The March on Rome
Marcel de Corte and the Pilgrimage
(By Dr. Elisabeth Gerstner)

I shall never forget the almost solemn words of Cardinal Ottaviani. I, a mere lay-woman, had run to him at the Holy Office the moment I perceived that the fever of innovation was seizing our beloved and perfect Mother, the Church. Yes, I have said “perfect”, even though it is true that she had outward wrinkles and little spots of the kind which loving children overlook. The idea that she needed plastic surgery to make her attractive would never have come into our mind, and we looked with horror on those who dared to speak of wanting “to change her face”.

“Only you, lay people, can do something in this great crisis of the  Church”, said the old Cardinal. I remember refusing to accept responsibility which his statement implied. I objected: “Who are we in the Church? This is a matter for bishops and cardinals; they must act!”

I understood, however, that from the very moment the fatal, ugly word, “aggiornamento” had been pronounced, the clergy had become paralyzed in a kind of “obedience-to-my-Church-right-or-wrong” attitude. No matter what was commanded, unless they obeyed they would come into conflict with authority and suffer sanctions, whereas lay-men could go ahead without fear. And so, whether we liked the idea or not, with the hierarchy  doing nothing more than encouraging us with good advice and assuring us of constant prayers, I and my friends around the world who shared my convictions felt compelled to do our duty, and profit by this “ hour of the layman”. We began to organize our forces.

Obviously, the great pilgrimage of Roman Catholic Traditionalists to Rome, set for Pentecost 1973, could not be organized by priests; not even by our heroes among the Clergy, some of whom are already afflicted with severe sanctions, however unjust they may be. Since only we, lay people, can take the initiative, it is up to us to convince everyone to join in our efforts, priests and laymen alike, old and young, intellectuals as well as ordinary folk. Rosary in hand, one common goal in mind, we must do everything possible. We must be ready for every sacrifice, even the laying down of our lives if necessary, for the restoration of the Church through the restoration of its heart and the source of all its vitality, namely, the unmutilated Mass of St.Pius V.

This means, of course, that we are waging war against the combined forces of hell. To lead us in this war, we have asked the help of one of the most outstanding philosophers in the Catholic world today, Dr. Marcel de Corte of Belgium. Not in vain did we appeal to this courageous gentleman to direct our Pilgrimage in 1973; his response was prompt and wholehearted: Yes! May God be praised and thanked!

Before we went to see him about it, we prayed to his son Leon, who died of polio at the age of 16, but with a reputation for sanctity. After devouring the book which Leon de Corte’s parents had written about this extraordinary young man (one of six children), who had sung joyfully in his iron lung, with a joy solely derived from supernatural faith, I was convinced in my own poor judgment that he was one of the great saints of our time. Relying on his intercession, I went to Liege, confident of winning his already busy and overburdened father for the great enterprise of the pilgrimage. And Marcel de Corte did not hesitate one minute. With his profound knowledge and penetrating wisdom he had foreseen perhaps better than anyone else the collapse of all values in our time. He was perhaps the very first to point out that a fatal blow had been struck when the very heart of the Church, the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, had been touched. A Historian as well as a Philosopher, he had pointed out that in the past, although heresies had raged within and without the Church, the one fixed point had been the unchangeable Mass – holy and immutable like God Himself.

Philosophers always look for the root cause of things. With his sense of the “liberty of the children of God” to speak the truth plainly – in season, out of season – Dr. de Corte, in a sensational article published in the French journal Itineraires, pointed to the weakness of the present occupant of the Chair of Peter, whose duty it is to be a fiery defender of the traditional faith and practice of the Church. So much did Dr. de Corte suffer from having to speak this open word that his health has been damaged. But he felt he simply had to speak out, after years during which, like many other thinking but humble and loyal Catholics, he had preferred, like the sons of Noah, to throw a cloak of charity over the news coming out of the Vatican,

When analyzing the general decay in human thought today, Dr. de Corte has often shown in his works that every nation gets the politicians it deserves. He has shown that all the evils we are now fighting have their roots in the disappearance of true philosophy, which is the sum of the accuмulated wisdom of the ages. Today, instead, many individuals and their “systems”, divorced from history and tradition and the lessons of the past, attract large followings, sometimes whole nations or groups of nations. All these represent movements away from unity based on universal truth, and hence we see everywhere in the world increasing strife, bitterness, hatred, savage cruelty. Dr. de Corte says that what makes our defense of the faith so terribly difficult today is the fact that Pope Paul VI, to an alarming extent, accepts in some of his main premises the thinking of the present generation, which on many points is in direct conflict with traditional Catholic thought and practice. Here lies the focal point of the internal agony of the Church today. Not to face this bitter reality is to put oneself in danger of being carried away by the tide which is destroying the Church. Does this not explain, at least in part, what has happened to many misguided priests and religious, all of whom can plead, and often do plead, that they are acting according to “the mind of the Church of today”? The terrible tragedy is that there is far too much truth in what they say. They are often able to justify themselves by pointing to ambiguous and compromising statements of the current Magisterium. What many do not seem to realize is that the ordinary Magisterium of the Church can, at a given moment in time, become blurred, weak, insufficient. It can be tainted with a shift of emphasis that is not in harmony with the totality of Catholic teaching. At such times, we are bound in conscience to compare and evaluate contemporary statements in the light of what the Magisterium has clearly and consistently taught throughout the ages, for this is the only safe norm in times like the present, when it is known that enemies are working within the Church to destroy her through her own hierarchy and institutions.

Marcel de Corte, standing serenely above the swirling, polluted currents of thought in our time, seeing all in the light of traditional Catholic teaching ( which  cannot have erred!), and also of universal, unchanging truths, has understood and shown that everything is at stake in our battle. And that is why he is willing to throw himself into it at any cost. He cannot hope for decorations or honors, or appreciation in the present life. But surely a crown in Heaven awaits him; the crown promised to those who persevere in Truth to the end.

Marcel de Corte, Dean and Professor of Philosophy at the University of Liege, Belgium, was awarded the prize of “Scriptores Catholici” in 1965. He has been invested by the Belgian government with the distinction of Knight of the Order of Leopold; with the Medal of Leopold III; with the title of Commander of the Order of the Crown; and with the Civil Cross, first class. He also holds the title of Commander of the Military Order of Christ (Portugal).

Since 1933 he has written a large number of outstanding works, including “Liberty of Spirit in the Mystical Experience” (Paris, 1933); “The Doctrine of Intelligence in Aristotle”, with a preface by Etienne Gilson (Paris, 1934); and “The Commentary of Jean Philipon on the Third Book of ‘De Anima’ of Aristotle” (Paris, 1935). Among more recent works are “Man against Himself”, 1963, which appeared in both French and Italian; “The Great Heresy” (Rome, 1971); and (together with his wife) “Become What You Are”, the biography of his deceased son Leon which moved me so much.

This great defender of the faith has also published scores of important articles, essays, speeches. Born in 1905, his young, vigorous heart has almost been broken by the evil events of recent years. Dr. Marcel de Corte invites all who understand the terrible plight of the Church at this moment in history to come to Rome at Whitsun this year; and he invites all, whether at home or in Rome, to pray and do penance in union with us for the restoration of the unmutilated Mass of St. Pius V as the proper Mass of the western Church.

Dr. de Corte is President of the International committee directing the Pilgrimage. The other members of the Committee are Owen Roberts (London), Filippo Delpino (Rome), Andres de Asboth (Buenos Aires). Elisabeth Gerstner is the International Secretary.

(Taken from WORLD TRENDS No.33, April 1973)