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Dear Friends and
Benefactors,
For a long time we
have desired to send you this letter to give you some news of our
dear Society. We have postponed sending it because we wanted to
explain to you our position after the publication announced months
ago of the motu proprio on permission to celebrate the
Tridentine Mass. For, last October while we were gathering our
spiritual bouquet for obtaining the liberation of the holy Mass,
everything seemed to indicate an imminent publication of a motu
proprio by Pope Benedict XVI concerning the question. But it
seems that the staunch opposition of certain episcopates has
constrained the Sovereign Pontiff to delay it "a little while."
This "little while"
is turning into a lengthy duration, so that we shall not wait any
longer to share with you our take on the situation.
First, let me thank
you warmly for your generous prayer. Our [General] Chapter had set
the goal of offering a million rosaries by the end of October. The
harvest was abundant indeed, as we were finally able to send the
pope a spiritual bouquet of two and a half million rosaries. In
our letter [to the pope] accompanying the bouquet, we indicated
that we had wanted to show by this concrete act our will to
collaborate in the rebuilding of the Church and Christendom. It is
obvious to us that this terrible crisis, which has afflicted the
Church since the Second Vatican Council, will not come to an end
without a vast effort and a very great determination on the
hierarchy's part, beginning with the Vicar of Christ. For, in the
circumstances, it will take overcoming the lethargy created by a
bad habit; it will mean refuting errors and even heresies and
other positions totally incompatible with the doctrine of the
Church, the Bride of Christ, which have become embedded in the
Mystical Body. A happy result cannot be hoped for without the
powerful help of Heaven. That is why we turned, and are still
turned, towards Our Lady and Our Lord to obtain an improvement in
the Church.
Even if till now
the desired result has not come about, nevertheless, in the month
of October we were witness to a scene concerning the Mass of All
Time that had not been seen in the last decade. For, contrary to
the usual slogans, which attribute attachment to the Latin liturgy
to nostalgia or a particular sensibility, this time serious
arguments were being made: freedom for priests to celebrate the
Tridentine Mass would create doctrinal problems, they tell us;
this Mass endangers the achievements of Vatican II. How can we not
rejoice over this sudden discovery?
If we closely
consider the arguments advanced this time, especially by the
French episcopate, but also at Rome and in Germany, one notices
that the bishops in fact are afraid of this Mass. Even Rome is
being extremely careful not to disavow Paul VI's reform while
outlining the possibility of a return to the old Mass. The
progressivists' fear is such that it is necessary [for Rome] to go
to great lengths and to argue forcefully for broadening the
permission for priests' to celebrate the Tridentine Mass.
Certainly, that also explains why we have not yet received either
thanks or a response to our letter from the Sovereign Pontiff or
even the Vatican.
In the present
situation, we can and we must draw some conclusions for the
future, even if we do not yet know the exact terms of this much
talked-about motu proprio.
1. If we consider
how Roman documents have been received during the last decade by
the episcopate and the faithful, we are obliged to say that what
prevails is a very great indifference that has frustrated the
measures recommended in them by Rome. Whether it be the place of
laymen in the liturgy or, more recently, liturgical prescriptions;
whether it concern the Declaration Dominus Jesus or the
condemnation of abortion and euthanasia, one cannot fail to notice
that the documents have had no real effect. One can well wonder
even now whether the motu proprio will not have the same
fate.
2. Nonetheless,
since the document extends a favor rather than imposes a
restriction, and since, moreover, it is addressed to persons who
are very interested in the matter, it could well be that the
expectations of the faithful and priests will awaken the
hierarchies in some countries from their lethargy and disturb
their resistance. This is what certain bishops are thinking of
when they warn of a risk of liturgical anarchy in their dioceses.
Considering the multiplicity of forms the New Mass has taken in
reality, one might wonder where this new-found fear of "division"
can be coming from. On the contrary, the traditional liturgy has
always proven to be a factor of unity, especially because of its
sacred language, Latin.
3. It is quite
unlikely that this motu proprio will be followed by a mass
movement. The priests and faithful who desire the old liturgy are
proportionally few in number, and the others have lost the taste
for it or the interest. It will take many serious efforts to
restore to its place of honor in the whole Church the venerable
and sacred rite that sanctified centuries and centuries of
Christendom.
4. It will be,
rather, a movement that will take off slowly, but which will
slowly gain strength as the riches and beauty of the lost liturgy
are rediscovered. Indeed, simply by granting the Tridentine Mass
the right to exist (this Mass was never suppressed!), it will
gradually impose itself since the New Mass cannot rival it.
5. At any rate, a
broader permission to celebrate the old Mass is a blessing for the
Church. Certainly, the publication of this document might engender
a certain confusion "among us," in the sense that it will create
the impression of a rapprochement between the official Church and
Tradition. When it happens, an appeal by Rome for renewed unity
should be expected. For the SSPX, a greater liberalization of the
holy Mass is a cause for rejoicing, a step towards the restoration
of Tradition; however, the distrust born of years of self-defense
and combat against "those who should be our pastors" will not be
easily allayed. Indeed, the New Mass should be considered an
effect much more than a cause of the crisis that has afflicted the
Church for nearly forty years. In other words, our situation will
be practically unchanged by the return of the old Mass so long as
it is not accompanied by other absolutely essential
rectifications.
6. Ecumenism,
liberalism, and this spirit of the world that defiles the Bride of
Christ are still the principles animating the Conciliar Church.
These principles kill the spirit of God, the Christian spirit. We
must understand more than ever the roots of the crisis in order to
keep ourselves from rushing blindly into the new situation that
would be created by the motu proprio. Before thinking of
the measures that will need to be taken for our canonical
regularization, an in-depth discussion of these questions is
indispensable. We hope that Rome at last understands our demand to
see any discussions preceded by what we call our preliminaries or
preconditions, one of which would be met by the motu proprio.
For thirty years we have refused to take the poison; it is for
this reason that we have been rejected, and it is still the
condition (more or less hidden) that Rome imposes for accepting
us. Ecumenism, religious liberty, and collegiality remain the
points of contention over which we will not budge.
7. What we have
been saying up to this point is just speculation. The concrete
circumstances, that is, the actual terms of the motu proprio,
may require other distinctions and clarifications.
Entering Lent, let
us remember that the gifts of Heaven are obtained by purifying
prayer and penance, that God listens more willingly to the prayer
of a pure and humble heart. Let us continue, then, our crusade of
prayer, and join to it some voluntary penances to wrest from
Heaven what the Churchmen find so hard to give to our souls. Even
if God does not seem to listen to our supplications, let us not be
discouraged. He is putting us to the test, and wants to make us
earn even more merits.
+ Bernard Fellay |
