1974 – 2024 “SEMPER IDEM”

Fifty years ago, His Grace, Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, published a memorable declaration that was to become the charter of the Priestly Society of Saint Pius X. A true profession of faith with eternal resonance, this declaration expresses the essence of the Society, its raison d’être, its doctrinal and moral identity, and consequently its line of action. The Society cannot deviate one iota from its content and spirit which, fifty years later, remain perfectly appropriate to the present day.

This declaration contains two absolutely central ideas, which mutually complement and support each other. The first affirms the essentially doctrinal nature of the Society’s battle. The second expresses the purpose for which it is waged.

It is a doctrinal battle, against a clearly identified enemy: the reforms of the Council, presented as a poisoned entity, conceived in error and leading to error. It is its fundamental spirit that is called into question, and consequently everything that this spirit produced: “This Reformation, stemming from Liberalism and Modernism, is poisoned through and through; it derives from heresy and ends in heresy, even if all its acts are not formally heretical. It is therefore impossible for any conscientious and faithful Catholic to espouse this Reformation or to submit to it in any way whatsoever. The only attitude of faithfulness to the Church and Catholic doctrine, in view of our salvation, is a categorical refusal to accept this Reformation.”

The events of the last fifty years have only confirmed the pertinence of this analysis. Since the Reformation was corrupt in itself, and in its principles, it seems impossible to restore anything in the Catholic Church without first challenging the very principles of the Council, and rejecting all the errors contained therein. All those who have tried to maintain both Tradition and the Vatican II reforms, trying to marry them or to enrich them mutually, have inevitably failed. At the same time, contempt and hatred for Tradition and the Tridentine Mass have continued to grow, demonstrating in a concrete way that two incompatible doctrines correspond to two irreconcilable forms of worship, and two irreducible ways of conceiving the Catholic Church and her mission towards souls.

Begun at the Council, this Reformation is still underway and continues to produce its fruits. Today, through synodality, we are witnessing the complete reversal of the very structure of the Church. The transmission of the Divine Truths, received from the Incarnate Word, is being replaced by a system, of man’s elaboration, in which God Himself no longer has a place, and in which the spirit of man breathes and no longer the spirit of the Holy Ghost. This is a diabolical reversal of the Gospel itself.

Faced with this clearly denounced demolition of the Church, Archbishop Lefebvre encourages us to continue the doctrinal battle, and therefore to fight in a holy way for the reign of Our Lord Jesus Christ, who is the Way, the Truth and the Life. Today, as in the past, our mission is none other than the restoration of all things in Christ. Restoring all things – starting with the Catholic priesthood, in all its doctrinal purity, and in all its missionary charity. Restoring also the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, which is the very heart of the Church’s life. Restoring true Catholic life, which is none other than the very life of Jesus Christ, marked by the spirit of the Cross, for the love and the glory of His Father. Restoring Catholic Truth, in giving it back its splendour and allowing it to illuminate the world. Restoring, finally, within the Church and within civil society, the recognition of the rights of Christ, King of all nations.

“Jesus Christ, yesterday, and today; and the same for ever. Be not led away with various and strange doctrines. For it is best that the heart be established with grace” (Heb. 13:8-9).

The second idea that dominates the 1974 declaration is the clear and determined intention to act with the sole aim of serving the Roman Catholic Church.

It is only in the Catholic Church as it has always been, and in her unchanging Tradition, that we have the guarantee of possessing the Truth, of being able to preach it, and of being able to serve her.

Above all, we are well aware that safeguarding Tradition, and taking all the necessary steps to preserve it and to transmit it, is a duty of charity that we fulfil for the benefit of all souls, and for the Catholic Church herself as a whole. From this perspective, our combat is profoundly disinterested. The Society is not primarily seeking its own survival. It is primarily seeking the good of the Universal Church and, for this reason, the Society is par excellence a work of the Church, which, with unique freedom and strength, responds adequately to the specific needs of an unprecedentedly tragic era.

This single goal is still ours today, just as it was fifty years ago. “That is why, without any spirit of rebellion, bitterness or resentment, we pursue our work of forming priests, with the timeless Magisterium as our guide. We are persuaded that we can render no greater service to the Holy Catholic Church, to the Sovereign Pontiff and to posterity.”

It is to the Catholic Church that Tradition belongs. It is in her and for her that we guard it in all its integrity, “until such time as the true light of Tradition dispelsthe darkness obscuring the sky of Eternal Rome”. We maintain this supernatural and unfaltering certainty that this same Tradition will triumph, and with it the whole Catholic Church – as well as the renewed certainty that the gates of hell will never prevail against her!

Menzingen, 21^st November 2024

 

                                                        Davide Pagliarani
                                                        Superior General

         † Alfonso de Galarreta                                  Christian Bouchacourt
          1^st General Assistant                                      2^nd General Assistant