By Fr. Gerald E. Murray, The Catholic Thing - Pope Francis recently gave an address to the International Theological Commission (ITC) in which he returned to a theme he often emphasizes: the dangers of traditionalism and the need to avoid going backward. Traditionalism is – unfavorably – contrasted in his view with a proper understanding of the Church’s tradition. In theory, this has some value; in practice, it’s leading to disaster... He identified tradition as “what makes the Church grow upwards from below, like a tree: the roots.”