About
Lou Massett is an emerging memoirist whose debut work, Traddyland, chronicles a young man’s journey into Radical Traditional Catholicism, led by his father’s deep religious conviction that spiraled into radicalization. At St. Mary’s Academy in Kansas, a boarding school within the ultra-conservative Society of St. Pius X (SSPX) community, Lou came face-to-face with the rise of the right-wing militia movement—including the Montana Freemen, Kansas Freemen, and Republic of Texas—whose ideologies were intertwined with the school’s culture and echoed in the devastating Oklahoma City bombing. Through vivid storytelling, Lou recounts confronting racism, misogyny, schism, and his own struggles with cognitive dissonance, personal biases, and cultish behavior, culminating in a painful exodus from groupthink that shattered his world. Traddyland stands as a powerful testament to the sorrow inflicted by radicalism, advocating for truth and charity as twin pillars to overcome its grip and foster personal growth.An ardent advocate for Classical Education, Lou champions its role in cultivating critical thinking and intellectual honesty to counter ideological extremism. His mission is to promote truth and charity as the foundation for a unified, compassionate world, a vision central to Traddyland and his planned blog and podcast, which aim to spark dialogue and challenge radicalization through empathy and reason.A devoted lover of the arts, Lou channels his creativity into a vibrant music career, crafting songs that mirror the emotional depth and authenticity of his writing. His passion for music infuses Traddyland with a lyrical resonance, inviting readers into his transformative journey. A Syracuse native, Lou draws inspiration from his travels, faith, and commitment to fostering understanding. He shares his life with his wife, Amber, and their seven children, whose love grounds his pursuit of truth and charity. Connect with Lou to explore his music, writing, and vision for a world healed through these twin pillars.
Featured Work
Traddyland
Traddyland is a memoir written by Louis Massett about growing up in an ultra-conservative traditional Catholic community and his journey out of radical ideology. The story explores the events that drove his average middle class American Catholic family to embrace the radical cultish ideology of the International Priestly Society of St. Pius X (commonly known as the SSPX). The SSPX was founded in 1970 by the later-excommunicated French Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, who rejected the Second Vatican Council and the Catholic Church’s attempt to modernize itself. The author delves into his extraordinary coming of age ordeal at the SSPX’s boarding school in the small midwestern town of St. Mary’s, Kansas — the mecca of traditionalist Catholicism in the United States. He also recounts that community’s descent into the radical-right’s militia ideology, including its connections to the Montana Freemen, the Republic of Texas group, and Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh. The author describes his experiences with (and attempts to expose) the Society of St. John — a Scranton-based traditionalist group led by an ex-SSPX priest, sexual predator Fr. Carlos Urrutigoity — who used their influence to prey on wealthy donors.
The heart of the story is the author’s journey through adolescence and adulthood while struggling to reconcile his beliefs as an American Catholic with the anti-American ideals of the traditionalist movement. The author takes readers through the harrowing events he experienced as a boarding school student following with the SSPX’s schism with Rome in 1988. This triggered a chain of events culminating in a confrontation between the author and the school’s authoritarian headmaster Father Ramon Angles, whose cult of personality turned the once-sleepy town of St. Mary’s into a hotbed of cultish ideology, right-wing militancy, spiritual and sexual abuse, and conflicts that drew the attention of the FBI.
The narrative begins with the January 23, 2023 leak of an FBI memo from their field office in Richmond, Virginia, detailing an investigation of right-wing extremist parishioners at a nearby SSPX chapel, in concert with investigations of other SSPX churches across the country. The news story sparked an outcry from conservative media outlets, who used this news to accuse the Biden administration of targeting political opponents and violating the First Amendment. This led to a congressional investigation of the FBI culminating with House Speaker Mike Johnson to invite a traditionalist priest to offer the Traditional Latin Mass within the United States Capital building on February 6, 2024 — giving an air of legitimacy and credibility to the SSPX and traditionalist movement within the United States.
Around the same time, a Catholic news outlet, Church Militant, reported that shortly before committing suicide, Massett’s former St. Mary’s classmate, Michael Gonzalez, revealed to his sisters that he had been raped by headmaster Fr. Angles, and that the SSPX had covered up many other instances of sex abuse within its community.
These events inspired Massett to write his memoir and to lend his voice to other former members of the traditionalist community to expose the SSPX and the dangers of radical traditionalist Catholicism.
