Letter of Mgr. Lefebvre to Cardinal Ratzinger

27 May 1982



Your Eminence,

Upon my return from a journey to the U.S.A. and Canada, I am anxious to inform you that on learning at Winnipeg in Canada of the deplorable affair of Father Fernandez-Krohn1 at Fatima, I immediately made a public declaration on Canadian national television, deploring this act of madness committed by a priest whom I had ordained.

I accompanied this statement with some information about this violent tempered priest, who, alas! has caused us many problems. He left us a year after his ordination, opposing the Society's loyalty to the Pope. He repented, and we took him back out of pity, with the intention of making him more tractable to reason, but he refused to take up his responsibilities vis-a-vis the Society and began once more to behave in a violent fashion towards myself and my brethren.

We had resolved to distance ourselves from him for good when he perpetrated this demented act which is truly a source of grief to all the members of the Society.

To the best of my knowledge, this information has not yet crossed the Atlantic. I hope, however, that the Apostolic Delegate to Canada will have passed it to Rome.

Your Eminence, please tell the Holy Father once again of our filial respect, and accept my expressions of respect and devotion in Jesus and Mary.