District Superior's Letter to Friends & Benefactors
September 2012
Dear Friends and Benefactors,
Returning from the General Chapter of the Society of St. Pius X, I would like to thank you for your generous prayers for the intentions of this important meeting.
The Chapter, gathering all superiors and elder priests of the Society, went very well. . .
Response: Really? Well, according to Bishop Tissier de Mallerais, the Chapter meeting was a “disaster,” and he is no anonymous sedevacantist-leaning strawman to conveniently beat up on.
As you may have already read in the official declaration of the Chapter, a profound unity was recovered - unity in our essential mission, unity in our actions, as well as unity of government under our Superior General, His Excellency Bishop Bernard Fellay. . .
Response: Sure, and voting Bishop Williamson out of the Chapter gathering worked wonders to achieve that end. “Might makes right,” as they say!
This is a great grace for which we must be very grateful. . .
Response: Yes, along the lines of Summorum Pontificuм and the bogus unexcommunications of 2009. We get it.
Once again, thank you for your prayers.
It is now time for us to reflect on the events of the past few months, and why this unity was shaken in some. . .
Response: “Reflect”? . . . or accuse, shame, intimidate, distort, and discredit? Thank you, but you can keep your self-serving spin and patronizing attempt at damage-control.
The first reason is obviously the delicate situation we are in. . .
Response: Uh, who’s “we”? Last I heard, it’s a simple “take-it-or-leave-it” proposition. We choose to leave it. Nothing “delicate” about it. Delicate only for those who want to hide behind the mental gymnastics of relativism because they know they’re up to no good. Truth is simple and clear.
Our relationship with Rome has always been a sensitive and complicated situation. . .
Response: Really? That’s news to me. I thought it came down to choosing TRUTH over ERROR. “Sensitive” and “complicated” are code words for relativism or when one is about to put up a smokescreen to blend away an uncomfortable truth. Things are typically deemed as being “too complicated” or “sensitive” when one tries to avoid giving a straight answer. Nice try.
However, it is not the first time we have had to deal with such complex affairs. . .
Response: Yes, we can see there’s been plenty of practice since the new orientation of the NSSPX.
So how did it become, for at least a few, so uncomfortable that some lost confidence in the Society and, in particular, our Superior General? . . .
Response: Uh, we somehow think it has to do with the grotesque pattern of silencing and expelling SSPX priests who rightly wish to remain faithful to the teachings of Archbishop Lefebvre and the denial of the Sacraments to the faithful who courageously stand up to the Menzingen partyline. Just a hunch, but witch hunts usually aren’t very good confidence builders. You might want to try something a little different. “Transparency” . . . now there’s a concept!
Looking back on those events, it is clear that there was an organized agenda on the part of some, intending to destabilize the Society of St. Pius X. . .
Response: We couldn’t agree more! Let’s start with Benedict XVI and modernist Rome!
For years, some small groups - with increasing aggression in recent months - have attacked and tried to undermine the Society. . .
Response: Yes, we think they’re called “strawmen.” No worries though! They’re easy to beat up on and argue against. In fact, they don’t even hit back!
The Superior General and those who supported him were criticized from every angle. Everything was analyzed, not to find the truth, but in order to sow division. It is obvious that some have used every means they could to plant discord within the Society. . .
Response: Well I’ll be darned . . . I think the Ayatollah said something similar about the U.S. back in ’79! Imagine that!
The first avenue used was to discredit the superiors; to lead step by step to a loss of confidence. They used continual attacks, calumnies, and distorted truths, repeating them again and again, following the well-known revolutionary adage: “Lie, lie, something will always remain.” This means that by repeating false accusations, something will eventually be believed as true; little by little, these attacks sunk into the minds of some. . .
Response: As they say, “It takes one to know one.” Straight out of the pages of the Menzingen Crackdown Manual.
This trend is nothing new. . .
Response: Agreed. Practice makes perfect . . . drones. “Rome has changed, Rome has changed, Rome has changed!” “No thinking, no thinking, no thinking!” “Pay-pray-and-obey, pay-pray-and-obey, pay-pray-and-obey!”
For years, primarily sedevacantist websites have disseminated their poisonous venom with the goal of dividing and even, if possible, destroying the Society of St. Pius X. . .
Response: What you’re really trying to say is that those who don’t agree with Menzingen are somehow all sedevacantists. Just come out and say it, why don’t you? No need to mince words. We get it.
For years they have accused, in a most fallacious way, that Bishop Fellay governs the Society with a small group of priests, with the majority of priests opposed. They allege that Bishop Fellay wants to “sell out” the Society; that his goal is not the restoration of the Church or of Tradition - but to betray the work of Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre. They spread the rumor that the Society has already betrayed its founder. For years they have prophesied that Bishop Fellay is going to compromise. . .
Response: “Yes! Lies, all of them! Bishop Fellay has been most gracious and understanding and has never expelled or threatened to expel anyone. Uh, they who left ‘expelled themselves’ so to speak. As for the denial of the Sacraments to the laity who don’t shut up? Persecutory fantasies, all of them! And ‘compromise’? What compromise? We fervently ‘hope’ that Vatican II is in line with Tradition. In fact, we accept 95% of it and don’t treat it as some ‘super-heresy’ or some other form of incendiary exaggeration. All we’re asking for is a ‘practical’ agreement before a doctrinal one. Is that so bad? And regardless of what the good Archbishop might have said in the past, the key is not to take his words literally but to understand them in the proper context of his time. Things were different then. Rome has changed now—even if we were ‘duped’ by Benedict XVI! He didn’t mean it. That letter he wrote to us about our needing to accept Vatican II and the New Mass 100% in order to be canonically regularized? That’s not what he ‘really’ believes. He just had to say it as Pope. Deep down inside, he’s an anonymous SSPXer! Now, we certainly don’t negate the wise warnings of our venerable Founder. His words are ‘living’ words, however, and must be understood in light of Vatican II.”
All these rumors and false accusations have been spread on the Internet with many insults.
Over the past months, during which these attacks have intensified, it is noteworthy that most of the “indiscretions,” “leaks” and rumors about the Society were released on sedevacantist sites and newly-opened sites animated by the same spirit. . .
Response: Why, who’s checking? . . . Clearly, someone’s got WAY too much time in his hands. Yikes! As for this “same spirit,” would you rather the “spirit of Assisi”? If it’s any consolation, perhaps these bloggers didn’t blog “together” but simply “at the same time.”
The fury and relentlessness of these attacks - and for the most part, anonymously - is clearly obvious. . .
Response: Yes, we should all just “come out in the open” to make it easier for you and Menzingen to pick us off. Transparency is a one-way street. We get it.
They have demonstrated by their work of destruction how they are, in reality, enemies of Tradition and of the restoration of all things in Christ the King. . .
Response: No need to beat up on yourselves so severely! . . . But who are we to stop you? Please do go on. We’ve got our buttered popcorns ready.
They try to appear in sheep’s clothing, but in reality they are wolves trying to scatter and divide the flock. They in fact show more hatred toward the Society than the anti-Catholic media! . . .
Response: Well, if you insist. Some, though, might protest that you’re being WAY too hard on yourselves. Just stop the Stalinist crackdowns, restore the rank and honor of ALL the unjustly expelled SSPX priests, make Bishop Williamson our new Superior General, send Bishop Fellay off to a remote post in Eastern Europe (where they don’t speak English, French, German, Spanish, or Double-Speak and where the potatoes don’t grow), . . . and we’ll call it a day. Simple!
I caution the faithful not to be deceived - especially on the Internet. Please be aware of “cyber-gossip” which is even more damaging than if it is done in person because it can be done anonymously and because of how many eyes it can reach in a short period of time. As a matter of fact, “cyber-gossiping” should be taken as a moral fault and as seriously as any kind of rumor, not only in spreading them but in going after them as well. . .
Response: Yeah, maybe it would be more tasteful if these things took place at a fancy, over-priced gathering at a Kansas City airport hotel over cheesy drinks and “wedding food.” Now that’s doing it with some “class”!
The declaration of the General Chapter shows once again, and against all the false prophecies, that the Society of St. Pius X remains united behind our Superior General. . .
Response: There were false prophecies? . . . False prophets like the “prophets of doom” we were warned about in John XXIII’s opening speech at the Council?
The Society remains faithful to its essential mission and to the work and spirit of our founder Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre. . .
Response: Yes, . . . no thanks to you and Bishop Fellay. The SSPX certainly lives on in the work of her holy and courageous priests who have preferred to spend their time doing the REAL work of priests generously ADMINISTERING the Sacraments to save souls . . . rather than feverishly patrolling the internet and WITHOLDING the Sacraments, as though they were some sort of club to be wielded. . . The good shepherds of the SSPX know their sheep and their sheep know them!
The United States District will continue to inform you faithfully and truly on our websites (sspx.org and dici.org) about the fight for the restoration of all things in Christ the King. . .
Response: We won’t be holding our breaths. Now please go back to PR school or hire someone who can be a more convincing mouthpiece for Menzingen. We’re not terribly amused or impressed, and we’re certainly not spooked.
With my prayers and blessing in the Immaculate Heart of Mary,
Fr. Arnaud Rostand
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