The new seminary chapel at Econe is the pride and joy of our seminarians. The Traditional movement is growing throughout the world, despite the catastrophic collapse of the Faith. Events such as the renewal of Assisi beg us to make reparation for such an affront to the Sovereign Majesty of Almighty God. The priests of Fraternity of St. Peter are now bitterly learning how naively they put their trust in the churchmen back in 1988. Dear faithful, we must keep up the good fight without tiring.

Dear Friends and Benefactors,

It is already a year since we had the great joy of blessing the magnificent new chapel of the seminary in Econe. Everybody admires it, and it is the pride and joy of our seminarians, obviously. It is a success from all points of view, but above all it favors prayer. While the great transept capable of seating 120 seminarians resounds to the joyful praise of God and wraps the chant in its warm stone arches, the nave accommodating up to 300 faithful strengthens their faith and deepens their charity especially by the magnificent ceremonies, whose clouds of incense and majestic movements by the ministers at the altar inspire the respect and adoration due to the ineffable greatness of God.

Ah, how we would like to see you all at least occasionally partaking of that happiness which is a foretaste of Heaven! A spacious crypt, where Archbishop Lefebvre’s mortal remains will lie, hosts the early morning faithful who choose to attend “the 6 o’clock Mass” before beginning to work, thus sanctifying the rest of their day and edifying, as they are edified by, the seminarians. We shall not cease thanking Divine Providence for giving us such a beautiful church.

However, in order to finish the building as quickly as possible, we had to take on some heavy debts, and these are being paid down all too slowly to our liking. This delay is a drain upon the resources of the General House, and in particular it gets in the way of our helping the mission countries which are almost entirely dependent on the support of Menzingen. This is because up until now the General House has taken in hand the building of the Econe seminary church, and now that about half the total cost still remains to be paid, the General House has also had to take on the construction costs of our new seminary chapel in the Argentine. The zeal and enthusiasm of the architect there look like providing us with another such jewel as will leave our Argentinian colleagues little reason to envy the church built for the cradle of the Society in Econe. The Argentine’s seminary chapel is due to be blessed on December 8, 2000.

However, that beauty which our patron St. Pius X wished to be the setting for prayer, has its price. No doubt you agree with our desire to reduce as soon as possible the high rate of interest which for the moment we are having to pay to the banks. Either gifts or loans on your part would be a great help to us. We thank you in advance for your generosity which in all these years has never failed us, and we promise you our special prayers for all your intentions.

Once more we entrust to your tender care these building projects, which are highly practical signs of a religious vitality astonishing everybody, especially those who love predicting our death or imminent extinction!

Please God, next year our Society will number well over 400 priests, more than 180 seminarians, 120 sisters, 65 oblates and 55 brothers. And yet the requests reaching us from over 60 countries can only be satisfied a tiny bit at a time. The Traditional movement is obviously growing throughout the world, despite the catastrophic collapse of the Faith and the worrying revival of the modern world’s practical atheism; souls are still coming our way, no fewer in number. May the number of seminarians and priests grow in proportion! For several years now God has been granting us a relatively peaceful growth while the wholesale demolition of the Church and Christian values has redoubled on the eve of the new millenium.

In face of the scandal of Assisi being renewed this time in the Vatican (end of October), we cannot help protesting, and we ask you to join us in making reparation for such an affront to the Sovereign Majesty of Almighty God. The First Commandment is again being violated, head on, only this time in full view of the Basilica of St. Peter! How many martyrs must be turning in their graves as they have to look on in silence at scenes discrediting the heroic acts by which they themselves entered into the glory of the Lord. The memory of Sts. Peter and Paul, is being outraged by such wretched happenings. Worst of all, by their recurrence they are becoming a way of life that we could all get used to.

Such acts of idolatry are an abomination in the full sense of the word, but the attempt is being made to give them by their repetition a sort of legitimacy. Daily exposure to scandal no longer shocks, charity grows cold, the Faith disappears in a sort of mushy confusion of more or less religious feeling towards some kind of godhead supposed by people to be the true God or even Jesus Christ: indifferentism becomes the law, and woe to anyone daring to state that it is the strict duty of all men to render the one true worship to the one true God.

It baffles all understanding how the Vatican can give up fighting the age-old enemy, embrace brethren that it no longer wishes to call separated, look kindly on pagans in whom it pretends to have discovered a sudden beauty, and turn all its guns and use all its penalties on its own children who wish to remain Catholic! Yet that is what it is doing!

After pushing aside our Society of St. Pius X, Rome is now thundering against those who wish to celebrate only the old liturgy. The priests of St. Peter’s Fraternity are now bitterly learning how naively they put their trust in the churchmen who promised them the moon back in 1988 if only they would abandon the house of their father, Archbishop Lefebvre, and enter into a process of “reconciliation”… Despite their defection then, these priests are being blamed now for not integrating with their faithful into the “reality” of the Church. So, they have been in a dream all this time? Clearly,what upsets this is the exclusive celebration of the Tridentine rite. Rome made many moves this last summer, all of them heading in the same direction. The lively reaction of the Ecclesia Dei faithful, especially in the USA, seems to be forcing the Roman authorities to modify the changes they were demanding.

However, even if for now uncertainty hangs over the decisions to be taken concerning the Ecclesia Dei communities, Rome has clearly shown what direction it means to take: sooner or later, these Communities having enjoyed up till now the “protection” of the Ecclesia Dei Commission, will have to get in line; the Conciliar Church’s rite is the new rite, and anyone professing allegiance to that Church will correspondingly have to celebrate its rite. No exceptions will be allowed. To be able to continue celebrating the old rite, one will have to give Rome tangible proof, in more than just words, that one accepts the New Mass.

This condition was already laid down in the 1984 Indult, and it is of course upheld as a principle: no permission to celebrate the old rite for anyone refusing the new rite. We cannot help thinking that Rome would have treated us the same way had Archbishop Lefebvre followed through with the May 5 Protocol of 1988. From conversations between leaders of Fraternity of St. Peter and certain cardinals, it appears that Rome does not feel bound by the terms of that protocol on which the Fraternity of St. Peter was nevertheless founded!

Here we are touching on a very important point: for 30 years now we have been fighting to preserve the old rite. In its defence we have endured penalties and condemnations from Rome and the bishops rather than celebrate Paul VI’s Mass. The reasons for refusing the New Mass are firstly that as a rite it is bad and dangerous for the Faith, secondly that it was put together with the avowed purpose of bringing Catholics into line with Protestants, supposedly to bring all together again—ecumenism. Slowly, without realizing it, laity and priests using the new rite lose their sense of the Catholic Faith.

The fruits are there, clear to see for anyone willing to open his eyes. The emptying out, as soon as the New Mass was introduced—especially in First and Second World countries where religion had flourished up till then—of churches, seminaries and religious houses alike, must be mainly attributed to the radical change of what lies at the center of the Catholic life, its source, nourishment and soul: the Mass. Besides, countless people testify to just that: the faithful walked away, gave up practising their religion because they no longer found in the new rite what they were looking for: God, the strengthening of their Faith, the forgiveness of their sins, supernatural consolation and support in their trials, fervour to love God above all.

It is not a question of feelings or culture, but of a supernatural reality that has been torn out of the life of the Church. The simple fact that throughout the world souls young or old, with or without culture, look out for and want the Mass of all times speaks out against those false arguments. If such souls have felt not at home in the new ceremonies, that is to be attributed firstly to their sense of the Faith and not to any reaction on the natural level. They have sensed, without always being able to explain it theologically, that their Catholic Faith was something to which the new rite had become alien. When the elders of an Amazon tribe asked a missionary priest to celebrate the old Mass: “because that’s where the mystery is”, they said with amazingly simplicity all that needs to be said. The New Mass, by its intent to desacralize, to de-mythologize, to make everything understandable, has been emptied out of its substance: the mystery. When dealing with the Paul VI Mass it is difficult to speak of “celebrating the Holy Mysteries”.

Therefore, dear faithful we must keep up the good fight without tiring. We are at present entering on a new stage of the battle. Does the Vatican mean to shut down the old Mass before the present pope dies? Possibly. Yet the only true solution for Rome is to return to the tried and true means of sanctifying souls and to stop all the experimenting so harmful to souls. Catholics have a right to Catholic nourishment which has not been watered down with ecumenism. The Church’s past Tradition is the key to her future progress. Undertaking to build outside of Tradition means heading for disaster such as we can sense coming now, barren of fruit, deadly in effect.

May Our Lady of the Rosary, in this her month of October, deign to obtain for us much strength and patience to continue unshakably faithful to our Catholic life in the service of Holy Mother Church. And may God fill you with His grace and blessing for your great generosity. +

Bernard Fellay,

Buenos Aires, Argentina

October 17, 1999

Some priests have discovered the riches of the Tridentine Mass and we rejoice with them. They described the New Mass as being empty. This confirms what Archbishop Lefebvre concluded regarding the New Mass, namely, that it leads to a loss of faith. The spirit of adoration which the Tridentine Mass inspires is the spirit which the Society seeks to impart to its priests and future priests.

Dear Friends and Benefactors,

Modern priests discover the beauty of the Tridentine Mass

A few weeks ago a young priest who had only known the New Mass, celebrated for the first time the Tridentine Mass in one of our priories. After his thanksgiving, a colleague asked him for his first impressions. “This Mass is sacred, mysterious, full of grace. The other Mass is empty.”

Another young priest, attending the Tridentine Mass for the first time, cried out, “We have been deceived for 30 years.”

Thirty years of emptiness

Thirty years of the “Novus Ordo Missae”, thirty years of emptiness! An emptiness which has emptied out Catholicism, emptying out the churches and often people’s faith. Without any doubt, a major cause of the appalling crisis the Church is going through must be the loss of the spirit of faith and the spirit of sacrifice, each mainly brought about by the Novas Ordo Missae.

The innovators wanted a new Mass corresponding to the spirit of the Council, an adaptation to the spirit of the world, a lever to push forward ecumenism. Undeniably, the most effective means of inserting the spirit of the Council into the life of the Church has been the New Mass. One may say that the introduction of the New Mass has achieved its purpose, to the great misfortune of our holy Mother Church. We cannot agree with those who would blame the disaster only on the abuses.

Experience has proven that the New Mass causes a loss of faith

Archbishop Lefebvre wrote in 1980, “To the authorities in Rome we have always stated that we considered the Novas Ordo Missae to be dangerous for the faith of priests and people, and so it would be unthinkable for us to gather seminarians together and form them around the altar of this New Mass. Experience is proving us right. The sense of the faith amongst the people, wherever it is not yet corrupted, approves wholeheartedly of what we are doing, even amongst Catholics no longer practicing the faith. I would go so far as to say that anyone who still has a little common sense encourages and congratulates us. What is a society or a family without any past, or tradition? In which case, what can the Church be, that is nothing other than Tradition?”

Twenty years after Archbishop Lefebvre wrote these words, the state of the Church confirms his analysis a thousand times over. It would be an oversimplification to reduce the Church’s crisis merely to a question of the Mass. However, the Mass is a central pivot of that crisis, being the carrier of a new spirit which breaks with the spirit of the Church.

Adoration: the true spirit of the Church

The spirit of the Church is a spirit of adoring the one true God to whom is due all honour and glory; it is a spirit of sacrifice, of partaking in the sacrifice of the High Priest and Redeemer, our Lord Jesus Christ; it is a supernatural spirit of faith and love which makes us see, as God Himself sees, the realities of the world and God, sin and salvation, as they truly are.

In the same text quoted above, the Archbishop also said: ” We should not be surprised if, in the storm devastating the Church, the frail Society of St. Pius X should also be undergoing violent attacks. On the one side it gets attacked for being too much opposed to the Council and to Rome, too attached to Tradition in dogma and the liturgy, too set against the conciliar reforms and ecumenism, etc. …. On the other side it gets attacked for keeping on the contrary too close to Rome, which has turned into the seat of the Antichrist, a dependency of Hell, and for opposing too weakly the conciliar reforms.”

The Society continues doing what the Church has always done

“To all these attacks we reply with deeds rather than words. For we have a horror of sterile polemics. Our position has always been clear and it has not changed since the Society was founded: we continue to do what the Church has always done and always taught, especially when it comes to the formation of priests.” “Church history teaches us how to act in these difficult circumstances, and it teaches us above all to bear in mind that `Man frets while God leads.’ What are we in the hands of God? Nothing! But with nothing He can do anything. An unshakable faith in Jesus Christ is what sustains and inspires us, and nothing else. He holds events in the hollow of His hand and His truth will not perish, even if the enemy has worked his way into the heart of the Vatican.”

“The Society is meant by God as all its history goes to prove, and all the good that it has done, all the evil that it has prevented, show where it came from and how it is needed.”

“Let nobody ask me to change position, be it the authorities in Rome or the partisans of schism. This position did not come from me, it draws its strength from the Church’s Truth and Wisdom, from her dogmatic and historical Tradition, from the conduct of the Saints and especially the last two Saints who were Popes, Plus V and Pius X.”

“. . . Let us remain united in our convictions, let us not be deflected by false arguments of disobedience or abstract logic, rather let us keep the solid and simple faith of the just and faithful soul, following the example of Mary and Joseph and all their imitators” (Editorial of the Society’s in-house magazine, February 16, 1980).

Such is still our position today, 19 years later, and with the help of God we mean not to change it. May the abundance of graces connected to the mysteries and ceremonies of Holy Week have strengthened you in the faith and nourished your souls in the love of Our Lord who “did not hesitate to be delivered into the hands of His enemies, and to undergo the torment of the Cross” (Good Friday prayer).

Always deeply touched by your generosity, from the goodness of God we beg for you an overflowing blessing.

† Bernard Fellay

April 3, 1999

At last the Society’s mother-house has a true church: the heart and soul of a seminary forming future priests. The 17 young priests ordained this year have been sent to the four comers of the earth. Slowly a fabric of the Faith is forming again in Society. We invite you to take action and we place great hopes in the Rosary to cure the ills afflicting our age. So, we are launching a new Rosary Crusade: for Christian society in peril, for the Christian family, for the Church.
Dear Friends and Benefactors,

Pride and joy were the sentiments visible on every face outside the new church of the Seminary in Econe after its solemn blessing on October 10. At last the Society’s mother-house has what Archbishop Lefebvre wished it had from the beginning: the heart and soul of a seminary forming future priests, namely a church, a true church, built of local stone. After 20 years of making do, of trying to build and being refused the necessary permits, at last there rises up a church and its bell-tower amidst the vineyards: a finger of God pointing upwards to the eternal realities, and rejoicing hearts with the ringing out of its four bells.

This new house of God can seat 400 people with ease, and another 140 seminarians in the transept. However, while the people can easily fill their seats in the nave, there are still in the transept a number of empty pews, waiting for the future applicants for the priesthood that you are to obtain, dear readers, by your urgent prayers. This autumn we had 21 new seminarians in Flavigny, 10 in Zaitzkofen, 7 in Winona! Each vocation we purchase by sacrifices and prayer, let us not forget! So let us be twice as fervent in begging the Sovereign High Priest for this priestly bread from heaven: Let young men answer the call with courage, let hearts be touched and set on fire with the zeal of the Lord: “I have pity on the crowd”, he says, “for they have nothing to eat”…

The 17 young priests ordained this year have been sent to the four comers of the earth to join their elders who are too few in number. Our Argentine seminary will give us another four priests in December, which will bring our total number of priests to over 370. We may wish for more, but we are happy with those we have, especially when we see how much harm the Devil seeks to inflict on them, and how much good God works through their priestly hands. His mercy and graces spread far and wide to strengthen souls in virtue, uphold them in their pain and give them courage in the “warfare of life”, as Job calls it. Christian families flourish once more. A new generation of children calls for even more care and attention to be given to the schools already absorbing a good deal of our energy. Slowly a fabric of the Faith is forming again in Society. All this is constituting a renewal of Christian social life which even if it is only in the embryonic stage, is enough to worry those fighting against any return of the moral order! Yes indeed, the enemies of God striving to build a civilization without Him are ever less afraid of making themselves heard, witness their plans for legalizing same-sex marriages.

As Pius XII said in his Encyclical on “Increasing evils” of 1951, “If evils and the aggression of wicked men are on the rise, then the zeal of all good men must increase in proportion…” This remark is, an invitation to take action, action in a variety of forms, but firstly the action proposed to us by the Church.

“So we will not hesitate to say it again, “ he says in the same Encyclical, “We place, great hopes in the Rosary to cure the ills afflicting our age. Not by force, nor by weapons, nor by any human power, but only by the help of God obtained through this prayer, will the Church, with the strength Of David and his sling, be able to take on the fearless enemy coming straight out of Hell …..”

In the same letter, speaking of the family, the Pope goes on to say, “However, above all in the family hearth do we wish the saying of the Rosary to be spread, to be faithfully maintained and unceasingly extended. In vain will be all efforts to halt the decline of civilization if the family, principle and foundation of society, is not brought back to the Faith of the Gospel. We wish to declare that reciting the Rosary in the family is one of the most efficacious means to succeed in this difficult undertaking…”

There is no end to the quotations of the Popes which recommend and even command the Rosary to be recited because of the difficult times which Church and world are going through. They lend support to Our Lady in her constant appeals at La Salette, Lourdes and Fatima to “Pray the Rosary”. The Heart of our heavenly Mother asks for this protection and grants it to us are we to remain deaf to her request?

It seems fitting to recall the reminders coming in this sense from earth as well as from heaven: the situation of Church and world are incomparably worse now than they were then. There is no room for illusion, even if in most countries on earth people are now enjoying the semblance of tranquility.

Both in theory, as to the ideas or principles presently directing society, and in practice, as to the morals and habits taking hold in daily life, the destruction of Christendom is advancing apace. The confused thinking and compromising on the part of many of the guardians of Faith and morals merely speed up the process, as does the Church’s coming to an understanding with the world.

In this month of October, month of the Holy rosary, reminding us of the Church’s concern over a situation which for the last 100 years has only got worse, we call upon you urgently to pray. Let the Rosary be prayed in every family, and where that is already being done, let it be prayed even better, meditating with all one’s heart and mind on the mysteries of the life of Our Lord and Our Lady. Moreover, we are launching a new Rosary Crusade. To pray the Rosary and live by the Rosary imitating the virtues we contemplate in its mysteries.

A Rosary crusade for Christian society in peril, for the Christian family, for the Church. Let the neo-modernism weighing down on the Church like a cape of lead be torn apart, let the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass recover its rightful place, let priests be priests once more to pursue priestly holiness for the benefit of all concerned, let grace again freely flowing rejuvenate the supernatural beauty of the Church!

We are inwardly convinced that our heavenly Mother, so attentive to our needs and to the dangers hanging over us, will heed our appeal, and that her all-powerful intercession will obtain from her divine Son graces of protection, courage, strength, of a persevering faith and an ardent charity which nothing can overcome, until the complete triumph of Our King and Lord Jesus Christ, through the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

† Bernard Fellay

October 1998

It has been ten years since Archbishop Lefebvre consecrated four bishops. Time has proven how necessary these consecrations were as the crisis in the Church progressively worsens. Although Ecumenism continues to ravage the Church and the situation seems hopeless, let us renew our faith and fight the good fight. Well-formed priests are benefiting souls around the world as the SSPX's apostolate expands.

Dear Friends and Benefactors,

Ten years since the consecrations of the Society's four bishops

On June 30, 1988, ten years ago, Archbishop Lefebvre found himself “obliged by Divine Providence to pass on the grace of the Catholic bishop” to four priests, including your servant. In a letter he wrote to them, the Archbishop laid out the reasons which had finally decided him to perform this act of such grave import in the face of the whole Church.

Reminder of the reasons for the consecrations

“The corruption of the Holy Mass has brought with it the corruption of the priesthood and the universal decadence of faith in the divinity of our Lord Jesus Christ”, accompanied by the resolute intention, clearly shown by the Roman authorities, to continue with “their work of destroying the reign of Our Lord, as proved by Assisi, and by Rome’s confirmation of the liberal theses of Vatican II on religious liberty”.

The situation was so grave that it demanded such a step be taken. Hard and fast action was needed to give the Church and the Catholic priesthood a chance of surviving. Anybody taking too natural or superficial a view of the Church could not understand the Archbishop’s action, and to this day we are accused of monstrous pride for daring to claim that the act of consecrating bishops was justified.

A progressively worsening situation

Even today, ten years later, although the situation has become markedly worse, how many people are still letting themselves be deceived by what remains of the appearance and structure of the Church? And certain societies that Rome raised up at that time to deceive people, societies enjoying the privilege of celebrating the Traditional Mass at the price of keeping a guilty silence on the reality of the drama being played out before our eyes, prove that our vision of things is correct.

Church's apparent unity

Beneath a show of apparent unity, the Church is being torn apart; a special effort is being made to tear out its soul, its spiritual treasure, that which distinguishes it from all other religions and all other societies: its supernatural truth, its deposit, the deposit of Revelation of which it is the one and only guardian, its charity, its grace, its sacrifice, its priesthood.

False ecumenism

If these things are still spoken of at all they are emptied of any meaning they had prior to Vatican II, and the daily practice of ecumenism shows how little the liberals care for all those values of the past. Even if in theory they still profess the same Creed, in practice they are far from it. In many seminaries, as in the majority of churches still operating, it is the abomination of desolation and a mockery of the truth which have replaced the Holy of Holies… if only it were an exaggeration to say so!

The objection will be made that in Rome there are nevertheless voices rebuking the excesses and the abuses of the progressives, and calling for a renewal of discipline: but are these voices heeded? For example, what effect did the recent call to order have on the ministry of the laity? Resistance and indifference… everything goes on just like before, and Rome takes no action.

Let me tell you what really happened just recently with two Dutchmen. They wondered how it was possible that “the eternal Church could be so dramatically destroyed in their country”. They wrote a number of letters to Rome, but never received a reply. So they decided to go down to Rome and tackle several cardinals, prelates, bishops… In the course of their discussions, these cardinals and bishops asked them to take action themselves, to promote the Catholic Tridentine Mass, and to put an end to eucharistic picnics, the “tablemeal-shows”. The cardinals and bishops themselves could do nothing, they said. It is the Catholic laity that must act to save the Church… The Dutch remained a few days in Rome after which the message was clear: “Rome could not help in any way” (letter to the Superior General of March 7, 1998).

Should we despair? No, let us renew our faith

Should we lose heart, give up the fight, play deaf and dumb? On the contrary: more than ever we must shake off the sloth lying in wait for us, we must re-activate our faith, faith in Our Lord, faith in his promises for His Church. The enemy is powerful, but Our Lord more so, infinitely more so.

And we have the proof of this in the way in which He is watching over this little Society of the Church, tossed about in the heart of the storm, yet being protected at the same time, and which is producing those gentle flowers of grace and sanctity which the Church has always produced, even while the storm rages all around.

Fruits of a solid priestly formation

Whereas the teaching is rotten in official seminaries and universities (cf. Fideliter March 1988), we are consoled to see priests of ours so formed as to be able to travel throughout the world bringing to souls the comfort of God’s forgiveness and the Bread of Angels. Amidst a world going steadily more crazy these priests provide souls with the meaning of life and the means of pleasing Almighty God by fulfilling one’s daily duty of state. These priests remind people how they need to carry their cross following Christ Crucified to attain eternal happiness. The harvest is abundant as ever, only there are too few workers to gather it in. Ask the master of the harvest with tears and sacrifices for what the Superior General, dearly as he would love to, cannot yet give you… By penance and perseverance in prayer, by a family life arranged to please the Sacred Heart,’by the daily practice of justice and charity, let us show Our Lord that we are ready to pay the price, because it is something we truly value, of receiving priests from Him according to His Heart, other Christs.

SSPX's expansion

We count on your prayers, dear benefactors, even more than on your gifts, in return for which we ask God to richly bless you, console you and protect you. Thanks to you the church of the seminary in Ecône is almost finished and we are planning for its blessing next October 10. A good third of the cost is already covered, and we are now turning towards two new important projects: all that is lacking for building to start on the church of our Seminary of Our Lady Co-redemptrix in the Argentine is the financial resources. Also we want to build a seminary in the Philippines, a country where the Society of St. Pius X is developing in almost miraculous fashion. The mayor of Quezon City, a city of more than 2,000,000 inhabitants, has just consecrated his city to the Immaculate Heart of Mary in our church, in the presence of Bishop Lazo and our priests, while medical missions for the relief, church, the poor and the sick are multiplying with the help of our 19 doctors… to say nothing of the pre-seminary and a pre-novitiate for the Sisters…

All of these undertakings, as you well know, are impossible without material support and can only develop to the extent of your fraternal charity. May your alms and sacrifices, for which we are so grateful to you, and which cover a multitude of sins, be one day, accompanied by the prayers of our priests and seminarians, your best allies to help you into Heaven!

May St. Joseph, protector of Holy Church, guard yourselves and your families,

† Bernard Fellay

May 30, 1998

In May of this year, Bishop Brunner of the diocese of Sion in Switzerland published two texts that he had received from Rome which laid out the situation of the Society of St. Pius X as following on the consecration of the four bishops in June 1988. The texts mentioned schism and excommunication for everybody, priests, bishops and laity alike. On closer examination, the texts are mere notes. Moreover, at the same time the Roman Commission Ecclesia Dei went no further than to speak of “grave danger of schism,” which is a different thing altogether.

Dear Friends and Benefactors,

In May of this year, Bishop Brunner of the diocese of Sion in Switzerland felt he needed to publish two texts that he had received from Rome. These laid out the situation of the Society of St. Pius X as following on the consecration of the four bishops in June, 1988: the texts mentioned schism and excommunication for everybody, priests, bishops and laity alike.¹ It should be noted that at the same time the Roman Commission “Ecclesia Dei,” in various replies to individuals or even bishops, went no further than to speak of “grave danger of schism,” which is a different thing altogether.²

The bishop of Sion presented these two texts as documents coming from Rome (“I asked the competent church authorities for an official statement,” he said), the one supposedly issuing from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the other from the Council for the Interpretation of legislative texts.

Because there were obvious mistakes, we wrote to Bishop Brunner asking for a little more information. He replied that the date was indeed wrong,³ but that the first document was truly from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, and he gave us to understand that he published the texts exactly as he had received them.

Soon afterwards, both the French bishops who had asked the Pope to condemn the Society of St. Pius X last autumn only to be advised “to put together a document themselves”⁴, and the Fraternity of St. Peter, gave a noisy welcome to these condemnations “from Rome.”

The Fraternity of St. Peter reproduces the texts as they stand, whereas the French bishops’ magazine La Documentation Catholique introduces a modification: in Bishop Brunner’s introductory text as in the title, the first document is no longer presented as coming from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, but from the Congregation of Bishops, as we had suggested in our letter. All of which calls for a few remarks:

1. Both texts are unsigned. They remain anonymous.

2. Bishop Brunner said he received them on October 31, 1996, but he only published them on May 16, 1997. In fact both texts are undated, and lack the Protocol number such as all official Roman documents are meant to have.

3. The conclusion to be drawn is that the texts are mere notes, sketches, a draught, which is what the poor quality of the texts with their gaps and inaccuracies would suggest.

4. The sketch is so sketchy that these officials cannot even state its origin and author without getting mixed up. To scare off the faithful they are reduced to waving around anonymous notes!

5. Yet anonymous notes is what they rely on to cry to the world that the Society of St. Pius X is schismatic and excommunicated, terms which in their mouths at any rate have lost virtually all meaning.

6. What meaning are we to give to “excommunication” which normally signifies being cast out of the Church? When the Roman authorities think they can down-grade the Dogma “Outside the Church there is no salvation” to “its original meaning of encouraging Church members to be faithful,”⁵ then we are driven to think that excommunication may have undergone a similar down-grading — into a paper tiger!

Such obvious violation of the most basic principles of what is right and just seem to leave the Church authorities or St. Peter’s Fraternity wholly unmoved. What civil authority would ever have dared to issue such a flawed document? None. This is the way to lose all credibility. Once more we cannot help observing that the condemnation by Rome of the Society of St. Pius X is a path littered with gross examples of injustice on the part of the Church authorities. Truly “there is nothing new beneath the sun.”

From time to time we are rebuked for not appealing to Rome against such injustice. But it would be a waste of time. Rome would merely reply, “Nobody can sit in judgement on the Holy See.” The case is closed against us. It comes then as no surprise for us to hear Cardinal Ratzinger in his new book The Salt of the Earth himself admitting, “The power we can wield in Rome today is really very little.”⁶

So much for the documents’ flawed form. As for their contents, they tend to state, not very clearly, that there is a schism which was given concrete form by the consecration of bishops on June 30, 1988, and so all those who adhere formally to the schism are excommunicated, whether bishops, priests, or laity.

However, since there is no attempt to prove that Archbishop Lefebvre was not acting out of necessity, then we are in effect back to the same old “Obey!” without any desire to go into the basic question: Why, despite grave threats, did Archbishop Lefebvre decide that he had to pay no attention to Rome’s orders? Why do we refuse the orders we are being given to get in step with the Conciliar and post-Conciliar reforms? How can we be claiming to have a right to continue in such refusal? Why is this refusal not schismatic?

The answer is to be found in the very basis of authority, and the obedience that goes along with authority:

In any given society, authority flows from the nature of the society⁷ which cannot exist without it.

Any society’s nature depends in turn on the society’s purpose, the goal it proposes to achieve. The goal of any society fixes its nature, structure and means.

Hence authority is limited by the society’s purpose, which fixes the framework, extent and competence of authority.

The function of Authority is to direct minds and wills towards the goal of that society, and by so doing to ensure the society’s unity. Now in the case of the two so-called “perfect societies,” human authority depends on the goal and, for most of the time, on the structure and means of the society. Being then itself dependent on these, how can it change them? It cannot. “The Church’s right to command the faithful is restricted within the limits constituted by what is needful or useful to the eternal salvation of souls.”⁸

So if the Church authority took in hand such changes, it would be overstepping its bounds, there would be an abuse of authority, and in that case Church members are no longer bound to obey, but to resist according to the gravity of the abuse.

When the authority is that of the Pope, the highest on earth, sovereign and universal, its limits are fixed not only by its goals (the continuation of the saving mission of our Lord), by the commandments of God and of our Lord its founder (for example, “Going, teach all nations,” etc.), but also by the divine Constitution of the Church.

If this authority, meant to be exact reflection of our Lord himself (“Who hears you, hears me”), undertook to overstep those limits, there would be an abuse of authority and we should have to respond as St. Peter did to the Sanhedrin, “We must obey God rather than men.”

Now what we blame the Council and post-Conciliar reforms for its precisely that they undertake to change firstly the nature of the church, one and only bride of Christ our Savior, one and only source of the means of salvation which are supernatural and entrusted to her by her divine spouse; secondly the Church’s structure (to be replaced by a crippling and anonymous collegiality); thirdly the Church means of grace, Mass and sacraments (to be reduced to merely human activities). Nor are all these changes merely imaginary on our part, but they are recognized and admitted by the Church authorities in place.⁹

That is the reason why we cannot obey. We are refusing the demolition order because it is an abuse of power.

It is not we who have changed. In all centuries, starting with St. Paul, the whole Church has warned against this kind of change. In the name of the infallible Church’s teaching of all time, we refuse to co-operate in the Church’s self-destruction.

As long as Rome refuses to deal with this gravest of problems, we shall go round and round in a vicious circle, an on-going dialogue of the deaf.

Rome may scare us with all the threats of excommunication it likes, but we shall continue to cry out at the top of our lungs to our Mother for the milk of pure doctrine, for the Faith not hacked to pieces, for the right to praise and adore God without resorting the folklore or show business, but worthily of Him, as did our forefathers; for the right to receive the substantial food of grace through sacraments not doubtfully valid, the right to be led and directed towards eternal pastures instead of through the desert of innovation constantly evolving in accordance with Paul VI’s saying: “We have been given the word ‘novelty’ like an order, like a programme”¹⁰.

The Church is dying, torn apart by divisions hidden under the deceitful slogan of “We are in communion with the Pope”; the Church is being poisoned with the deadly teachings of heresy being scattered abroad “by the handful” in the words of John-Paul II in 1981¹¹! Rome itself is lost in the maze of a “theology of worldly values” instead of reminding us of the luminous demands and interests of our Creator and Savior.

It is time for the sorcerers’ apprentices to give up their ruinous experiments and to come back to the age-old wisdom from which the Church has never defected, to give us back the Faith, grace, holiness, priesthood, Mass, papacy, all those Catholic treasures in which our Roman Catholic hearts take rest. They belong to us, we have a strict right to them, and no human authority can ever deprive us of that right, not even post-Conciliar Rome.

May the Immaculate Heart of Mary, watching over the Church, deign to obtain for us that faithfulness to death which is the guarantee of salvation: “Only he who has been found faithful to the end will be saved.”

“The joy of the Lord is our strength!”¹² May He deign to bless you.

† Bernard Fellay

Feast of St. Michael the Archangel, 29 September 1997

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1. “Evangile et Mission,” #21, May 29, 1997.
2. Letters #153/96 of 11/12/96, #667/89 of 12/1/96, #90/97 of 6/21/97, etc.
3. Concerning the date of the decree of excommunication, the text said, “our decree of June 1st, 1988.”
4. Exaudiat May 1997 (Catholic paper from the Somme region).
5. Test of the International Theology Commission on the question “Extra Ecclesiam Nulla Salus,” #31, La Documentation Catholique, # 2157, April 6, 1997, p. 323
6. Cardinal Ratzinger, Le Sel De La Terre, Flammarion, 1987, p.86.
7. The philosopher Gredt holds authority to be proper to society, in such a sense that authority is something that cannot not go along with the essence of society, just as a sense of humor is proper to man. Joseph Gredt, Elementa Philosophiae, Vol II, Herder, Barcelona 1961, p. 459.
8. Cardinal Ottaviani, Institutiones Iuris Publici Ecclesiastici, Vatican Polyglot edition, Rome 1958, p. 177.
9. Bishop Polge of Avignon: “The Vatican II Church is new and the Holy Ghost is constantly preventing it from remaining static,” Osservatore Romano, Sept. 3, 1976. (Cf. “Iota Unum,” p. 102.)
   — Bishop Schmitt of Metz: “The stage of civilization we are going through involves changes not only in our outward behavior, but also in the very concept we form both of creation and of the salvation brought by Jesus Christ.” (Cf. Iota Unum, #37, p. 66; Itineraires, #160, p. 206.) The whole book of Romano Amerio, Iota Unum, Study of Catholic Church Variations in the 20th Century” needs to be quoted.
   — “Whenever there is a conflict between people and the Faith, it is the Faith which must give way” – “What God the sacraments are signs of.” Centre Jean Bart, Paris, 1975, p. 14-15.
   — “Indeed, especially since the Conferences of all Orthodox Christians and the Second Vatican Council, the rediscovery and up-grading of the Church as communion by both Orthodox and Catholics has radically altered people’s outlook and hence their attitudes.” Declaration of Ballamand, June 23, 1993, Art. 13 La Documentation Catholique, #2077 (1993), p. 712.
   — John Paulw Ro II: “Vatican II has given us a new vision of the Church, a more open view of the universality of the people of God.” To the clergy of Rome, Osservatore Romano, March 8, 1991.
10. Osservatore Romano, July 3, 1974.
11. John-Paul II, February 6, 1981. Osservatore Romano, February 8, 1981.
12. II Esdras VIII, 10.

It has been six years since Archbishop Lefebvre's Death; we commemorate how much he suffered both physically and morally in order to found the Society. The liberals who black label the Society systematically continue destroying the Church by undermining her three-fold unity of faith, liturgy and government. The Society continues to expand.

Dear Friends and Benefactors,

Six years since Archbishop Lefebvre's death

Six years ago, Archbishop Lefebvre gave back his soul to God. We would like to begin this letter by paying homage to our venerable Founder, who died suffering both physically from illness and morally from the scorn of the world. For civil and ecclesiastical authorities alike had handed this “man” over to be condemned, who upset them so much by his love above all else of Our Lord Jesus Christ. Six years after his death we carry on his fight over the souls of millions of people anesthetized by the abundance of material goods, and plunged ever deeper in a fashionable skepticism and doctrinal relativism – the spiritual fight to remind them of their Creator’s demands, of the glorious destiny to which He is calling them, Heaven, and the frightful consequences of not responding to the divine invitation, Hell.

SSPX systematically labelled and placed into a box by liberals

Liberalism presently holds tyrannical sway over people’s minds, and woe to any of us daring to contradict it. We are swiftly dismissed as a cult, as radical extremists or fundamentalists, and our case is closed. And yet, how can truth give up its rights or prerogatives? Other men have raised this question in other times, and what they said is as relevant as ever. Here for example is Pope Pius IX, addressing the editors of a Catholic newspaper of Rodez (France) in December of 1876:

“Numbers of people are bound to accuse you of being imprudent and will call your enterprise inopportune; but the fact that truth is displeasing to many and irritates those who cling to their error, is no reason to judge it imprudent or inopportune. On the contrary, the more serious and widespread the evil being fought against, the more prudent and opportune is the truth. Otherwise we would have to admit that nothing was more imprudent and inopportune than that spreading of the Gospel which took place when the religion, laws and morals of all nations were directly opposed to it. A struggle of this kind may bring you to nothing but criticism, scorn and bitter quarrels; however, He who brought the Truth down to us upon earth told His disciples in advance that they would only be hated by all because of His name.”

Liberal's false notion of tolerance

Pius IX lashed out against the Liberal Catholicism that promotes an easy-going tolerance, or, as he called it in his Brief to the Angers members of the St. Vincent de Paul Conferences in February of 1875, “a sort of middle ground, thanks to which truth and error could be made to embrace, and an end could be put to their constant warfare – as though it were a mark of prudence to keep one’s distance from both truth and error, for fear either that truth should upset error in its domain, or that error should go beyond the limits foolishly assigned to it to keep it within bounds.”

Spirit of compromise fosters confusion

Vatican II opened the doors wide to this spirit of compromise, which is as dangerous as can be for the Church, and was so steadily condemned by the popes for more than a century. Ever since that time the Church has been dying of this spirit of compromise in which nothing remains hard and fast, while confusion, indiscipline, rebellion and chaos are fostered in all directions.

But please, let nobody accuse us of setting up an imaginary contrast between a supposedly glorious past of the Church and an inglorious present, between a clear and expressive manifestation of the Faith yesterday and a troubled and indecisive presentation of it today. Other men in authority have recognized this state of affairs in terms leaving no room for indifference, for instance Paul VI in conversation with Jean Guitton (“The Secret Paul VI”, p 168): “What strikes me when I look upon the Catholic world is how within Catholicism, a kind of non-Catholic thinking sometimes seems to have taken over, and it may be that this uncatholic thinking within Catholicism will tomorrow gain the upper hand, but it will still not be Catholic thinking. There must always be a little flock of true Catholics, however little it may be.”

Real distinction between Catholic Rome and Modernist Rome

So we are inventing nothing when, following in Archbishop Lefebvre’s footsteps, we try to distinguish between Catholic Rome and modernist Rome. Here too arises the grave problem of normalizing our relations with Rome! Into whose hands are we to entrust our future? Into the hands of those Roman authorities who declare that all of us, bishops, priests and laity alike, are excommunicated because we are in schism? Or of those who at least spare the priests and laity being excommunicated, because we are not in schism but only in danger of schism? Or again of those who consider we are all simply Catholic? How are we to choose between them? For it is a fact that the authorities in Rome are divided on our account, as we can prove by documents in our possession. So we can only continue on our present course of staying in private contact with Rome while in public we protest out loud against the Church’s self-destruction, which is the poisoned fruit of the Liberalism mortally infecting so many, many Church leaders.

False ecumenism

For how can anyone fail to see the likeness between the Liberal Catholic outlook and of today’s ecumenism? It is the same spirit, only applied this time to relations between the Church and other “christian religions”. The same spirit leading to the same practical relativism, i.e. indifference between false religions and the one true religion.

This is the ecumenical outlook in which they are preparing the Jubilee of the year 2000. What will be left of the Church’s identity? Vatican II claimed that the Catholic Church was merely part of the church of God. Now the International Theological Commission is claiming that it is no longer true that outside the Catholic Church there is no salvation (Civilta Cattolica, Feb., 1997, article on Christianity and other religions). Yet that is one of the basic dogmas of our religion!

Church's unity of faith, liturgy and government being destroyed

This ecumenism which is meant to be bringing about the union of “christian religions”, is in fact, in the form in which it is being practiced today, destroying the unity of the Catholic Church. In the name of ecumenism, the three unities that constitute the Church are being undermined. Firstly, her unity in the Faith is being dissolved by the absolute necessity of Faith for salvation being made merely relative. Secondly, her unity in the Liturgy is being fragmented by the New Order of the Mass which was invented for purposes of ecumenism, as its author, Msgr. Bugnini, stated. Thirdly, her unity in government is being broken up by the attack on the Pope’s inalienable primacy, foundation-stone on which rests the one and only Church of Christ, for just as that primacy when properly exercised causes the union of Catholics’ hearts and wills, so when it is not exercised it causes the sheep to be scattered…

Let us pray God that He preserve in His Church the “integrity of religion” (Postcommunion of Mass of a Pope). Let us pray steadily and make sacrifices for this trial to come soon to an end!

SSPX's expansion

Yet even while plunged in the heart of this crisis, we are still being granted many consolations by God: vocations seem to be slightly on the increase; here and there real churches are being built, calling for the most solemn of blessings; the consecration or dedication of a church. Thus we ourselves were able at the beginning of March to consecrate the Society’s church in Manila dedicated to Our Lady of Victories with many Catholics in attendance, while Bishop Williamson is due to consecrate the Society’s “baroque” church in Stuttgart, Germany, dedicated to Our Lady of the Assumption on the second Sunday after Easter. As for the church at the Society’s seminary and mother-house in Ecône, Switzerland, photos show how the work is advancing: presently the roof is being put on, and we hope the work will be finished in little more than a year’s time.

May we then repeat our urgent appeal to your generosity, despite its having been appealed to so often, on behalf of this important project which can only with your help be brought to a conclusion!

We ask God that He deign to grant us the consolation not only of raising these temples of stone to His glory, but more than all else of making your hearts into a holy temple for Him to embellish, strengthen and honor by His constant presence, on this 25th day of March when the Word became flesh by the working of the Holy Ghost and deigned to dwell in our midst in the womb of Blessed Mary ever Virgin, the most beautiful of creatures, the most beautiful and holy of temples in which He is glorified for ever and ever.

† Bernard Fellay

Feast of the Annunciation, March 25, 1997

The pope’s visit to France this autum caused an uproar among the Freemasons because in celebrating the 1500th anniversary of France’s baptism, a glorious Christian past, before the Revolution, had to be remembered. News stories show how Freemasonry now uses Ecumenism to continue the work of demoliton of our holy religion. With the 80th anniversary of the apparitions at Fatima, the SSPX will make a pilgrimage to Fatima to pray for the consecration of Russia, the return of peace to the world and we desire to promote devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary

Dear Friends and Benefactors,

Visit of the Holy Father to France causes an uproar

Why did the visit of the Holy Father to France this autumn cause such an uproar? It was not the first time that John-Paul II was visiting the eldest daughter of the church, but it was the first time that Freemasonry and its satellite organizations came out in open opposition by preparing a so-called “non-welcome” for the Pope. Why? Because the occasion of this journey was the 1500th anniversary of France’s baptism, on Christmas Day, 496. King Clovis and a number of his soldiers had themselves baptized, and through the King, the kingdom as an institution became Catholic.

Celebrating this anniversary meant calling up a whole past, a glorious past of Christendom inspiring horror in the Revolution and its agents. For as far the Revolution is concerned, France only began when France lost its king, its religion and its God. Two hundred years of hard work to snatch Our Lord’s sceptre from him and to root up Christian society or whatever still remains of it, have still not been enough: such an anniversary seemed to them to re-awaken “old ghosts”, which explains the relatively violent reaction of the “Counter-Church” (for that is what it calls itself, as the Regional Congress of Masonry in eastern France proclaimed in 1911 – “Let us not forget that we are the Counter-Church”).

Freemasonry uses Ecumenism to continue the work of demoliton of our holy religion.

Certainly the action of Freemasonry today is more discreet but it is no less efficacious than in the past. Having infiltrated the Catholic Church it carries on both inside and outside the Church its work of undermining and destroying our holy religion. To show we are not exaggerating, here are some news items from the countries of eastern Europe, showing Freemasonry in action as it uses Ecumenism as a lever to continue the work of demolition begun by communism. “The apostolic nuncios in all Greek and Russian Orthodox countries have received orders to force the religious institutions and institutions of consecrated life, diocese, Catholic movements, etc., to cease all active ministry. Principally concerned are the Society of Jesus, the Dominicans, the Franciscans and certain lay movements which have been especially active, mainly in Russia and the Ukraine.

“As you surely know, the KGB had infiltrated certain sectors of the Russian hierarchy. This infiltration that the non-Russian Orthodox wanted to keep out of view in order not to hinder the work of reviving the Russian Orthodox Church, has now been publicly admitted by the Orthodox Patriarch of Constantinople. His intention was to justify the distrust of the Estonian Orthodox with regard to Moscow. Because of this distrust, and for reasons of faith, thousands of Orthodox Christians have gone over to the Eastern Catholic Church of the Ukraine. The Ukraine part of the Moscow Patriarchate is the most important part of the Moscow Patriarchate. But now the Orthodox Church in the Ukraine risks being dissolved since so many faithful, above all in the West of the country, are going over to the Catholic Church. Entire parishes, entire villages, have from one day to the next gone over to the Catholic Church. The faithful with their clergy, deacons, priests, monks, etc., were leaving the Orthodox Church in the evening and were to be found the following morning in the Catholic Church.

“Such a situation tended to upset the bishops of the Moscow Patriarchate. Besides, Freemasonry has become particularly active since the “fall” of communism. Frightened by the possibility of the Orthodox and Catholic Churches uniting forces, Freemasonry is doing all it can to: 1) keep the two churches apart, 2) hold down the efforts of the Russian Orthodox Church and 3) neutralize the missionary forces of the Catholic Church in the Balkans and Baltic countries.

“At present the Masonic forces have succeeded in exercising pressure on Moscow to get the Patriarch of Moscow to stop all active ministry in Russia and the Ukraine. Priests, bishops, religious can now look after only the “ethnic” Catholics. Hence none but Catholics of Polish or German origin may benefit from the activities of the Catholic Church. I can testify to the high number of vocations to the religious and priestly life in Russia and the Ukraine. Many of these vocations have begged me to help them to enter the Catholic Church.

“Now the doors are shut. I am far from being a “fanatic” but I consider this to be the greatest scandal of the century. The Church of Christ is missionary by nature. If the Church ceases its missionary activity I would say it has lost its reason to exist. I am totally baffled! To be certain that my official information was accurate, I spoke with the Provincial of an important Order in Russia. He confirmed to me what I knew from elsewhere, namely, that “until relations between the Holy See and Moscow are better, the religious orders, Catholic dioceses, etc., in Russia and the Ukraine may do nothing.” This Provincial confided in me that he is not in agreement with the orders that he has just received, but he and the other Major Superiors have been threatened with being stripped of their office if they do not obey the formal order to cease all activity until further orders.

“Moscow is presently making war on Rome because an “exarch” with archiepiscopal (administrative) rank for the city of Kiev was appointed. The moment he was appointed by Rome, this exarch was obliged to do nothing!”

Rome itself is pushing Catholics into schism

Here is another example, perhaps even more scandalous, demonstrating clearly how grave an evil ecumenism is: All the Catholic Melkite bishops except two have signed the following profession of faith (in August 1995):

I – I believe everything that eastern Orthodoxy teaches.

II – I am in communion with the Bishop of Rome within the limits recognized by the Holy Fathers of the East in the first millennium and, before the separation, to the first of the bishops.

The bishops themselves consider that this profession has had as one of its effects the abolition of the “break with the Uniate Catholic Church” brought about within the Patriarchate of Antioch in 1724… In plain English that means that the Uniates have ceased to exist and that they have fallen back into the Orthodox Schism! What is more, they no longer recognize as dogmas the infallible decisions made by all the ecumenical councils from 1050 onwards, they only recognize them as simple theological opinions…

Our sources state that these bishops were quietly invited by the Vatican itself to make this profession of faith! The scandal goes beyond all bounds. Rome itself is pushing Catholics into schism…!

Religious all over the world feel the need to draw closer to the SSPX

Such events, the relaxing of ecclesiastical discipline, the unbelievable and often sacrilegious aberrations in the liturgy are pushing priests, religious and nuns in ever greater numbers all over the world, and even as groups, to draw closer to the Priestly Society of Saint Pius X! Let us hope that this movement which is just beginning will grow stronger and will finally force the destroyers of the Church to reflect on what they are doing. Do they still have the Faith? When the Son of Man will come back, will he still find the Faith, is a question already Our Lord was asking when he spoke of the end of times (Luke XVIII, 6).

We can protect ourselves by devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary

Such upheavals require of us to apply suitable means to protect ourselves and to advance God’s cause; we turn towards Heaven and we find nothing better than what the good Lord offers us. Sister Lucy of Fatima relates the following words of the Blessed Virgin Mary during the Apparitions of 1971: “Jesus wishes to make use of you to make me known and loved. He wishes to establish in the world the devotion to my Immaculate Heart. Whoever embraces this devotion, I promise them salvation, they will be souls beloved by God, like flowers placed by me around His throne.”

From other texts we conclude that God has entrusted into the Blessed Virgin’s hands the peace of the entire world. We are sure this means inner peace of soul as well as outer peace from war… It seems also clear enough that the Pope’s consecrating of Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary will have great consequences not only in politics but also in matters spiritual and religious. Russia will convert. For after the great feeling of relief in 1989, who today would still dare to pretend that Russia has converted? We must keep on praying to Heaven that the Mother of God’s desires be finally accomplished.

The SSPX will make a pilgrimage to Fatima

As for ourselves, dear faithful, we desire to promote as far as it lies in our power this devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, according to the spirit and will of Our Lord himself. Following the example of His Excellency Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre , all the Society of Saint Pius X will make a pilgrimage to Fatima on August 22, 1997, in order to celebrate the 80th anniversary of the apparitions and to renew the expression of our good will.

Let us take care to prepare ourselves for this event through the coming year by living more truly as children of our heavenly Mother, by reciting the rosary as a family, by offering sacrifices in a spirit of reparation. In this spirit why not follow Heaven’s invitation to perform the devotion of the five first Saturdays? Could we not also make or remake our personal consecration to the Blessed Virgin, according to the method of St. Louis-Marie Grignion de Montfort or any other method we may like better?

The majesty of God is so offended! If we do not do penance we will all perish (Luke:13,3)! Our duty to do penance and to expiate our sins, both our own sins and those of our fellow-men, is a fundamental truth, the memory of which has virtually disappeared from the life and language of Christians. Certainly God wishes gently to remind us of this by establishing the devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

Let us pray for priests, let us pray a great deal for priests, for future priests. We entrust to you the new seminarians that entered this autumn; 27, including 5 Lebanese, in Flavigny, 12 in Zaitzkofen and 9 in the United States, to whom we must add 9 young men from the East who have entered our “pre-seminary” in Jaidhof in Austria, and some postulant Brothers.

Apostolate of "Homes of Christ the Priest" launched

In order to associate families more closely with the task of sanctifying our priests we have launched an apostolate to which we are particularly attached: the Homes of Christ the Priest; families which wish to consecrate themselves to Our Lord as Priest. These families offer all their life, efforts, sufferings and joys for the sanctification of priests. You may apply to our District Superiors for more information on this magnificent apostolate.

Clearly God continues to bless the Society of Saint Pius X, and you, dear benefactors, are his fortunate instruments in this. May Our Lord and Our Lady give it back to you one hundred-fold in graces and blessings which springs up to eternity.

† Bernard Fellay

On the Feast of Christ the King, 27 October 1996

Five years after Archbishop Lefebvre's death, we review his letter to Cardinal Seper in 1978 wherein he described the reasons for taking the decision to found the SSPX. He warns us principally of liberal errors and especially of the sham truce of liberal ecumenism which destroys the Church's missionary spirit. The Society will avoid the contagion of liberal ecumenism and continue its expansion throughout the world.

Dear Friends and Benefactors,

5 years since Archbishop Lefebvre's death

Nearly 20 years ago Archbishop Lefebvre, the fifth anniversary of whose death we celebrate today, wrote a letter to Cardinal Seper, laying out the reasons for taking the position he was taking, “which is the position of thousands of Catholics and numerous priests from amongst those most faithful to the Catholic Church and the Papacy”(Letter of April 13, 1978).

Archbishop Lefebvre's letter to Cardinal Seper

His words are so suitable to our present situation that we have no hesitation in quoting them at length:

“The problem at the root of our perseverance in Tradition, in spite of orders from Rome to abandon it, is the grave and profound change in the relations of the Church with the world.

World must be converted

Our Lord and the Church after Him have related themselves to the world in a very precise way. The world has to be converted and baptized, and submit to the gentle Reign of Our Lord Jesus Christ. That is the one and only way to salvation. “Go, teach all nations…” That is clear. Apostles must be sent to all nations so that they become Catholic and accept the Reign of Our Lord.

War of Satan against the Church

But in the world there are forces at enmity with Our Lord and His Reign. Satan and all the auxiliaries of Satan, conscious and unconscious, refuse that Reign, that road to salvation, and they fight for the destruction of the Church.

Hence, the Church, with her Divine Founder, is engaged in a gigantic struggle. All means have been and are being used by Satan for his triumph.

Satan wants the Church to pretend that it has no enemies

One of the latest and most effective stratagems is to destroy the fighting spirit of the Church by persuading her that she has no more enemies, so she must lay down her arms and enter into a dialogue of peace and understanding.

Sham truce of liberal ecumenism

That sham truce will allow the enemy to penetrate everywhere with ease and to corrupt the opposing forces.

That truce is Liberal Ecumenism, a diabolical instrument for the auto-destruction of the Church.

That Liberal Ecumenism will demand the neutralization of weapons, which are the Liturgy with the Sacrifice of the Mass, the Sacraments, the Breviary, the liturgical feasts, and the neutralization followed by the closing of Seminaries – there is no longer a need of fighters when there is no fight. Ecumenism in education means theological research – dogmas open to doubt.

It means also pluralism applied to Catholic States, so that they are suppressed and become Ecumenical States.

It means that the monasteries and the religious societies are stopped from fighting, they who were the vanguard. That amounts to a sentence of death.

SSPX will avoid the contagion of liberal ecumenism

To that devilish undertaking begun by the Council, especially in the Documents on “Non-Christian Religions”, “The Church in the Modern World” and “Religious Liberty,” and continued incessantly since the Council, we offer a flat refusal. We will not become Liberal Ecumenists, betraying the cause of the Reign of Our Lord and the cause of the Church: we wish to remain Catholics.

Who is the instigator of this false ecumenism in the Church? Who is (or who are) answerable for it? We prefer not to know. God knows.

They can lay us under as many interdicts and censures as they like, but we mean, with the grace of God and the help of the Blessed Virgin, to remain in the Catholic faith, and we refuse to collaborate in the destruction of the Church.

SSPX simply continues the Church of all time

We ask for something very simple and very legitimate: recognition that the Church of all time, the Church of our childhood, has the right to continue. It is a right based on Scripture, Tradition, the Magisterium of the Church and the whole history of the Church.

It is impressive to see twenty years later just how accurate these words are. We could say exactly the same thing, only with the added force of our experience and knowledge of the conciliar disaster, and the admissions of the Churchmen condemned in the 1950’s who triumphed 15 years later.

Danger of opening up to the world

The letter quoted above is a good explanation of our present situation with regard to Rome under the control of a gigantic Utopia of ecumenism, pluralism, “inculturation”, in brief “opening to the world”. And yet the age-old wisdom of Mother Church tells them in the words of Pius X: “You are opening wide the doors to let in those who are outside and at the same time you are letting out those who are inside”.

Behind this “opening to the world”, do we not find the enemy of our souls being strangely forgotten, as Archbishop Lefebvre wrote in the lines above, by a sort of wilful desire to ignore the subversive and destructive dealings of the eternal enemies of Church and society in our day, a desire to ignore also the fallen state of human nature, deeply wounded by original sin and personal sins, inclined henceforth to evil? As if goodness and truth would triumph on their own in such circumstances by some kind of magic!

There are plenty of examples to indicate our anxiety is correct: for instance, just as communist agents (e.g. “Peace Priests”) used to try to infiltrate the Church, so now agents of the New Age are trying to insinuate themselves into it, as they themselves admit!

Results of false ecumenism

Concerning ecumenism: how many souls have come back to the fold since the Church went ecumenical? When the very notion of returning to the fold is rejected, as in the Balamand Declaration of June, 1993, then any amount of smiles and conferences merely confirms the stray sheep in their errors, instead of bringing them to the truth. We have a striking example in the Patriarch of Constantinople, concelebrating a “Liturgy of the Word” with the Pope on June 29, 1995 (in which the Credo was recited as the Orthodox, not as Catholics recite it), and then the same patriarch a few months later in Zurich violently attacking the Papacy, the primacy of Peter.

In such times, prayer and sacrifices are needed: let us beseech the Sacred Heart of Jesus, let us beg the Immaculate Heart of Mary, to come to our aid, to protect the Holy Roman Catholic Church from so many assaults from within and without.

SSPX expansion: 29 new priests

The Society will have the joy this year of ordaining 29 priests. These will be scattered throughout the world, on all five continents. Yet what are 360 priests for such an immense task? Of course, in the mystery of grace it is not quantity that matters most, but so many many starving souls calling out to us each year from more and more new countries cannot leave us indifferent. Our heart breaks as we have to tell them to “be patient” in the anguish of their suffocating souls.

More people are contacting us in Central America, in Asia, in countries of the East without our being able to bring them any relief other than a short and all too fleeting visit. Indeed new priories have been established in Sri Lanka and Guatemala. This year the island of Santo Domingo will at last see the realization of the hopes of more than 600 Catholics who have built the spacious church and adjoining priory with their own hands and who have been waiting for several years for a priest in their midst.

As for our seminaries, while the walls of the new church in Ecône are rising from ground level – no faster than the income of your generosity allows, for which we thank you with all our heart – these seminaries are not as well tilled as we would wish. This year a little under 50 young men came to join our little band. More than ever, we entrust the crusade for vocations to your prayers. Vocations are a grace which can be merited.

The large majority of these new priests will be, as in previous years, re-inforcing the countries where we have been established for the longest time, in particular France and the United States. The District of France will have over a hundred priests, while the number of priests in the USA will be approaching fifty.

May Passiontide showing us Christ conquering through his sufferings and death on the Cross be for us an urgent invitation both to watchful prayer and generous action and unshakable hope, the hope of those who know they will not be confounded, for their hope is in the Almighty;

“In thee, O Lord, have I hoped, let me not be confounded for ever”.

† Bernard Fellay

Feast of the Annunciation, March 25, 1996