Letter of Mgr. Lefebvre to the Sovereign Pontiff
6 May 1980
Most Holy Father,
Since your accession to the Pontificate I have always nourished the hope that the total devotion of my Society and my person to Holy Mother Church would be recognised and that we should be allowed to work freely and in submission to the Church for the salvation of souls, by an increase in the numbers of holy priests.
Your wish for a solution to be found, your struggle against errors spread by theologians whose spirit is tainted with Modernism, such as Hans Kung, Schillebeeckx, Pohier; your efforts to restore normality to Holland; your latest encyclical recalling the principles which are the foundation of the Sacrifice of the Eucharist, all these have been so many occasions to hope for such a solution, since we concur entirely with your thinking and wishes in all these fields.
Furthermore, the principal aim of the Society of St. Pius being the formation of true priests of the Roman Catholic Church, we rejoiced every time that Your Holiness called to mind the principles which should govern the training of priests and which are precisely those that have been used in our seminaries since their foundation.
It could be thought, reading the latest document published by the Congregation entrusted with seminaries, on the subject of the year of spirituality, that it is the example given by our seminaries which is the origin of this letter addressed to the episcopate of the entire world.
On the other hand I do believe that I have done everything possible to demonstrate my sincere desire to find a solution to our problem.
I have never hesitated to come to Rome on being summoned by the Curia or the Secretary of State. Since Your Holiness entrusted my case to Cardinal Seper I have come to see him five times. I must add that I am rather sad at seeing no improvement in our position. While the penalties inflicted upon heretical theologians are very mild, I am still said to be suspended a divinis, even though I profess the Catholic Faith in its fullness.
The enemies of the Church, Masons, Communists, Modernists, with all the media at their disposal, fight fanatically against my work and against me, showing by this very fact that we are the best defenders and supporters of the Church, which they wish to destroy at any cost.
It is for this reason that a solution is urgently needed for the good of the Church. Your Holiness can, with complete confidence, count on us and on our priests to support you in your work of restoring the Truth and Sanctity of the Church, based on the indestructible rock of Tradition, the source of the ever renewed youth of the Church. Your Holiness could discern in the eyes and faces of our young priests this youth, the fruit of spiritual vitality.
Since His Eminence Cardinal Palazzini is willing to be the bearer of this request, could he not, in concert with Cardinal Seper, submit a definite plan for a solution, concerning firstly the Liturgy , then the official recognition of the Society of St. Pius X, as well as the institutes of male and female religious orders which have developed thanks to the maintenance of sound doctrine and traditional observances.
In entrusting this request to the Virgin Mary, may Your Holiness deign to allow me to express my most respectful and filial regards in Jesus and Mary.
+Marcel Lefebvre
Most Holy Father,
Since your accession to the Pontificate I have always nourished the hope that the total devotion of my Society and my person to Holy Mother Church would be recognised and that we should be allowed to work freely and in submission to the Church for the salvation of souls, by an increase in the numbers of holy priests.
Your wish for a solution to be found, your struggle against errors spread by theologians whose spirit is tainted with Modernism, such as Hans Kung, Schillebeeckx, Pohier; your efforts to restore normality to Holland; your latest encyclical recalling the principles which are the foundation of the Sacrifice of the Eucharist, all these have been so many occasions to hope for such a solution, since we concur entirely with your thinking and wishes in all these fields.
Furthermore, the principal aim of the Society of St. Pius being the formation of true priests of the Roman Catholic Church, we rejoiced every time that Your Holiness called to mind the principles which should govern the training of priests and which are precisely those that have been used in our seminaries since their foundation.
It could be thought, reading the latest document published by the Congregation entrusted with seminaries, on the subject of the year of spirituality, that it is the example given by our seminaries which is the origin of this letter addressed to the episcopate of the entire world.
On the other hand I do believe that I have done everything possible to demonstrate my sincere desire to find a solution to our problem.
I have never hesitated to come to Rome on being summoned by the Curia or the Secretary of State. Since Your Holiness entrusted my case to Cardinal Seper I have come to see him five times. I must add that I am rather sad at seeing no improvement in our position. While the penalties inflicted upon heretical theologians are very mild, I am still said to be suspended a divinis, even though I profess the Catholic Faith in its fullness.
The enemies of the Church, Masons, Communists, Modernists, with all the media at their disposal, fight fanatically against my work and against me, showing by this very fact that we are the best defenders and supporters of the Church, which they wish to destroy at any cost.
It is for this reason that a solution is urgently needed for the good of the Church. Your Holiness can, with complete confidence, count on us and on our priests to support you in your work of restoring the Truth and Sanctity of the Church, based on the indestructible rock of Tradition, the source of the ever renewed youth of the Church. Your Holiness could discern in the eyes and faces of our young priests this youth, the fruit of spiritual vitality.
Since His Eminence Cardinal Palazzini is willing to be the bearer of this request, could he not, in concert with Cardinal Seper, submit a definite plan for a solution, concerning firstly the Liturgy , then the official recognition of the Society of St. Pius X, as well as the institutes of male and female religious orders which have developed thanks to the maintenance of sound doctrine and traditional observances.
In entrusting this request to the Virgin Mary, may Your Holiness deign to allow me to express my most respectful and filial regards in Jesus and Mary.
+Marcel Lefebvre