The Correctness of the Archbishop's Course Dear Friends and Benefactors,
"Take courage therefore, and be very valiant: that thou mayst observe and do all the Law which Moses my servant hath commanded thee: turn not from it to the right hand or to the left, that thou mayst understand all things which thou dost" (Joshua 1,7). Another two documents of Archbishop Lefebvre, one never previously made public, are enclosed, and they illustrate the Archbishop fulfilling the Lord God's instructions to his great servant Joshua, to swerve neither to right nor to left. Both texts require thoughtful attention.
The first of them in time, the conversation with Fr. Kelly, goes already four years ago to the very heart of the difference between the Society of St. Pius X and Oyster Bay Cove. Fr. Kelly would argue today exactly as he argued then: any kind of transaction between ourselves and the official Catholic Church would put us in communion with excommunicated heretics, so we must break off all contacts and re-build the Church on our own. No, replies the Archbishop, many modern Churchmen may be weak, but they are not yet therefore heretics of such a kind as automatically to exclude themselves from the Church, so the Faith they still have, to the extent they still have it, is what we (by the grace of God) Catholics are in communion with. Hence we cannot break off. How could any church of our own be the Church of Our Lord? To break off is the road to Jonestown.
The Archbishop does not swerve right, but was he then swerving left in 1980 from the heroic stand of 1976, as Fr. Kelly and many others, not only in America, feared? For an answer, read the second text from the end of 1983, the Press Conference in which a journalist says he hears the Archbishop saying "exactly what he was saying ten years ago". Here the Catholic balance and depth of doctrine typical of so many texts of the Archbishop come out clearly, for instance in his answer to the burning question of the consecration of a bishop. On the one hand, such an act by appearing to break with Rome would further embroil the already embattled Society, so while the Archbishop still has a little health, he prefers to hold back. On the other hand, if in still more tragic circumstances than today's, the Church's very survival seemed to require such a consecration, then the break with Rome would be merely apparent, not real, so the Archbishop, while hoping it need not be, refuses to exclude such an eventuality.
Thus the Archbishop swerves neither to right nor to left, and the correctness of his course is proved by the fruits of his Society – amid the general ruin of the Church, the re-building of Catholic seminaries, parishes, monasteries, convents, schools and colleges. Take for instance, St. Mary's in Kansas, a parish, school and college all in one, launched within the Society by Fr. Bolduc, continued by Fr. de la Tour, but presently being menaced by a foreclosure on its mortgage. If the fruits of St. Mary's amply prove it to be the work of God, then such an attack is a handsome compliment, coming from the Devil. He likewise shows up in the Louisville Faith Baptist School Crisis, mobilizing all the powers of Nebraska State to obtain sinister control of children's education for the evil purposes of the threatening One-World Government (write P.O. Box 249, Louisville, Nebraska 68037 for details). Now if brave non-Catholic ministers and parents will go to bat and go to jail for the rights of a non-Catholic school, surely we Catholics will do all we can to help a proven Catholic School! Nourishing over 200 young Americans in the true Faith, St. Mary's College is financially healthier than it was, but even if the mortgage did not have to be repaid, it still has a monthly shortfall in income of some $5,000. Kindly direct help to "St. Mary's College", Kansas 66536, and be sure of the blessing of God upon any effort you can make for His Little ones!
Archbishop Lefebvre himself will be at St. Mary's College between Thursday May 17 and Monday May 21. There he will administer Confirmation, as he will have done also at Ridgefield Seminary, Connecticut on Saturday afternoon, May 12; in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on Monday evening May 14, and in the Twin Cities, Minnesota, on Wednesday evening May 16. Hopefully all parents wishing to have children confirmed can reach one of these spread-out centers.
On May 13, the Archbishop is of course holding Ordinations at Ridgefield Seminary, from which should emerge four new Priests, four new deacons and two or three sub-deacons. And if each of these was divided into several parts, we could still not satisfy the demand! Patience. God's time is the very best time.
Meanwhile warm thanks from all of us at the Seminary to all of you readers that have over the last few months lifted the Seminary out of financial trouble. Please grant us also your prayers to keep us out of spiritual trouble, and be assured that the Seminary prays for you amongst all our benefactors.
With all good wishes and blessings in Our Lord and Our Lady,
Fr. Richard Williamson
"Take courage therefore, and be very valiant: that thou mayst observe and do all the Law which Moses my servant hath commanded thee: turn not from it to the right hand or to the left, that thou mayst understand all things which thou dost" (Joshua 1,7). Another two documents of Archbishop Lefebvre, one never previously made public, are enclosed, and they illustrate the Archbishop fulfilling the Lord God's instructions to his great servant Joshua, to swerve neither to right nor to left. Both texts require thoughtful attention.
The first of them in time, the conversation with Fr. Kelly, goes already four years ago to the very heart of the difference between the Society of St. Pius X and Oyster Bay Cove. Fr. Kelly would argue today exactly as he argued then: any kind of transaction between ourselves and the official Catholic Church would put us in communion with excommunicated heretics, so we must break off all contacts and re-build the Church on our own. No, replies the Archbishop, many modern Churchmen may be weak, but they are not yet therefore heretics of such a kind as automatically to exclude themselves from the Church, so the Faith they still have, to the extent they still have it, is what we (by the grace of God) Catholics are in communion with. Hence we cannot break off. How could any church of our own be the Church of Our Lord? To break off is the road to Jonestown.
The Archbishop does not swerve right, but was he then swerving left in 1980 from the heroic stand of 1976, as Fr. Kelly and many others, not only in America, feared? For an answer, read the second text from the end of 1983, the Press Conference in which a journalist says he hears the Archbishop saying "exactly what he was saying ten years ago". Here the Catholic balance and depth of doctrine typical of so many texts of the Archbishop come out clearly, for instance in his answer to the burning question of the consecration of a bishop. On the one hand, such an act by appearing to break with Rome would further embroil the already embattled Society, so while the Archbishop still has a little health, he prefers to hold back. On the other hand, if in still more tragic circumstances than today's, the Church's very survival seemed to require such a consecration, then the break with Rome would be merely apparent, not real, so the Archbishop, while hoping it need not be, refuses to exclude such an eventuality.
Thus the Archbishop swerves neither to right nor to left, and the correctness of his course is proved by the fruits of his Society – amid the general ruin of the Church, the re-building of Catholic seminaries, parishes, monasteries, convents, schools and colleges. Take for instance, St. Mary's in Kansas, a parish, school and college all in one, launched within the Society by Fr. Bolduc, continued by Fr. de la Tour, but presently being menaced by a foreclosure on its mortgage. If the fruits of St. Mary's amply prove it to be the work of God, then such an attack is a handsome compliment, coming from the Devil. He likewise shows up in the Louisville Faith Baptist School Crisis, mobilizing all the powers of Nebraska State to obtain sinister control of children's education for the evil purposes of the threatening One-World Government (write P.O. Box 249, Louisville, Nebraska 68037 for details). Now if brave non-Catholic ministers and parents will go to bat and go to jail for the rights of a non-Catholic school, surely we Catholics will do all we can to help a proven Catholic School! Nourishing over 200 young Americans in the true Faith, St. Mary's College is financially healthier than it was, but even if the mortgage did not have to be repaid, it still has a monthly shortfall in income of some $5,000. Kindly direct help to "St. Mary's College", Kansas 66536, and be sure of the blessing of God upon any effort you can make for His Little ones!
Archbishop Lefebvre himself will be at St. Mary's College between Thursday May 17 and Monday May 21. There he will administer Confirmation, as he will have done also at Ridgefield Seminary, Connecticut on Saturday afternoon, May 12; in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on Monday evening May 14, and in the Twin Cities, Minnesota, on Wednesday evening May 16. Hopefully all parents wishing to have children confirmed can reach one of these spread-out centers.
On May 13, the Archbishop is of course holding Ordinations at Ridgefield Seminary, from which should emerge four new Priests, four new deacons and two or three sub-deacons. And if each of these was divided into several parts, we could still not satisfy the demand! Patience. God's time is the very best time.
Meanwhile warm thanks from all of us at the Seminary to all of you readers that have over the last few months lifted the Seminary out of financial trouble. Please grant us also your prayers to keep us out of spiritual trouble, and be assured that the Seminary prays for you amongst all our benefactors.
With all good wishes and blessings in Our Lord and Our Lady,
Fr. Richard Williamson
