All images and text © Kevin Moloney


After mass, altarboys unleash energy restrained while on the altar of their new traditional Catholic church in rural Watkins, Colo. The mission of St. Isidore the Farmer was dedicated in 2001 by the Society of St. Pius X, a controversial order started on the heels of the Second Vatican Council in the late 1960s.

The society, started by seminarians under the tuteledge of French Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre to preserve the traditional Latin Tridentine Mass, has been suspended by the Vatican since 1976. Lefebvre and other St. Pius X bishops were excommunicated in 1988 by Pope John Paul II for ordaining new bishops without permission of the Vatican.



Altarboys serving for Fr. Joseph Pfeiffer, rear left, flank their new church at the end of the mass. The Society of St. Pius X is staunchly traditional in every action, from singing the original Latin mass to vestments used in church ceremonies.

The Society of St. Pius X feels extreme traditionalism is the answer to the problems of the Roman Catholic Church and losses of millions of devoted Catholics. Women are encouraged to cover their heads for mass, and stringent adherence to Catholic obligations is required.


Heads covered, devout Catholics kneel for communion at the Mission of St. Isidore the Farmer. During the ritualistic parts of the service the priest keeps his back to a congregation. Though its priests swear obedience to the Roman Pope, the mission remains unrecognized by the Archdiocese of Denver.



A kiss is exchanged during mass by a veiled parishioner and her charge. Arguing that 2,000 years of tradition cannot be ignored, the society has built a church and is hard at work on a school to teach traditional Catholic doctrine.


All images and text © Kevin Moloney

Previous Page || Next Page