Brennan: authenticwoman5@gmail.com; (720) 354-6459
