Marcel Lefebvre
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Marcel-François Lefebvre (November 29, 1905 – March 25, 1991), better known as Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, was a French Roman Catholic archbishop. Following a career as a missionary in Africa with the Holy Ghost Fathers, he took the lead in opposing the changes within the Church associated with the Second Vatican Council.
In 1970, Lefebvre founded the Society of St. Pius X (SSPX), which is still the world's largest Traditionalist Catholic priestly society. In 1988, against the orders of Pope John Paul II, Lefebvre consecrated four bishops to continue his work with the SSPX. The Holy See issued a statement that Lefebvre had thereby incurred the automatic excommunication that canon law[1] applies for such actions. His supporters deny this.
[edit] Early life and ministry
Marcel Lefebvre was born in Tourcoing, Nord,[3] the second son and third child[4] of factory-owner René Lefebvre,[5] who died in 1944 in the Nazi concentration camp at Sonnenburg (in East Brandenburg, Germany),[6] where he had been imprisoned by the Gestapo because of his work for the French Resistance and British Intelligence.[7] Marcel's mother and René sr.'s wife was Gabrielle Wattin, who died in 1938.[8]
His parents were devout Catholics who brought their children to daily Mass.[9] His father was also an outspoken monarchist[10] who ran a spy-ring for British Intelligence when Tourcoing was occupied by the Germans during World War I.[11]
In 1923 Lefebvre began studies for the priesthood; at the insistence of his father he went to the French Seminary in Rome.[12] He would later credit his conservative views to the rector, a Breton priest named Father Henri Le Floch.[13] His studies were interrupted in 1926 and 1927 when he did his military service.[14] On May 25, 1929 he was ordained deacon by Cardinal Basilio Pompilj in the Basilica of St. John Lateran in Rome.[15] On September 21, 1929 he was ordained to the priesthood by Bishop (soon to be Cardinal) Achille Liénart in Lille,[16] the diocese in which he was incardinated.[17] After ordination, he continued his studies in Rome, completing a doctorate in theology in July 1930.[18]
In August 1930 Cardinal Liénart assigned Lefebvre to be assistant curate in a parish in Lomme, a suburb of Lille.[19] Even before this, Lefebvre had already asked to be released for missionary duties as a member of the Holy Ghost Fathers. But the cardinal insisted that he consider this for a year while he engaged in parish work in the diocese of Lille.[20] In July 1931 Liénart released Lefebvre from the diocese.[21] In September Lefebvre entered the novitiate of the Holy Ghost Fathers at Orly.[22] A year later on September 8, 1932 he took simple vows for a period of three years.[23]
Lefebvre's first assignment as a Holy Ghost Father was as a professor at St. John's Seminary in Libreville, Gabon.[24] In 1934 he was made rector of the seminary.[25] On September 28, 1935 he made his perpetual vows. He served as superior of a number of missions of the Holy Ghost Fathers in Gabon.[26] In October 1945 Lefebvre was ordered by the superior general to return to France and take up new duties as rector of the Holy Ghost Fathers seminary in Mortain.[27]
[edit] Bishop in Africa
Lefebvre's return to France was not to last long. On June 12, 1947 Pope Pius XII appointed him Vicar Apostolic of Dakar in Senegal;[28] he received the titular episcopal see of Anthedon[29] (El Blakiyeh near Gaza in Palestine). On September 18, 1947 he was consecrated a bishop in his family's parish church in Tourcoing by Achille Liénart (who had previously ordained him a priest); as co-consecrators acted the bishops Jean-Baptiste Fauret, C.S.Sp. and Alfred-Jean-Félix Ancel.[30][31]
In his new position Lefebvre was responsible for an area with a population of three and a half million people, of whom only 50,000 were Catholics.[32] Lefebvre was regarded as successful.[33]
On September 22, 1948 Lefebvre, while continuing as Vicar Apostolic of Dakar,[34] received additional responsibilities: Pope Pius XII appointed him Apostolic Delegate to French Africa.[35] In this capacity he was the papal representative to the Church authorities[36] in 46 dioceses[37] "in continental and insular Africa subject to the French Government, with the addition of the Diocese of Reunion, the whole of the island of Madagascar and the other neighbouring islands under French rule, but excluding the dioceses of North Africa, namely those of Carthage, Constantine, Algiers and Oran."[38] With this new responsibiity he was appointed Archbishop of the titular see of Arcadiopolis in Europa.[39]
As Apostolic Delegate, Lefebvre's chief duty was the building up of the ecclesiastical structure in French Africa.[40] Pope Pius XII wanted to move quickly towards a proper hierarchy (dioceses with bishops, instead of vicariates and apostolic prefectures).[41] Lefebvre was responsible for selecting these new bishops,[42] increasing the number of priests[43] and religious sisters,[44] as well as the number of churches,[45] in the various dioceses.
On September 14, 1955, the Apostolic Vicariate of Dakar became an archdiocese, and Lefebvre thus became the first Metropolitan Archbishop of Dakar.[46] Archbishop Lefebvre was the first and foremost advisor to Pius XII during the writing of the encyclical Fidei Donum (1957), which instructed the clergy and laity on the missions in the Third World countries and called for more missionaries.[47]
In 1958 Pope Pius XII died and was succeeded by Pope John XXIII,[48] who, in 1959, after giving Lefebvre the choice between remaining either as Apostolic Delegate or as Archbishop of Dakar,[49] appointed another to the post of Apostolic Delegate for French Africa. Lefebvre continued as Archbishop of Dakar until January 23, 1962,[50] when he was transferred to the diocese of Tulle in France,[51] retaining his personal title of archbishop.[52] In 1960, Pope John XXIII appointed Lefebvre to the Central Preparatory Commission for the Second Vatican Council.[53]
[edit] Superior General of the Holy Ghost Fathers
On July 26, 1962 the Chapter General of the Holy Ghost Fathers elected Lefebvre Superior General.[54] Lefebvre was widely respected for his experience in the mission field.[55] On the other hand, certain progressive members of his congregation, particularly in France, considered his administrative style authoritarian and desired radical reforms.[56] On August 7, 1962 Lefebvre was given the titular archiepiscopal see of Synnada in Phrygia.[57]
Lefebvre was increasingly criticized by influential members of his large religious congregation who considered him to be out-of-step with modern Church leaders and the demand of the bishops' conferences, particularly in France, for modernization and reforms.[58] A general chapter of the Holy Ghost Fathers was convened in Rome in September 1968 to debate the direction of the congregation after the changes of the Second Vatican Council.[59] The first action of the chapter was to name several moderators to lead the chapter's sessions instead of Lefebvre.[60] Lefebvre then handed in his resignation as Superior General to Pope Paul VI.[61] He would later say that it had become impossible for him to remain Superior of an Order which no longer wanted or listened to him.[62]
[edit] Second Vatican Council
Appointed by Pope John XXIII a member of the Central Preparatory Commission[63] for the Second Vatican Council, Lefebvre took part in the discussions about the draft documents to be submitted to the bishops for consideration at the Council.[64] During the first session of the Council (October to December 1962),[65] he became concerned about the direction the Council's deliberations were taking.[66]
Lefebvre took a leading part in a study group of bishops at the Council which became known as the Coetus Internationalis Patrum (International Group of Fathers).[67]
A major area of concern at the Council was the debate about the principle of religious liberty.[68] During the Council's third session (September to November 1964)[69] Archbishop Pericle Felici announced that Lefebvre, with two other like-minded bishops, was appointed to a special four-member commission charged with rewriting the draft document on the topic,[70] but it was soon discovered that this measure did not have papal approval, and major responsibility for preparing the draft document was given to the Secretariat for Promoting Christian Unity.[71] Instead of the draft entitled "On Religious Liberty", Lefebvre and Cardinal Alfredo Ottaviani had supported instead a text dealing with "Relations between the Church and State, and religious tolerance."[72] The Coetus Internationalis Patrum did, however, manage to get the preliminary vote (with suggestions for modifications) on the document put off until the fourth session of the Council, but were unable to prevent the adoption, on 7 December 1965, of the final text of the declaration Dignitatis humanae by the overwhelming majority of the Council.[73] The expressed view of some that this overwhelming majority was only due to intense lobbying by the reformist wing of Council Fathers among those prelates who initially had reservations or even objections[74] is not accepted by all observers however. Lefebvre was one of those who voted against the declaration, but he was one of those who added their signature to the document, after that of the Pope, though not all present did sign.[75] Lefebvre later declared that the sheet of paper that he signed and that was "passed from hand to hand among the Fathers of the Council and upon which everyone placed his signature, had no meaning of a vote for or against, but signified simply our presence at the meeting to vote for four documents."[76] However, the paper on which his signature appears, and which was not "the relatively unimportant attendance sheet which Lefebvre recalled in his interview", bears "the title Declaratio de Libertate Religiosa (along with the titles of three other documents) at the top," and "(t)he fathers were informed that if they wished to sign one or more documents, but not all of them, they could make a marginal annotation beside their name, specifying which documents they did or did not wish to sign. No such annotation is found beside the names of either Lefebvre or de Castro Mayer, which proves that they were prepared to share in the official promulgation of that Declaration on Religious Liberty which they later publicly rejected."[77]
[edit] Lefebvre's theological and political positions
Lefebvre belonged to an identifiable strand of thought in French society that originated among the defeated monarchists after the 1789 Revolution and that endured until the demise of the Vichy regime in 1944. Lefebvre's political and theological outlook mirrored that of a large number of conservative members of French society under the French Third Republic (1870-1940). The Third Republic was riven by conflicts between the secular Left and the Catholic Right, with many individuals on both sides espousing distinctly radical positions (see, for example, the article on the famous Dreyfus affair).
Lefebvre's supporters would maintain that, historically, the Catholic Church has always been friendly with the strain of political philosophy espoused by Lefebvre. Over the centuries, it might be said that the Catholic Church has found its natural allies in those who, to use the words of Pope St. Pius X to the mother of Action Francaise leader Charles Maurras (a leader of the radical Right under the Third Republic who was nonetheless condemned by Pope Pius XI), support "hierarchy, order, and obedience". On the other hand, the Catholic Church has never endorsed any particular political program or form of government, and the fact that Lefebvre was raised and educated in a particular, highly-charged political atmosphere in early twentieth-century France cannot be ignored when evaluating his outlook.
[edit] Theological positions
Lefebvre was associated with the following positions:
- The rejection of ecumenism;[78]
- The espousal of pragmatic religious tolerance instead of the principle of religious liberty;[79]
- The rejection of collegiality within the Church;[80]
- Opposition to the replacement of the Tridentine Mass with the Mass of Paul VI.[81]
[edit] Political positions
Archbishop Lefebvre often condemned the 1789 French Revolution, and what he called its "Masonic and anti-Catholic principles".[1] His protégé, Bishop Richard Williamson, has reported that, as a supporter of absolutist monarchy, he spoke approvingly of the stance of Henri, Comte de Chambord during the constitutional wrangles in the early days of the French Third Republic.
Lefebvre spoke approvingly of the "Catholic order" of the wartime French Vichy régime (1940-1944), which collaborated with Nazi Germany and whose leader, Marshall Philippe Pétain, was later sentenced to death as a traitor.[82][83] In 1976, Lefebvre praised the regimes of Jorge Videla in Argentina and Augusto Pinochet in Chile, and in 1985 he spoke approvingly of the governments of Francisco Franco of Spain and Antonio Salazar of Portugal, noting that their neutrality in World War II had spared their peoples, including their Jewish populations, the suffering of the War.
Also in 1985, the French periodical Présent quoted Lefebvre as endorsing the controversial French politician Jean-Marie le Pen, leader of the Front National, on the grounds that he was the only leading French politician who was clearly opposed to abortion.
In 1990, Lefebvre was convicted in a French court and sentenced to pay a fine of 5,000 francs when he stated that, as a result of Muslim immigration into Europe, "it is your wives, your daughters, your children who will be kidnapped and dragged off to a certain kind of places as they exist in Casablanca".[84]
[edit] The Society of Saint Pius X
After retiring from the post of Superior General of the Holy Ghost Fathers, Lefebvre was approached by traditionalists from the French Seminary in Rome who had been refused tonsure,[85] the rite by which, until 1973,[86] a seminarian became a cleric. They asked for a conservative seminary to complete their studies.[87] After directing them to the University of Fribourg, Switzerland,[88] Lefebvre was urged to teach these seminarians personally.[89] In 1969, he received permission from the local bishop to establish a seminary in Fribourg which opened with nine students,[90] moving to Ecône in 1971.
Lefebvre proposed to his seminarians the establishment of a society of priests without vows.[91] In November 1970, Bishop François Charrière of Fribourg established, on a provisional (ad experimentum) basis for six years, the International Priestly Society of Saint Pius X (SSPX) as a "pious union".[92]
The French bishops, whose theological outlook was quite different from Lefebvre's, treated the Ecône seminary with suspicion and referred to it as "the Wildcat Seminary".[93] They indicated that they would incardinate none of the seminarians.[94]
In November 1974, two Belgian priests[95] carried out a rigorous inspection[96] on the instructions of a commission of cardinals,[97] producing, it was said, a favourable report.[98] However, while at Ecône, they expressed a number of theological opinions that the seminarians and staff objected to as scandalous.[99] In what he later described as a mood of "doubtlessly excessive indignation",[100] the Archbishop wrote a "Declaration" in which he strongly attacked the modernist and liberal trends that he saw as apparent in the reforms being undertaken within the Church at that time.[101]
[edit] Clash with the Vatican
In January 1975 the new Bishop of Fribourg stated his wish to withdraw the SSPX's pious union status.[102] Though Lefebvre then had two meetings with the commission of Cardinals,[103] the Bishop put his intention into effect on 6 May 1975,[104] thereby officially dissolving the Society.[105] This action was subsequently upheld by Pope Paul VI, who wrote to Archbishop Lefebvre in June 1975. Lefebvre continued his work regardless.[106]
In the consistory of 24 May 1976, Pope Paul VI criticized Archbishop Lefebvre by name and appealed to him and his followers to change their minds.[107]
On June 29, 1976, Lefebvre went ahead with planned priestly ordinations without the approval of the local Bishop and despite receiving letters from Rome forbidding them. As a result Lefebvre was suspended a collatione ordinum, i.e., forbidden to ordain any priests. A week later, the Prefect of the Congregation for Bishops informed him that, to have his situation regularized, he needed to ask the Pope's pardon. Lefebvre responded with a letter claiming that the modernisation of the Church was a "compromise with the ideas of modern man" originating in a secret agreement between high dignitaries in the Church and senior Freemasons prior to the Council.[108] Lefebvre was then notified that, since he had not apologised to the Pope, he was suspended a divinis,[109] i.e., he could no longer legally administer any of the sacraments.[110] Lefebvre remarked that he had been forbidden from celebrating the new rite of Mass[111] (this was clearly a joke,[citation needed] but Pope Paul VI apparently took it seriously and stated that Lefebvre "thought he dodged the penalty by administering the sacraments using the previous formulas").[112] In spite of his suspension, Lefebvre continued to pray Mass and to administer the other Sacraments, including the conferral of Holy Orders to the students of his seminary.
Pope Paul VI received Lefebvre in audience on 11 September 1976,[113] and one month later wrote to him admonishing him and, repeating the appeal he had made at the audience.[114] Pope John Paul II also received Lefebvre in audience sixty days after his 1978 election,[115] again without reaching agreement.
[edit] Ecône Consecrations
In a 1987 sermon Lefebvre, at age 81, announced his intention to consecrate a bishop to carry on his work after his death.[116] This was controversial, as, under Catholic canon law, the consecration of a bishop requires the permission of the Pope.[117]
On 5 May 1988, Lefebvre signed an agreement with Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger to regularise the situation of the Society of St Pius X. The Cardinal agreed that one bishop would be consecrated for the Society.[118] However, Lefebvre came to the view that he was obliged both to reject that arrangement and to ordain a successor, if necessary without papal approval.[119] The Pope appealed to him not to proceed in "a schismatic act", warning of "theological and canonical consequences".[120]
On 30 June, Archbishop Lefebvre, with Bishop Emeritus Antônio de Castro Mayer of Campos, Brazil, as co-consecrator, consecrated four SSPX priests as bishops: Bernard Tissier de Mallerais, Richard Williamson, Alfonso de Galarreta and Bernard Fellay.
On 1 July, the Congregation for Bishops issued a decree stating that this was a schismatic act and that all six people directly involved had thereby incurred automatic excommunication.[121]
On 2 July, Pope John Paul II condemned the consecration in the apostolic letter Ecclesia Dei, in which he stated that the consecration constituted a schismatic act, and that, by virtue of canon 1382 of the Code of Canon Law,[122] the bishops and priests involved were automatically excommunicated.[123]
Lefebvre declared that he and the other clerics involved had not "separated themselves from Rome" and were therefore not schismatic[124] and that they "found themselves in a case of necessity", not having succeeded, as they said, in making "Rome" understand that "this change which has occurred in the Church" since the Second Vatican Council was "not Catholic".[125] In a letter addressed to the four priests he was about to consecrate as bishops, Lefebvre wrote: "I do not think one can say that Rome has not lost the Faith."[126]
Some canon lawyers have considered that the latae sententiae excommunication was not incurred.[127] The grounds that they adduce in favour of their opinion are indicated in the article on the Ecône Consecrations.
[edit] Death
Archbishop Lefebvre died in 1991 at the age of 85 from cancer in Martigny, Switzerland[128] and, eight days later, was buried in the crypt at the society's international seminary in Ecône, Switzerland. Archbishop Edoardo Rovida, Apostolic Nuncio to Switzerland, and Bishop Henri Schwery of Sion, the local diocese, came and prayed at the body of the dead prelate.[129] Later that year, on 18 September 1991, Cardinal Silvio Oddi, who had been Prefect of the Congregation for the Clergy from 1979 to 1986, visited Lefebvre's tomb, knelt down at it, prayed, afterwards saying aloud: "Merci, Monseigneur" ("Thank you, my Lord"). Thereafter Cardinal Oddi said he held archbishop Lefebvre to have been "a holy man"[130] and suggested that the Society of St Pius X could be granted a personal prelature by the Holy See like that of Opus Dei. In January 1992, the then-superior general of the Society, Fr. Franz Schmidberger, rejected this hypothetical offer by an unpublished private letter to the Holy See. The letter's content was described by bishop Richard Williamson as basically saying that, "as long as Rome remains Conciliar, a fruitful and open collaboration between the two [the SSPX and the Holy See] does not seem possible."[131]
[edit] Quotes
-
"I well suspected that our refusal to use the New Mass would sooner or later be a stumbling block, but I would have preferred to die rather than confront Rome and the Pope!"[132]
-
--While preaching against the doctrine of Sedevacantism."Perhaps one day, in thirty or forty years, a meeting of cardinals gathered together by a future Pope will study and judge the reign of Paul VI; perhaps they will say that there were things that ought to be clearly obvious to people at the time, statements of the Pope that were totally against Tradition. At the moment, I prefer to consider the man on the chair of Peter as the Pope; and if one day we discover for certain that the Pope was not the Pope, at least I will have done my duty. When he is not using his charism of infallibity, the Pope can err. So why should we be scandalized and say, 'So there is no Pope,' like Arius, who was scandalized by Our Lord being humiliated and saying in this Passion, 'My God why have you abandoned me?' Arius reasoned, 'Therefore he is not God!'"[133]
-
--At the Ecône Consecrations, June 30, 1988."There are the facts upon which, I think, we can lean. We place ourselves in God's providence. We are convinced that God knows what He is doing. Cardinal Gagnon visited us twelve years after the suspension: after twelve years of being spoken of as outside of the communion of Rome, as rebels and dissenters against the Pope, his visit took place. He himself recognized that what we have been doing is just what is necessary for the reconstruction of the Church. The Cardinal even assisted pontifically at the Mass which I celebrated on December 8, 1987, for the renewal of the promises of our seminarians. I was supposedly suspended and, yet, after twelve years, I was practically given a clean slate. They said we have done well. Thus we did well to resist! I am convinced that we are in the same circumstances today. We are performing an act which apparently... and unfortunately the media will not assist us in the good sense. The headlines will, of course, be "Schism," "Excommunication!" as much as they want to - and, yet, we are convinced that all these accusations of which we are the object, all penalties of which we are the object, are null, absolutely null and void, and of which we will take no account. Just as I took no account of the suspension, and ended up by being congratulated by the Church and by Progressive Churchmen, so likewise in several years - I do not know how many, only the Good Lord knows how many years it will take for Tradition to find - its rights in Rome - we will be embraced by the Roman authorities, who will thank us for having maintained the Faith in our seminaries, in our families, in civil societies, in our countries, and in our monasteries and our religious houses, for the greater glory of God and the salvation of souls." http://www.sspxasia.com/Documents/Archbishop-Lefebvre/Episcopal-Consecration.htm
[edit] Episcopal Succession
| Episcopal Lineage | |
| Consecrated by: | Achille Cardinal Liénart |
| Date of consecration: | September 18, 1947 |
| Consecrator of | |
|---|---|
| Bishop | Date of consecration |
| Georges-Henri Guibert | February 19, 1950 |
| Emile-Elie Verhille | December 21, 1951 |
| Gordon Anthony Pantin | March 19, 1968 |
| Bernard Tissier de Mallerais | June 30, 1988 |
| Richard Williamson | June 30, 1988 |
| Alfonso de Galarreta | June 30, 1988 |
| Bernard Fellay | June 30, 1988 |
[edit] References
- ^ canon 1382 of the Code of Canon Law
- ^ "The meeting which took place after Easter in 1967 lasted two minutes ... I told him in a few words the purpose of my visit: for him to bless the Congregation of the Holy Ghost which was due to hold an extraordinary General my Chapter meeting ... Then Padre Pio cried out. 'Me, bless an archbishop, no, no, it is you who should be blessing me!' And he bowed, to receive the blessing. I blessed him, he kissed my ring and continued on his way to the confessional... That was the whole of the meeting, no more, no less" (Padre Pio and Archbishop Lefebvre).
- ^ MARCEL LEFEBVRE was born at Tourcoing in northern France on 29 November 1905. Who is Marcel Lefebvre?
- ^ Keeping God's holy laws they began by having five children, one each year, then three others later on. Three in 1903, 1904, 1905 (Rene first; Jeanne next and the third Marcel); then in 1907 my sister Marie-Gabriel, in 1908 my sister Marie-Christiane and in 1914 just before the war Joseph. Then the two others after the war. Monsignor Lefebvre in his own words
- ^ René Lefebvre, a factory owner The ghost at all our tables, Oriens, Summer 2005
- ^ In 1945, at the end of the Second World War, a young Holy Ghost Missionary named Marcel Lefebvre received the devastating news that his father, a profoundly Catholic and patriotic man, had died of infection and exhaustion at the Nazi Concentration Camp of Sonnenburg. RENE LEFEBVRE AND THE HOLOCAUST by Jeanette M. Pryor and J. Christopher Pryor, Le Floch Report, March 19, 2006
- ^ "At the time of the First World War, Mr. Lefebvre had served his country by operating as a spy. Decades later, when the Nazis occupied France, he resumed this work, risking his life an incalculable number of times helping soldiers and escaped prisoners return to un-occupied France and London." RENE LEFEBVRE AND THE HOLOCAUST by Jeanette M. Pryor and J. Christopher Pryor, Le Floch Report, March 19, 2006
- ^ In 1945, at the end of the Second World War, a young Holy Ghost Missionary named Marcel Lefebvre received the devastating news that his father, a profoundly Catholic and patriotic man, had died of infection and exhaustion at the Nazi Concentration Camp of Sonnenberg. RENE LEFEBVRE AND THE HOLOCAUST
- ^ Every morning, my parents went there early to receive Holy Communion and to hear Mass when they could. Monsignor Lefebvre in his own words
- ^ A convinced monarchist, he devoted himself during the whole of his life to the cause of the French Dynasty, seeing in a royal government the only way of restoring to his country its past grandeur and a Christian revival. A Calvary 1941-1944 René Lefebvre Part 1, June 1984, Volume VII, Number 6, The Angelus
- ^ At the time of the First World War, Mr. Lefebvre had served his country by operating as a spy. RENE LEFEBVRE AND THE HOLOCAUST
- ^ In 1923 Marcel followed his brother to the French Seminary in Rome , taking his father’s advice (or rather, obeying his father’s command) to avoid the diocesan seminaries, which he suspected of liberal leanings. The ghost at all our tables, Oriens journal
- ^ Archbishop Lefebvre readily admitted that were it not for the solid formation he received from Fr. Le Floch, he too might have succumbed to the creeping liberalism of the age. I have handed on what I have received by John Vennari, published in The Angelus [August 2005]
- ^ From 1926 to 1927 I had to go and do military service Monsignor Leferbve in his own words
- ^ Tissier de Mallerais, Bernard (2002). Marcel Lefebvre : une vie. Éditions Clovis, Étampes, 77. DOI:10.1007/b62130. ISBN 2-912642-82-5.
- ^ Ordained priest at Lille, France, by Msgr Achille Liénart, Bishop of Lille, on 21 September 1929 Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre - Useful Information Society of Saint Pius X, District of Great Britain
- ^ His Grace, Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, was ordained to the priesthood on September 21, 1929, and consecrated a bishop on September 18, 1947, by (the late) Achille Cardinal Lienart, Bishop of Archbishop Lefebvre’s Diocese of Lille (France). THE VALIDITY OF HOLY ORDERS By Fr. Douglas Laudenschlager, Society of Saint Pius X, United States District
- ^ Seminary training: 1923-29 in the French Seminary, Rome, Doctor in philosophy and in theology. I - Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre
- ^ So I was spoiled during my seminary training, then spoiled even as curate at Marais-de-Lomme, where I spent only one year, but where I had such joy in taking care of a working-class parish, and where I found so much friendliness. Chapter 3: Archbishop Lefebvre in his own words, Apologia pro Marcel Lefebvre
- ^ Tissier de Mallerais, Bernard (2002). Marcel Lefebvre : une vie. Éditions Clovis, Étampes, 83. DOI:10.1007/b62130. ISBN 2-912642-82-5.
- ^ So at the end of the year I wrote to Cardinal Liénart and then to the Holy Ghost Fathers saying that if the Cardinal gave me permission to leave the diocese I would be willing to join the Holy Ghost Fathers and become a missionary. Well, me Cardinal said yes, he said to me Monsignor Lefebvre in his own words
- ^ So I went to the noviciate in Orly right next to where the airport is now. There the Holy Ghost Fathers had their noviciate. Monsignor Lefebvre in his own words
- ^ Finally the noviciate was over and I was professed 8 September, 1932 on the feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin. And then I was appointed to Gabon. Monsignor Lefebvre in his own words
- ^ He entered the Holy Ghost Fathers in 1930 and was assigned to the Seminary of St. Mary at Libreville (Gabon) from 1932 to 1945.Some Memories of Archbishop Lefebvre's childhood, The Angelus, November 1980, Volume III, Number 11, Sister Marie Christiane Lefebvre
- ^ Teacher of Dogma and Holy Scripture in the Seminary of Libreville, Rector from 1934, he managed to be at the same time teacher, bursar, printer, plumber, electrician, driver... maybe having already in mind his Society’s Priests! A Biography of Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre by Father Ramón Anglés
- ^ St. Michel de Ndjolé (May 1938 - August 1939), Ste. Marie de Libreville (December 1939 - August 1940), St. Paul de Donguila (August 1940 - April 1943), and finally St. François Xavier de Lambaréné (April 1943 - October 1945)
- ^ the day I learned that they were recalling me to France to be Superior of the seminary of philosophy at Mortain, I wept Apologia pro Marcel Lefebvre Volume 1 Chapter 3, by Michael Davies
- ^ Archdiocese of Dakar - catholic-hierarchy.org
- ^ Anthedon (Titular See) - catholic-hierarchy.org
- ^ "on the 18th of September, 1947, he was consecrated bishop in his hometown by Cardinal Liénart, Bishop Fauret —his former superior at Libreville— and Bishop Ancel." A Biography of Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre by Father Ramón Anglés]
- ^[Quotation needed from source] Tissier de Mallerais, Bernard (2002). Marcel Lefebvre : une vie. Éditions Clovis, Étampes, 170-2. DOI:10.1007/b62130. ISBN 2-912642-82-5.
- ^ Out of three and half million inhabitants there were three million Muslims, around 50,000 Catholics and the rest were animists. Monsignor Lefebvre in his own words
- ^ The official journal of the Vatican, "L’Osservatore Romano" (French edition, July 1976) recalls that "in 1947, a young missionary bishop, Mgr. Lefebvre, gave a new life to the work of the Church with the opening of new centers of Catholicism... his creative work left in Africa a profound mark." His Grace Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre (1905-1991) A short biography by one of his priests by Father Ramón Anglés
- ^ Archbishop Marcel-François Lefebvre, C.S.Sp. †
- ^ Nunciature to Sénégal
- ^ A papal representative who in the territory assigned to him has the power and duty of watching over the status of the Church and of keeping the Roman pontiff informed regarding the same. Apostolic Delegate, from the New Catholic Dictionary
- ^ You can imagine, I was always on the road; visiting dioceses, getting the bishops together - 46 dioceses was quite a lot - and they were spread out: Madagascar, Reunion Island, Djibouti, Morocco, the whole of French equatorial Africa, the whole of French West Africa, Cameroon. Monsignor Lefebvre in his own words
- ^ Antonio G. Filipazzi: Rappresentanze e Rappresentanti Pontifici dalla seconda metà del XX secolo (ISBN 88-209-7845-8), p. X
- ^ Arcadiopolis in Europa (Titular See).
- ^ "As first archbishop of Dakar and Apostolic Delegate of Pope Pius XII for all French-speaking Africa, he created four Episcopal Conferences, twenty-one new dioceses and apostolic prefectures and opened Seminaries in his extended jurisdiction." His Grace Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre (1905-1991) A short biography by one of his priests by Father Ramón Anglés
- ^ Monsignor Lefebvre in his own words, November 2002
- ^ Well, you’ll have to visit 46 dioceses, see if we don’t need more, that is, divide dioceses up, make new bishops... Whenever bishops retire or die you will be responsible for giving names to Rome so they can choose a new one etc. That means you’ll have to prepare dossiers, "Cardinal Prefect of the Propaganda" quoted in Monsignor Lefebvre in his own words
- ^ There was an extraordinary expansion of the missions, quite extraordinary! They built seminaries, ordained priests. Many religious Congregations came and, because they had priests, could send missionaries. Monsignor Lefebvre in his own words
- ^ They started and increased the missions, the convents, all types of institution. There were sisters for the dispensaries and the hospitals. I brought in the missionary Franciscan sisters of Mary to work in the hospitals, the Sisters of St. Thomas of Villeneuve, nursing sisters... There was a large number of teaching sisters who came to Africa to help. Monsignor Lefebvre in his own words
- ^ He was responsible for the construction of large numbers of churches and the foundation of charitable works of every kind, Father Jean Anzevui, quoted in Apologia pro Marcel Lefebvre (Chapter 1) by Michael Davies, citing (in footnote 1) "J. Mzevui, Le Drame d'Ecône (Sion, 1976), p. 16"
- ^ 14 Sep 1955 49.8 Appointed Archbishop of Dakar, Senegal Archbishop Marcel-François Lefebvre, C.S.Sp. †. "As first archbishop of Dakar and Apostolic Delegate of Pope Pius XII for all French-speaking Africa, he created four Episcopal Conferences, twenty-one new dioceses and apostolic prefectures and opened Seminaries in his extended jurisdiction." His Grace Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre (1905-1991) A short biography by one of his priests by Father Ramón Anglés
- ^ Vor 50 Jahren, am 21. April 1957, erschien die Missionsenzyklika Fidei donum von Papst Pius XII. Ein wichtigster Berater des Heiligen Vaters war kein geringerer als dessen Delegat für das französischsprachige Afrika, S. Ex. Erzbischof Marcel Lefebvre. Source: Enzyklika Fidei Donum und Erzbischof Lefebvre
- ^ At the death of Pius XII he was elected Pope on 28 October 1958, taking the name John XXIII. POPE JOHN XXIII, Vatican News Service
- ^ Monsignor Lefebvre in his own words
- ^ So it turned out that I remained the Archbishop of Dakar but I was no longer Apostolic Delegate. That continued from 1959 until 1962 though I no longer had the responsiblilities of all the other dioceses as in the past. Monsignor Lefebvre in his own words
- ^ On 23 January 1962, Mgr. Lefebvre was appointed Bishop of Tulle in France Chapter 1, Volume 1 Apologia pro Marcel Lefebvre, by Michael Davies
- ^ 23 Jan 1962 56.2 Appointed Archbishop (Personal Title) of Tulle, France Archbishop Marcel-François Lefebvre, C.S.Sp. †, from catholic-hierarchy.org
- ^ Yes, it is correct that I was part of the Central Preparatory Commission during the two years before the Council An Interview With Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, Given on 3 May 1982, to Louis Moore, Religion Editor of The Houston Chronicle
- ^ 1962 - 1968 Archbishop Lefebvre is elected and acts as Superior General of the Holy Ghost Fathers. QUESTION 2 WHO IS ARCHBISHOP MARCEL LEFEBVRE?, SSPX USA
- ^ During his thirty year apostolate in Africa the role of Mgr. Lefebvre was of the very highest importance. His fellow missionaries still remember his extraordinary missionary zeal which was revealed in his exceptional abilities as an organizer and a man of action. Father Jean Anzevui quoted in Volume 1, Chapter 1, Apologia pro Marcel Lefebvre, by Michael Davies, citing J. Mzevui, Le Drame d'Ecône (Sion, 1976), p. 16
- ^[Quotation needed from source] Tissier de Mallerais, Bernard, Marcel Lefebvre: The Biography (Kansas City, Mo.: Angelus Press, 2004), 338. ISBN 1-892331-24-1
- ^ Synnada in Phrygia (Titular See)
- ^ "This little group was very active. They included a number of seminary professors like Fr. Lécuyer who was in Rome. They formed a small group of intellectuals - very progressive, rather modernist and very determined. Moreover, since it seemed the Council was working in their favour they felt emboldened and took the opportunity of spreading their ideas of modernising - the aggiornamento - the Congregation." July/August 2003 Monsignor Lefebvre in his own words, Society of Saint Pius X - Southern Africa
- ^ In 1968 our Congregation, along with all the others, had to hold this chapter. July/August 2003 Monsignor Lefebvre in his own words, Society of Saint Pius X - Southern Africa
- ^ "With no authorisation from the Congregation for Religious, they wanted the chapter to be presided over by a triumvirate which meant that I, the Superior General, was not to preside over the chapter at all even though it was clearly written in the constitutions that the Superior General was to be in charge of all business discussed at the General Chapter." July/August 2003 Monsignor Lefebvre in his own words, Society of Saint Pius X - Southern Africa
- ^ "Back at the Mother House, I wrote a nice letter to the Pope saying that I was tendering my resignation because of what was going on in the Congregation and what I was going to have to do. I told him I couldn’t take responsibility for something like that." July/August 2003 Monsignor Lefebvre in his own words, Society of Saint Pius X - Southern Africa
- ^ Tissier de Mallerais, Bernard (2002). Marcel Lefebvre : une vie. Éditions Clovis, Étampes, 390. DOI:10.1007/b62130. ISBN 2-912642-82-5.
- ^ Yes, it is correct that I was part of the Central Preparatory Commission during the two years before the Council An Interview With Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre given on 3 May 1982, to Louis Moore, Religion Editor of The Houston Chronicle
- ^ As a member of the Central Preparatory Commission the Archbishop worked for several years upon the draft documents which the Council Fathers were to discuss (the preparatory schemas). God Bless the Archbishop, from The Angelus, August 1983, Volume V, Number 8
- ^ The Second Vatican Council
- ^ Now you know what happened at the Council. A fortnight after its opening not one of the prepared schemata remained, not one! All had been turned down, all had been condemned to the wastepaper basket. Nothing remained, not a single sentence. All had been thrown out. Marcel Lefebvre quoted in Volume 1, Chapter 1 Apologia pro Marcel Lefebvre by Michael Davies citing Hanu, Non, Entretiens de Joss Hanu avec Mgr. Lefebvre (Editions Stock, 1977), p. 189 (161)
- ^ the Archbishop found himself drawn into the role of a leader of the International Group of Fathers which came together to defend orthodoxy(God Bless the Archbishop, from The Angelus, August 1983, Volume V, Number 8)
- ^ The voting ensued, and Archbishop Lefebvre said: "On religious liberty, non placet…because it is based on false principles solemnly condemned by the sovereign pontiffs. Archbishop Lefebvre preparing the council
- ^ Second Vatican Council
- ^ "It was suddenly announced that the document on Religious Liberty would be handed to a new commission for revision — a commission that included some of the most moss-backed of the moss-backed conservatives (to borrow a phrase from Archbishop Connolly!), including Archbishop Lefebvre, who later established the schismatic Society of St. Pius X." Vatican II, Part 4: The Third Session, Corinna Laughlin, St. James Cathedral, Seattle
- ^ "In interviews with Bea and Frings, Paul VI agreed that the Christian Unity office would bear the major responsibility for revising the two declarations."(Cum Magno Dolore, Time Magazine, 23 October 1964)
- ^ Archbishop Lefebvre Preparing the Council
- ^ "Thus, during the final vote on the morning of December 7 (when the fathers had to choose between a simple approval or disapproval of the last draft), Lefebvre was one of the 70 — about 3 percent of the total — who voted against the schema." Marcel Lefebvre: Signatory to Dignitatis Humanae, by Brian Harrison
- ^ Der Rhein fliesst in den Tiber: eine Geschichte des Zweiten Vatikanischen Konzils, Wiltgen SVD, Ralph M., Feldkirch. Lins. cop. 1988. p. 316
- ^ "Thus, during the final vote on the morning of December 7 (when the fathers had to choose between a simple approval or disapproval of the last draft), Lefebvre was one of the 70 — about 3 percent of the total — who voted against the schema. Nevertheless, when the supreme pontiff himself put his signature to the controversial declaration an hour or so later, the French traditionalist prelate followed suit, presumably as an act of submission of his private judgment to that of the Vicar of Christ." Marcel Lefebvre: Signatory to Dignitatis Humanae, by Brian Harrison
- ^ Angelus magazine of January 1991
- ^ Marcel Lefebvre: Signatory to Dignitatis Humanae, by Brian Harrison
- ^ This spirit of adultery is also made clear in the ecumenism instituted by The Secretariat for the Unity of Christians. Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre's June 1988 Public Statement against False Ecumenism, 19 October 1983, hosted by the United States district of the Society of Pius X
- ^ Archbishop Lefebvre preparing the Council; Hence, to accept Religious Liberty was in principle to accept the “rights of man” within the Church. Now, the Church has always condemned these declarations on the “rights of man” which have been made against the authority of God. Conference Of His Excellency Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, Long Island, New York, November 5, 1983, hosted by SSPXasia.com
- ^ Archbishop Lefebvre is known most widely for his support of the Tridentine liturgy and his attacks on the liturgical changes initiated by Vatican II. But his complaints against Vatican II go far beyond liturgical reforms. He also rejects conciliar developments in collegiality, religious liberty and ecumenism. These are seen by him as corresponding to the Revolution's égalité, liberté and fraternité. Archbishop Lefebvre: Moving Toward Schism?, Thomas J. Reese, S.J., America, June 4, 1988
- ^ However, Lefebvre’s continued use of the Tridentine Mass eventually became an issue with the Vatican. My Journey out of the Lefebvre Schism By Pete Vere
- ^ Itinéraire spirituel(French)
Insert the text of the quote here, without quotation marks.
- ^ Radical Powerhouse, Intelligence Report, Southern Poverty Law Center
- ^ Afterword: The Rushdie Affair?s Legacy, Dr. Koenraad Elst
- ^ The Wanderer Interviews Fr. Aulagnier, SSPX, Luc Gagnon, September 18, 2003
- ^ motu proprio Ministeria quaedam
- ^ "That was when a few of the young men at the French Seminary, Mr. Aulagnier, Mr. Cottard and a few others, I think there were around a half dozen, came to see me to describe the situation at the French Seminary where things were getting worse and worse: no more discipline, the seminarists were out at night, no more cassock, a new liturgy every week." September-October 2003 Monsignor Lefebvre in his own words
- ^ "I thought there would be a way to put these few seminarists in the Holy Ghost Fathers' seminary in Freiburg so that they could continue their studies at the University." September-October 2003 Monsignor Lefebvre in his own words
- ^ Knowing that I was sort of looking after some seminarists, Fr. Philip, a Dominican, Mr. Bernard Faÿ, a layman, both professors at the University, Fr. Abbe d'Houterive and another layman who was also friendly with us and who looked after teaching in Freiburg asked to come and see me. They wanted to talk a bit about the question of forming seminarists. They were interested and wanted to know if there wasn't something that could be done. September-October 2003 Monsignor Lefebvre in his own words
- ^ We started, waiting to see who would come: Mr. Aulagnier, Mr. Tissier de Mallerais, Mr. Pellabeuf and then six others sent by Fr. Philippe and by other friends in Freiburg, so in the beginning there were nine of them. November-December 2003 Monsignor Lefebvre in his own words
- ^ “We must stay together, found a society to keep us together, then try and find a bishop who will accept us and let us carry on with Tradition, I can’t see any other way” September-October 2003 Monsignor Lefebvre in his own words
- ^ Pia unio - the preliminary stage towards becoming an officially recognized religious institute or Society of Apostolic Life. For the decree see Appendix V of Apologia pro Marecel Lefebvre
- ^ "The success of Ecône provided so dramatic a contrast to this débâcle that its very existence became intolerable for some French bishops. They referred to it as Le Séminaire Sauvage - the Wildcat Seminary - giving the impression that it had been set up illegally without the authorization of the Vatican. This appellation was seized upon gleefully by the Liberal Catholic press throughout the world and soon the terms 'Ecône' and 'Wildcat Seminary' became synonymous."Volume 1, Chapter 2 Apologia Pro Marcel Lefebvre
- ^ A statement condemning those who adhere to the Old Mass made by the French episcopate on 14 November 1974 was certainly aimed against Ecône, for at the same time the bishops let it be known that they would not accept any priests from Ecône in their dioceses. Volume 1 Chapter 4 Apologia Pro Marcel Lefebvre, Michael Davies
- ^ "The two Visitors were both Belgians: Mgr. Descamps, a biblical scholar, and Mgr. Onclin, a canonist."Volume 1 Chapter 4 Apologia Pro Marcel Lefebvre, Michael Davies
- ^ "The Apostolic Visitation was carried out with great thoroughness. Professors and students were subjected to searching and detailed questions concerning every aspect of life in the Seminary."Volume 1 Chapter 4Apologia Pro Marcel Lefebvre, Michael Davies
- ^ On 23 June 1974 the Commission of Cardinals met and decided upon a canonical visitation of the Seminary. Volume 1 Chapter 4 Apologia Pro Marcel Lefebvre, Michael Davies
- ^ "Archbishop Lefebvre was told that this examination was very positive and that he just had to come to Rome and clarify some questions."Conference of Father Franz Schmidberger, Superior General of the Society of St. Pius X at Rockdale, Sydney, Australia October 16, 1990 by Father Gerard Hogan and Father François Laisney]
- ^ "However, considerable scandal was occasioned by opinions which the two Roman Visitors expressed in the presence of the students and staff. For, according to Mgr. Lefebvre, these two Visitors considered it normal and indeed inevitable that there should be a married clergy; they did not believe there was an immutable Truth; and they also had doubts concerning the traditional concept of our Lord's Resurrection." Volume 1 Chapter 4Apologia Pro Marcel Lefebvre, Michael Davies citing "Hanu, pp. 206-207" which refers to J. Hanu, Non, Entretiens de Joss Hanu avec Mgr. Lefebvre (Editions Stock, 1977)
- ^ On 21 November 1974, in reaction to the scandal occasioned by these opinions of the Apostolic Visitors, Mgr. Lefebvre considered it necessary to make clear where he stood in relation to the Rome represented by this attitude of mind. "This," he said, "was the origin of my Declaration which was, it is true, drawn up in a spirit of doubtlessly excessive indignation.”, Apologia pro Marcel Lefebvre, Volume 1, Chapter 4, Michael Davies, 1979 "On November 11, 1974, two apostolic visitors from Rome arrived at the International Seminary of Saint Pius X in Econe. During their brief stay, they spoke to the seminarians and professors, maintaining scandalous opinions such as, the ordination of married men will soon be a normal thing, truth changes with the times, and the traditional conception of the Resurrection of Our Lord is open to discussion. These remarks prompted Archbishop Lefebvre to write this famous Declaration as a rebuttal to Modernism." Introduction to The DECLARATION of Archbishop Lefebvre (1974)
- ^ The DECLARATION of Archbishop Lefebvre
- ^ On 24 January 1975, Mgr. Mamie, Bishop of Lausanne, Geneva, and Fribourg, wrote to Cardinal Tabera, Prefect of the Congregation for Religious. In this letter he stated that, following the meeting of 21 January and having made a careful study of Mgr. Lefebvre's Declaration, he considered it a sad but urgent necessity to withdraw the approval given by his predecessor to the Society of St. Pius X. Volume 1, Chapter 4 Apologia pro Marcel Lefebvre, Michael Davies
- ^ On 13 February, Mgr. Lefebvre met the Commission of Cardinals as arranged. There was a further session on 3 March. Volume 1, Chapter 4, Apologia pro Marecel Lefebvre by Michael Davies
- ^ On 6 May 1975 Mgr. Mamie wrote to Mgr. Lefebvre stating that after long months of prayer and reflection he had reached the sad but necessary decision that he must withdraw all the acts and concessions granted by his predecessor to the Society of St. Pius X. Volume 1, Chapter 4, Apologia pro Marecel Lefebvre by Michael Davies
- ^ Pope Paul VI canonically suppressed the SSPX and its seminary in 1975. My Journey out of the Lefebvre Schism, by Pete Vere, Envoy Magazine, Volume 4.6, Retrieved 11 September 2006
- ^ He opted for the former course having taken legal advice from competent canon lawyers who advised him that, despite the letter from Pope Paul dated 29 June 1975, the entire legal process taken against the Fraternity had been so irregular that it could not be considered as having been legally suppressed. Volume 1, Chapter 11, Apologia pro Marcel Lefebvre, Michael Davies
- ^ Nos igitur iterum adhortamur hos Nostros fratres ac filios, eosque exoramus, ut conscii fiant gravium vulnerum quae secus Ecclesiae illaturi sunt. Invitationem ipsis iteramus, ut secum recogitent gravia Christi monita de Ecclesiae unitate (Cfr. Io. 17, 21 ss.) ac de oboedientia erga legitimum Pastorem, ab Ipso universo gregi praepositum, cum signum oboedientiae sit quae Patri ac Filio debetur (Cfr. Luc. 10, 16). Nos eos aperto corde exspectamus apertisque bracchiis ad eos prompte amplectendos: utinam humilitatis exemplum praebentes, ad gaudium Populi Dei rursus viam unitatis et amoris ingredi valeant! (Consistory for the creation of twenty new Cardinals (May 24, 1976)
- ^ Let Your Holiness abandon that ill-omened undertaking of compromise with the ideas of modern man, an undertaking which originates in a secret understanding between high dignitaries in the Church and those of Masonic lodges, since before the Council., Letter of Mgr. Lefebvre to Pope Paul VI, 17 July 1976, Quoted in Apologia pro Marcel Lefebvre by Michael Davies
- ^ Archbishop Lefebvre, who had been suspended a divinis two years earlier by Pope Paul VI for insubordination, “All We Ask is for the Mass”, by Roger McCaffrey and Thomas Woods, May 2005, Catholic World News
- ^ According to canonist Peter Vere, this meant Lefebvre was "now forbidden by the Holy See from the exercise of holy orders, a prohibition reserved to the Holy Father personally. In other words, his suspension was now perpetual until its absolution and applicable to more than simply the ordination of seminarians to major orders" Holier than Thou, Brian O'Neel, This Rock, April 2003, Pages 18 - 24, quoting Vere and William Woestman, O.M.I., Is the Society of St. Pius X in Schism?
- ^ The 23 of July suspensio a divinis forbids him to celebrate the New Mass, as the Archbishop says with humor, and also to ordain priests because the Society doesn't exist any more The International Priestly Society of Saint Pius X XXV Anniversary 1970-1995 A family diary, Conference given by Fr. Anglés at Kansas City, November 1, 1995
- ^ "arbitrans te poenam istam devitare, si sacramenta administras anterioribus formulis utens" (Letter of 11 October 1976 to Archbishop Lefebvre)
- ^ Volume 1, Chapter 14 Apologia Pro Marcel Lefebvre
- ^ In this letter the Pope asked Archbishop Lefebvre to accept the documents of the Second Vatican Council in their obvious meaning, the legitimacy of the revised liturgy, the obligatory character of the norms of canon law then in force, and the authority of the diocesan bishops over preaching and administration of the sacraments in their dioceses.
- ^ Weeks after becoming Pope in 1978, he granted Lefebvre's request for an audience (their only meeting) and repeatedly expressed his desire for peace.The Archbishop Calls It Quits, Richard N. Ostling, Time, 27 June 1988
- ^ The situation is such, the work placed in our hands by the good Lord is such, that faced with this darkness in Rome, faced with the Roman authorities' pertinacity in error, faced with this refusal to return to Truth or Tradition on the part of those who occupy the seats of authority in Rome, faced with all these things, it seems to us that the good Lord is asking for the Church to continue. This is why it is likely that before I give acco/sspof my life to the good Lord, I shall have to consecrate some bishops. Bishops to Save the Church, Marcel Lefebvre, June 1987
- ^ "No bishop is permitted to consecrate anyone a bishop unless it is first evident that there is a pontifical mandate." TITLE VI Code of Canon Law, canon 1013
- ^ Protocol of Agreement between the Holy See and the Priestly Society of Saint Pius X This is an English translation of the original French.
- ^ That is why, taking into account the strong will of the present Roman authorities to reduce Tradition to naught, to gather the world to the spirit of Vatican II and the spirit of Assisi, we have preferred to withdraw ourselves and to say that we could not continue. It was not possible. We would have evidently been under the authority of Cardinal Ratzinger, President of the Roman Commission, which would have directed us; we were putting ourselves into his hands, and consequently putting ourselves into the hands of those who wish to draw us into the spirit of the Council and the spirit of Assisi. This was simply not possible.Sermon on the occasion of the Episcopal Consecration, Marcel Lefebvre, June 1988
- ^ On 3 June, Lefebvre wrote that he would still go ahead with the 30 June consecrations. On 9 June 1988, Pope John Paul II replied to him with a personal letter, recalling the agreement the archbishop had signed on 5 May and appealing to him not to proceed with a design that "would be seen as nothing other than a schismatic act, the theological and canonical consequences of which are known to you." When no reply came from Lefebvre, this letter was made public on 16 June.Pope John Paul II, an Obituary, Latin Mass Society of Ireland
- ^ Decree of Excommunication
- ^ "A bishop who consecrates some one a bishop without a pontifical mandate and the person who receives the consecration from him incur a latae sententiae excommunication reserved to the Apostolic See" (TITLE III Code of Canon Law, canon 1382).
- ^ "In itself, this act was one of disobedience to the Roman Pontiff in a very grave matter and of supreme importance for the unity of the church, such as is the ordination of bishops whereby the apostolic succession is sacramentally perpetuated. Hence such disobedience - which implies in practice the rejection of the Roman primacy - constitutes a schismatic act (cf. Code of Canon Law, can. 751) In performing such an act, notwithstanding the formal canonical warning sent to them by the Cardinal Prefect of the Congregation for Bishops on 17 June last, Mons. Lefebvre and the priests Bernard Fellay, Bernard Tissier de Mallerais, Richard Williamson and Alfonso de Galarreta, have incurred the grave penalty of excommunication envisaged by ecclesiastical law (cf. Code of Canon Law, can. 1382)."Ecclesia Dei
- ^ We are not schismatics! If an excommunication was pronounced against the bishops of China, who separated themselves from Rome and put themselves under the Chinese government, one very easily understands why Pope Pius XII excommunicated them. There is no question of us separating ourselves from Rome, nor of putting ourselves under a foreign government, nor of establishing a sort of parallel church as the Bishops of Palmar de Troya have done in Spain. They have even elected a pope, formed a college of cardinals... It is out of the question for us to do such things. Far from us be this miserable thought to separate ourselves from Rome! Sermon on the occasion of the Episcopal Consecration, Marcel Lefebvre, June 1988
- ^ Thus, we find ourselves in a case of necessity. We have done all we could, trying to help Rome to understand that they had to come back to the attitudes of the holy Pius XII and of all his predecessors. Bishop de Castro Mayer and myself have gone to Rome, we have spoken, we have sent letters, several times to Rome. We have tried by these talks, by all these means, to succeed in making Rome understand that, since the Council and since aggiornamento, this change which has occurred in the Church is not Catholic, is not in conformity to the doctrine of all times. This ecumenism and all these errors, this collegiality - all this is contrary to the Faith of the Church, and is in the process of destroying the Church. Sermon on the occasion of the Episcopal Consecration, Marcel Lefebvre, June 1988
- ^ Letter to the Four Bishops Elect
- ^ FAQ 11: Wasn't Archbishop Lefebvre excommunicated? Critical notes. SSPX site.
- ^ The French-born prelate died of cancer on March 25 at the age of 85, almost three years after being excommunicated for defying papal orders., Associated Press, reproduced in the New York Times April 3, 1991
- ^ For an account of the funeral and burial see In Memoriam Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, The Angelus, April 2002 , Volume XXV, Number 4
- ^ "The Cardinal showed us a good deal of sympathy. He told us how fond of us he was and how much he respected the Archbishop whom he held to be a holy man. He told us he wished there would be an agreement with Rome, that he was ready to do anything to make a solution possible but we would have to hurry up because he and the few cardinals favourable to us were getting on in age, and once they were gone, he was afraid things would be even more difficult for ourselves. I told him we put our trust in Providence, as did the chaste Suzanna in the book of Daniel, Chapter 13, meaning that God will not abandon those who put their trust in Him."
Letter of Bishop Williamson on the visit of Cardinal Oddi - ^ Letter of Bishop Williamson on the visit of Cardinal Oddi
- ^ Bishop Bernard Tissier de Mallerais, "Marcel Lefebvre; The Biography," page 478.
- ^ Bishop Bernard Tissier de Mallerais, "Marcel Lefebvre; The Biography," page 506.
[edit] Further reading
- Bernard Tissier de Mallerais, Marcel Lefebvre: The Biography. Kansas City, Mo.: Angelus Press, 2004. The definitive biography of Lefebvre, originally published in French (Clovis, 2002). ISBN 1-892331-24-1
- Dr. David Allen White, The Horn of the Unicorn. Kansas City, Mo.: Angelus Press, 2006. ISBN 1-892331-39-X
[edit] Video Footage
[edit] See also
- Society of St. Pius X
- St. Mary's College, Kansas
- Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter
- Personal Apostolic Administration of Saint John Mary Vianney
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