There is a Vimeo you can watch on the DICI website, an interview with Fr. Sandmark:
http://www.dici.org/en/news/interview-with-sten-sandmark/The CFN article I mentioned in the OP above is in the October 2010 issue (6 years ago) on page 12:
SSPX Ordains Former Lutheran Pastor
Converted to Catholicism in 2006, Ordained in 2010
Special to Catholic Family News
Sten Sandmark, the 63 year-old convert to the Catholic Faith, was ordained by the Society of St. Pius X's Bishop Bernard Fellay on June 26 at Zaitzkofen, Germany.
Father Sandmark had been a Lutheran Pastor in Sweden for 31 years and formally abjured Protestantism in the SSPX's Church of St. Nicholas du Chardonnet, in Paris on July 30, 2006.
He studied for years at the SSPX seminary in Zaitzkofen, was ordained this past June, and celebrated his first Solemn Mass on Sunday, August 15 at the same church in Paris where he abjured Protestantism.
Four years ago, he gave his final sermon to his Lutheran Congregation in July 16, two weeks before he entered the Church.
He told his people, "As there is only
ONE God, there is also only
ONE Redeemer, our Lord Jesus Christ. Thus there is also only
ONE religion instituted by the Son of God Himself, the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church the mystical Body of the Lord.
(1 Cor. 12:27) Only St. Peter received the power to lead the flock.
(Jn. 21:15-17) He founded the local church in Rome, where he was to be martyred. In the Roman Pope we find the legitimate sucessor of St. Peter.
"It is necessary to belong to this Church for salvation. 'He that heareth you, heareth Me; and he that despiseth you, despiseth Me; and he that despiseth Me, despiseth Him that sent Me.'
(Lk. 10:16) In 1517, Martin Luther separated himself from this Church, to his own detriment, both in doctrine, worship and discipline. Many countries were separated from the Church through this unfortunate action. As a consequence, innumerable sects have been founded, all of whom refer themselves to Christ. There is no continuous line of apostolic succession in unity with the successor of St. Peter and Christ Himself to be found in these sects. Not even the Swedish church has any such apostolic succession."
DICI recently posted an interview with Father Sandmark in which he relates the long process of his conversion to Catholicism.
His journey toward the true Church started in his mother's womb, he said. When his mother was expecting him, she had a dream he would one day become a Catholic priest.. He also recounts that throughout his life, even as a Lutheran pastor, he always read Catholic literature.
As a Lutheran, he had made contatct with the "official" Catholic Church, with the present Bishop of Stockholm, Sweden, and with his predecessor. Both of these bishops urged Sandmark to remain Protestant, not to convert to the Catholic Faith.
"None of them wanted me to convert," said Father Sandmark. "They wanted me to remain a Lutheran Minister with Catholic leanings. They were very friendly, but they don't really see a need for converts. They just want a good relation with other religious groups."
The Catholic Bishop of Stockholm was the chairman for the Ecuмenical Movement in Sweden. He wanted things to remain "peaceful and calm," to maintain a "good order" with Catholic/Lutheran relations.
This is contrary to the Catholic view, he says. If we find someone interested in converting, we see to it that they convert as soon as possible.
There were two primary developments in contemporary Lutheranism that propelled his conversion to Catholicism.
The first was the acceptance of so-called women "priests." "Today, in the Lutheran 'church,' 50% of the clergy are women."
The second was the Lutherans' acceptance of "same-sex marriage." As a pastor, "I would have had to conduct ceremonies for same-sex couples and I couldn't. That was impossible for me."
When still a Lutheran, he learned of the Society of St. Pius X when a group of SSPX pilgrims visiting the tomb of Saint Bridget passed through his town. He contacted Father Schmidberger and afterwards advanced his conversion to the Catholicism which occurred a year later.
As a former Lutheran, who recognizes Protestantism when he sees it, he tells people not to attend the New Mass. "It is very, very close to a Protestant service," he says. He also expressed his belief that Lutherans helped develop the New Mass inside the Catholic Church.
Sather Sandmark commented on the futility of today's ecuмenism. As Catholics, our dogmas have one meaning that comes from Scripture, Tradition and the Magisterium. Catholics are united in truth, and the dogmas of the Faith are what all Catholics must believe.
Protestantism, however, has no such system. Within Protestantism, everyone can believe what he or she likes, so Protestantism can have as many meanings as there are individuals. This is why talks between Catholics and Protestants are pointless, "because what shall we talk about? Shall we talk about your personal faith?"
He amplifies, "I had my conference in Sweden many years ago in a Protestant (non-Lutheran) church. They wanted me to tell them about how things are in the Lutheran 'church.' I responded, 'What part shall I talk about? In the Lutheran 'church,' there are 10 different directions; from very liberal to very Anglo-Catholic."
He says that today's ecuмenical meetings go nowhere because they seldom talk about Faith. They release papers from their gatherings that always dodge difficult questions. In ecuмenical conferences, he says, "they are just having some nice coffee together."
He was thus disappointed to see Pope Benedict XVI visit the Lutheran church in Rome this past spring. "I was surprised. I don't know why he did it. I have not seen any explanation why he did it."
He sends a message to Lutherans that he has found truth in the Catholic Church and that they should join him. "But I did not find it in the modernist, liberal Catholic Church, I found it in Tradition. And if you really want to find the truth, you must come and see, come to our Masses, come to our conferences, talk to the priests of the Society who have the truth."
He closes the interview with a message to Traditional Catholics, "It is not necessary to be anxious when you talk to people. I found it that the Lord and the Mother of God are with us in all of our talking with people, do not be anxious."
To modernist Catholics the traditionalist can say, "We have the truth and you liberals don't have it. You are a sort of Protestant group inside the Catholic Church."
The smaller font message follows:
"An interview with Father Sandmark can be viewed at
wwwcfnews.org/sandmark.htm" but trying that address
I got a page apologising for the lost data when a crash
lost all their archives.
There is something about Fr. Sandmark's story that has an urgent appeal, that he has something to offer that is very much needed in our outlook toward Protestants these days. Understanding his perception of our current state of affairs might be very helpful when we speak to Protestants.