Angelus Press sent the bishops of the Society of St. Pius X some questions in commemoration of their 20th anniversary as bishops of the Catholic Church. Bishop de Galarreta could not answer the questionnaire, but the answers we received are here presented.
"Fundamentally, nothing has changed, at least as far as the principles leading us are concerned. However, the number of members has changed–it has more than doubled if not tripled since the consecrations."
When we cast a look upon the Church in 2008, we don't see that much has changed fundamentally in the state of the Church. All the principles which, in the past, have provoked the crisis of the Church are still at work. On one point only, we could say that there was some change which might bring about some further change in the future, I mean the opening caused by the Motu Proprio on the Tridentine Mass. Yet, I must say again that the consequences of the principles inoculated into the veins of the Mystical Body at the Council are continuing to produce their disastrous effects. Now, maybe some prelates are more keenly aware of the damage done. Maybe some of them are looking for solutions, but they do not give us the impression of having found them. Among the younger clergy, a number of priests are very unhappy with the situation and are also looking for solutions and turning their eyes toward Tradition.
Fundamentally, nothing has changed, at least as far as the principles leading us are concerned. However, the number of members has changed–it has more than doubled if not tripled since the consecrations. We are presently helping souls in more than 60 countries. In the five continents, the Society of St. Pius X numbers over 400 priests, including priests who are helping us without belonging to the Society.
It would take me too long to count them exactly. I think I can safely say that I have visited at least 40 countries, and maybe more.
What impressed me most is unity. Everywhere I meet this unity in the reaction against the universal crisis in the Church, and in the choice of the solution, which is to adhere to Tradition, first of all by holding fast to the Tridentine Mass and to the old liturgy with all its consequences.
Most probably, there would have been divisions. We would have had some little boats remaining afloat here and there. But, in the end, there would not have been much left.
It is true that the election of a new pope in 2005 has given rise to some hope, and maybe even to a great hope among the faithful and priests. But, now again, I have the impression that, despite the Motu Proprio, a certain discouragement is coming back in the face of the opposition met by this effort to overcome the crisis. There is something definitely encouraging in the expectation of the younger generation. However, the younger generation is largely ignorant of its past, and, at times, even of its faith.
To the preachers or prophets of 1988, we would just ask them to look at reality, the reality of the non-schism of the Society of St. Pius X, a reality which is recognized by Rome no matter what they might say to the contrary, or the threats they might use.
The answer is very simple. The Society will consecrate future bishops only if and when it finds itself in the same situation as in 1988, that is to say, in a state of necessity. For the time being, the four bishops are sufficient to provide for the needs of the faithful and for new ordinations. The future is in God's hands. I am not much preoccupied by this question.
I don't think that the death of the Archbishop has changed anything. Thank God! the guidelines which he gave at the time when he founded the Society of St. Pius X have been kept. We can still admire the clearness of vision he had then. The directives he gave us are still leading us in this our present fight for the survival of the Catholic Church. The election of the new pope, as I said, has certainly brought about a certain hope. But we are still expecting a concrete solution for this overall crisis in the Church. I mean that for the time being, all we have is the hope of an improvement. As of now, even the Motu Proprio does not really affect the life of the Church very much.
I would tell them that there is no such thing as a cause of the SSPX. There is the cause of the Church. There is the cause of Tradition. The Church cannot survive if she does not adhere strictly to her Tradition. The future of the Church is grounded in its past. Our Lord Jesus Christ remains the Head of the Church. He founded His Church on the rock, on a stone which is Peter. If, today, the Church wants to remain the Catholic Church, it cannot do without these cornerstones, nor without the teachings, the faith, and the life which come from Our Lord Jesus Christ. We are fighting to keep these heirlooms and treasures, not for us but for the Church. This is the fight we are leading. Merely to try to have situations regularized with the Church is probably just a waste of time as long as we don't deal first with the major problems.
I have so many that I would not know where to start. I had the happiness of working for a whole year at his side. It was my first year in the priesthood, and a very rich year, of course. And maybe what was most striking was to see how he fulfilled his daily duties. In his daily life, far from the great actions and all the important issues, I could observe the hidden virtues at work.
It might be the year I spent in Albano. My class was the first to be sent there, and we lived for a whole year close to Rome. At the seminary in Albano, many things occurred which made life quite an adventure. It was wonderful to be so close to the heart of the Church and to be able to visit all these beautiful monuments of Catholicism and of Catholicity. But I must say that all my seminary years were a most happy time in my life.
I would say that the Motu Proprio does change fundamentally the situation of the Tridentine Mass as far as the law is concerned; in Latin, you would say de jure. But, unfortunately, up to now, in reality, de facto, almost nothing has changed. And so the real fight for the Mass continues as before. We can find in this Motu Proprio an alibi to help priests, to support them, to introduce them to the beauties, the strength, and the might of the Mass of all time.
No, the fight for doctrine is and remains always as important. If we do not have the Faith, we have nothing, not even the Mass. The Mass without the Faith is like a roof without the walls. Doctrine is and remains the fundamental reason for our battle.
You've said it. Obviously, until now Bishop Rifan was an exception. I have recently heard that one or two priests from Ecclesia Dei societies might be chosen as future bishops. My impression is that they are bi-ritual priests. Time will tell. I have no doubt that, due to the lack of priests and their lack of formation, the future will, of necessity, bring about the consecration of some bishops with a more traditional frame of mind. When will that happen? I don't know. In any case, this will only be a matter of circumstances. So Archbishop Lefebvre was right.
We might have to face some confusion, or a confusing state of things since the present pope, Benedict XVI, asserts that the Church cannot live without her Tradition and at the same time supports the changes of Vatican II, thus giving the strange impression that these changes were traditional. This, indeed, could cause a serious confusion. Some members of the Church, religious communities, priests, may come closer to us due to this new situation. To help them to really adhere to and be rooted in tradition will be a great challenge, which we must face.
He would say exactly what he said in 1988. Nothing has changed.
Today's world is dangerous because of its many charms, temptations. Parents must imbue their children with Catholic thinking and a Catholic way of life before the poison gets to them. For this, children need their parents' good examples. Parents need Catholic doctrine and the Catholic life which are promised to them in the sacrament of marriage. May they live from the grace of the sacrament of matrimony, from the sacrifice of the Mass, and from the sacraments. And then I would advise them to entrust their whole family to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
I would like to tell them that they are certainly not deprived of grace and that God is calling today as He was yesterday. They must not fear this world, neither should they fear their call and vocation. They have to be strengthened by their daily dedication to the fulfillment of their duties of state.
First of all, the catechism, the old catechism, then, of course, the Gospel, the Imitation of Christ, then some books about the crisis. The first book of all is the Holy Eucharist.
Well, it is in God's hands. The situation will probably get worse, but it is almost impossible to foresee to what extent. We might end up in a very dramatic political as well as economic situation. Nevertheless, God is mighty enough to bring good out of evil. He is the Master, He is divine Providence. So, whatever happens, we must cling to hope in Him and in the Mother to whom He has entrusted us and to whose advice He urges us to listen.
"...The great apostasy has been increasing; the youth are almost completely lost in impurity and drugs. The social kingship of Christ is completely destroyed by religious liberty and the rights of man. We are living the great apostasy of which St. Paul speaks...."
John Paul II did nothing to rebuild the Faith. The great apostasy has been increasing; the youth are almost completely lost in impurity and drugs. The social kingship of Christ is completely destroyed by religious liberty and the rights of man. We are living the great apostasy of which St. Paul speaks to the Thessalonians: "venerit dicessio primum" (II Thess. 2:3).
What kind of Society? The Fraternity of St. Pius X? If this, sure, the Fraternity has grown, thanks to God, from 150 to 450 priests; double the number of brothers. Not many new priories; better to secure the common life of priests! But many new missions everywhere. Not many new countries which are not necessary. We must develop what we have begun. This is sufficient.
Almost all the countries in which our priests work except Japan and Korea. How many would this be? Probably more than 30 or 40.
Of course, the many families with the many children. Sometimes more than ten children–marvelous! It is the effect of the grace of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. Also, with this come the many new schools for boys and girls, primary schools besides our priories in many places. Thus, church, priory and school are now the normal unit.
We would have died: old priests, only old priests, old Brothers, old Sisters, seminaries empty and dead; and no Fraternity of St. Peter nor anything else. Tradition would have died. So the bishops' consecrations were "un acte saveur." The "operation survival" has been a complete success, thanks to God and thanks to the heroic act of Archbishop Lefebvre!
No, nothing has changed. Only the motu proprio of July 7, 2007, was an unexpected miracle, and it changes radically the practice of the Holy See towards the traditional Mass. But, practically, the return to Tradition is small among the priests. Only young priests, a few of them, are interested. But as for religious liberty, the rights of man, the interest of Rome in our work: nothing has changed–induratio cordium! A hardening of the hearts, a blindness of the minds.
I answer: Where is the Church, my dears? Recognize the tree by its fruits. Where the fruits are, there the Church is. I do not mean that the Church is reduced to the Fraternity, but that her heart is in the Fraternity. The true Faith, the true teaching, the non-bastard sacraments: all this is in the Fraternity. Everywhere else, there is a mixture full of compromises because of liberalism and weakness of mind. The parallel Church is the Vatican II-Newchurch: her spirit, her new-religion or no-religion.
The answer is our perseverance, our existence. The miraculous continuation of Tradition. The consecration of the bishops was only a means to this end. No, Msgr. Lefebvre's death, the election of Benedict XVI, and so on were not events of significance. Really, no particular event happened during the past 20 years, but only the miracle of the survival of Tradition.
Many Catholics who began to fight alongside the Archbishop years ago now feel inclined to unite forces with a seemingly more conservative Rome by allying themselves with organizations with a more "regular status" within the Church.
Yes, many losses. Because of lack of principles, unfaithfulness to the fight of the Fraternity, seeking compromises, wishing peace, desiring the victory before the time foreseen by God. These poor people (priests, religious, lay people) are liberals and pragmatics. Seduced by the smiles of the people in the Vatican, I mean the prelates of the Roman Curia. People that were tired by the long, long combat for Faith: "Forty years, that's enough!" But this one will last 30 more years. So do not cease, do not seek "reconciliation," but fight on!
When, on October 13, 1969, he opened to us the door at 106, route de Marly, Fribourg, Switzerland, alone, without any priests, receiving us nine seminarians in the two flats that he had rented from the Salesian Fathers. Alone and 63 years old, and beginning all things with us, poor young men! This was moving, to see how he took care of us, giving us spiritual conferences, very simple, theological, with St. Thomas Aquinas and his experience as a missionary. An archbishop, former superior general of 3,000 members, former Apostolic Delegate, and now alone with nine young men to begin something for the sake of the priesthood, something of which he did not even know the future. Realize this faith!
Unbelievable! My first contact with the Summa of St. Thomas Aquinas during the marvelous lectures of Rev. Fr. Thomas Mehrle, O.P., who would come every week from Fribourg to teach us Christ and God at Ecône. How delightful it was to hear Fr. Mehrle commenting on the Summa and we, at the time, reading our Summa in Latin, the wonderful Latin of St. Thomas. How many hours of delight, every day, from 8:15 to 9, at my table in my room, with the Summa to meditate and to learn! And now, I do the same thing, exactly the same!
Absolutely not. Nothing has changed! The persecution against the actual young priests who retake the old Mass is the same as the persecution against the good priests, parish priests who, 40 years ago, remained faithful to the Mass of their ordination.
With very few exceptions, the bishops are enraged against the traditional Mass. Their new religion is against the true Mass, and the true Mass destroys their new false religion, a religion without sacrifice, expiation, satisfaction, divine justice, penance, self-denial, asceticism; the religion of the so called "love, love, love" that is nothing but words.
It is the same fight: ratio cultus, ratio fides. The rule of the Faith is the rule of the liturgy, and the rule of the liturgy is the rule of the Faith: lex orandi, lex credendi; lex credendi, lex orandi. The motto is reciprocal. The traditional Mass is the most magnificent expression of the Kingship of Christ, while regnavit a ligno Deus– God has reigned by the wood of the Cross. The mystery of Redemption, as a perfect and superabundant atonement for the sins of mankind is expressed in the traditional Mass. On the contrary, this mystery is darkened and blurred by the New Mass.
Consequently, the fight against religious liberty cannot be separated from the fight for the Mass. The same is true for the fight against ecumenism, because if Christ is God, so He is able to atone and satisfy by His Passion for all sins; also, He alone has the right to rule the civil laws according to the Gospel. I see no separation between the fight for the Mass, the fight for the Christian spirit of sacrifice, and the fight for the social kingship of Christ. The modernists see no difference between their new Mass, their refusal of the mystery of Redemption, and their denial of the social kingship of Jesus Christ. Tout se tient.
Yes, sure! The people in Rome (with some exceptions) do not want traditional bishops! They still do not want it. Occupied Rome cannot allow (to) herself traditional bishops existing in the Church. It would be the destruction of their destruction! Bishop Rifan had been duly brainwashed before he was "reconciled." He maintains the holy traditional Mass but no longer fights against the New Mass, religious liberty, and so on. He had to stop fighting.
Ecclesia Dei communities had to accept never to criticize the Second Vatican Council and the New Mass. They were silenced, and they accepted to remain silent. It was the price of their "reconciliation."
So Archbishop Lefebvre was fully right, as he stated only totally Catholic and totally free bishops, free from any influence of liberal Rome, could work for the sake of the Church until the conversion of the Pope.
First of all, our perseverance in refusing the errors of the Second Vatican Council. Secondly, our strength in refusing any "reconciliation" with occupied Rome. Thirdly, our growth in schools, academies, and colleges to sustain Catholic education and help families. Fourthly, resisting any persecution from the civil authorities and proclaiming Christianity as the only source of civilization.
He would denounce not only liberalism–that was the case with Paul VI–but modernism, which is the case of Benedict XVI: a true modernist with the whole theory of up-to-date modernism! It is so serious that I cannot express my horror. I keep silent. So Archbishop Lefebvre would shout: "You heretics, you pervert the Faith!"
Not only have children and many children, but rear them, educate them! Do not simply nourish them, do not simply feed them! And send them to true Catholic schools where they will be not only protected against the corruption of the world but also formed as Christian persons.
Do not "contemplate" it, do not even "try" it, but enter into it with decision and persevere in it! O God, poor wills!
For all, their missal (Mass book) and their catechism. For young men, books on the social kingship of Christ. For young ladies, books on cooking, sewing and how to furnish a home.
In Europe, Islamic republics in France, Britain, Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands. In the United States of America, bankruptcy and social war. In Rome, the apostasy organized with the Jewish religion. In us, heroism, Christian heroism. In the Society, the consecration of new bishops, if it seems necessary. I am getting old. In Rome, a new Pope? Really, if he would become worse, there is no need. If he is to become Petrus Romanus, yes, indeed. This is my hope.
"My most memorable recollection of the Archbishop would, again, be no one thing or event in particular, but rather his steady and calm measuring of everything by the measure of the Faith, and his complete, but sane, dedication to its service."
The state of the Church is very grave. The churchmen at the summits of the Church continue to be blinded by the errors of Vatican II. They may have their moments in which they show some sympathy for the liturgy of Tradition, but one would have to say that its doctrine remains for them a closed book. They show no signs of grasping that there even exists a Truth which is one, exclusive and immutable, let alone their accepting such a Truth.
What has changed in the Society is that on the one hand it has no longer had Archbishop Lefebvre to guide it for the last 17 years, who had a unique charism as Founder, and on the other hand the world around us has very much moved on since his death, and not for the better. The holding action of the Society is holding, but when one observes this world around us one cannot help calling to mind the words of Our Lord, "If these days were not shortened..."
I have lost count of the number of countries I have visited since 1988. It would have to be dozens.
What impresses most in the people presently following or accompanying the SSPX is that some may come and some may go, but numbers generally hold, and in some parts of the world, even increase. The Faith is being kept, and it continues to bear fruit, the same fruit of peace and tranquility as it has always borne.
Had the Archbishop not consecrated? We would have seen some other marvel of the Lord God to ensure that the Faith and the Church continued. There can be no doubt that the bishops of the SSPX have in fact made possible the continuance of the SSPX as one bulwark of the Faith in difficult times, but the Lord God's arm is not shortened by the wickedness of men.
I am afraid the situation with Rome is still more discouraging than 20 years ago. As Our Lord says in one of His parables, "Some enemy hath done this." Some enemy, very clever and cleverly hidden, is at work. Notwithstanding, the Lord God is in control.
Of course events have shown that anyone was wrong who said that the SSPX was producing a parallel church. Amongst our people I would say the danger is rather of too much, and not of too little, love for these present Romans. But that love testifies to their true love of Rome.
The most important development of the last 20 years would seem to me to be no one event in particular, but rather the advance on every front of evil in general. We are surrounded. Humanly, we are going under. But God is God!
To those many souls tempted to join organizations that seem to defend the Faith yet are under these Romans, I would say, beware, beware, beware! Look at the fruits of these Romans. Does the one, true and immutable Faith prosper under their hands, or does it not rather wilt? Doctrine, doctrine, doctrine!
My most memorable recollection of the Archbishop would, again, be no one thing or event in particular, but rather his steady and calm measuring of everything by the measure of the Faith, and his complete, but sane, dedication to its service. May he be resting in peace!
The most memorable time of my seminary formation would–I am getting stuck like a needle in an old-fashioned gramophone!–be all of it.
What one might say has changed in the fight for the Mass since the Consecrations is that the enemies are pretending to yield on the liturgy, but they are not giving an inch on their rotten doctrine of Vatican II. But the relation between liturgy and doctrine is, broadly, like the relation between the ninth of the iceberg showing above water, and the eight-ninths beneath water upholding the ninth showing. Without the Faith, the Mass alone would be nowhere.
Would that the fight for Doctrine had become more important! I fear that its fundamental importance is still not sufficiently understood. Modern man is a sentimental, not a doctrinal, animal. Truth for him goes by inner feeling instead of by outer reality. It is all laid out in Pius X's great Encyclical, Pascendi.
Bishops are where the Church is at, as Rome very well knows. Therefore of course Rome will not give out bishops if it can possibly help it. That is not a reason to consecrate them regardless, but the Archbishop was obviously right, in retrospect. God bless his courage!
The greatest challenge to the SSPX in the next few years is to grasp the primacy of doctrine, and to measure everything else, and to pray, accordingly. In our sentimental world, the constant temptation is to go by feelings. Not going by feelings is what marked out Archbishop Lefebvre, and if in this respect we do not follow him, the SSPX will go the way of all flesh–into the arms of the (objective) destroyers of the Church.
How the Archbishop would see things today is an interesting question. Myself, I think he would be more wary of these Romans than ever. They are persevering, persevering, persevering in their blindness, while the Lord God must, logically, all the while be offering them all the graces they need to see clear, and if necessary, to accept the martyrs' crown. These graces they must be steadily refusing, or de-fusing. God is their judge. May He have mercy upon them, and upon us all.
Parents have a specially difficult task today, but the answer to the question of what they must do is basically easy–EXAMPLE! Let parents practice their Faith sincerely and steadily, as though it is the most important thing in their lives, and the children will have there the greatest help towards saving their own souls. What else matters? But parents do also need to learn the old-fashioned basics of parenting, which today go largely lost. How learn them? From grandparents, their own parents, if they still know, and from priests who have their heads screwed on straight. All modern ideas of parenting and education are worthless.
To young men and women contemplating the religious life, I would say, look before you leap! Again, the religious life can be presented, or present itself, in a sentimental light. Such vocations cannot go very far. For boys, perhaps ask to spend a year as a gopher in a priory of the SSPX, and make yourselves useful. For girls, I would venture to say, look for a large family in which to spend a year helping out one of those mothers who have had nine children in ten years, and are home-schooling at the same time. That, for our under-real and under-feminine lasses, would be a great apprenticeship in reality and motherliness!
Catholics, especially men, should always be reading, in order to arm their minds against the universal delusions and deceitful propaganda which are all around us today. The books from which someone will most profit will always be the books which most interest him. But all kinds of men are interested by all kinds of aspects of the Faith, so a general recommendation is not easy. However, in this crisis of Church, world and Faith, Archbishop Lefebvre's writings have a special character of being truthful, profound and yet accessible. Start with the Open Letter to Confused Catholics [available from Angelus Press] and go from there.
In the next 20 years I see an on-going, even accelerating, degeneration of men and morals, until either they all begin to tear one another to pieces–a Third World War is absolutely in the cards, or the Lord God intervenes–an unimaginable Chastisement is equally likely. Or both. Things cannot go on for much longer like they are going at present. Reality is going to come swinging back. I think we all need to pray especially for the conversion of sinners, as Our Lady at Fatima asked of the three children, because surely millions and millions are on the very brink of eternal damnation. Christ, have mercy upon us!