Once again our
letter to Friends and Benefactors is reaching you a little late. Once again we
hesitated to write to you sooner for fear of leaving out an important
development in our relations with Rome, especially after the Campos-Rome
agreement. In the eyes of Rome, obviously, what happened in Campos was merely
meant to be the prelude to our own "regularization" in the Society of Saint Pius
X, but in our eyes what is happening to our former friends should rather serve
as a lesson to us.
Generally
speaking, Rome means, all things being equal, to come to an agreement with the
SSPX. On all sides we hear that the Pope would like to settle this matter before
he dies. Alas, our fears roused by the Campos agreement have proved to be
well-founded, and the evolution we observe of the Campos Apostolic
Administration, contrary to Roman expectations, leaves us
distrustful.
Of course we are
dealing with a volatile situation capable of sudden and surprising changes, like
in times of political instability. And in such a situation, nobody can be
certain of what turn it will take. Also we do behold in the Vatican offices a
certain questioning of the way things have gone for the last few decades, and a
desire on the part of some officials to put an end to the downhill
slide.
However, it is
clear that the principle governing today's Rome is still to put the Council into
practice as has been done for the last 40 years. Neither official documents nor
general policy show any fundamental re-thinking of this principle, on the
contrary, we are always being told that what the Council set in motion is
irreversible, which leads us to ask why there has been a change of attitude with
regard to ourselves. Various explanations are possible, but it is primarily
because of the pluralist and ecumenical vision of things now prevailing in the
Catholic world. According to this vision, everybody is to mix together without
anybody needing any longer to convert, as Cardinal Kasper said in connection
with the Orthodox and even the Jews. From such a standpoint there will even be a
little room for Catholic Tradition, but for our part we cannot accept this
vision of variable truth any more than a mathematics teacher can accept a
variable multiplication table.
The day will come,
we are sure and certain, when Rome will come back to Rome's own Tradition and
restore it to its rightful place, and we long with all our hearts for that
blessed day. For the time being, however, things are not yet at that point, and
to foster illusions would be deadly for the SSPX, as we can see, when we follow
the turn of events in Campos. For this purpose, let us emphasize two points in
the evolution of the Campos situation: firstly, how their attitude to Rome has
changed since the agreement and secondly, how Campos is moving further and
further away from ourselves, with all the upset that that implies.
CHANGES IN
CAMPOS
Campos, through
its leader, Bishop Rifan, is crying out for all to hear that nothing has
changed, that the priests of the Apostolic Administration are just as
Traditional as before, which is the essence of what they have been granted, and
why they accepted Rome's offer: because Rome approved of the Traditional
position.
For our part, let
us begin by noting that we are well aware that in any disagreement one tends to
discredit one's adversary. For instance in the case of our former friends in
Campos, there are certainly false rumors circulating to the effect that "Bishop
Rifan has concelebrated the New Mass", or, "Campos has completely given up
Tradition". However, that being said, here is what we observe:
1. The Campos
website lays out the Campos position on the burning question of ecumenism: they
claim to follow the Magisterium of the
Church, past and present. There are quotes from Pius XI's encyclical letter
Mortalium Animos, next to quotes from John Paul II's
Redemptoris Missio. We cannot help observing that there has been a
careful selection
process: Campos quotes John Paul II's traditional passages while other passages
introducing a quite new way of looking at the question are
passed over. We read, "Being Catholics, we have no particular teaching of our
own on the question. Our teaching is none
other than that of the Church's Magisterium. The extracts which we
publish here from
certain documents old and new, bear especially on points of Catholic doctrine
which are in greater danger today".
2. The ambiguity
implicit here has become more or less normal in the new situation in which they
find themselves: they emphasize those
points in the present pontificate which seem favorable to Tradition, and tip-toe
past the rest. Say what we will: there took place in Campos
on January 18, 2002, not only a one-sided recognition of Campos by
Rome, as some claim, but also, in exchange, an undertaking by
Campos to keep quiet, And how could it be
otherwise? It is clear by now that Campos
has something to lose which they are afraid or losing, and so in order
not to lose it they have chosen the path
of compromise: "We Brazilians are men of peace, you Frenchmen are
always fighting". Which
means that, in order to keep the peace with Rome, one must stop fighting. They
no longer see the situation of the Church as a whole, they
content themselves with Rome's gesture in favor of a little group of
two dozen priests and say that there is no longer any
emergency in the Church because the granting of a
Traditional bishop has created a new juridical situation...They are forgetting
the wood for a single tree.
3. Bishop Rifan,
in the course of a brief visit to Europe, went to see Dom Gerard at Le Barroux
Abbey in France to present his apologies
for having so criticized him back in 1988 when Dom Gerard condemned Archbishop
Lefebvre's consecrating or four bishops. In a lecture he gave
to the monks, Bishop Rifan pretended there were two phases in
the life or Bishop de Castro Mayer: up till 1981 he was supposedly a docile
bishop respecting the rest of the
hierarchy, from 1981 onwards he was a much
harder churchman... "We choose to follow the pre-1981 de Castro
Mayer", said Bishop Rifan to the monks,
some of whom were surprised at such words, and one of them was
scandalized to the point of coming over to the SSPX.
4. Within this way
of thinking even the Novus Ordo Mass can be accommodated. Campos forgets the 62
reasons for having nothing to do with it, Campos now finds
that if it is properly celebrated, it is valid (which we have never
denied, but that is not
the point). Campos no longer says that Catholics must stay away because the New
Mass is bad, and dangerous. Bishop Rifan says, by way of
justifying his position on the Mass: "So we reject all use of the
Traditional Mass as a battle-flag to
insult and fight the lawfully constituted hierarchical authority of the Church.
We stay with the Traditional Mass, not out of any spirit of
contradiction, but as a clear and lawful expression of our
Catholic Faith!". We are reminded of the
words of a Cardinal a little while back: "Whereas the SSPX is FOR the old
Mass, the Fraternity of Saint Peter Is AGAINST the New Mass.
It's not the same thing". That was Rome's argument to justify
taking action against Fr. Bisig of the Fraternity of Saint Peter at about the
same time that Rome was
cozying up to the SSPX. The Cardinal's curious distinction is now being put into
practice by Campos, as they pretend to be for the old Mass
but not against the new. Likewise for Tradition, but not against today's Rome.
"We maintain that Vatican II cannot contradict Catholic
Tradition", said Bishop Rifan quite recently to a French magazine, Famille
Chretienne. Yet a well-known Cardinal said that Vatican II
was the French Revolution inside the Church. Bishop de Castro
Mayer said the same thing....
So little by
little the will to fight grows weaker and finally one gets used to the
situation. In Campos itself, everything positively traditional is being
maintained, for sure, so the people see nothing different, except that the more
perceptive amongst them notice the priests' tendency to speak respectfully and
more often of recent statements and events coming out of Rome, while yesterday's
warnings and today's deviations are left out. The great danger here is that in
the end one gets used to the situation as it is, and no longer tries to remedy
it. For our part we have no intention of launching out until we are certain that
Rome means to maintain Tradition. We need signs that they have
converted.
LEAVING THE SSPX
BEHIND
Besides this
wholly foreseeable evolution of minds by which the Campos priests have, whatever
they say, given up the fight, we must note another occurrence, the increasing
hostility between us. Bishop Rifan still says that he wants to be our friend,
but some Campos priests are already accusing us of being schismatic because we
refuse their agreement with Rome.
A little like one
sees a boat pushing into mid-river, drifting down-stream and leaving the bank
behind, so we see, little by little, several indications of the distance growing
between ourselves and Campos. We had warned them of the great danger, they chose
not to listen. Since they have no wish to row up-stream, then even while inside
the boat things carry on as before, which gives them the impression that nothing
has changed, nevertheless they are leaving us behind, as they show themselves
more and more attached to the magisterium of today, as opposed to the position
they held until recently and which we still hold, namely a sane criticism of the
present in the light of the past.
To sum up, we are
bound to say that the Campos priests, despite their claims to the contrary, are
slowly being re-molded, following the lead of their new bishop, in the spirit of
the Council. That is all Rome wants - for the moment.
One may object
that our arguments are weak and too subtle, and of no weight as against Rome's
offer to regularize our situation. We reply that if one considers Rome's offer
of an Apostolic Administration just by itself, it is as splendid as the
architect's plan of a beautiful mansion. But the real problem is the practical
problem of what foundations the mansion will rest on. On the shifting sands of
Vatican II, or on the rock of Tradition going back to the first
Apostle?
To guarantee our
future, we must obtain from today's Rome clear proof of its attachment to the
Rome of yesterday. When the Roman authorities have re-stated with actions
speaking louder than words that "There must be no innovations outside of
Tradition", then "we" shall no longer be a problem. And we beg God to hasten
that day when the whole Church will flourish again, having re-discovered the
secret of her past strength, freed from the modern unthought of which Paul VI
said that "It is anti-Catholic in nature, Maybe it will prevail. It will never
be the Church. There will have to be a faithful remnant, however
tiny".
LIFE INSIDE THE
SSPX
Let us also tell
you of life inside the Society, to give you a little share in our apostolic joys
and labors. And let us make use of this letter to tell you a little of our
activity in missionary countries. It is true that today almost all countries,
especially in our old Europe, are again becoming missionary countries. Priests,
in their apostolic travels, visit over 65 countries, some of them still today
suffering direct persecution of the Faith. But as this letter is already long,
let us confine ourselves to two new areas of our apostolate. We had been
visiting them off and on for a number of years, but just recently we think they
are opening up in an astonishing way: Lithuania and Kenya.
In order the
better to organize our apostolate in Russia and White Russia, we have
established a bridgehead in Lithuania, a country which suffered much under
Russian Communist persecution and where it took heroism to keep Catholicism
going. Once the Iron Curtain fell, the Eastern countries put their trust in the
novelties from the Vatican, being persuaded that anything coming from the West
had to be good! These countries swiftly caught up on the state of disaster
inflicted by the reforms. Any reaction is rather passive than visible, so we do
not see them taking action. But once our priests got over the language
difficulty, they are discovering ground that promises to be fertile for
Tradition, more so than our first fruitless attempts had given us to expect.
Welcomed with a severe warning from the local bishops to Catholics to stay away
from us, our priests nevertheless discovered numerous priests wishing to join
us. These explained their bishops' severity: it was out of fear that Catholics
would come to us in large numbers. For instance we have been approached by a
little congregation of Sisters, founded by Cardinal Vincentas Sladkevicius,
Archbishop Emeritus of Kaunas. Before he died on May 28, 2000, he left orders
with the Sisters: "When the Society of Saint Pius X comes, you must join them.
They will restore the Church in Lithuania". May God with His grace enable us to
live up to the Archbishop's expectation! The main cities now have their little
Mass center where interest is slight for the moment, but becomes more pressing
each day.
Kenya has been
receiving sporadic visits from Society priests for the last 25 years, but we
have only just discovered the existence of a group of 1,500 faithful organizing
their struggle for the Faith with their refusal of communion in the hand and
standing. Our first contacts with them show very clearly that they are battling
not only for the right way to receive communion but also for a whole Traditional
attitude. We are discovering also a number of nuns who have left their different
Congregations or been chased out of them because they refused the Vatican II
reforms. Living in the world they remained faithful to their vows. Now 16 of
them are coming over to us in the hope of being able once more to live in
community.
A young priest
said to us, "If you set up a chapel here, it will empty out the cathedral. When
I visit the faithful they say to me: 'Why have you changed our Church? Say Mass
like it used to be!' But I don't know the old Mass, I don't know how the Church
was before. When I ask older priests, they send me packing. Can you teach me to
say the old Mass? Can I visit you to learn?" Another priest, also young, said in
a tone of voice that spoke volumes. "I will note down in my diary for this
evening: my first Tridentine Mass".
How can the Church
authorities not heed the cry of these souls thirsting for grace and the Catholic
life? Beneath the ashes and ruins left by Vatican II, there are still
traditional Catholic embers glowing, needing only to blaze up again. The Church
does not die. God watches over it. May He grant us to be His docile instruments
to spread the fire that His Heart burns to spread throughout the
world!
But you in
particular, dear faithful, are well aware that we cannot manage to do all we
would like to do; how we need priests! Pray, pray the master of the harvest to
send numerous workers into his apostolic field.
At the beginning
of this new year, full of gratitude and warm thanks for all your unfailing
generosity, we entrust you with praying for priests, for the sacrifice of the
Mass. God bless you and all your families with an abundance of all His
graces.
+Bishop Fellay January 6,
2003
The above text of Bishop Fellay's letter was sent to the TradList and we use this text here from the TradList. One joins the TradList by sending a blank mail to: Subscribe to the Traditionalism List
For previous articles regarding matters that affect the Ecclesia Dei commission, see www.DailyCatholic.org/2002ecc.htm
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Our Relations With Rome 
