Ever Faithful: Revisiting the Heroic Struggle of Archbishop Lefebvre

Letter from the District Superior, Rev. Robert Brucciani, March 2023

My Dear Faithful,

The Society of St. Pius X is a controversial organisation because it swims against the tide of modernism which is presently taking much of the Church towards its ruin.

In its early years, the Society was accused of breaking the law that governs the Church. It was declared officially suppressed and its founder put under a penalty of suspension, and then later declared excommunicated for consecrating four bishops without a mandate. The law of the Church which has its finality in the salvation of souls was deployed to the opposite effect. It was used in support of a revolution in which the religion of God was replaced by the religion of a man.

Of course, a law used against the finality of the law has no weight of authority. Hence, the founder of the Society, Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, continued his work of training priests to teach, govern, and sanctify souls according to the traditions of the Catholic Church. In doing so, he followed the highest principle of law: the salvation of souls.

For the faithful who lived through the battles of the 1970s and 80s, the story is engrained in their memory, but for the succeeding generations of faithful who may be unaware of the drama of that time, this story merits being told again. The story also needs to be told to the rest of the world, for as the revolution in the Church approaches its logical terminus in spiritual bankruptcy and chaos, the Society will find itself in the spotlight once more. It stands out as a sign of contradiction to the revolutionaries and can expect to be attacked again with renewed vigour. It also stands out as a beacon of hope for souls yearning after truth, order, and grace in the Church.

In this edition of Ite Missa Est, Rev. Fr. François Laisney tells the story of the Society in its early days in the hope that a new generation of faithful may understand how Archbishop Lefebvre and his Society remained ever-faithful.

Wishing you a holy Lent and a truly happy Easter: full of grace and joy.

In Jesu et Maria,

Rev. Robert Brucciani

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