April 2010 Print


The Authority of Vatican II Questioned

PART 4

Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre

Fr. Gleize is a professor of ecclesiology at the seminary of the SSPX in Ecône and now a member of the commission involved in the doctrinal discussions with the Holy See. In 2006, he compiled and organized Archbishop Lefebvre’s thinking about Vatican II. It was published by the Institute of St. Pius X, the university run by the SSPX in Paris, France.

The Magisterium Is Infallible Only When It Proclaims Tradition

This is the third part of the spiritual conference given at Ecône by Archbishop Lefebvre on September 14, 1975.–Fr. Gleize

 

We are entirely with the pope in everything he says in conformity with Tradition. But as soon as there are novelties, things that are new, that do not echo Tradition–at that moment, the pope is not infallible, he can be mistaken, and this must not be forgotten. The pope is only infallible when he speaks ex cathedra and when, in his ordinary magisterium, he is the echo of Tradition. That is the way it is.

In the ordinary magisterium, only those things are infallible which echo Tradition. You have passages in your pontifical documents in which the pope says: “Our predecessors so-and-so and so-and-so said this, and We solemnly repeat what they have said and We confirm what they have said.” At that moment, the pope is infallible. His ordinary magisterium is not an extraordinary definition, but [he is infallible] in his ordinary magisterium when he repeats everything that has been said since the Apostles; when he bases himself upon Revelation, the Apostles, the Fathers of the Church, and on the popes: “This pope said this, that pope said that, and by our Apostolic authority We confirm these truths.” Take, for example, Pope Leo XIII in his encyclical Immortale Dei, where he condemns the new, liberal rights, all the rights the French Revolution defended: the right to freedom of thought, freedom of speech, freedom of conscience, freedom, freedom. Pope Leo XIII solemnly condemns all of that by repeating everything his predecessors said. Then the pope is infallible.

But this is no longer so if the pope tells us something new; for example, when the pope himself tells us, as did Pope Paul VI in his Introduction to the liturgy for the new Mass. He said: “We know that the ancient Mass goes all the way back to Gregory the Great; we know that this Mass sanctified [many], that it did much good, and that it is an admirable Mass, and so forth. However, in order to conform ourselves to the spirit of modern man…” That is the reason he gives, that is the motive the Pope invokes: “However, in order to conform ourselves to the spirit of modern man and to be closer to him so that he can participate better in our mysteries, etc., this is what we are going to do.” He himself says that it is a novelty, an adaptation to modern man. In that, he is not infallible.

Vatican II Is in Rupture with Tradition

The spirit of Vatican II is a spirit that destroys the Church. The new conciliar magisterium is in rupture with Tradition, as Archbishop Lefebvre explained in a spiritual conference given to the Ecône seminarians on September 29, 1975.–Fr. Gleize

 

It is impossible for us to submit to this spirit that is destroying the Church. We can see it; the facts show it to us every day. The spirit that issued from the Council and the reforms of the Council and the post-conciliar orientations is in the process of destroying the Church in every domain. But we desire to be firmly attached to Tradition, to the magisterium of all time, to the successor of Peter as successor of Peter, and to the master of truth the successor of Peter is, to the Vicar of our Lord Jesus Christ. If this vicar, by an incredible design of Providence, by a permission allowed by Providence; if this vicar leads us, voluntarily or involuntarily, I do not know, I cannot judge the Holy Father’s conscience–but if he leads us toward Protestantism, to neo-modernism and the destruction of the Church, we are obliged to say no, no. In all that, it is no longer the successor St. Peter who speaks to us, it is no longer Tradition that is given to us, it is no longer the magisterium of the Church of all time.

So then, no, precisely because we are attached to Tradition, because we are attached to the magisterium of the Church of all time, we cannot submit to a magisterium that destroys this magisterium, that destroys this Tradition, that destroys the sacraments, the sacrifice of the Mass, that destroys the catechism which expressed our faith, that destroys the religious congregations which expressed what is fairest and holiest in the Church–the devotion of souls to God and to the sacrifice of the Mass, to the oblation of the Mass. It simply is not possible; one cannot both be attached to all these things that constitute the Church’s treasure and at the same time dilapidate them.

Well, well. I desire to keep, I desire to hold on to, the truth; I hope, and I pray to God every day, that I will not lead you on the wrong track. Very sincerely, I do not think that I am, because one cannot be on the wrong track when one continues what the Church has done for 20 centuries. We are doing nothing else, and, as I have told you quite often, you are not following me, it is not me you are following, it is the Church, the Tradition of the Church, the faith of the Church, the magisterium of the Church.

You have the library at your disposition. You can search in all the books. You can delve into Patrology, all the theological dictionaries, the history of the Councils. You have everything at your disposition. Go and see whether what you are being taught here is contrary to what the Church has taught for 20 centuries. You have it. You can take the books and come and tell us: “But what you are saying is false; here is what the Church has taught for 20 centuries, and you are saying the opposite.” If it is true, well then, we have nothing else to do than close the seminary. But it is precisely because we are so convinced that that is the life and the truth; the Church could not be wrong for 20 centuries, that is impossible, or else all these saints who have come from the Church–all of that is an illusion. And that is not possible.

So, there has certainly been a break starting with Vatican II. It is a new spirit, a reform, a new Church, a liberal Church, a reformed Church like the Church reformed by Luther, after all is said and done, which was introduced into the Catholic Church. It is no longer the Catholic Church. People will say: “But that is impossible… The Holy Father cannot…” It is a mystery, which is why one may say that the Holy Father is not infallible in everything that he says or does. He is not holy in everything that he does or says. The whole history of the Church shows this. So, we had some extraordinary popes for almost a century, and, of course, we are a bit confused today. But the facts are there, do what you will. We cannot deny them.

 

(To be continued.)

 

Fr. Gleize is a professor of ecclesiology at the seminary of the SSPX in Ecône and now a member of the commission involved in the doctrinal discussions with the Holy See. In 2006, he compiled and organized Archbishop Lefebvre’s thinking about Vatican II. It was published by the Institute of St. Pius X, the university run by the SSPX in Paris, France. Although slightly edited, the spoken style has been preserved.