...Con'd and Last Post
+ Lefebvre Conference to MJCF, March 1989
Now and then, others quit us saying: ' You aren't sedevacantist...oh well...we are leaving.' What am I to do? Some others grow weary. They say: 'You are too critical of the Pope, so I am also leaving.' Eventually, three months later these priests celebrate the New Mass, and practically abandon tradition. There.
[Time 1:00:36]
Is it not true that, this is the case concerning those who have recently left us, since I did these consecrations, who say: ' Oh! no! we want to be with Rome, no no!, we want to be with the Pope.' Well! I am not against the Pope. I am not against the Pope as pope, but unfortunately I am against what he is teaching and doing, because these are not conformed to the doctrine of the Church. It is not in my power, I can't change it...you simply have to read his books, and you will see. In addition, not conformed to all the encyclicals of the popes preceding Vatican II.
So there you have the spirit of the Society. It is at the same time a spirit of doctrine, doctrinal spirit - serious, profound - just like the Church has always required to possess, as we were taught at the universities, for example, the Gregorian University, the Angelicuм University, (the Dominicans), the Lateran University...there are three important universities in Rome, which predictably produced about half of all the bishops in the world, from these roman universities. In fact, this was the lodge, the top most place, to form bishops. Subsequently the bishops form the priests in the seminaries, this is really important. These universities had kept the doctrine for centuries, centuries and centuries. Then suddenly, now- collapse! It is unbelievable, unbelievable, unbelievable... The present rector of the Lateran University, has been denounced for heresy by His Excellency Gagnon, by Cardinal Gagnon. During his visit there he said: 'This rector of the University, of the Lateran University, teaches heretical theses. Therefore, he must be removed.' He asked Paul VI, (Paul VI had asked him to make this visit to the University), and the Cardinal Vicar of Rome affixed his veto...he didn't want him to leave! So he is still the Rector of the Lateran University; ten years ago he should have been removed and chased away. Good grief! People who teach heresy, who have been officially recognized for teaching heresies, still have their positions; and I, who does not teach any heresy, evidently, am pursued by Rome...
But you will tell me: 'Your Excellency, why did you go ahead with the consecrations? It is grave etc, it is grave.' For sure it is grave! Exactly. So much so that I stayed in Rome for six months, trying to ask and convince Rome to give me some bishops, grant me these traditional bishops, but they didn't want to. They didn't want me to have traditional bishops. They feared that Tradition would be kept alive. If they granted traditional bishops, Tradition would survive. But they don't want any Tradition! 'It must be that Vatican II reigns supreme, now, the ideas of Vatican II reign, but Tradition is hostile towards the ideas of Vatican II, therefore we disown Tradition. If and when we give the Archbishop some traditionalist bishops, we will lose. We would be frustrated...relentlessly...we wouldn't be able to suppress tradition.'
So I asked for three...three traditional bishops. And I had already submitted the dossiers. AND THEY HAD SIGNED in the Protocol! In the Protocol they had that! But this isn't the case in the new Protocol that Dom Gerard was asked to sign...they removed this. But it was signed, that they were to give me a bishop - a least one. Clearly, they weren't against my having a traditional bishop. I had the authorization from Rome, practically speaking, to make a traditional bishop. He wasn't designated yet, the name wasn't settled upon, but the principle itself - to give me traditional bishops - was received by Rome. Furthermore, you can't say that I proceeded without Rome! Not at all. It was completely the opposite. I did it with Rome. But then in practice, they refused to give me a bishop. Always postponing, postponing, postponing, and they didn't want to give me what I was presenting. Remember, it was I who had to present the candidates, that was agreed upon; it was I who had to present the names. The long and short of it, they refused the names that I supplied. They wanted more names till eventually they could have, as they said it: ' ...the profile that we desire.' Well, ha ha, this profile that they so desire, I can easily guess, be assured.
So they dragged on like this, indefinitely, saying: 'Ah! ah! the names that you presented... they won't do! Give us more. ' Until they would have perceived one who would have been somewhat favourable to compromise, etc. When I saw that, I told myself: 'It is useless, useless, isn't it so?' Really, they are rabidly against Tradition. I personally had requested that the six...seven, seven members of the Roman Commission, would all be traditionalists...that they would represent Tradition in Rome. Ideally, there would have been a Commission for Tradition in Rome consisting of traditionalists. 'No no! that is not possible, not possible, not possible...no no.' Eventually, they agreed to two traditional members out of seven, keeping the rest for themselves... president, vice president and so forth. Interestingly enough, consider what transpired with Dom Gerard and the others: obviously, they don't have bishops. It is absolutely out of the question to consecrate a traditionalist bishop. They must choose strictly from existing bishops. They told me that, oh! so many times: 'You don't need a bishop! When you will be recognized by Rome, then you can select any bishop you desire.' I don't want to have a bishop teaching Liberalism to my seminarians...in addition: 'the Council! the Council! the Council!' Absurd! So now they don't have bishops, limited to finding bishops here and there; additionally they have made eight members in the Roman Commission, devoid of any traditionalists. They appointed eight members and all are members of roman congregations...they didn't give one, not even one! There is no protection, they aren't protected. As things progress, little by little the weight of the Council will gain traction. Slowly, they will take the time it takes, so as to attract the greatest possible number of our people, to leave the Society, quit Tradition, and eventually find their way to those who placed themselves under the actual roman authority, and the authority of the bishops, finally under these bishops.
As you can see, all this is laborious, very laborious! It is a on-going struggle, on-going, on-going. But I think the Good God wants us to continue fighting this combat, God wants this. Personally, last year, I can assure you, last year everything happened miraculously. Truly, truly. This date of June 30, is the pinnacle of the entire year you see...because six months - six months, June 30...consider it the pinnacle of the year; in addition to the Feast of Sts Peter and Paul, then the Feast of St. Paul the following day, THE APOSTLES of Rome, all this, personally, was miraculous. This occasion was extraordinary, extraordinary...And if you happened to witness it, the atmosphere was, it must be said... a celestial atmosphere. Truly, truly. I am convinced that the Good God blesses this endeavour, the Society...He has always blessed it. Me, how can I express it? I don't want to look back and perhaps become prey to acts of self-love etc. hey! But I don't understand anything. I don't comprehend what I am doing. How is it that in the space of sixty-five years, in the space of twenty years, (soon I will be eighty-five years old), how was it possible that I could establish all these seminaries, worldwide, and all these seminarians...all these priests who presently preach the Truth, offering the true sacrifice of the Mass, give the true sacraments which impart grace to the souls, all this...leading souls etc. If you only knew the number of letters I received since June 30...it is unimaginable what I receive in the mail! People write: 'Your Lordship, you can not believe how much we thank you!' I can only thank the Good God; I am simply an instrument. Very probably, if He would have chosen someone else it would have been much better...but you know, all developed like this. It is what it is... (inaudible) 'You can not believe our deepest gratitude...and if our family kept the Faith, it is wholly because of your priests! ' ' Your Excellency, if we have rediscovered the Tradition, it is because of your priests, the catechism that they taught, because of the schools that you possess...because of everything that relates to Tradition.' I must say, we are not the only ones, it's not only the Society. I talk about the Society simply because you requested that I talk of the Society...With God's grace we have our dear Dominicans, Abbe Lequarune (sp ?), the Capuchins. There was Dom Gerard whom we loved greatly, and still do - he has decided to cut ties with us. Again, you have all these priests; these too continue with Tradition, who are with us, and more. We fraternize, so we are numerous, nevertheless...there is an atmosphere, all over the globe, in every country.
This is very consoling. I really can't believe that God cannot but rejoice in heaven on high, or that the Saints in heaven, the Angels in heaven, not rejoicing when they gaze upon our seminarians ...when they sing; offering and chanting the beautiful Gregorian masses. What else can I add? All this Tradition collected by the youth, they rejoice to make of it the basis of their spiritual life, well, they can sense it, the presence of the Holy Ghost, exactly like Our Lord had willed it should be, don't you think? And all these religious (feminine): think of the Carmelites, the Dominicans, think of our Sisters, all this, the many chants raised to heaven according to Tradition ...it isn't possible that heaven isn't jubilant hearing all this anew...
What have they done? Where can we hear this nowadays? Finished! Finished! Lamentable. The religious congregations are sinking, steeply sinking, isn't it so? My religious society, the Holy Ghost Fathers, finished! A society that will disappear. All are advanced in age, recruitment halted, and the formation that is given to the few postulants has nothing in common with a catholic formation, of the formation of veritable priests. All this is disastrous, absolutely disastrous.
Voilà ! There you have the spirit... we have both the doctrine and the missionary spirit, because we profess that there is only one path, one religion, only one road to reach heaven, our eternal happiness, partaking of that joy, partaking of the beatific vision of God Himself, in His Holy Trinity, shining like the sun: Father, Son the Word, and Holy Ghost, delighting among themselves this vision, an unimaginable vision of which we have no idea, of which we have no idea, not imaginable - of splendour, of happiness, of of... Extraordinary. Certainly, we are nothing compared to all that, but God has decided to make us participants of this happiness, of His proper vision. He wants us to enter, in some way, in the Holy Trinity, which is why He desires to bestow sanctifying grace on us so that already, the Holy Trinity dwelling within us, and developing within ourselves, will in some manner penetrate this happiness, His castle (residence)...enter this most intimate castle, His Trinity - that's it; there He wants to share this, His happiness, and He had prepared everything for that, and He did everything for that...and mankind had abandoned Him... And He wanted to return to the world, to die for us, to grant us the way, once more, to show the way; therefore there is but One way- not thirty-six!
Now, what can we conclude? Well, let us convert everyone to Our Lord Jesus-Christ! There is no problem! This is what the missionaries did, all the apostles, all the saints. They had this desire to go to distant lands and shout to the peoples: 'But come to Jesus-Christ! Come to Jesus-Christ! It is the only way to save yourselves.' Of course, some had there heads cut off, sometimes, but what do you want? It is like that, ha ha ha... 'So, you want to remove our gods, you work against our gods?...well...there!' a lance, an arrow only, and they perished. Frightening. They became martyrs...there was a great number of martyrs for sure. It is clear. What do you expect? All the Apostles were martyred...all were killed by the enemy of Our Lord, because, logically, when we declare that Our Lord is the only way, it is condemning their religion.
Ah! condemning their religion... If the apostles would have said: 'No no no, we aren't saying that of your religion...no no no!.. we ask that you give us a tiny spot in the Pantheon. We were told that you have erected a magnificent monument, roman, a magnificent masterpiece, containing the symbols of all the religions. We are only asking for a small place for Our Lord, a little place in your Pantheon.' Then: ' Ah! Sure, no problem, anything else?.., no problem.' But when they said: 'Your gods- zero; there is only ours.' Oh! What?!' You will see! Then, you will see! They would hang them, tear them...Poor St. Peter, dead, head down, on the cross, and St. Paul decapitated, and these saints and saints (feminine) like St. Cecilia, St Agatha, I think of many... Concerning St. Cecilia, they truly wanted to save her; they explained to her: ' Listen. Go to your home and we will just send you some things to eat, that's all. These will be meats that were offered to our idols, but we won't tell anyone. We won't talk to anyone about it. If you accept this, to eat these meats, privately, we shan't pursue you, we shan't massacre you.' Ha! You have to hear her reply! Sent them on a hike. 'No possibility, no possibility of doing such a thing!' She preferred death, no question.
Voilà! voilà! This is having faith in Jesus-Christ. We of the twentieth century, nothing has changed, from God's point of view, nothing has changed. The choice is ours: you must know it - do we choose Our Lord or follow another path, or do we abandon Him? We don't have this right.
This is the Fraternity, and nothing else. we strive to stay on the way as best we can, the one the martyrs traced, the missionaries travelled, we try to follow them...to imitate, to share the same faith, the same ideals. Moreover I know that you are doing this and congratulate you. You are missionaries, important missionaries, because since the MJCF was founded God only knows the number of vocations that were realized. I am not certain if you made the total count, so, you too!, don't look back!! - to avoid having too much vanity, ha ha ha,...but personally I am inclined to say about one hundred, very close to a hundred, the fruit...magnificent! not counting the christian households. That is also part of the restoration, we must have christian families, and God surely knows that there are more and more. There is a generation which is rising, incredible! The number of children! Unimaginable! Today we can witness in the chapel of Econe, the crusaders, they will receive /pronounce their promise; others are to become cavaliers; others this , others that...all these small children, ever increasing, but it highlights this band of children...Unbelievable, in the Valais which is not a huge state. This!... Clearly this is Tradition, it is the Church! The renewal of the Church. In our chapels we are usually witnessing this; really splendid, these families of five, six, seven, eight children, it's growing and growing and growing! Of course, it will be from these families that vocations will come, and from these families, they will seek youthful recruits; the future of the Church, the renewal of the Church, trust me. But to those on the sidelines, they don't understand: their advice to prevent acquiring AIDS, 'just take the means, find out for yourselves but, ...make love if you want, it doesn't matter,' pshaw! This is what the bishops say. What to do? For them it isn't possible.
I congratulate you with all my heart for your organization. Your organization is absolutely admirable...plus missionary, yes! Precisely! We must make efforts to gather souls for Jesus-Christ and, is it not the case, some have strayed and thus have a long road to really comprehend the reality, the truth? May the Good God bless your work and your directors, and now, I see that I have continued past the hour, and I don't want to abuse of your patience, so, I want to thank you.
The End [time 1:21:12]
Translated Nov. 3, 2021
Footnotes:
1. [Search domain wikipedia.co/index.php?title=Christismwikipedia.co/index.php?title=Christism
Christism is a theological-philosophical movement, named for its understanding of Jesus as a simple teacher of morals, in direct contrast to traditional Christ-worshiping Christianity.]
2. [
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1892331322/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=1892331322&linkCode=as2&tag=httpwwwchanco-20 />3. February 18, 1971
4. (That He May Reign) [or is it: Christ, Lord of Nations?]
5. The translation is word for word, whereas the official translation is slightly different: "We adhere with all our heart and all our soul to Catholic Rome, guardian of the Catholic Faith, and the traditions necessary to maintain it, and to Eternal Rome, mistress of wisdom and truth. etc. Ref: Open Letter to Confused Catholics pp. 140-141
6. 'Les Principes de la Théologie Catholique - Esquisse et Matériaux' , Paris: Tequi, 1982 pp 426-427
'If one is looking for a global analysis of the text [of Gaudium et Spes], one could say that it (along with the texts on Religious Liberty and World Religions) is the Syllabus of Pius IX revised, a kind of counter-Syllabus...' (unofficial translation)
7. Cannot determine if this is attributed to Ratzinger or to Pius IX, probably Ratzinger.
8. Original recording momentarily goes blank
The End of the Morning Conference.