(https://traditioninaction.org/Questions/Images/A_004_SDP-ASGinstudy.jpg) Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira, left, edits the Portuguese text of In the Murky Waters of Vatican II. Atila Sinke Guimarães, at right, takes note of the corrections. They are working in front of a small statue of Our Lady of Good Success. |
“The words of Your Eminence that ‘the TFP does not hide its opposition to Vatican Council II ... and takes a critical attitude in relation to the Mass of Paul VI in favor of that of St. Pius V,’ also contains erroneous information.From the time the letter was written until today, all the practical evidence indicates that the TFP is keeping its side of that bargain, maintaining a position of non-militancy in face of the infiltration of Progressivism in the Catholic Hierarchy.
“The attitude of those who belong to the TFP toward Vatican Council II and the Mass of Paul VI is quite nuanced. With regard to the latter, the TFP always has maintained a discrete position, and does not want to make public certain theological difficulties raised by the Novus Ordo Missae. It is waiting for a full elucidation of the subject from the supreme authority of the Church.
“In face of the very grave problems that afflict the Church in our days - so often mentioned by H.H. John Paul II - this is the position, Your Eminence, of the great majority of the members, supporters and correspondents of the TFP:“In view of this, they are trying to accompany the debates over these questions that surge here and there in the ecclesiastical sphere, waiting for the matter to be duly clarified.
- “They admit that they are perplexed over certain reforms and certain events that have taken place in the Church since the pontificate of John XXIII;
- “This perplexity is defined as a non-comprehension and an uneasiness;
- “This perplexity is not an affirmation that there is error in these events and these reforms, and it is also not an affirmation that there is not error. Those who make up the TFP, even if they are instructed Catholics, declare themselves incapable of resolving all the very complex theological, moral, canonical and liturgical questions that are at the root of this uneasiness.
“While they wait for this clarification, they adhere entirely to the terms set out by Pope John Paul II in his Apostolic Letter Ecclesia Dei, and that are contained in the protocol that various traditionalist groups have signed with the Vatican [which affirms]: ‘With regard to some doctrines taught by Vatican Council II, or with regard to later reforms, liturgical or of Canon Law, that can seem difficult to reconcile with declarations of the previous Magisterium, I assume the obligation of maintaining a positive attitude of study and communication with the Apostolic See, avoiding any polemic.’
“I pledge my word as a priest to guarantee Your Eminence that this balanced and conciliatory attitude has always been adopted by those who belong to the TFP, and that they have no intention of abandoning it.”
(https://traditioninaction.org/Questions/Images/A_004_SDP_aftercouncil.jpg) At the airport, Prof. Plinio, left, leaves Rome after the first session of Vatican II |
We are well aware of the story told by TIA of their claimed separation from TFP. We have read the docuмents presented by Atila to support this claim.
https://www.traditioninaction.org/HotTopics/Internet_Files/F142_Defense_Eng.pdf (https://www.traditioninaction.org/HotTopics/Internet_Files/F142_Defense_Eng.pdf)
Problem One:
Why did Atila fight so hard to remain attached to TFP?
Plinio Correa de Oliveira’s group, TFP, was condemned by the Catholic Church in Brazil and Venezuala.
"In its 23rd General Assembly, April 10 to 19, 1985, the Bishops approved in plenary session a notice regarding the TFP. It therefore has all the official character of an Assembly of the Bishops of Brazil in Conference, and not simply a press release. The notice reads as follows: "Its esoteric character, religious fanaticism, the cult given to the personality of its founder and head, the abusive use of the name of Most Holy Mary, according to circulated information, cannot in any way merit the approval of the Church. "We lament the difficulties flowing from a civil society which presents itself as a Catholic religious entity, without a tie to the legitimate pastors.
"This being the case, the Bishops of Brazil exhort Catholics not to enroll in the TFP, and not to collaborate with it.
"The above stated was signed by +Dom Raymundo Damasceno Asas, Secretary-General of the Conference on National Bishops of Brazil on April 23, 1997."
Immaculate Heart Messenger, ed. Father Robert J. Fox. January - March 1998 edition p. 29.
In 1984 the local T.F.P. branch was outlawed in Venezuela, accused by a special parliamentary commission of being a "cult ... which warps the minds of young people, turns its members into fanatics and brainwashes them".
Osservatore Romano, July 7, 1985, p. 12, n. 408, weekly Spanish edition quoted in Tradizione Famiglia Proprietà: Associazione cattolica o sètta millenarista?, Rimini 1996, frontispiece
http://www.unitypublishing.com/Apparitions/TFP-AmericaNeedsFatima.htm (http://www.unitypublishing.com/Apparitions/TFP-AmericaNeedsFatima.htm)
Plinio Correa de Oliveira’s group, TFP, was condemned by the civil authorities in Brazil. This was reported by investigator Thomas Case in Fidelity, the monthly organ of the highly conservative Ultra-Montanists in its May 1989 issue.
https://ephesians511blog.com/2013/09/28/america-needs-fatima-a-cult-using-the-fatima-name/ (https://ephesians511blog.com/2013/09/28/america-needs-fatima-a-cult-using-the-fatima-name/)
TFP had been repeatedly accused by the Brazilian authorities of “inducement to flight, reckless transfer, and concealment of minors”–and this despite TFP’s own slavish devotion to the military regime.
Young men were alleged to have been deceitfully recruited by TFP, to be trained in their academies as “warrior monks” for the cause.
According to the Brazilian government, TFP sought to obtain legal guardianship over the minor children of parents dedicated to TFP and then turned their sons against both them and the mainstream church, regarded by TFP loyalists as an institutional fraud.
Problem Two:
Why did TIA wait over 20 years to post the purported letter from TFP? It was supposedly written in 1997, but not made available to the public until after 2017.
TIA’s story is:
“In January 2017, TIA hosted an Event (sic) celebrating the publishing in English of the 11-volume Collection Eli. Eli Lamma Sabacthani? by Atila Sinke Guimarães. . .”
At that event, those present raised questions regarding “the expulsion of Atila from the TFP” and “insisted that a translation of it to English should be available to the public.”
In response to those questions, Marian Horvat began to translate the supposed docuмent from Portuguese to English.
Problem Three:
For a letter purportedly from a hostile presient of the TFP organization from which Atila is, supposedly being cut off, it is surprisingly full of praise for Atila:
This is from:
“The Letter of the President of the TFP to Atila Sinke Guimarães, November 20, 1997
. . . Very dear Mr. Atila, because of your elevation of sights, your gifts of intelligence, your energy and, above all, the many graces that Our Lady has poured over you, you have a great role to carry out in the Counter-Revolution and in the TFP. . . I take leave with inalterable esteem.”
Thats. Just. Odd.
I loved many of the Catholic legends and stories that are told on the TIA website. They are very inspirational. I must have read so many of them when I was a new convert. Food for the soul. I hope they are good people. Like that the Cross was made of a dogwood tree.Are you saying that you are willing to overlook the heresy of Atila (in saying God Almighty Creator of the Universe is less important than Plinio) because you like reading the sweetness mixed in with the poison?
Are you saying that you are willing to overlook the heresy of Atila (in saying God Almighty Creator of the Universe is less important than Plinio) because you like reading the sweetness mixed in with the poison?What? No response?
What is your response to this statement of Atila on his own TIA website?
The great Moses with his burning bush on the top of Sinai does not make me jealous. For if he were there with God for 40 days, I have been with Dr. Plinio for 33 years. And in this relationship I see, perhaps, more of the divine presence than he before the sacred bush. And I guard the hope that I still may win the dispute with this Prophet when I shall pass from this exile to the Fatherland.