Fundie Catholics: Question

[nausicaa]

So Ave Maria Singles is a dating website for people who are too Catholic for Catholic Match (most of them seemed too Catholic for the Pope). I used to enjoy reading the profiles while they were public (they were made private a few months back :cry: Did anyone else ever do this?).

Anyway, most of the people on the site are Traditionalist Catholics (i.e., Latin mass only, head covering in church, twelve siblings, home schooled). I noticed a ton of them grew up in a part of Idaho, or were sent there to attend private high school. I've searched on here and could not find any mention of it. Has anyone heard of this place and its connection to the SSPX movement or Traditionalist Catholicism in general? (I actually don't know how many people on the site had SSPX leanings, things like that normally weren't mentioned, and Ave Maria Singles is endorsed by EWTN and most dioceses so the real fringers may have seen it as another apostasy).

I continue to be fascinated with the Catholic fundies because while I grew up Catholic, they are so far from anything I ever experienced.

[Arete]

Don't know the answer to your question, but back in the day when I used to follow a few prepper nutters, quite a few of them had their compounds in Idaho. Most were religious fundementalists of the Protestant variety. None that I followed were Catholic. I'm going to bet that Idaho attracts a lot of religious fanatics being so rural and they just create a self contained bubble and reinforce their own crazy on each other. I could see the "Vatican II was a Masonic conspiracy" Catholic wingnuts fitting right in.

[lilith]

I'm going to bet that Idaho attracts a lot of religious fanatics being so rural and they just create a self contained bubble and reinforce their own crazy on each other.

Their Own Private Idaho? Sorry, couldn't resist.

[fun2beme]

:embarrassed: LOL at "too Catholic for the Catholic church." It's so true. Years ago (more than 10), I joined there in the hopes of meeting someone. I think it was under a different name - St. Raphael's, IIRC. I didn't know how conservative the site was and was really taken aback by the men there. I grew up in a conservative, rural area and went to Catholic school for 12 years, but never in my life ran into people with the extreme views they had. I was angry reading the profiles and the mean spirited judgments in them. Most men wanted to repeal Vatican II, go back to Latin Mass (on a daily basis of course), priest facing the altar, head covering for women, no birth control, submissive wifey (and SAHM) - the man is the head of the household and you better not ever forget it.

Coincidentally, last week I bought a car and thought of a guy I met there. He said that while the husband makes all the decisions, like deciding what kind of truck to buy (because that's what real men drive), he'd let his wife pick the color. I bolted like a cheetah and hadn't thought of him in years but he popped into my mind as I drove away in the car that I wanted (color and all!) and that I paid for, wondering what poor lady ended up with him.

I don't recall an Idaho connection but a lot of the members were associated with Fransican University in Steubenville, OH. I remember reading about SSPX but (heathen that I am) didn't know what it really was. Several were involved in Opus Dei, and I think the founder of the site was associated with Trinity Law School but am not clear on the details.

A close friend met her husband through the site. He's fanatical in his beliefs and thinks he knows more about being Catholic than the Pope does. My friend was devout before marrying him, but in a more inward, spiritual way. He is extremely controlling but she goes along with whatever he says, although I am the first to admit that he treats her very well. She likes being coddled and taken care of, and is also very traditional, so whatever works for them, I suppose.

[Raptured_Pope]

Long story, much of which I don't remember, but essentially a Catholic traditionalist sect led by "Bishop" Francis Schuckardt started up the "Fatima Crusade" in Coeur D'Alene, ID. Later, this became the Tridentine Latin Rite Church, and some followers founded a "City of Mary" in Rathdrum, ID as well. This would have been in the late 60's, early 70's or so.

They later moved to Spokane and, after a few plot twists, the CMRI (Congregation of Mary Immaculate Queen) emerged from this mess and they are still around today. They exist today alongside the SSPX and other traditionalist, sedevacantist movements and have a couple of seminaries and an extensive (for traditionalist Catholics) network of churches around the country, one still located in Rathdrum, ID.

The Ave Maria site is based in Virginia (I think?) so I doubt it's backed by CMRI or another traditionalist movement because most of their headquarters are located elsewhere in the country. But if Idaho keeps cropping up as the home state of a lot of singles on offer, the singles might have some link to Schuckardt's/CMRI's Idaho history. I don't think there are any other organized traditionalist Catholic movements as strong as CMRI there, so in that sense most of those people would most likely be looking for traditionalist mates.