Is The Pope Catholic? A Journey through the Strange World of Radical Traditionalism

For millions of people, the Catholic Church is the embodiment of the Christian religious tradition. But for a vocal, colorful, often eccentric group of disaffected believers, the Catholic Church has gone dangerously off the rails, transforming itself into something unrecognizable—even heretical.

Tom Breen, a longtime religion journalist, describes this little-known but active underworld of “radtrad” believers in this winsome, wry account. He also details his own journey from skepticism about the traditional Catholic church to eventual conversion. For anyone who wonders why church wars continue to rage—and why the new papacy of Pope Francis is so divisive—this quick primer provides an insightful and fun road map.