Dear Crookston residents,

Our Lady of Sorrows Catholic Church is a chapel of the Society of Saint Pius X, a world wide religious institute of priests which offers the Traditional Latin Mass. Our Society was founded in Fribourg, Switzerland on November 1, 1970 with diocesan approval and only four months later Cardinal Wright, prefect for the Sacred Congregation for the Clergy, officially approved and encouraged our Society. He recognized the Society's international character and the fact that many bishops from the world praised and approved it.

Since then many efforts have been made to force us to give up the ancient tradition of the Catholic Church. We simply wish to remain Catholics under Pope John Paul II and do not wish to water down our faith in the name of ecumenism. Rather we defend the one true Catholic faith and invite you to attend the Mass of your forefathers. Even those of you who are not Catholic have ancestors who attended this Mass all their lives. It may change your life and eternity.

Sincerely yours in Our Lady of Sorrows,
Fr. Paul M. Kimball

Office of the Bishop - P.O. BOX 610-Crookston, Minnesota 56716
Tel: (218) 281-4533         Fax: (218) 281-3328

February 25, 2004
Ash Wednesday

Rev. Paul M. Kimball
600 E. Roberts Street
Crookston, MN 5 6716

Dear Rev. Kimball,

Grace and Peace in the Lord Jesus Christ!

As "Occupant," I received your postcard inviting me to attend Mass at your so-called "Catholic" church.

You know that your founder was excommunicated by Pope John Paul II because of his disobedience to him, the Vicar of Christ. You also know that the four bishops your founder "consecrated" are also excommunicated. So how can you honestly say: "We simply wish to remain Catholics under Pope John Paul II..."?

Of course, you can't say this honestly. You have to lie or, at least, withhold the whole truth from those you are contacting.

Moreover, if you are trying to disturb the conscience of good, faithful Catholics, I am not worried that you will succeed. People know a wolf in sheep's clothing when they see one.

I invite you and your followers to imitate the example of the prodigal son. Please come to your senses, repent, and return to your Father's house, which is the Catholic Church under the universal leadership of Pope John Paul II. It is the holy Season of Lent; what a wonderful time for repentance. Please come home, and we will receive you with joy and celebration.

Grace and Peace in the Lord Jesus,

+Victor H. Balke
Bishop of Crookston

Our Lady of Sorrows Catholic Church
600 E. Roberts StreetCrookston, MN 56716
Phone (218) 281-688C

March 3, 2004

Most Reverend Victor H. Balke
P. O. Box 610
Crookston, MN56716

Your Excellency,

Allow me to first pay my respects to yourself, a successor of the Apostles. The priests of our Society of St. Pius X never omit to publicly pray for the Holy Father and yourself in the Canon of the Mass whenever we are in your diocese.

In your response to our recent postcard mailing to the residents of Crookston you have stated what appears to be obvious, that the Society of St. Pius X is not part of the Catholic Church because our founder and four of our bishops were "excommunicated" in 1988. Now strictly neither my parishioners nor I have been excommunicated but I will let that pass. By our adherence to a "schismatic" organization we are usually told that we are not part of the Catholic Church. Why then do we still call ourselves Catholic and even say that we are "under Pope John Paul II"?

You must know that we affirm that, both in God's eyes and according to Canon Law, the suppression of our Society and the excommunication of our bishops were unjust and therefore invalid. Moreover we have never rejected the authority of the present Pope and bishops of the Catholic Church and hence we are not schismatics. Furthermore what appears to be disobedience to the Holy Father in that our founder consecrated bishops against the wishes of Pope John Paul II, was actually obedience to the Church in the present crisis of the faith, also called the "self-destruction of the Church" according to Pope Paul VI, and "silent apostasy" according to Pope John Paul II. Our justification for consecrating these bishops rests firmly upon the fact that the Church specially needs our priests today. For they are among the few priests faithful to the continuous sometimes infallible teachings of the Magisterium of the Church, while the vast majority of the hierarchy has fallen into the errors of Modernism and Liberalism previously condemned.

How can so few bishops, priests, and faithful dare to claim that they are more orthodox than the vast majority of the hierarchy? An historical precedent of such a situation can be found in St. Athanasius. He was unjustly excommunicated by Pope Liberius and the vast majority of bishops at that time succumbed to the Arian heresy. Such crises are not frequent but they are possible.

How dare subjects correct their prelates? St. Paul dared to correct the first Pope. As St. Thomas explains, "It must be observed, however, that if the faith were endangered, a subject ought to rebuke his prelate even publicly. Hence Paul, who was Peter's subject, rebuked him in public, on account of the imminent danger of scandal concerning faith, and, as the gloss of Augustine says on Galatians 2:11, 'Peter gave an example to superiors, that if at any time they should happen to stray from the straight path, they should not disdain to be reproved by their subjects.'" (II-II, Q.33, Art.4, ad 2).

What in particular do we object to in the Second Vatican Council? We primarily object to its three main principles: religious liberty for all religions as being means of salvation "subsisting in the Church of Christ," an antiauthoritarian collegiality, and a false ecumenism which breeds religious indifference.

These three errors correspond to the three Freemasonic principles of the French Revolution: liberty, equality and fraternity. The Masons foretold, in secret papers authenticated by Pius IX in 1861 called the Alta Vendita, that they would infect the Church with their subversive ideas and make use of a Council and a liberal minded Pope to oblige all Catholics to accept their errors out of obedience. Such is the real cause of the unprecedented collapse of the Church today. Never before has there been such a rapid decline in Mass attendance, vocations, morals, or unity of belief among Catholics. How many Catholics today believe in Hell, transubstantiation, infallibility, or the evil of birth control? Gallup polls have shown that most Catholics, among the small number still practicing their faith, are heretics outside the Church. Just last week the Bishop of San Jose wrote a newspaper article denying that the four Gospels are historical. Why is nothing done to punish heretics within the Church and only those who hold firmly to Tradition are termed "wolves in sheep's clothing"?

Finally we reject the New Mass not as being necessarily invalid, but as having a Protestant spirit. Are you aware that Cardinal Ottaviani, the head of the former Holy Office, wrote a letter to Paul VI disapproving the new Mass? He wrote on September 3, 1969 that the new Mass "represents, as a whole and in detail, a striking departure from the Catholic theology of the Holy Mass as it was formulated in Session XXII of the Council of Trent." This Mass was composed with the help of six Protestant ministers with the goal of producing a Mass acceptable to the Protestants by removing practically all references to doctrines that are specifically Catholic, especially the notion of the Mass being a sacrifice and not just a meal.

Hence Your Excellency can see that our position is not merely a superficial problem of disobedience but one of doctrine. The Catholic Church today seems to be having an identity crisis, wondering if it is still the only true ark of salvation "outside of which there is no salvation," as was infallibly taught for 2000 years. Instead she is a "sister Church" of the false religions. Pope John Paul II himself fosters this view by his ecumenical meeting of all religions in Assisi in 1986 and by frequently showing respect for false religions, such as allowing various religions to assist at the opening of the Holy Door at the Jubilee for the year 2000 and publicly kissing the Koran. Actions that would have formerly incurred censure now are practiced universally by the hierarchy following the scandalous example of the Supreme Pontiff.

Your Excellency asks me to return to my Father's house, the Catholic Church. I assure you that I have never left it and with the grace of God intend never to leave it. I in return ask yourself to return to the traditional belief and practice of the faith, and so to be the good shepherd of souls so greatly needed when "the shepherd has been struck and the sheep have been scattered."

Respectfully yours in Jesus and Mary,

Fr. Paul M. Kimball

Enclosures: "Consecration Sermon" and "Why the Traditional Latin Mass? Why Not the New?"

Published April 8, 2004

An Alternative to Traditional Catholicism*

Dear Editor,

Recently Our Lady of Sorrows Catholic Church mailed postcards to most all the residents of Crookston advertising our traditional Latin Mass offered there and inviting all to attend. Since some residents may wonder if our Mass is properly authorized and what are our present relations with Rome, I offer your readers the following explanation of our position.

Firstly the Catholic Church has never officially forbidden the Latin or Tridentine Mass. Pope Pius V in his Bull Quo Primum issued on July 14, 1570, granted an indult, or permission, for all priests to freely and lawfully offer the traditional Mass in perpetuity. He wrote, "By virtue of our Apostolic authority We give and grant in perpetuity that for the singing or reading of Mass in any Church whatsoever this Missal may be followed absolutely, without any scruple of conscience or fear of incurring any penalty, judgment or censure, and may be freely and lawfully used. Nor shall bishops, administrators, canons, chaplains and other secular priests, or religious of whatever Order or by whatsoever title designated, be obliged to celebrate Mass otherwise than enjoined by Us. We likewise order and declare that no one whosoever shall be forced or coerced into altering this Missal; and this present Constitution can never be revoked or modified, but shall forever remain valid and have the force of law." Hence the Mass that is offered at Our Lady of Sorrows Church is perfectly legitimate.

We are part of the international Society of St. Pius X which was founded by Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre in 1970 with the approval of the Bishop of Fribourg, Switzerland and officially praised by Cardinal Wright, prefect of the Sacred Congregation of the Clergy. Hence our organization was founded with proper Church approval.

In 1975, Pope Paul VI demanded that Archbishop Lefebvre offer the New Mass, written partly with the help of six Protestant ministers. This Mass has a Protestant spirit and instead of presenting the Mass as what it is, namely the re-enactment of the holy sacrifice of the Cross, it seems to present the Mass as a meal in memory of the Last Supper. This Mass being unacceptable to all orthodox Catholics, Archbishop Lefebvre continued to offer the traditional Mass according to the perpetual permission given by St. Pius V for all times and to ordain priests who would only offer this Mass. For this he was unjustly punished by the Holy Father and his Society of St. Pius X was suppressed.

Archbishop Lefebvre had previously and honorably served Pope Pius XII as his Papal Delegate to all French-speaking Africa and at the time of the Second Vatican Council was the Superior General of the Holy Ghost Fathers, the largest missionary Order in the Catholic Church. He and a group of other conservative bishops, who were united in the Coetus Internationalis Patrum, opposed a well organized liberal minority at the Council who wished to make the Catholic Church more acceptable to the modern world by downplaying its doctrine that the Catholic Church is alone the true Church founded by Jesus Christ. Instead they wrote documents saying that religious truth and salvation is found in all religions. Unfortunately the liberal bishops had the support of Popes John XXIII and Paul VI and so they were able to write the documents now known as the teachings of Vatican II. Fortunately, however, Pope Paul VI in his closing address stated that this Council, unlike all previous Councils, was not doctrinal and infallible but only a "pastoral" Council.

The reforms following this Council have been catastrophic. Never in the history of the Catholic Church has there been such a great and rapid decline in Mass attendance, number of priests, sisters, and churches, etc. Catholics who were formerly known for their unity of belief and upright morals, are now divided on practically every belief and moral teaching. Even members of the hierarchy are frequently allowed to teach heresy, such as the Bishop of San Jose who recently wrote an editorial asserting that the Gospels are not historical. Practically every error is tolerated except the practice of traditional Catholicism as was practiced for 1960 years before the Second Vatican Council.

Today Pope John Paul II is considered by most Catholics to be an archconservative. But in fact he himself was part of that liberal minority at the Second Vatican Council which convinced the bulk of the confused bishops attending this Council to accept their new view of the Church as a "sister church" of the Orthodox and Protestant churches, if not of all religions. After the Council, for instance, he was the first Polish bishop to introduce the electric guitar into the Mass. Presently he often apologizes for our Church's "past errors" and publicly prays with members of any and all religions. Accordingly, he publicly kissed the Koran and allowed a Buddhist idol to be worshiped inside the basilica at Assisi during a meeting of all religions in 1986, etc. Truly the Church of the Second Vatican Council is undergoing an identity crisis. Instead of any longer claiming to be the infallible teacher of Christ's religion, it is satisfied with merely preaching social justice and the dignity of all men, regardless of the religion to which they belong.

But are not traditional Catholics being disobedient by rejecting this new concept of the Church? The simple answer is that the Catholic hierarchy is not the highest authority in our Church. Rather it is Jesus Christ, whose teachings never changed and never will change with the times. Therefore we hold fast to the "traditions we have learned" (II Thess. 2:12) and reject this current fad to unite all religions into one super-religion, whose only doctrine would be the rights of man. The Catholic Church has already condemned the current errors of today. Especially Pope St. Pius X condemned the now widespread infection of Modernism, which he called the "synthesis of all heresies."

Archbishop Lefebvre is following a well-known example of what to do when the hierarchy attempts to misuse its God-given authority to destroy the Catholic faith. St. Athanasius in the fourth century was excommunicated by Pope Liberius, condemned by several councils, and exiled five times for his rejection of Arianism, a heresy which denied Christ's divinity. The vast majority of the bishops of his time fell into this heresy. But afterwards not only was he vindicated but also declared a saint and doctor of the Church. Let us pray that Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre be given the same honors for his noble defense of the Catholic faith in the twentieth century. Mass is offered each Sunday by his priests for all who wish to attend at Our Lady of Sorrows Catholic Church at 600 E. Roberts St. in Crookston at 2 p.m.

Yours truly

Fr. Paul Kimball
Pastor of Our Lady of Sorrows Catholic Church

* N.B.: This headline was added by the Crookston Daily Times.

Published April 15, 2004

Our Lady of Sorrows Church Is Misguided, Ill-informed, And Rejected by Bishops

Victor Balke
Bishop of Crookston

Dear Editor,

The Times' April 8th issue had a lengthy "Viewpoint" by the pastor of Our Lady of Sorrows Church; it was entitled: "An Alternative to Traditional Catholicism." (This title is misleading since he is offering his "traditional Catholicism" as an alternative to the Catholicism reflected in the Second Vatican Council, whose teachings were approved by over 2500 bishops in union with Pope Paul VI, and repeatedly reaffirmed by the world's bishops in union with Pope John Paul II.)

If I thought faithful Catholics were concerned about his article, which is quite misleading, I would respond to it in detail. But I'm convinced that faithful Catholics simply look upon him and his entire schismatic sect as misguided and ill-informed, which is the sentiment of every faithful Catholic bishop in the world. This is not to say that we should not pray for them and for their re-union with us.

What is at the bottom of the pastor's article is that he and his sect reject the teachings of the Second Vatican Council. In so doing, they reject the action of the Holy Spirit within the Church.

I received one of the postcards that the pastor referred to at the beginning of his article. The postcard said among other untrue things: "We simply wish to remain Catholics under Pope John Paul II...."

His article contradicts that statement. One long paragraph about Pope John Paul II says: "he himself [the Pope] was part of that liberal minority at the Second Vatican Council which convinced the bulk of the confused bishops attending this Council to accept their new view of the Church as a 'sister church' of the Orthodox and Protestant churches, if not of all religions." He criticizes the Pope for introducing the electric guitar into the Mass in Poland after the Council was over, for apologizing for the Church's past errors, for publicly praying with members of any and all religions, etc.

It's clear that the pastor of Our Lady of Sorrows Church has not remained Catholic under Pope John Paul II. It's just as clear that the group to which the pastor belongs (Society of St. Pius X, established by Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, who was excommunicated by the Pope), has repudiated the teachings of the Second Vatican Council and is, therefore, in schism, if not in heresy.

No faithful Catholic, claiming to follow Pope John Paul II and to accept the teachings of the Second Vatican Council, will attend Our Lady of Sorrows Church.

Published May 3, 2004

Dear Editor,

Bishop Balke's letter to the Times published on April 15 falsely accused me, a Roman Catholic priest of the Society of St. Pius X, of belonging to a schismatic sect. The bishop bases his accusation on the fact that our Society is critical of certain actions of Pope John Paul II, such as his publicly kissing the Koran. Does not the Koran say that if a Moslem kills a Christian he goes to heaven? Why would the Pope kiss such a book? St. Paul publicly rebuked that first Pope (cf. Gal. 2:11) and St. Thomas Aquinas, the greatest theologian of the Catholic Church, taught the he did the right thing (II-II, Q.33, Art.4, ad 2). Are also the good Catholics who protested when Bishop Balke tried to destroy the beautiful St. Peter's Church in Gentilly "schismatics" for daring to oppose their bishop's menacing plans? Just because Catholics fraternally correct their superiors does not mean that they no longer recognize their superiors. Hence we are not schismatics because we raise our voice in defense of the Catholic faith.

Bishop Balke further claims that our founder, Archbishop Lefebvre, was truly excommunicated. But Church law states that "a person is not subject to penalties when he has violated a law or precept who acted...out of necessity" (Canon 1323.4) or even if he just felt that there was a true necessity for his action (Canon 1323.7). Now even though Bishop Balke thinks that Archbishop Lefebvre was being disobedient to the Pope by consecrating four bishops without the blessing of the Pope, it is obvious that Archbishop Lefebvre felt that he needed to consecrate these bishops to preserve Catholic faith and tradition. Hence any penalty in this case would be null and void.

Even if one held this excommunication to be valid, it does not automatically follow that all of the supporters of Archbishop Lefebvre are also excommunicated. Excommunication is a penalty and not a contagious disease. If a retired Benedictine bishop were to be excommunicated, it would not mean that the Benedictines throughout the world, and those who hear Masses in Benedictine churches, were excommunicated.

Nor are we in schism. Canon 751 defines schism as a refusal of subjection to the supreme pontiff or refusal of communion with other members of the Church. A mere act of disobedience to a superior does not imply denial that the superior holds office or has authority. A child who says, "I won't" to his mother does not deny that she is his mother. Further Archbishop Lefebvre and the bishops that he and Bishop de Castro Meyer of Campos, Brazil, consecrated, were never excommunicated for schism. So those who support them are not are not in schism either.

Finally the Pontifical Ecclesia, Dei Commission in Rome on January 18, 2003 made the following statements about the current status of our Society: "The priests of the Society of St. Pius X are validly ordained....You may fulfill your Sunday obligation by attending a Mass celebrated by a Society of St. Pius X priest...If your intention [for attending this Mass] is simply to participate in a Mass according to the 1962 Missal for the sake of devotion, this would not be a sin....It would seem that a modest contribution to the collection at a Pius X Mass could be justified."

It is easy to call others names and to promote blind obedience. Hopefully the discussions among Catholics will now go deeper to the real issue, which is that the supporters of the faith and traditions which Bishop Balke practiced in his youth have now been outlawed. This current policy has been devastating to the unity of the Catholic Church.