In September 2010, Pope Benedict XVI established a Pontifical Council for the New Evangelization. As the auto-demolition of the Church continues and the Church bleeds members from all sides, even the Vatican recognizes something must be done. A New Evangelization has been called for repeatedly by John Paul II and Benedict XVI.  Yet, the ever “new” methods embraced by Vatican II and its apologists never seem to produce the hoped for results. So yet another new-fangled gimmick must be tried. Meanwhile conversions dwindle to a trickle and abandonment of the Faith increases to a tsunami. In the “old” days, the New Evangelization was simply called missionary work, the missionary work commissioned by Our Lord when he sent His Church to “teach all nations.” That “old” Evangelization converted continents and built civilizations. My instinct told me we are not likely to find much advice on restoring that missionary zeal from a Vatican bureaucracy conducting studies and writing papers on how to jump start a “new” evangelization based on the “new” (now tired) ideas of Vatican II. So I decided to talk to someone out in the trenches living the “old” evangelization, the one that worked for two thousand years. I, therefore, contacted Fr. Loïc Duverger, superior of the African district of the Society of St. Pius X

Although the name of Archbishop Lefebvre is today mostly associated with the crisis of the Council and his defense of Tradition, the Archbishop spent thirty years before this tumultuous Council toiling in the missionary vineyard of Africa. This interview was conducted over the month of March and thus transpired over the twentieth anniversary of the death of Archbishop Lefebvre (March 25, 1991).

It is clear that Archbishop Lefebvre’s love for saving souls and for the African missions is alive and thriving in his successor in Africa, Fr. Loic Duverger. Father’s wisdom, hope, and sanctity shine clearly through this interview and provide a clear argument for the restoration of the “old” evangelization and its fruitful harvest. Perhaps the Holy Fr. should consider establishing a Pontifical Council for the Old Evangelization. If so, Fr. Loic Duverger, should be appointed its head.