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U p F r o n t
By Karl Keating
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This Rock
Volume 6, Number 7/8
 July/August 1995 
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SOME folks seem to think the only thing Catholic apologists are good for is apologizing-- usually for being Catholic, of course, but for other things too.
Me? I've never apologized for being Catholic and expect never to be tempted to apologize for the grace of belonging to the Catholic Church. (Who in his right mind would apologize for receiving such a gift?)
But I do owe our readers an apology for the continued tardiness of This Rock. I had hoped that by the time you received this issue we would be nearly up to date, but we've been dealt a series of frustrating setbacks by recalcitrant technology.
A month ago my computer, on which most of the magazine is edited, loudly ground to a halt. It was unmistakably, irretrievably kaput. To compound the misery, the printer on which camera-ready artwork was produced had been ill for some months and gave up the ghost within days of the computer.
Inconvenient, but only a few days' delay, we thought at the time. Wrong. The replacements were delayed endlessly at the factories, partly through paperwork snafus, partly through production schedules, and when the new printer arrived, it turned out not to work at all with our new operating system. ("Surprise!" said the vendor. Surprise indeed.)
Nearly a month was lost, and, because of other problems with the new equipment, the issue you are reading has taken twice as long as usual to compose. In fact, we have had to start almost from scratch in its production; normally we have been able to "recycle" layout elements from one issue to the next, but not this time.
What this means is that we have fallen another two issues behind. Now we are four issues tardy instead of two. (Two would have been bad enough, but it would have been an improvement over where we were six months ago).
Bottom line for our readers: Since the chief responsibility for producing the magazine is mine, I have curtailed my other activities, including speaking engagements, so we can produce at least two issues a month until we're caught up completely. For the next few months, barring ruinous earthquakes and other things entirely beyond our control, you should expect to receive twice as much on your platter.
There have been so many problems in the production of This Rock during the last weeks that I can't help but suspect the Enemy may have had a hand in things. Be that as it may, our staffers need your renewed prayers for this apostolate as we move toward a new year in which we hope not only to become current on all our tasks, but to expand out work into, among other things, the production of books.
You may notice a few changes in this issue. Some are consequences of the problems we have had, others are intentional. This "Up Front" column has expanded from a third of a page to a full page, an alteration that will be applauded, I fear, only by those who labor under the misimpression that I have something to say.
Page formats have been modified. We have returned to using two-column pages for the major articles, and articles begin higher up on the first page. Fonts too have changed--something forced on us by the constraints of our new equipment.
You also will notice a spate of new ads for new products, every single one of which, we are pleased to say, is in stock and ready to ship.
I especially draw your attention to the prepublication offer for bound volumes of This Rock. Over the years we have squirreled away copies of issues that otherwise have been out of stock a long time. We will be able to manufacture as few as 100 bound volumes for some years of the magazine, so it will be first come, first served.
The prospective publication of our cover story, which is on the rise of sedevacantism, has led to the threat of a lawsuit by people who don't want us to expose this serious error. The suit may be filed by t
he time you read this.
Sedevacantism is the theory that there is no reigning pope. It is entertained by people who not only are disgruntled by the problems within the Church, but who think they have discovered the root of the problems. They insist John Paul II and his three predecessors have been heretics and therefore not popes at all.
A very few Traditionalists, while claiming not to be sedevacantists, have declined to repudiate sedevacantism outright, have cooperated with sedevacantist groups, and have suggested that the sedevacantist theory has some weight. In doing so they have injured not just the Church, but the reputation of all Traditionalists.
Traditionalists are best known for their desire to return to the Tridentine Mass, a legitimate position for faithful Catholics to take. The sedevacantist sympathizers among them are giving Traditionalists a black eye. Traditionalism is not sedevacantism, and real Traditionalists need to sever connections with sedevacantist groups and with those who give direct or indirect support to sedevacantism.
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