In defense of the term ‘Trad Inc.’

Few expressions have generated as much irritation in the contemporary traditionalist Catholic sphere as the term “Trad Inc.”

Lately, it seems to have become something of a lightning rod for those who operate within the impossible tension of wanting to legitimize the false conciliar religion while also claiming the traditionalist identity.

This past week, Matt Gaspers, who attends a diocesan “Extraordinary Form” Mass, fired yet another salvo in the direction of those he considers to be on the more radical end of the traditionalist spectrum. In an X post, he wrote: “[Chris] Jackson used to be a regular contributor to The Remnant, until he and [Stephen] Kokx became obsessed with their anti-‘Trad Inc’ crusade (i.e., marketing campaign), which they began shortly after Pope Leo was elected.”

It is important to note that Gaspers and other bitter opponents of the term — such as Mark Lambert — seem to miss the fact that Catholics can no longer pretend the emperor is not naked. The phrase arose simply because Catholics needed a way to describe the consequent unwillingness of prominent influencers to defend the truth.

The adoption of the term “Trad Inc.” is entirely normal. Political movements create shorthand slogans for complex realities all the time, using such phrases as “the establishment,” “the blob,” or “the cathedral.” Ecclesiastical history itself is full of such labels: Ultramontanism, Gallicanism, Modernism, and Integralism, all of which emerged because human beings required conceptual tools to label patterns larger than isolated events.

“Trad Inc.” functions in precisely this manner. It is not a “marketing campaign.” It is a handle, a convenient piece of language cleverly employed by ordinary Catholics seeking to articulate the compromise, limitation, institutional caution, and betrayal that every sane person can no longer deny has occurred. A useful definition would therefore be:

The ecosystem of institutionalized traditionalist Catholic media, apostolates, personalities, and organizations that are constrained, whether by economics, reputation, institutional relationships, or audience expectations, from telling the truth and nothing but the whole truth. The term is commonly applied to those who are willing to selectively criticize post-conciliar developments and personalities while refusing to challenge deeper questions concerning authority, continuity, liturgical change, or the false conciliar religion’s claims to be Catholicism.

A less flattering definition would be traditional Catholics who identify with their revolutionary conciliar oppressor or compromise Catholicism’s interests and doctrines for short-term personal gain, such as diocesan Latin Masses, book sales, hanging on to their respective platforms, etc. These Catholics are domesticated “traditionalists” in the Novus Ordo household. They are enslaved to a mental matrix from which they cannot escape the illusion that the conciliar religion, despite contradicting and opposing pre-conciliar Catholicism, is the Catholic religion.

Focusing on the name instead of the message

These definitions matter because opponents of the term frequently attack it and its proponents rather than asking why it has become so popular and, in so many people’s view, true. They allege an organized secret campaign advanced by a small radical fringe, but if you start trawling social media you will see that there are large swathes of Catholics who share these sentiments and concerns.

In a way, the emergence of “Trad Inc.” was a response to one simple question: why did so many voices within traditionalist media spend years delivering harsh criticisms of Francis only to become markedly more cautious when confronted with similar structural questions — and more subtle but worse abuses — under Prevost?

The reader can answer that question for him or herself, and probably already has. Let us now take a look at some fresh examples that we can consider.

Exhibit 1. Earlier this week, Dr. Taylor Marshall published several X posts which implied to his 236K followers that John XXIII was a traditionalist.

But in his book Infiltration, Marshall portrayed Roncalli as a sinister actor. “This opening statement displays the agenda of Freemasonry,” Marshall wrote, describing John XXIII’s opening address at Vatican II. “Roncalli … proved to be one of the most revolutionary popes in Catholic history.” So much for being a traditionalist!

Marshall has also recently denied that there is a new religion flowing out of Rome, despite having released videos during the Bergoglio era stating that was precisely what was taking place. This is the sort of doublespeak that faithful Catholics can no longer tolerate.

Then there is Michael Matt. Some of his histrionic programs resemble that of Alex Jones’ trademark unhinged diatribes. His most infamous moment came when he called on trads to “zip it” last year in order to win liturgical concessions from the Modernist Leo.

Today, all Matt seems able to muster is a victim mentality, issuing repeated appeals to end the “circular firing squad,” as if he himself has never engaged in such behavior. Scroll below or click here to see that he most definitely has. Regardless, surely a man of his pedigree — he was confirmed by Archbishop Lefebvre, you know — is aware that there can be no “unity” around error?

The last and most blatant example of Trad Inc.-ism this week came from Crisis Magazine editor-in-chief Eric Sammons. Without a shred of irony, Sammons lamented on X that for the first time during his tenure the publication was not reaching its fundraising goal.

Sammons not only admitted that his regular donors told him they stopped donating because Crisis is no longer critical enough of Leo, but he doubled down and basically told them he is sticking to his Trad Inc. guns. Clearly, these donors are those ordinary Catholics — whether they employ the Trad Inc. term or not — who can detect its treasonous strategy.

As these examples and others confirm, the phrase Trad Inc. was neither born from nor adopted as a result of a coordinated marketing campaign or a conspiracy against those who boast about being allowed to exist as a mere side chapel in the conciliar pantheon.

Rather, it was organically embraced by fed-up Catholics who, for decades, watched churches destroyed, liturgies butchered, devotional practices abandoned, catechesis perverted, and inherited forms of worship marginalized.

When the very men and publications who used to stand against this wholesale slaughtering of the Catholic religion fell into cowardly silence and started becoming purveyors of sophistry instead of bold speakers of truth, Trad Inc. became part of the traditionalist Catholic lexicon in order to describe that uncomfortable and tragic reality.