“Conciliar or Catholic”
by Fr. Gomer de Pauw
Professor of Theology and Doctor of Canon Law
A
Lecture given in Chicago,
1967
Ladies and gentlemen,
Two years ago, I had the privilege of speaking in your fair city for
the first time and I had the privilege of addressing the Catholic people on the
topic: “What in the name of God is happening to our Catholic Church?”
And a year ago, I came back and I spoke on the topic: “How much more do we
have to expect and do we have to take?” Today I am no longer asking,
“What in the name of the God is happening to our Catholic Church,” because
it is clear to anyone by now what’s happening to our Catholic Church. Neither
am I asking anymore how much more do we have to take, how much more do we
have to expect…because there isn’t much more to expect since the
destruction of our Catholic Church, humanly speaking, is just about
accomplished.
Today my topic is: “Are we going to become conciliar church
members or are we going to remain Catholic Church members?” This is the
problem which every Catholic has to solve today: Conciliar or Catholic.
Conciliar is a name I did not invent. It is a name which
they gave themselves. One of their active tools of brain-washing is the
regular publication sent mainly to priests and nuns. I must admit that the
editors of that brain-washing sheet at least have the decency not to refer to
themselves anymore as Catholics. They call it information from the
“Conciliar Church.”
This is what we have to decide today: Conciliar or Catholic. And
since the establishment of our once Catholic Church has banned me from
exercising my chosen career, or my appointed career I should say, of the
priest professor (they say there is no room anymore in any so-called Catholic
seminary for a conservative theologian and Canon Lawyer as I am), I still try to
keep in the practice of teaching. Maybe someday there will be room for
people such as I.
So I’m going to bother you this afternoon with a little lecture in
Church history – just a matter of keeping up the practice. But the main
reason why I would like to ask you to go back down a few centuries is simply
this: You cannot understand the Church of today, and you certainly
cannot brace yourself properly for the Church of tomorrow, unless you
really are acquainted with the Church of yesterday. So as briefly as I
can – but once I am going, and I do get going – I usually take full
advantage of my captive audience, as the cliché goes. At the same time, I feel
there are some people here who have to catch a train, so don’t feel hesitant
about it. If you really feel that train is calling you, just walk out…and if
there are a few spies in the audience – as there always are – maybe they
can write about them next week in the Catholic paper that some people walked out
in protest.
So these points I would like to go over with you, ladies and
gentlemen: the Church yesterday, the Church today, and the Church
tomorrow.
Now the Church yesterday. We traditionalist Catholics, we
still believe – and proudly so – that we are the only Church that can
trace its origin as far back as Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. The Incarnate
Second Person of the Blessed Trinity, the only person ever to walk this earth
who could say: “I am the Way, the Truth and the Life.” We also believe
that He founded one, true Church. We believe that this mandate still
holds true today – the mandate that sounded “Go ye into the whole world and
preach the Gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized is
saved. But he that does not believe shall be condemned.” Almost sounds
like extremist, radical language, doesn’t it?
Before ascending into Heaven, after His Resurrection, which we
Catholic traditionalists also still believe, He left His Church here on
earth. He left it to be guided by the Holy Ghost, but also to be attacked by
the UN-holy spirit, the spirit of wickedness, until the final day of
reckoning. All through the history of our Church, generation after generation
had to decide the simple action, the simple dilemma – simple but agonizingly
acute: for Christ or against Christ? And so to
close the door once and for all for all the neutralizers of the “middle of the
road,” Christ made it clear that “he who is not with Me, is against Me.”
And He also made it clear that those who are with Him will have Him on
their side forever: “I am with you till the end of time.” And words of
Our Lord, they are still echoing through Palestine. Then St. Paul was nearly
the first one to put out an official God-inspired warning against the
infiltrators that were already there in the ranks of the early Christians, when
he wrote the Ephesians: “Brethren, be strengthened in the Lord and the might
of his power. Put you on the armor of God that you may be able to stand against
the deceits of the devil. For our fight,” he continues, “is not against
flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers, against the spirits of
wickedness in the high places.” And so that no one would make an appeal to
a misunderstood law of obedience and listen to those who are sitting in the high
chair of authority, St. Paul gave us an excellent, an extremely valuable
guideline to go by, when he wrote to the Galatians: “Even if an angel from
heaven should preach a gospel to you other than that which we have preached
to you, let him be damned.”
Then the next stage in our history that carries some worthwhile
implications for our present-day, were the centuries of the persecutions – the
bloody persecutions from without. They ended when the Emperor
Constantine gave the world what became known as the Edict of Milan, when the
enemy from without was beaten and beaten good. But the enemy from
within was not.
And then came the 4th century to bring us the first truly
organized heretical schism in our Church, named after the bishop Arius.
Arianism, of which the central, practical idea must sound quite familiar to you
today, because basically what they were saying is this: that Christ is not
our God, but our brother; that the Church and the world should not fight each
other; that the Church should open its arms and live happily forever with the
powers that be of the world. And the politicians of those days joined the
powers that were in the Church. And so we have the spectacle of the first
attempt, which would later on be known as “aggiornamento.” Eighty
percent of the bishops became apostates and the other twenty percent didn’t want
to rock the boat. But now St. Jerome wrote later on: “One morning, the
Christian world woke up and it was all heretical and schismatic. It was all
Arian.” And the pope in those days, by the name of Pope Liberius, first
kept quiet, tried to reconcile things that could not be reconciled – Truth
and Error, Water and Fire. And then for about three years
he even joined the apostate bishops and closed his eyes, his heart
and his conscience, when the sole, lonely voice of a bishop – a man named
Athanasius – stood alone and fought the powers of the establishment of his
days. And it was the laity of the 4th century, the ordinary,
so-called layman and laywoman, together with a few priests, that saved the true
traditional Catholic faith. And three years later, after three years of agony
for all those Traditional Catholics of those days, Pope Liberius changed his
course of action and joined whatever was left of the true traditional Christian
views. The Traditional Catholic Faith had been kept alive, through sacrifice
and through persecution, by a handful of Catholic laypeople and even a smaller
handful of priests. And it is quite interesting that in the long list of
popes, beginning with St. Peter, you can start right there: St. Peter, St. Linus,
St. Cletus…saint, saint, saint, saint. Until all of a sudden you hit
Liberius. And there is no “S.” in front of his name – the
first pope who didn’t make it on the list, he didn’t make it to the list of
canonized popes. And it is also quite interesting that the one who was
excommunicated by Pope Liberius – Athanasius – is now Saint
Athanasius, Doctor of the Church. I’ve heard of nice Horatio Alger, but from
excommunication to sainthood – that beats it all in my book.
What is the conclusion of this, ladies and gentlemen? The
conclusion is an extremely practical one. That even a pope and bishops
lose their spiritual authority when they cut themselves off from the teachings
of their predecessors.
And then came the 7th century, and again, we have an
extremely interesting situation which I believe, at least in my days, was always
very carefully kept hidden in the church history books, even up to college. But
obviously they didn’t hide it during the three years, of a post-graduate church
history course which I took 20 years ago and what was then the Catholic
University of Louvain (later on I also ended up in what was then the public
university of America in Washington, D.C.). Now the 7th century had
the first temporary schism between the eastern and the western church. So in
the 7th century the heresy, which basically had to do with the
divinity of Christ, brought us another pope by the name of Honorius, who was
pope from 625 to 638. And I’ll come back to that later because the schism
didn’t go too far, but 40 years later, Pope Honorius I, was solemnly
anathematized by the 6th Ecumenical Council of Constantinople –
unbelievable – anathematizing that person. That’s the other
equivalent of a canonization. And the reason was because Pope Honorius I
kept quiet when he should have spoken. He himself, the historians
tell us, was not at all a heretic. He knew where the truth was, but he
did nothing to stop the heretics who were destroying the church. Again I guess
you guessed it. Pope Honorius I never got an “S.” before his name.
In the 11th century we really have the first big schism –
the Eastern Schism, which basically came down to this: is the Pope in Rome
the supreme pontiff, with authority over all Catholics (Bishops and Cardinals
and Patriarchs included), or is he some chairman of the board, the first among
equals? And in those days, the Popes stood up – not for their own
personal rights, or for their own personal privileges, but for the Papacy.
And he told the Eastern Patriarchs that if they did not want to recognize the
Pope of Rome as the Supreme Pontiff, the Vicar of Christ, the one person
with authority over all Catholics, that there was no room for them in the
Catholic Church. And there was only one way out. In those days, Popes were not
going to sell out their authority.
And then in the 16th century, we have the “Protestant
Reformation,” of which they are celebrating – and it is still going on – the
450th Anniversary. The Protestant Reformation started by attacking
the heart of the Catholic religion – the Liturgy. It was Cardinal Neumann who
once wrote, “If you want to destroy the liturgy, destroy its central
liturgy.” And so that you won’t think that I am giving you a biased version
of the history of those days, I’ll read from a magazine which is usually not too
favorably inclined to what I am doing – TIME magazine. But I
understand that they gave an excellent description of what happened during the
Protestant Reformation of the 16th century. And you just try to
compare that to what’s happening today. I’m reading here from one of my
favorite magazines – TIME. At least they spelled my name
right.
“Luther tried to put into effect a spiritual reform that became
the model for much of Germany. He started by revising the Latin liturgy, and
translated it into German, allowing the laity to receive the consecrated wine as
well as the host, substituting a new, popular and vernacular type of religious
songs for the traditional Latin Gregorian chant. And Christian worship changed
from the celebration of the sacrificial Mass to the preaching and teaching of
God’s Word. The sacraments were reduced from seven to two – Baptism and the
Lord’s Supper. Meanwhile the revolt against Rome spread in town after town.
Priests removed statues from the churches, and abandoned the Mass. Clerical
celibacy was also abandoned, and in 1525 Luther married a former nun, Catherine
Vembola.” They don’t say what kind of uniform she was wearing at the time.
Since there are some good Sisters in the audience, I won’t say anything more
about the uniforms, because believe it or not, ladies and gentlemen, there are
even Sisters walking around even today in the new Greek uniform who detest it as
much as you do. And it’s a big sacrifice for them to give up the traditional
uniform that was so expressive of their dedication to the Church. So let’s not
all condemn them. Maybe someday they’ll be still having the heart, might still
prevail.
Then later when an investigating committee reported to Edward VI
that 90% of the English people were still clinging to the Catholic Faith of
their Fathers, and they were still hoping that the old Catholic religion
would be restored – it is then that King Edward VI decided to abolish the Mass.
And then we have the famous decision of the King’s “Reformation Commission”
of 1547. And that is the decree, ladies and gentlemen, where the tables that
are now disgracing our sanctuaries originated. Oh, yes, now your new Greek
clergymen, they tell you that that was all authored by the “Constitution on
the Liturgy” in the Second Vatican Council. Now, believe it or not, if I
may just say that, as I was an advisor, an attendant at the Second
Vatican Council sessions, maybe I know a little more about it than your
new Greek clergy in the parishes that are now trying to contradict me. And
while I’m not exactly a Rockefeller at this moment, I’ll give them any nickel I
still have left if they can show me WHERE in the Constitution on the
Liturgy it says that our altars must be replaced with tables. It doesn’t
say so in the Constitution on the Liturgy, the Constitution that passed in
1962. But it says it in 1547 all right – yes!
“All altars in every church or chapel must be taken down, and
instead of them a table must be set up to move the people from the superstitions
of the popish Mass and to the right use of the Lord’s Supper. The use of an
altar is to sacrifice upon; and the use of a table is to eat upon. Altars were
erected for the sacrifice, which, being now ceased, the form of an altar must
cease together with it.” And that still didn’t go over too well with the
good believing people in Great Britain, and 5 years later, in 1552, it was
necessary to enforce – and literally do so – the second act of the
uniformity, “so that the sinful people may form from the old superstition of
the Sacrifice of the Mass to the right use of the Lord’s Supper, all altars
shall be replaced with tables. The presiding minister must stand, not as in the
old Mass with his back to the congregation, but facing the congregation so that
the people can see. The use of all English text must also be imposed for the
same reason – to emphasize the change in the view taken of the Sacrifice.”
And all Catholic bishops but one, went down the drain and sold out their
responsibility and their beliefs – except one. And that’s the
only one whose name we still remember – Saint John Fisher.
And then came Modernism in the 19th and early 20th
centuries. It all started – oh, all these things start in Europe.
That’s why even today, the desecration of your churches, ladies and gentlemen,
wasn’t born in an American dream. That was born in the evil brain of
modernistic, unbelieving theologians in Western Europe. I should know; I
studied with some of them.
Modernism started in 1816 with an apostate French priest named
Lammenais. And here we have the second attempt to “aggiornamento.”
Again the same chestnut they’re now selling in our churches: the Church
should stop fighting the world, update itself, and get involved with the world.
There were no bigots or riots in those days, otherwise Lammenais would have been
there. In 1834 he was honest enough to make it public that he was no longer
believing in the Mass and consequently was no longer going through the motions.
That brought him immediate support from some interesting friends – the
Freemasons, who supported him quite comfortably and made sure that he was in a
position to gather around him a lot of young clergymen who would be very
comfortably kept and very well trained to wait for the day of the open-attack on
the Church.
One of his quotations, which sounds as if it were taken out of a
modern-day Catholic newspaper, is: “The highest virtue today is not faith; it
doesn’t matter what you believe. Just love.” – 1834.
Another statement: “All religions are basically the same, so
let’s all get together and form a one-world religion.” – 1834.
And Rome really worked slowly, but there comes a time when the Pope
gets fed up with things. And in 1864, on December 8th, Pius IX came
up with an encyclical and a Syllabus of Errors, condemning modernism and
every form for all time to come! But the modernists did not leave the
Church while some like Luther had the decency to quit and leave the Church, and
make it clear that he wanted nothing to do with the Catholic Church. Yet
the Modernists (as a whole) didn’t have that basic honesty. They were
condemned as severely as any heresy ever was – but they didn’t leave the
Church. They stayed right behind the lines, waiting for an opening to attack
the modern Church from within. And that is why seven years after this
solemn condemnation, Pius IX still had to say: “The real scourge of our
Church is not the one who uses violence and bodily persecution to do the devil’s
work on earth. The real scourge of our Church is the liberal Catholic.”
Seven years later, Pius IX died and was succeeded by – what would be described
by today’s terms – “Liberal Pope Leo XIII.” As an act of charity we will
bypass his pontificate as far as doctrine is concerned, although the man should
be remembered as one of the popes who gave us excellent documents in social
doctrine, as you know particularly his “Rerum Novarum.” But maybe he was
a little too much interested in the social aspect of things, and maybe that
explains why under his pontificate the Modernists solidified their
positions at an alarming rate.
When Pope Leo XIII died in 1903, the man was 93 years old. You can
figure out yourselves how easy it is to abuse an old man who is in his late
eighties and early nineties. And when he died, the evil spirit behind the
throne of Leo XIII was Cardinal Rampolla. History clearly states
that man’s strange connections with anything but religious interests.
That man was elected pope, mind you, but God uses strange ways to keep his
church on the right track. In 1903 Christ stepped in to block the election of
Rampolla to become successor of Peter. And the means, the instrument God used
to block the election was, believe it or not, the Emperor of Austria, who still
had somewhere an old legal privilege – the “veto” privilege – to veto the
election of any pope. And the good Commission of Catholic Cardinals, left with
no other human means to block the election of this ungodly Cardinal, the
good cardinals appealed to the secular power to block the election, and the
Emperor of Austria used his veto power to veto that election. The cardinals
elected another pope and obviously the Holy Ghost, who must have been relieved
after having been heading in the direction of Rampolla, made sure that He
took over this time in the election. And an unknown cardinal was elected – a
cardinal by the name of Sarto, who became somewhat better known later on as
Saint Pius X. It was he, who in 1907, solemnly and even more
strongly, condemned Modernism in terms which our present-day Catholic press
tries to ignore and tries to deny.
The Modernists again did not leave the Church – oh no, they stayed
right in! – and joined the same forces they joined before. Freemasonry within
the Catholic Church was the vehicle to undermine the Church from within. And
then the next new movement to hit the scene to come on the scene was communism
in 1914 St. Pius X died and World War I just started. He died 16 days after the
beginning of World War 1.
In 1917 – exactly 50 years ago, as you know – the Communist
Revolution took place. In 1917, something maybe of even greater importance took
place – the Blessed Mother of God appeared in Fatima. All in the same year.
And Communism, joined with modern techniques and modern money and to all the
traditionally used tactics of the devil, started to work for his goal of world
domination. And the Christians of all denominations – Catholics as well as
Protestants – slept while the enemy was not at all sleeping.
In 1931, the Lenin school of political warfare sent out its secret
instructions to its elite of workers, making it clear that in 20 or 30 years –
now 31 – that would make it 1961+. Within about 30 years the day would
come, that international Communism would gradually take over the entire world.
Communism couldn’t do that unless it destroyed religion, and it started to work
immediately on our best Protestant denominations, which, with the help of
Freemasonry, were infiltrated to the bone. I have been warned not to say that
in public, if I know what’s good for me. And that’s why I’m saying it again.
When in 1933, Hitler took over in Germany, Communism found a good
excuse to gain respectability. Anyone who was against Hitler at the time was
supposed to be “respectable.” Well there were a few fools like I was who
believed that both Nazism and Communism were just two diseases, and we
tried to fight both at the same time. But in 1933, it became evident that the
Protestant denominations had been very successfully infiltrated, but that the
Roman Catholic Church was still standing there alone as the big opponent of
international communistic atheism. And it is in 1933, that Moscow ordered the
infiltration of the Catholic Church because, since the priests did not become
communists, communists would now become priests. And the instructions left
no doubt that some of the most promising young men in communist ranks would
be sent to our seminaries to go through all the motions of training for the
priesthood and be ordained and try to get up as high as they could in the
Catholic Church. This was in 1933, and by the law of average, some of them
should have succeeded quite well by now. When those directives reached the
Vatican, which at that time had an excellent detection service (it’s not so good
these day, they tell me), when Pius XI became aware of this infiltration of
atheistic communism, he composed personally (he didn’t use ghost writers
– he personally composed this encyclical) Divini Redemptoris, in
which he condemned Communism once and for all as intrinsically evil and
warned the Catholic bishops of the world against infiltrators of the Church.
But all the bishops sort of smiled and told the man in Rome he was getting a
little hysterical.
Then came World War II, and Communism became a world power with
infiltration its greatest weapon. Still quite successfully, the subversive
forces continued to work to bring Catholicism down to the lowest level of the
Protestant Reformation, and to bring the Protestant “reformed” churches
down to the lowest level of the DE-formation, where we have now Christian
theologians advocating a “God is dead” theology. And, by undermining all
Christian denominations, hoped to create an emptiness in which atheistic
Communism would nicely step in someday, as the old gentleman Khrushchev told us
point-blank when we were dumb enough to be his host here in the United States:
“Total unremitting warfare until the complete rule and every soul is
controlled completely by the force known as Communism remains our goal today.
Whether you like it or not, history is on our side,” he said. “We will
bury you.”
Well they had the numbers to say that before, but just to show that
we know what we are talking about, ladies and gentlemen. And again, when Pope
Pius XII occupied the Chair of St. Peter – the Pope who was maybe one of the
best informed Supreme Pontiffs ever to rule over our Church – he knew that the
first attack, the first frontal attack, against the Catholic
Church would be directed at the liturgy of the Mass. It was in 1947
already that Pope Pius XII warned the bishops against the fanatics of the
liturgical and theological left who were already then beginning to agitate for
some of the liturgical abuses and monstrosities which are now hailed as great
accomplishments of the “revitalized liturgy,” but which the saintly Pope
in his encyclical Mediator Dei called “insidious and very damaging
extremes.”
“Wicked innovations they are preparing,” he warned the
bishops. “Poisonous fruits,” he called them. And the advocates of that
so-called “Liturgical Renewal” were condemned already then as “Men
leaving the path of sound doctrine. Men who claim to promote the liturgical
renaissance, but in reality contaminate the liturgy with errors regarding the
Catholic doctrine.” I’m still quoting the saintly Pius XII: “Men,”
he warned, “who propose wicked innovations and are WRONG in appealing to the
social nature of the Holy Eucharist. Men who are unsound Catholics, who want to
revive customs long eliminated as abuses. Men who want to falsify the people
with new ways of doing things – new ways that are like poisoned fruits or like
infected branches on a healthy tree.”
“Infected branches,” he calls them, “that should be cut
off.” And knowing how these, already in 1947, were preparing their first
counter-attack on the Latin language in the Church (because it was a symbol of
our universality with Catholics all over the world and it was our symbol of our
link with Rome), knowing that their first attack would be as Luther’s
attack was, against the Latin language of the Church, Pope Pius XII told the
bishops then: KEEP YOUR COTTON-PICKING FINGERS OFF THE LATIN! He
didn’t use those words really, but this is what he said: “Use of Latin must
continue in our Church because it is a clear and beautiful sign of unity, and
more importantly, an effective remedy against corruptions of true doctrine.”
And also knowing that the next attack would be against the altars to have them
replaced with the monstrosities of ironing boards and tables, in 1947 already –
some people think half of these things were happening overnight – it wasn’t
happening overnight! These Modernists have prepared this for years and years!
In 1947, Pius XII told the bishops to keep the altars in the churches because
“he wanders from the right path who wishes to restore to the altar the ancient
form of the table.”
And then came 1962, with Pope John XXIII occupying the Chair of
Peter. “Good Pope John.” Never has the church known a Pope who was more
traditional in his doctrine and in his liturgical outlook than the good Pope
John XXIII, who is now being abused to justify the monstrosities which he
detested and which he never authorized. Because when good Pope John XXIII
convoked the Ecumenical Council for October 11, he was told by some of his
advisors that he made a mistake in convoking a council which would not be a
“happy meeting of a couple of weeks” where bishops from all parts of the
world would get together and change a few niceties and then jointly make a
declaration to the world that the Catholic Church, unchanged in its fundamental
doctrines, was now willing to make a few adaptations in some non-essential,
external things. When he was told, for instance, that the first attack of the
Modernists would be against the traditional Latin liturgy, Pope John XXIII, who
took responsibility when there was need for it, convoked all the Cardinals
living in Rome and all those within reasonable traveling distance, and ordered
them to come to Rome on February 22nd of 1962 – eight months before
the opening of the Vatican Council. And most solemnly, personally leaving the
Vatican to go and stand on top of the grave of St. Peter in Rome with all the
Cardinals standing next to him and a score of bishops right underneath him, Pope
John, in the form of an apostolic constitution, which is the highest form of
papal intervention next to an infallible dogmatic definition, declared that
there was nothing – no council or no bishop – that could touch the
traditional Latin liturgy. He came out and on February 22nd, the
Feast of St. Peter’s Chair (he selected just for that) with the constitution
“Vitrum Sapientia,” made it clear that this wasn’t just a quick talk from
the pope.
“In the full awareness of Our office and of Our authority, We
decree and order ad Perpetuam Rei memoriam – in perpetuity,” he said.
“We will and command that this Our constitution remain firmly established and
ratified notwithstanding anything to the contrary…” And that constitution
said that Latin had to stay in the liturgy and that the bishops had the
obligation to see to it that no one under their authority works for the
elimination of the Latin from either the liturgy or the studies for the
priesthood in our seminaries. That was 8 months before the Vatican
Council opened. And the Pope made it clear that this was ad Perpetuam Rei
memoriam “for all perpetuity, this must remain in the fullness of Our authority
We make this decision,” he said. And he made it quite clear why: “A
universal religion needs a universal language.”
And it was in that year, 1962, that a schismatic heretical,
Conciliar sect of the Church in the United States of America was born. Why?
Because regardless of the clear, solemn oath of Pope John XXIII, the
majority of our American bishops refused to obey. I should know because
I was there on the faculty at the time. And I had instructions from our Bishop
in Baltimore NOT to implement the constitution from Rome. That’s when I
resigned.
And it is that day that the majority of our bishops
automatically excommunicated themselves from our Roman Catholic Church! Now
they try to threaten me with excommunication. I would consider it a
high honor to be illegally excommunicated by men who were
excommunicated 5 years ago. Why? Because the instruction they sent out to
people such as I was: “Pay no attention to that old…” – I won’t quote
what they called good, old Pope John. “Pay no attention. We will wait until
the council convenes and we will get rid of that Latin liturgy fast. So just
wait.”
Now, ladies and gentlemen, we are still living in a Church that
believes in its Code of Canon Law. And, if you believe Pope Paul VI, and we
still do, than Canon 2,332 of our Code of Canon Law makes it so clear.
“Each and everyone, of whatsoever position or rank, whether king,
bishop or cardinal, who appeals from the laws, decrees or mandates of the
reigning Roman pontiff to an ecumenical council is suspected of heresy and
incurs automatic excommunication.” And the following Canon: “Persons who
directly or indirectly prevent the implementation of acts issued by the
Apostolic See incur automatic excommunication.” – Canon 2,333. And you
don’t have to be a Doctor of Canon Law to understand that language.
1962 was the first step in the establishment of the
schismatic, heretical, Conciliar sect which is now posing as the Catholic Church
establishment in the United States. Because now we are faced with Conciliarism.
Pope John XXIII convoked his Vatican Council – and ladies and gentlemen, let no
one tell you that I personally, or the Traditional Catholic movement, are
fighting the decisions of the Ecumenical Council. Oh no, we are not! No
Catholic could! What we are fighting today are the false interpretations of the
Second Vatican Council and it is high time for the present Holy Father to
declare that the Vatican Council was BIG MISTAKE, and that it is
now completely eradicated from the record. He could do it! He is the
pope! And it isn’t just to the credit of Pope John XXIII, because it is much
more to the credit of the Holy Ghost, that John XXIII made it crystal clear
from the very beginning when he convoked that council. And I should know;
I heard him say it! Yes, he said it in Latin, but I still understand
a little Latin. He made it clear that, unlike all previous Ecumenical Councils,
the Second Vatican Council was to be, not a Doctrinal Council, but a
pastoral one, leaving the door open for any subsequent pope to just say “BUSTA!!”
When it became clear that the Second Vatican Council was heading,
humanly speaking, for destruction, God stepped in and closed the Vatican
Council. When I returned to the United States after the first session, I told
my friends I had seen Pope John the day before I left Rome. I said, “That
pope will not open any other sessions; that man is dying.” For once my
predictions came true, though I have made a few others which have also come true
incidentally.
But the man died – an act of God ended the Second Vatican
Council, which had at that time, not made any decisions, any decrees
whatsoever. The first session in 1962 ended, and no second session came because
Pope John died. Now with the existing law of our Church, an Ecumenical Council
is automatically ended when the reigning Supreme Pontiff dies. An act of God
closed the Ecumenical Council. And many a church observer was hoping that, when
the new pope was elected, he would not re-open the council which had been closed
by an outspoken, unmistakably clear act of God. But after listening to some of
his advisors, Pope Paul VI did not convoke a Third Vatican Council, which would
have been more in line with the traditions, but he RE-opened the Second
Vatican Council which had been closed. And I was not the only one to be a
little bit uncomfortable when witnessing within a month or two: a Council closed
by an act of God, re-opened by an act of Man.
But nevertheless, when the final session closed of the Second
Vatican Council, every decision and every decree that officially was promulgated
by it contained nothing but the traditional, sound doctrine of our Church. Oh,
yes, I had heard proposals there you wouldn’t believe. Bishops proposing
there, as acceptable Catholic doctrine, HERESIES – dogmatic and
moral heresies – which had been condemned centuries ago! But these were
not made law – oh no! Christ was still with His Church and the Holy Ghost still
steered part of Peter and did not permit those proposals to be accepted. But
what we are witnessing today, ladies and gentlemen, are precisely those
defeated proposals which are now being forced down the throats of
our Catholic people. The Modernists couldn’t get it done legally in Rome; now
they are trying to do it illegally. And that’s why we’re attacking them!
Today we have the exact carbon copy of the situation St. Pius X
described in 1903 where he made it clear that the promoters of error today are
not found among our declared enemies – the promoters of error today are found in
the very ranks of our own Church! Today we are witnessing that exact
situation. We are also witnessing the very thing which was predicted in Fatima
in 1917. And I could see right up, it’s not exactly making that public – but I
don’t pretend to have the text of that message of Our Blessed Mother in Fatima,
but the text I received in Rome has a few paragraphs there which are still very
much of interest. It was predicted then and it is happening now.
“A time of severe trial is coming for the Church. Not today, nor
tomorrow,” the Blessed Mother said in 1917, “but in the second half of
the 20th century. Humanity will not develop as God desires it.
Mankind will become sacrilegious and trample underfoot the gift it has
received. No longer will order reign anywhere. Even in the high places,”
the Blessed Mother predicted, “Satan will reign and direct the course of
things. He will even succeed in infiltrating into the highest positions in the
Church. Cardinals will oppose cardinals and bishops will oppose bishops. Satan
will enter into their very midst. The Church will be obscured and all the world
will be thrown into confusion.” It is the Mother of God who gave us
such a description, ladies and gentlemen. And that is why we hold to the Holy
Father – not attacking the pope as the false brethren of the so-called
Catholic press have tried to make its readers believe. We did not attack
the Pope in our letter to him. There isn’t a priest in the whole world who has
more loyalty and more affection to the present Pope than I do. Because,
if for no other reason, Pope Paul VI didn’t have to give me the personal
attention and the personal affection he showed me when he gave me a personal
audience and blessed the work I had been doing the last two weeks. I cannot
forget that, unhappy as I am about some of the things his advisors made me do
today. What we ask the Holy Father in my letter of August 15 (and if you are
interested in the full text, just leave your name and we’ll gladly send you a
copy) we ask the Holy Father to PLEASE be a Pope, to act like a Pope, to
stand on his own two feet, and to give us loyal traditionalist Catholics
the satisfaction of being able once more to say: “Rome has spoken and all
Catholics will obey!” That’s what we asked him to do.
We are not trying to start a new schismatic church, ladies and
gentlemen. This I have been accused of by the phony conservative Catholic
press, which is now wandering around in all directions, and which is now sending
out all sorts of splinter groups – some of whom are even exposing themselves to
dangerous legal action by twisting Catholic traditionalists around. Where are
the bishops who might still come out of the woods someday? The actual
establishment of the so-called Catholic is no longer in line with the traditions
of the church that go back to St. Peter and Our Lord Himself because the
Conciliar Church of today has been one that has brought to the world nothing but
the systematic destruction of the Catholic Church that every priest swore to
defend.
We have witnessed the last 5 years in public what was prepared for
the last 50 years – the systematic destruction of the Church in three stages.
First, our liturgy had to be destroyed. Then, our dogmas had to
be destroyed. And then, our morals had to be destroyed. And the enemy
has done a good job doing all of these, ladies and gentlemen.
First, they have destroyed our liturgy. A year ago, I warned
you of the ten steps you would be witnessing in your church. I told you that
the first thing you would witness was the total destruction of Latin. I knew
that was what they were shooting for. The second thing you would witness
was Mass on a real altar, but facing the people. The third step, I told
you, would be the altar replaced with a table – not to implement the
Second Vatican Council, but in perfect conformity with the decrees of the
Anglican Reformation of the 16th century. The fourth step, I
warned you, would be the…on the altar would be destroyed and the tabernacle
removed to some sort of a shoebox down the side. The fifth step, I
warned you, would be the communion rail would be removed and you would be
forced to stand while receiving the one, whom the Bible tells us, all should
bend their knees for, even if His name is only mentioned. The sixth
step, in the systematic destruction of our liturgy, I warned you, would be
people would start selecting their own altar breads and bring them to the
table. First traditional looking hosts; later ordinary bread. The seventh
step, I warned, you would be witnessing “special” masses now for select
groups. “Hootenanny Masses” for teenagers because the teenagers asked
for it! They don’t, ladies and gentlemen! A few nitwits among the teenagers
may, but the liberals are insulting our teenagers by really making us
“old-folks” believe that our teenagers are really going for that kind of
degraded liturgy. They go not for that, ladies and gentlemen, and I’m extremely
happy to say that one of my next talks will be in Arizona – organized by a group
of teenagers! Special groups, hootenanny masses – of which the latest was a
Mass in the cathedral, mind you, with dancing girls and boys together on
the floor. Just as hootenanny masses will become available to teenagers – agape
“Love Masses” would be made available for what they call a “select group”
of adults. The eighth step I told you in the systematic destruction of
our liturgy would be that everyone would be able to touch and handle the
“Bread of Love,” as they call it. First they would permit some nuns to
touch it. Sure, even among the nuns you can find a few nitwits, just as you can
find them among the priests (though I would say the nuns are in a wee more
favorable position than we are now). First they would find a few nuns to break
the ice. Then they would let the children help themselves to communion. Then
the next step – everyone helps himself. When I was speaking like that
once, some people said, “Well, he is exaggerating.” Ladies and
gentlemen, I can take you to places where this is taking place! I also warned
you about some of the sacrilegious abuses that would result from that
destruction, and the picture I got was a picture of a former tabernacle, which
is now being used as a dog house – they had a cocker-spaniel in what
used to be the tabernacle, ladies and gentlemen. The ninth step, I
warned you a year ago, would be no more obligatory Sunday Masses in churches,
but voluntary “love masses” in homes – preferably on Saturday, the Sabbath. The
tenth step, I told you, God knows what that would be. But a year ago we didn’t
know what the tenth step would be, but today we do. The tenth step in
the systematic destruction of our traditional Latin liturgy, was formalized two
weeks ago on Oct. 22nd, 1967. That was the day the
counterfeit Mass was forced upon our people. That was the day when you
went to the church establishment buildings where you witnessed your priests
turning into ministers. That was the day the heretical, schismatic,
Conciliar Church was formally established in the U.S. of America, as was
proposed formally a year ago.
Now, ladies and gentlemen, I hesitated before I came here, whether I
should tell you this or not. I hesitated before I came here to your city. But
I decided, bad news as it is, I must give it to you. What you are
attending today in the churches of our once Catholic Church establishment – what
you are witnessing, ladies and gentlemen, is no longer a valid Sacrifice of the
Mass. That’s a tremendous statement to make. So I have to prove it, and I owe
it to you to give you the reasons.
Here in the city of Chicago between April 10 and April 13 of this
year, our American bishops met in a luxury hotel and decided among other things
that they would appeal to Rome (they still felt like going through that
motion) for permission to use an all-English Mass, including the Canon of the
Mass, including the most solemn part of the Canon, the Consecration. Twenty-one
bishops fought against it and voted against it. Out of more than 250 American
bishops, 21 were still Catholic enough to warn their fellow bishops not
to destroy the Latin Traditional Mass altogether – particularly, not to fool
around with the “form” of Consecration, which affects the validity of the Mass.
I received the information of that exact number (which was supposed to be kept
secret) two weeks ago from the Cardinal Office of our Bishop in Washington, who
told me that he was one of the three Cardinals who fought against it. The other
two were Cardinal Spelmann and Cardinal Macintyre, and 18 other bishops. They
voted “no” because they knew it was wrong. I expected the next sentence
to be: “…and that’s why at least in 21 dioceses you will still have a valid
Mass available.” But no. That is not what I heard next. What I heard next
was: “…but once the majority of the American bishops decided to go for an
all-English Mass, we, who voted against it, decided not to break ranks and to go
along with them.”
Those are the kind of leaders we have today, ladies and gentlemen.
Now if they had only proposed an English translation of the Latin Canon, it
would have been bad enough. They would have still gone directly contrary to the
excommunication threat of the Council of Trent and Articles 36 and 54 of the
Second Vatican Council’s “Constitution on the Liturgy.” But if it had
been a literal translation, as much as I would hate to see the Latin go, you
couldn’t really question the validity of the Mass.
Last night I spoke at a hall graciously placed at our disposal by a
fellow priest of the Lebanese Rite. He certainly doesn’t use Latin, but I know
it’s a valid Mass and that’s why I would rather see you go to a valid Mass in
Aramaic in his Lebanese Church than to a phony Communion service in our
so-called Latin Churches.
What our American bishops proposed to Rome was an entirely new
(English version) Canon of the Mass – a version which was totally heretical, a
version in which three infallibly defined dogmas were eliminated. The dogma of
the Divine Maternity of the Virgin Mary, defined in 431 by the Council of
Ephesus – OUT. The dogma of the Perpetual Virginity of the Virgin Mary,
defined at the Lateran Council of 649 – OUT. The dogma of the Divinity
of Our Lord and Savior Himself, defined at the Council of Nicæa in 325 – OUT.
Needless to say, that the answer that came back from Rome last September, was
“no.” Twice…“no.”
“We in Rome cannot possibly permit you American bishops to
use this kind of Mass formula.” Not to forget that the word “blessed” has
also been eliminated and so has the actual blessing. The ministers today in our
Church no longer bless the bread and the wine. I will explain to you later on
why they don’t – they are consistent. Needless to say, Rome’s answer was
“you cannot use this form in the Mass!”
Now, ladies and gentlemen, at one time that would have been
the final decision and any Catholic bishop would have submitted immediately. No
longer. The answer given by our American, so-called “Catholic” bishops,
given in the person of Archbishop Deardon, the president of the American Bishops
Conference (in Rome itself of all places), where he was to attend that same
afternoon the opening Council of the Synod of Bishops last September 29,
Archbishop Deardon of Detroit, in his capacity as president of the American
Catholic Bishops, publicly announced that, even though Rome had rejected
this English text of the Canon, we in the United States make it now mandatory in
all public Masses and we will not even wait until December 3, the day we had
originally planned. We will do it immediately, as soon as the printing can be
done. And that’s why they made it mandatory on October 22nd. Now,
ladies and gentlemen, if that isn’t an open schism, then I don’t know what a
schism is.
And until four days ago, I personally still had doubts as to the
validity of this new English ceremony in our churches. See, I’m not really
as extreme as my opponents describe me to be. Some of my fellow theologians
told me from the very beginning that, in their opinion, there was not the
slightest doubt that this New Mass was invalid. I still had doubts…but no
more. To me it was doubtful, but still, according to the Traditional teaching
of Catholic moral theology, when the validity is at stake of a sacrament, a
priest cannot follow the system of what they call “probabalism.” He must
follow the system of “tutiorism,” meaning he must follow the more safe
course. That means that, until Rome clearly defines that the new formula is
technically valid, the priest must stick with the old formula which was
established as “valid” until now. But three days ago, the latest issue of a
magazine called “Worship,” which is the unofficial mouthpiece of American
liturgical “experts,” and which is published with ecclesiastical approval –
there are instructions directed to the priests explaining to them how to
understand the new English Canon which they are now to use in their Masses. And
if you read that, ladies and gentlemen, then there is not the slightest
doubt that the valid Sacrifice of the Mass has vanished from our churches. I’m
quoting here from that article where it says: “the new Canon is not just a
change of words, but a development in Eucharistic theology. One can only do
justice to the Canon of the Mass by interpreting it in the light of current
writing on Eucharistic theology.” And then it explains what it means by the
new “Eucharistic theology.”
The first element of this Eucharistic theology, which is now forced
down your throats, is: “There is no more room for a sacrificial priesthood.
The priest is now one of many ministers. He is no longer the one who
sacrifices, who offers, sacrifices, and consecrates. He is now one of many
ministers.” All through that article of instructions directed to the
priests he is described as the “presiding minister” and to make it short
they even invented a new word which is probably even making Webster turn
around. They call it continuously now the “presider.” Now when I was
ordained 25 years ago, I was not ordained a minister; I was ordained a priest.
And with all due respect to some of my friends’ ministers, we consider
ourselves in a different category. We were priests to offer the Sacrifice
of the Mass and to forgive sins, and all the rest was accidental. I
was never told that I was ordained a “presider”; yet, that is what I am
now. And they describe the function of the presider – and watch it now, for
there is not the slightest reference to the priestly powers of consecrating –
as: “The one who preaches, who sums up the prayers of the faithful, who
proclaims the Canon of the Mass (that is, the Eucharistic prayer), who initiates
the peace greeting and makes sure that all the faithful present are served at
the Holy Table.” Now that is not what I was ordained for, ladies and
gentlemen. Now if that’s who is presiding over your so-called “Masses”
on Sundays, then you may as well get yours snacks somewhere else to put it
bluntly, tragic as it is.
And a new element enters the picture here. They make it clear that
the presider’s job is essentially temporary. Any Catholic layman could become
presider for awhile and, in a little footnote there, it says that we should make
provisions to permit not only our priests, but even our bishops to look for
another job if they get fed up with their present one. Unbelievable,
ladies and gentlemen. We are already used now to see priests run away and break
their vows publicly, but for the first time we are now gradually conditioned to
face the fact that some of our previously esteemed bishops might now
appear on our televisions screens with a tie on. I guess some would wear a red
one, too.
To give you the exact proof, because I see a few persons there who
are taking notes, on page 515 of that article it says: “We simply must
provide, and soon, less arduous and less incriminating methods of resigning from
the Episcopal and priestly functions.” There is no room anymore for a
priest in what’s going on Sunday morning! He is the one who preaches, who sums
up the prayers of the faithful, who proclaims the Eucharistic prayer, initiates
the peace greeting, and makes sure that everyone is served at the table. You
eliminate the priesthood, you have no sacrifice; you eliminate the sacrifice,
you have no Mass. You have a 3rd class congregational Protestant
service. But worse.
That same article goes on by making it clear that there is no more
room for a consecration in the new “Eucharistic Service,” as they call
it. The transubstantiation is eliminated. No more change of bread and wine
into the real living Christ – no. They explain now that the consecration
consists in this: the presider proclaims that the bread and wine are
consecrated, and this is accepted by God as our offerings. This is not a
consecration, ladies and gentlemen! Bread and wine are only transformed,
not transubstantiated into the sacramental Body of Christ – not the
real Body of Christ. And then they explain what they mean by what they
still say: “This is My Body.” They say the consecration is “a
processive offering to the Father of Christ’s Body which is the assembly in
front of us.” Christ’s Body is the assembly – no, ladies and
gentlemen. Then they also explain that the words “Do ye this in
commemoration of Me” mean the Eucharistic prayer is a proclamation of the
Word of God. It is not! The Eucharistic sacrifice is the
MAKING PRESENT of the living God – that’s what the Mass is!
When a Catholic entered his Church, he wasn’t entering just another
prayer hall. He wasn’t just entering a spiritual dining room. He was entering
the residence of the living God, Jesus Christ, who became present there as real
as you and I through the words of the consecration of a priest. Now the
“real presence” is the assembly, and that of course explains why the
presider should face the assembly and the people! They make it clear that there
is no more room for priests and, consequently, it says, “the priest should
stop wearing ecclesiastical vestments.” The liturgical vestments should be
rejected as “symbols of waste and superfluity.” There is no more living
Christ; therefore the only living thing are the people present. And that’s why
the presider must address himself to the living persons there. “To attend to
anything else but the assembly, even the book or the bread and wine, is the
opposite of the style we seek.” At least they had the decency to call it
“bread and wine.” They also give the priest instructions to avoid, by all
means, looking up to heaven, as he was directed to do during the Offertory,
during Consecration and many other parts of the Mass. No more…because it says,
“The heavenward gaze belongs to a few of the universe no longer with us.”
Do you blame me, ladies and gentlemen, for cabling a message to Rome
immediately asking for instructions as to what I am to do now? I am not telling
you a secret when I make it clear that what I have been doing the last few years
was actually – in plain vernacular – I have been doing the dirty work for
Rome here in the United States and in Europe. And I have followed my
instructions to the letter and I haven’t doubted them. They told me I was in
enemy territory when I left Rome. They said you are behind enemy lines now;
whatever you do, you have our confidence, but don’t expect us to come out with
public statements every month. But when there is an emergency, you send us a
telegram, worded this way, and you will get your answer the same evening. I
sent the telegram to Cardinal Brown on September 29th asking for
instructions as to the validity of this Mass, which in my opinion, was at that
time questionable, and which is now in my opinion, clearly invalid. I
received no answer from Rome. When I had to address a public meeting 2 weeks
ago, on October 22nd in Garden City, Long Island, I sent another
telegram, begging for an answer before 6pm. The next day I had to
address the people so that I could give them clear instructions as to what to
do. Knowing my protectors in Rome – my bosses, I might say – I knew that
they would not break their agreement. I knew they would send me a telegram one
way or another before I had to address the public. Yet when I addressed the
public at 6pm (I actually waited until 6:45), no telegram had arrived. Three
days later, I did receive a letter [a telegram] from Cardinal Brown, who was the
one appointed by the Pope to deal with these things, and the first words of the
letter, written that day, were: “Dear Fr. de Pauw, you will have received my
telegram of this morning…”
We started an investigation and at this point, the conclusion is
that the telegram that the Vatican sent me was intercepted. But I fortunately
got the letter then. Sad news, ladies and gentlemen, in which Cardinal Brown –
the No.3 man in the Church there…the Pope, Cardinal Ottoviani, Cardinal Brown
– informed me that, even a person in his position can no longer exercise
his influence over the American bishops. All he could do, he said, is to
present the question of the validity of the New Mass before the Congregation for
the Doctrine of the Faith, which he has done. But meanwhile, I’m on my own. He
also informed me that the power of the Church is now completely in the hands of
the Secretary of State which is, as you know, the political arm of the Vatican.
And it was an ominous little news item in yesterday’s paper that the only
persons who did see the Holy Father before he was to undergo surgery, were three
representatives of the Secretary of State, the political arm of the Vatican.
And that brings us, ladies and gentlemen, to this extremely
practical and tragic question: “What do we do now? What do we do
tomorrow?” We know that our bishops, except for a very few you can
count on the fingers of your one hand, we know that they have betrayed us, and
betrayed the Holy Father. We know that the great majority of our priests, in
their heart, agree in what I am saying and doing. But they are not willing to
fight. We know that our enemies in our church establishment are no longer even
interested in organizing an independent American Catholic Church. They are no
more “American” than they are Catholic. They are simply interested in
establishing, with the help of money and with the help of Freemasonry (and they
have done so already now) the United States Division of the One World Church,
controlled by a One World Government, hopefully controlled someday by a
Communist United Nations. And that’s as simple as it is, ladies and gentlemen.
And, once in a while, our opponents are so stupid that they even prove
radically what I am trying to say. You would not believe it yourself, but there
is already a monthly “Missalette” making the rounds in some churches.
The picture on the front page is a man, supposedly like Christ, blessing the
flags of all the different countries which are gathered around the table of the
community meal. And it is true that, among those flags he is blessing, is
still the U.S. “stars & stripes,” but also there is among those flags
not only the Soviet Union’s hammer and sickle but also the flag of Red China.
That is taken from a pew in a church in New York City of all places, ladies and
gentlemen.
What can we really do, ladies and gentlemen? PRAY.
Pray and pray. There are still some churches where they have the
real Blessed Sacrament – the living God. Look them up and go on
your knees and pray and pray. Because, humanly speaking, we are in a mess we
can’t get out of. Right now we must ask God, Jesus Christ, to wake up. The
situation of our Church today is very much like the situation the Apostles found
themselves in when Christ was sleeping in the little boat during the big storm.
We must storm Christ and ask him: “Lord, we perish! Save us!”
With one hand extended, He calmed the seas then. Maybe He will calm them now.
But, humanly speaking, there is no way out, ladies and gentlemen…except to
hold on – we, the small group of Traditionalist Catholics – to the little
flame of the traditional faith which is still burning just a little. But as
long as we keep it burning, that flame of God’s help will someday go higher and
higher again. But right now, it’s mighty, mighty low.
Also pray to the Blessed Mother. She predicted the mess we are in –
in Fatima! Let’s pray to her that she gets us out of it.
Then, ladies and gentlemen, work on yourself. Get rid
of that brainwashed idea of blind obedience! Ladies and gentlemen, there is
no room for blind obedience in the Catholic Church! Blind obedience leads
to nothing but tyranny, whether political, military or spiritual. The true
Catholic teaching of obedience is the one I have said all over the country and
in a few parts of the rest of the world.
As Catholics our first obedience is to God, Our Savior Jesus
Christ. Our second obedience is to our Church – the one, true Church of
Christ, the Catholic Church. Our third obedience is to our Pope. Our
fourth obedience is to our bishop. And only your fifth obedience is
to your priest. But our obedience to priests and bishops and even the Pope
ends if, God forbid, any of them would be disobedient
to either Church or God!
Work on yourself and convince yourself that you are not
disobeying anyone who should be obeyed when you fight the establishment of the
Conciliar Church. You are not disobeying anyone who should be obeyed.
Work also on some of your neighbors, to join with you to form an elite
minority. There are some of our Catholic people that are not worth discussing
the situation with. If they haven’t seen by now what’s happening to the Church,
don’t waste your time on them! Let them go to where they are heading – and it
ain’t “heaven” (in the vernacular)! That doesn’t mean, ladies and
gentlemen, that I’m not interested in the salvation of even one soul; I’ll fly
to Timbuktu tonight if they assured me I can save a soul there. But the fact is
that for almost 3 years now I have been traveling all over the world and over
the country. I have been warning the people. There isn’t a soul anymore who
has an excuse to say “well we didn’t know it!” We have made available
printed things, records, tapes – you name it! They know we are
right! Priests come to me daily and say, “You know, you are absolutely
right, but I don’t want to lose my job.” That’s what they tell me. My
answer is: “I LOST my job! But I don’t want to lose my soul!!”
Work on an elite group. All through history, anything of importance
has been accomplished by a small minority, for good or for bad. You, ladies and
gentlemen, you are that minority. A small minority – oh,
yes, in their hearts 85% or 95% of the Catholics agree with what I am
saying, but there aren’t 10% who are willing to fight for it! Ninety-five
percent of the priests know that I am right, but they don’t want
to lose their salary every month! Ninety-five percent of the nuns know that I
am right, but they are bound by the system – they can’t do
anything! And that’s why I forgive them. But you, ladies and gentlemen, you
can still do something! Work together, share your views with
others, work within the Catholic Traditionalist movement – the only organized
force that has done something these last three years! And all the
Johnny-come-lately, what are they asking now? A Latin Mass? The issue is
no longer a Latin Mass – the issue is now OUR CATHOLIC FAITH!
What can you do, and what must you do? You must try
to save whatever can be saved, just as in the 4th century. The flame
of traditional Catholic beliefs was kept burning by a small group of people –
lay people – and a few religious and a few priests. Now YOU have
to do the same thing! You must BREAK with the Conciliar Church in order
to save the true Catholic Church!
How can you do it?
Number one, refuse financial support to any priest turned
minister whose Church now only offers a “last supper commemorative communion
service” without the Good Friday sacrifice of the substantially present living
God! Refuse to support financially schools where the Conciliar religion has
replaced the Catholic religion! And, in turn, support financially and
spiritually and morally those few priests and those few nuns who are
holding out as best they can in their own positions! Look for churches where
real Catholic priests are still validly consecrating. If you can’t find it
in your own parish, make the sacrifice to travel a few miles. Your grandparents
did it, driving horses or walking on their own legs. They built the churches
years ago here in this country. Travel around and look for a church. There are
a few left that still have the real Mass. Look for schools where the
faith and morals of your children are not being ruined by sacrilegious and
immoral so-called “religion books.” If you cannot find such churches,
stop going to the establishment buildings where the true sacrifice is
no longer available. And God knows that I carefully selected my words when I
said that. No one who has been ordained 25 years a priest as I have been, no
one who has trained priests for the last 15 years, is going to make a statement
as I just made without carefully and prayerfully watching his language. Stop
going to those sacrilegious services which are now being forced on you. Go on
the weekday if you can, to a Church where a priest is still offering a real Mass
– and IF you cannot find such churches anymore, then build NEW churches
and NEW schools! You build the buildings and I will give
you the priests and the teachers! And if you run into financial or technical
difficulties – and I know you will because four days ago I was in the state of
New Jersey, looking over the piece of property which was offered me to offer
Mass the next Sunday with all sorts of privileges, building regulations, zoning
regulations, and what have you.
That is why right now, ladies and gentlemen, build altars in
your own homes, and invite priests to come there and offer the Sacrifice
of the Mass! I’m going to send out all over the country the simple measurements
– 65” wide, 20” deep, 41” high. Build an altar and I will give you the names of
priests who are willing to come there for you and your neighbors and your
children…to offer the REAL sacrifice.
Let there be a modern version of the catacombs! It is better
to have the real Mass on an altar in your home than a phony, community service
in what used to be Catholic churches. And if you cannot find any priests, if
the 120 plus, who gave me their assurance that they would do it with me – if
they all chicken out, then I will alone travel all over the country and
say Mass instead of speaking to the people. Because the days are over
for speeches, the days are over for publications, the days are over for
pamphlets – the days of ACTION are here! We must now save nothing
less than the real presence of God among us. Right now what we need is altars
to offer Masses on. If we cannot have them anymore in our church buildings,
YOU must have them in your homes! And I, for one, will go anyplace in the
United States to offer the Sacrifice of the Mass and teach your children the old
beliefs of your forefathers.
And I do hope that some priests, if they witness me doing it,
might still have the GUTS to do the same. Do not fear the
wrath of the bishops who today form the established, heretical, schismatic
Church. Let us be prepared, ladies and gentlemen, to join the
saints who were illegally excommunicated by the phony establishments and bishops
of their days. I’m referring to Saint Athanasius, Saint Cyril, Saint Philip
Neri, Saint Louis de Montfort, Saint Joan of Arc – just to name a few.
Ladies and gentlemen, I am not asking you or anyone else to become
one of my followers. I’m not asking you to follow me! I am
inviting you to walk with me and together we will follow, not any human
being, but Jesus Christ alone. I have personally already given up all of my
material possessions and the professional comforts that once were mine and I’m
not asking for your sympathy, believe you me, I have never been happier than in
the last three years of my life. But I have given everything I could and I’m
still ready to give today my life and my all to lead those Catholics who are
ready to fight the pseudo-bishops and priests of the Conciliar Church in
order to stay within the Catholic Church.
Those of you, ladies and gentlemen, who are willing to join me in
this fight for truth and tradition, to those of you who are willing to join me,
I can only promise for the immediate future abuse, ridicule, smears and
all forms of persecution – that persecution which Christ said would be the
principle mark of his true Church. For the immediate future, all you
can expect if you fight with me is abuse and ridicule and smears. But, for the
distant future, ladies and gentlemen, I can promise you, not only the
eternal salvation of your soul (and that’s what I’m still interested in),
not only the eternal salvation of your soul in the world to come, but also the
everlasting gratitude of your children and your grandchildren and
your great-grandchildren who will bless YOUR name in
generations to come for having preserved for them the burning fire of the Faith
of your Fathers – the Faith you were born in or the faith you selected yourself
as an adult when you joined the true Church of Christ.
Ladies and gentlemen, you mothers and fathers in particular, you
must now become another Mathathias. I refer here to the example of
Mathathias, who defended the faith of his Fathers against the establishment of
his days for the benefit of his children. And I’d like to read for you that
beautiful, eternal play in three acts, taken from the first book of the
Machabees:
Act I
“In those days arose Mathathias
the son of John…and he had five sons…these saw the evils that were done in the
people…and Mathathias said: Woe, woe is me, wherefore was I born to see the ruin
of my people, and the ruin of the holy city, and to dwell there, when it is
given into the hands of the enemies? The holy places have fallen into the hands
of strangers: the temple has become as a man without honor…and the vessels of
her glory have been carried away captive. All her ornaments are taken away…and
behold our sanctuary, and our beauty, and our glory is laid waste. To what end
then should we live any longer? And they that were sent from king Antiochus
came thither, to compel them to depart from the law of their Fathers. And many
of the people consented: but Mathathias and his sons stood firm. And they that
were sent from Antiochus, said to Mathathias: Obey, as all the others are doing,
and thou and thy sons shall be our friends, and you shall be enriched with gold
and silver and many presents. But Mathathias answered, and said with a loud
voice: even if the whole world would obey your orders, and every other man would
depart from the law of his Fathers, I and my sons and my brethren will obey the
law of our Fathers. So help us God, we will never abandon the law and the
traditions of our Fathers.”
Act II
“And every man said to his
neighbor: If we shall all do as our brethren have done, and not fight against
those people: they will quickly root us out of the earth. And they determined
in that day, saying: Whosoever shall come up against us to fight, we will fight
back. Then was assembled to them the stoutest of the people [you – the
Traditionalists] and all they that fled from the evils, joined themselves to
them, and were a support to them. And Mathathias and his friends went around
and they threw down the false altar tables: and they did violently. And the
work prospered in their hands: and they recovered the law out of the hands of
the sinners.”
Act III
“Now the days drew near that
Mathathias should die, and he said to his sons: Now, my sons, be ye zealous for
the law and give your lives for the traditions of your Fathers. Remember the
works of your forefathers which they have done in their generations: and you,
too, shall receive great glory, and an everlasting name. And he blessed them,
and was joined to his forefathers…and he was buried by his sons and all the
people mourned for him with great mourning.”
Ladies and gentlemen, the future of our Church, humanly speaking,
now rests with us. The small, elite group of Traditionalist Catholic lay
people, and a few priests and religious. The larger part of our bishops,
priests and nuns have betrayed us. The big question today is: on what
side is Pope Paul VI?
I refuse to believe that what is going
on today has the approval of the Holy Father. I cannot believe
it. The pope who blessed me, who crossed my hands, encouraged me to do
what I am doing, the pope who agreed with every word I said to him – that
pope couldn’t possibly be in his right mind now when he approves of
artificial birth control or priests advocating the public breaking of their
vows, of the eliminating of the Ten Commandments, of playing ball with atheists,
communists, and what have you. This pope couldn’t possibly
approve of new Greek theologians who deny the Divinity of Christ, who make fun
of the Resurrection of Christ, who ridicule the Virginity of the Blessed Mother,
who now produce a counterfeit Mass for the people. The Pope that I met
couldn’t do this! And that’s why I just can’t speak against Pope
Paul VI! I know that he has been a weak pope and God knows I told him so
in my letter to him! But I can’t believe he is a bad pope – I
just can’t! True, it’s possible. But I still hope that Paul VI, when he
recovers – and I pray for that – when he recovers from his surgery, that he will
turn out to be, if not a new St. Pius X, who condemned Modernism (and he, too,
waited seven years before he condemned it), than I still hope that he will be a
new Liberius – a pope who also was a weak Pope the first three to four
years of his pontificate, but THEN joined what was left of the true
Catholic Church. I still cannot believe that, 40 years from now, a new
Ecumenical Council will condemn Pope Paul VI as the Ecumenical Council of
Constantinople condemned Pope Honorius I, with these words:
“We anathematize Honorius, who did not attempt to sanctify his
Apostolic Church with the teaching of Apostolic Tradition, but by profound
treachery permitted the teachings of the Church to be polluted.”
That’s how one Pope was condemned forty years later. And in
683 – three years later – Saint Pope Leo II confirmed the condemnation of
his predecessor Honorius by adding this explanation: “Honorius…” he
didn’t even call him Pope. He said:
“Honorius did not extinguish the flame of heretical doctrine from
the beginning, but rather fanned the flame by his negligence.”
Some people say that the same thing will happen to Pope Paul VI. I
can believe it, ladies and gentlemen. I hope and pray that this is not
true.
The latest information I got from Rome a week ago – this past week –
was bad. I give it to you as I received it. The latest information I got was
that Pope Paul VI will be resigning after he recuperates from his surgery, that
he is throwing in the towel and inviting the cardinals to elect a new pope.
This is not a rumor made-up by some ecclesiastic somewhere; this is information
which I received from – to use the cliché – usually very reliable sources
in the Vatican.
If that is true, where do we go from there, if that would be
true right now for the next month, that the Holy Father would be powerless,
physically and maybe even mentally? What have they done to him? I don’t
know, but I for one, ladies and gentlemen, I just cannot condemn
him. I can only pray for him as I said in my letter and beg him to be a Pope
and let the enemies of the Church go outside. We can do better without them!
At the same time, ladies and gentlemen, I know enough Theology and enough Canon
Law and enough Church History to realize that tremendous possibility. But as it
is now, my loyalty – and even more than that – my affection, because a
priest can’t forget the honor received as I did from a Pope. He didn’t
have to receive me personally before I came back here to fight for truth
and tradition. He didn’t have to do it, and his advisors did everything
they could to convince him he shouldn’t do it. If, for no other reason,
you can forget the face-to-face encounter with the person I still respect and
love as the Supreme Pontiff of our Church…I KNOW he has been a
weak pope and I DETEST some of the things his advisors have made
him do, and my letter to him makes that clear!
“But,” as I wrote to him, “we Traditionalist Catholics –
we still have pent up in the reserve of our hearts enthusiastic loyalty, which
we Traditionalist Catholics have exclusively set apart for our Supreme Pontiff.
And we would like nothing better than to forget the past four years and shower
our loyalty on a Paul VI turned into a new St. Pius X, who had the courage to
face the reality of enemies within our own ranks, and the integrity to condemn
them.”
At the moment, we are practically abandoned, ladies and gentlemen.
Our Holy Father is suffering more than the newspapers tell you.
Physically, he is worse off than the newspapers tell us. Mentally, he is
suffering tremendously. And if I would tell you one cent of the information I
have received from Rome, you would think that I was writing horror stories for
Alfred Hitchcock.
Let us pray for the Church and also for the Holy Father, ladies and
gentlemen. Right now we true Catholics, we are like children abandoned by our
spiritually leaders. We can only now fight as I explained it to you and pray
for the day, that our now suffering Supreme Pontiff, will open his arms again
and put the tiara back on his head – not the bishop’s mitre – but the
tiara and let us have the satisfaction of once again shouting to the
whole world: “Thank God, we have a Pope again!”
And I hope and pray that it will be Paul VI turned into a new Pius
X. I have seen him; I think it could be done, ladies and gentlemen. But if it
doesn’t happen, then we will have temporarily to carry on for the pope,
and against the bishops who have betrayed us.
Do not hesitate, ladies and gentlemen, to ask me right now how do I
possibly justify such a position for myself and advice others to do
likewise. I can see your eyes. That question is right there. “How can you
justify what you have told us here?” The question is there and you have a
perfect right, you have a duty to ask me: “How do you justify
it?” Ladies and gentlemen, here is my answer: the position I have taken is
justified on only one ground. This one….
Exactly 25 years ago, the evening before my ordination to the
priesthood, I placed my hand on God’s holy Gospel. And standing before my God –
my living God – the exposed Blessed Sacrament, with the nearby statue of
His Immaculate Mother glancing down on me, I solemnly stated: “This Catholic
Faith, which I now freely profess and to which I truly adhere, the same I
promise vow and swear to maintain and profess with the help of God, entire,
inviolate and with firm constancy until the last breath of life. And I shall
strive with the best of my ability that this same faith shall be helped, taught
and publicly professed by all those entrusted to me.”
This profession of faith, ladies and gentlemen, I promised, vowed,
and swore as a young priest 25 years ago. That same profession of faith, I
promised, vowed and swore when the Church in the academic world promoted me to
Doctor of Canon Law. That same profession of faith, I promised, vowed and swore
for 13 consecutive school years when the Church appointed me Professor of
Theology and Canon Law to train its young priests. That same profession of
faith, I promised, vowed and swore when the Church selected me to participate in
its latest Ecumenical Council.
Ladies and gentlemen, what my Church made me promise, vow and
swear yesterday, she cannot ask me to deny today. I promised, vowed and
swore it yesterday, I promise, vow and swear it today, and
tomorrow, and the day after tomorrow, and the last day
I’ll be here.
I hope and pray that the Holy Father will give us the leadership
soon where we will have no longer to make the choice between the establishment
of the Conciliar Church and the true, real Catholic Church. But, forced
to choose between the official Conciliar Church and the real
Catholic Church, I have already made my decision, ladies and gentlemen.
Against the official Conciliar Church and for the
official Catholic Church! And I have not the slightest doubt,
before God and the world, that in making that decision, I simultaneously
decided for Christ and against Anti-Christ – so help
us God.cONCI
Blessed Epiphany to all and thank you, Eric!
ReplyDeleteWhat a blessing to have this transcript!
This talk and (at least) two others are at Youtube! He was a professor at then-Catholic University, among others and so we have the benefit of "being in his class." Of course the subject matter is dire...
The other talks are:
"Why the Mass in Latin?"
and the other a bit seemingly ironic, at first,
"Why Latin is Not the Issue."
Along with his wisdom and grace in sharing the pain of being relieved of his teaching position and a diocesan appointment, he leaves us the GREATES Treasure: the Tridentine Mass, as he said daily at the first "Catholic Chapel" at Westbury, Long Island, New York, down the road from the glorious albeit, novus-ly ordo-ed church of St. Brigid, on to "new" things...
Search: "Youtube Fr. Gomar DePauw Traditional Latin Mass"
The Latin is SO clear!
The Mass is SO clear!
Christ is SO clear!
ReplyDelete"The first Masses were offered in Rome in Latin in the catacombs, on the tombs of the martyrs."
Search:
"Youtube Why The Latin Mass - Father Gommar A. De Pauw
federalexpression"
+++
The N.O. Mass:
"Even if the NO Mass would be said in Latin, a Protestant service, even if said in Latin is still a Protestant service."
Search:
"Youtube Fr DePauw Latin Is Not The Issue 1997 federalexpression"
I am sad to say that there are certain things in this essay that do not jive with certain FACTS. And also, these are in contradiction to what Fr. Luigi Villa states in his books and pamphlets with regard to Pope John XXIII and pope Paul VI. Very grave things. I could mention many things about the various pontificates of the popes mentioned in this essay, but the length would be inappropriate. So I pass. please ALWAYS CHECK the FACTS before you decide about what is promoted in certain texts.
ReplyDeleteAnthony, sorry to bug you but could please specify at least one or two of the contradictions you mentioned in regards to the essay. I'm just not sure where the problems are
DeleteYes, Anthony, we have all the time/space in the world here for facts to back up your drive-by.
ReplyDeleteI, also, have an interest in what points Anthony feels should be of concern.
ReplyDeleteWas there an imposter pope paul?
ReplyDelete