March 1981 Dear Friends and Benefactors, Sadly recognising that the
consequences of the conciliar revolution seems to be intent on
becoming institutionalised and supplant the true Catholic
institutions with the risk of arriving at the same results as in
political society, which is sinking into a state of permanent
revolution, our resolution to maintain and develop the divine
institutions of the Church should be more firm than ever, for if
political institutions can disappear, this can never happen to the
Church. On the other hand, it is with joy,
and with thanks to God that we see traditional enterprises such as
the Society of St. Pius X, and other societies, expanding in a way
which is, humanly speaking, inexplicable. Another consolation and
source of encouragement is the strengthening of the links between all
the brave initiatives within the Society. As you know, we have never wished to
be considered as the leaders of the groups involved in this renewal
of the Church, and in this resistance to the revolution in the
Church. However, according to the measure of the increase in the
number of our seminaries, houses, schools, and retreat houses, and
since the number of our priests is increasing and will increase,
especially from 1983 onwards, it is normal that the great hope which
these young priests represent, inspires the confidence of all the
traditionalist initiatives. Active, and contemplative religious, and
secular priests feel the need to join themselves to this vigorous
root which is filled with faith, truth and grace and deeply rooted in
the Tradition of twenty centuries of the Church. These close links in the faith and
in the faith and in the apostolate seem to me to be very important
for the future of the Church. For we wish to work in absolute
confidence that Providence will permit that one day, decided by, and
known to itself, the Sovereign Pontiff will recognise the
incomparable benefit of all of these enterprises, and will give
thanks to God for them. There is no justifiable argument which
obliges us to cut ourselves off from the Pope. On the contrary,
innumerable irrefutable motifs oblige us to remain united to him as
the Successor of Peter and this will render our protestations and our
refusals the more efficacious and justified. That does not in any way
diminish our attachment to Tradition. It is through esteem for the
successor of Peter that we cannot conceive any contradiction with the
Magisterium of Peter as being possible. In the midst of this great torment
which calls down the malediction of God on humanity, let us go on
with serenity and confidence in God in our work of restoration of the
Church which is expanding by the multiplication of auspicious
initiatives of reconstruction, but especially by the work of holiness
which is that bonus odour Christi, that “sweet odour of
Christ,” which rises straight up to God like the sacrifice of
Abel, and which draws down upon us the blessings of God. During our visit to Mexico, both I
and those who accompanied me were able to see the. tragic situation
of the people who number almost seventy-seven million souls and who
are almost all Catholics. The shepherds have abandoned their people
to give themselves over to politics and the Revolution, pushing the
government, which is already linked with Fidel Castro, further to the
Left. A certain number of the faithful have thrown progressive
priests out of their parishes and are begging us to replace them. At
Cordoba a young curate, dressed in a way that has nothing clerical
about it, came to see me to make known his feelings to me in these
term: “My Lord, you are right, and you have the grace of the
Holy Ghost with you. We have nothing more than a religious mask,
behind which there is nothing. I wanted to say this to you as you
were passing through here. My Lord, bless me.” Then he went away. I was stupified,
but once again confirmed by the necessity to continue our actions for
the salvation of souls. By the grace of God we already have fourteen
Mexican seminarians, while there were only two young priests ordained
last year for the whole of Mexico. May Our Lady of Guadalupe protect
her beloved people! Once again we recommend our
enterprises to your prayers and to your generosity. At the moment we
are building a seminary at Buenos Aires, we are enlarging the
seminary at Ridgefield in the U.S.A., and soon we will be obliged to
divide Ecône, which has become too small. We must start
something in France. May St. Joseph come to our aid. We owe him our
immense gratitude for all that he has helped us to achieve. Wishing you a good Holy Week and a
Happy Easter we implore Jesus, Mary and Joseph to fill you with
blessings.
Letter
to Friends and Benefactors
+ Marcel Lefebvre
Feast of St. Joseph 1981
