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Return to Tradition
I celebrated the Latin Mass for ten years (1960-70), but
after a lapse of 30 years saying the Novus Ordo Mass, I had forgotten how
to celebrate the Latin Mass. After Vatican II, from 1965 onwards, we were
aroused to update –aggiornamento -our attitude, theology, and liturgy.
Priests, religious, lay people — especially priests — took turns to effect this
aggiornamento in different countries. In Asia the driving force to impose
aggiornamento is the East Asian Pastoral Institute [EAPI], in Manila, run by
the Jesuits, a part of St. Thomas University. Some priests were sent to Rome,
others to various countries, for aggiornamento. I was not among them.
Seminars and meetings were organized in my country to "update" the Catholic way
of life according to the spirit of Vatican II. Life began to change quickly.
Those priests who did not think or act as Vatican II taught were despised and
labeled "pre-Vatican II priests." If you didn’t move forward with the crowd, you
were not really accepted.
My bishop sent me to take a course at the Institute of
Social Office [ISO] in Manila, run by the Jesuits. Providentially, I was
somewhat protected. I was sent there to study a little bit about social change
according to the Church teaching. I attended the Commission of Social Work. I
studied at ISO and for five weeks and then went to Del Monte, south of Manila,
to take a Jesuit course on family life concentrating on natural family planning.
This was after the publication of the encyclical Humanae Vitae. Later, in
1976 or ‘77, I was sent to Catholic University for my philosophy study. I was
flowing in the mainstream of Vatican II, smoothly and happily, until one day in
May 1993. It was the turning point of my life.
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When I was in Manila a friend
encouraged me to go to Agoo, a part of the La
Union Diocese [formerly of
Bishop Salvador
Lazo (1916-2000)]. Great numbers of people were going there to
see an apparition of our Lady and a statue of the Madonna which reportedly
wept tears of blood. In November of that year I had a chance to visit there
and speak with the seer who told me that Bishop Lazo, the former bishop then
retired in Manila, was in favor of this apparition and that I should meet
with him. |
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Bishop
Lazo |
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So I went to see Bishop Lazo and talked with him about the
weeping Madonna. He told me as much as he knew about it from his own experience.
I invited him to visit my diocese in Thailand and our relationship became more
close. Later, when my duties took me to Manila, I used to go to visit Bishop
Lazo... half an hour… one hour... The first time I went there he said,
"Bishop, these are books for you to read." So I took the books and began to
read, little by little. Another time I went and saw him he said: "Bishop, you
must say the Tridentine Mass at least once or twice a month for your diocese. It
is full of grace for your diocese." I listened to him but I didn’t put it
into practice because I thought, "Where can I find an old Missal?!" No
more! "Without an old Missal I cannot say the Tridentine Mass!" When I
went back to Manila another time, I visited him again. He said, "Bishop Manat,
I just read this book and I cannot bear it to see the prelates of the Church,
the Pope, Ratzinger. They are modernists." I did not believe it. I just
listened and kept it in my heart. He told me that I had to visit the priory of
the Society of St. Pius X nearby. I nodded my head. "OK, it is
interesting," I thought. Who would introduce me to them? Moreover, hadn’t I
heard that this Society of Archbishop Lefebvre... He was a schismatic, wasn’t
he? How could I go to them? I felt I had to keep away from this Society. But, I
didn’t refuse Bishop Lazo. The last time I went to visit him before his
hospitalization, he said, "Go to the priory." I said, "Next time."
He was very happy to see me when I visited him in the hospital before his death
though I never expected it would be the last time we would meet. I saw Fr. Sante
was giving him Viaticum...
Let me invite Fr. Couture to help me tell the
story from here because he is involved in the events that followed.
Fr. Couture:
Bishop Lazo died on April 11, 2000, the Tuesday of Passion Week, and I tried
right away to contact Bishop Manat but he was preaching a retreat in the
mountains in his retreat center west of Bangkok. We went to the funeral. Bishop
Fellay came to the funeral, too, and I had to fly back to Malaysia after the
funeral for Palm Sunday. On Palm Sunday I tried again to get hold of His
Excellency and he was in the car; he had come down from the mountains. I invited
him to Singapore for dinner the following day to meet Bishop Fellay who was
coming back from Manila from the funeral and was stopping over in Singapore for
six hours and I thought that it might be a good occasion for the bishops to meet
face to face. It is not often that Bishop Fellay comes to Asia, and Singapore is
only two hours by plane from Bangkok. His Excellency agreed to come (!) and so
he arrived at 5pm on Monday; Bishop Fellay arrived at 6pm. There was Mass at the
priory and a meal together. Returning to the airport, they talked for about an
hour and a half waiting for the Superior General’s flight. Since Bishop Manat’s
plane wasn’t until the next evening, I posed the question of the Mass to Bishop
Fellay: "Well, what do we do for Mass? If Bishop Manat wants to say the New
Mass, what do I do?" Bishop Fellay said just to drive him to a parish
church. So we saw Bishop Fellay off and His Excellency and I returned to the
priory where we met some of the faithful. We were praying and praying about
Bishop Manat’s Mass the next morning and we had some convents praying as well at
the same time!
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The next morning at
breakfast I asked His Excellency what was his program for the day. He
said, "Well, I would like to celebrate Mass." Then I
had to ask the 10-Million-Dollar Question. "Which Mass?" And he said,
"Tridentine." We agreed to a little practice
— about an hour
— and then
Bishop Manat said his first Latin Mass in 30 years! Once finished, the first
thing he said back in the sacristy was, "I will say it again in Manila
two weeks from now." |
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It seems, Your Excellency, that it really took Bishop Lazo’s death to push you back to Tradition, as the Gospel says, "the grain of
wheat dying..."
Bishop Manat:
I thank God for this grace. The sacrifice of the life of Bishop Lazo turned me
around. It was my intention already to return to the Latin Mass when I was with
Fr. Couture... to start celebrating the Tridentine Mass once again. But, I am
thankful for the prayers. At the last moment I might have changed my mind.
How these priests of the Society of St. Pius X were
coming and coming to Thailand one after another... invading Thailand for nine
months before Bishop Lazo’s death! The first missionary of the Society who came
to Thailand was Fr. Walliez. I think Bishop Lazo told him to visit me. Bishop
Lazo had promised to come someday but wasn’t able because of his illness. So, he
put Fr. Walliez up to it, "You must go and visit him."
And, it is true, I made it very difficult for
Fr. Couture to contact me. That is another story he can tell.
Fr. Couture:
Fr. Walliez was on his way to
Europe. I told him to take three days, go to Thailand, find Bishop Manat and
make a contact, because we had his address but we had no phone numbers. One of
our Filipinos living in Bangkok took a day off from work to drive Fr. Walliez
all the way to his bishop’s house. He was not there but the vicar general was.
Fr. Walliez asked, "Do you know where His Excellency is?" The vicar
general said he didn’t. So Fr. Walliez asked, "Do you have the phone number
of anyone who would know?" The vicar general hesitated, then pulled
out a phone number and said, "Try this." Father called, but the person at
the other end didn’t know, so Father insisted to the vicar general, "Do you
know anybody else?" It took 45 minutes of this kind of conversation for the
vicar general to give His Excellency’s cell phone number! He normally never left
it on he was told, normally used it only to call out and never to receive calls;
but at that moment it was on. They made contact; he was in Bangkok. Back the
hour’s drive to Bangkok went Fr. Walliez and his driver to meet Bishop Manat in
a hospital for 20 minutes. Mission accomplished! —His Excellency gave us all his
phone numbers so we could reach him. That was in July 1999. In October, I went
back and met him for two hours; then in January, March, May, and September.
Bishop Manat:
As the Superior of the Society of St. Pius X in the District of Asia, Fr.
Couture had in command priests of the region living close by. Fr. Loschi came
from the Society’s priory in Sri Lanka. And I was very happy to have Fr. Couture
from nearby Singapore come to give some talks to my people. I have got a small
group of lay people whom I call for spiritual renewal every three or four
months. They come to Mount Thabor or Cha-am near the sea [70 miles south of
Bangkok on the shore of the Gulf of Thailand —Ed.] to make spiritual
retreats, so I asked Fr. Couture to give a talk to them a few times and also to
celebrate the Latin Mass. I ask this so my people will begin to remember and
rediscover their memories of the old traditional days. This group is quite open
to Tradition. Fr. Couture is scheduled to give an Ignatian Retreat to a group of
30 or 40 people on Mount Thabor.
The Reading That Brought Me Back
I would like to speak about books that inspired me to come
back to Tradition, mostly books from Angelus Press. I was very happy to visit
the Angelus Press office when I was in Kansas City last week. And, then I got
some more books from them! The Angelus magazine and Si
Si No No are always welcome when they arrive in my office. Each time when I
receive the publications I read them all, like a hungry man.
I would like to mention some books that touched me to
change my mind and my heart, even before I came to know Bishop Lazo and the
Society. One of them is called The Plot Against the Church. I got it from
someone in Thailand. This book opened my eyes and gave me another impression of
the teachings of Vatican II. Vatican II was hijacked by the enemies of the
Church starting with the very first Session in 1962. Remember, I was ordained in
1961, only a year before. The Jews had their way and got their victory because
they were granted by the Fathers of the Council that we should no longer condemn
the Jews who crucified Christ. Since then, there are no more prayers on Good
Friday condemning the guilty Jews anymore. Pope John XXIII forbade that and now
we don’t pray for the Jews anymore. We leave them in peace, or...in pieces. One
Italian Salesian Father, Fr. John Ulliana, told me the Jews are very good
people, they are the forefathers of Christianity, Jesus is a Jew, Mary is a Jew,
many saints were Jews, that we should speak well of them and no more condemning
them [as the enemies of the Church]. That was the first eye-opener for me.
Other books I read were about the liturgical revolution:
Pope John’s Council by Michael Davies, What Has Happened to the
Catholic Church?, The Rhine Flows into the Tiber, and A
Theological Vindication of Roman Catholic Traditionalism. This last book is
printed in India and I received it from either the Society of St. Pius X or
Bishop Lazo.
Then I came to know more about Archbishop Lefebvre. I
greatly admire his courage, his good stand, his good fight for Tradition, and I
came to love him and praise him reading Apologia Pro Marcel Lefebvre, a
series in three volumes. I’ve read two of them; the third one I just got last
week. Archbishop Lefebvre inspired me.
Last year was the Jubilee Year. So in my
diocese I told the priests and the people that this year must be the year of
Christ the King. We blessed a special big statue of Christ the King, and a small
statue of Christ the King to take in public procession to each parish of the
diocese the whole year round. Each parish was assigned to take the statue to the
local church, introduce it to each family or group of families for one, two, or
three weeks depending on the size of the parish. When a parish finished the
procession of the statue through all the families, I went to that parish to
celebrate Mass, to celebrate Christ the King with the people and hand over the
statue to the next parish which would come to receive it. So in this way the
whole year we were occupied by this continuing procession to crown Him King once
again.
Against the Heresies,
another classic from Archbishop Lefebvre...very revealing. And, the most
difficult book —Iota Unum. It
took me many months to go through this book, and though it is very hard stuff,
it is very interesting. You get an analysis comparing the new and old teachings.
I would like to speak more about the books Peter,
Lovest Thou Me? and Pope John Paul II’s Journey to the Prayer Meeting of
Religions in Assisi, three volumes by Fr. Dörmann. I was interested in these
because as chairman of Ecumenical and Inter-religious Dialogue for the FABC, I
looked up to the head, that is the Pope, and was very happy, very proud, that he
went around the world to make friends with the leaders of religions. I didn’t
understand so much at that time for what purpose he went around the world so
many times. Now I have a clearer idea. One of the purposes is to make friends
with all the leaders of other religions. This universal redemption, universal
salvation, is the main thinking of the present pope [Pope John Paul II]. And he would like to make
of the Catholic Church the sacrament or sign of salvation and means of unity of
all mankind. By this, he would like to implement the teaching of Vatican II. The
highlight of his achievement was the prayer meeting of all religious leaders in
Assisi on October 27, 1986... I remember that day.
It seems we are indeed near that hour at which is
accomplished the prophecy of La Salette: "Rome will lose the Faith." Is
this the time? Maybe. So we have to pray a lot for the Holy Father and for the
Catholic Church in general so that we will not go further than this.
My Three Weeks in Review
I would like to give some assessment of my trip during
these past three weeks. First, I would like to thank God for this special grace.
It is a grace for me. When I left Bangkok I was blank. I said to
myself, "God must have many good things in store to give me these 20 days ahead
of me. I do not know what will happen to me, what I will get." But I was
confident in God’s grace and He did have good things in store! Now
I realize this and I thank Him.
Second point: I should like to congratulate all of you
that what you have been doing for the Society of St. Pius X and for the people
is very excellent. It was a surprise for me to see this great apostolate that
you have been doing for the Catholic Church. Hope for the future is here,
especially since you have a good number of priests of the Society and other
congregations that stick to Tradition and have a joint work with you. You have
good zealous missionary priests tending small flocks dispersed in different
hills, mountains, and plains like communities of the Diaspora, as Fr. Iscara
told us in his talk. I see that you priests work harder than our priests in the
diocese, in mission lands. Yours is not a new mission in the Church. You are
like the pastors of old times, more than the administrator or social worker
types as most of our priests are today. You, together with the faithful, are
part of the true Catholic Church, the true remnant traditional Church that
"subsists" in the present Roman Catholic Church [smiling mischievously]... Am I
wrong?... To subsist like a yeast, to ferment the new Church with the true
traditional Church?
Third point: My great admiration goes to your small flocks
that are composed of old people, young people, and children. I asked Fr.
Couture, "Will it be only gray-haired people in the group for the Latin Mass
and for the conferences?" In reality, there are less elderly than I
expected. So many young adults and children... very lively people! So I was
wrong. They are really the true followers of Christ and with great sacrifice
they choose the authentic and real pastors that can feed them and protect them
from the wolves. In Minneapolis last Sunday, Fr. Dardis told me that people in
the group for the conference live far away —some one and two hours away driving
—but they sacrifice their time, get up early and drive in the cold weather like
this. This is real sacrifice. This is what they do when they find the pastors
that can feed them, true pastors that can feed them.
Fourth point: The little schools and the St.
Mary’s College that you have are well run by the priests, sisters, and lay
teachers. Forming a new generation is the hope of the future of the Catholic
Church. So when I see in different places small schools, big schools, a
college...all these are the future of the Church. There is hope. And I said to
the gatherings in Quebec, Minneapolis, and elsewhere, that if you stick together
like this and keep fast to true Tradition like this, the Society of St. Pius X
will surely win the battle and help restore the Catholic Church to stand up
again as the true Catholic Church of Christ. I think I am not wrong on that. So
I would like to give you courage to carry on this work. We don’t have this
witness and testimony in Asia, especially not in Thailand, as yet. I mean the
testimony of your people, of the faithful, rising up, standing up for Tradition,
without fear of unjust authority, without fear of their parish priests, because
they have you traditional priests to take them, to guide them, to feed them.
Where Do I Go from Here?
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What steps will I take when I go back
to Thailand? Firstly, I must be prudent in my acting as the bishop of
the diocese. Someone said I am the first bishop of a diocese that dares
to come and appear amongst you. Bishop Williamson asked me earlier, "Would you like to be in the group picture
after lunch?" I didn’t realize my special status then and I replied, "Why
not?" Well, of course, this picture is quite an historic picture, I
guess!
You know the bishop of the diocese is
to be a center of unity among priests, religious, and the faithful. I
have to be careful not to cause disunity in the diocese. I have to play
two roles: as a bishop and as a person rooted in traditional Catholic
doctrines and practices. I have to be true to my Faith, to Tradition
which formed me as a young boy, a seminarian, and priest. |
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Secondly, you must understand that the situation of the
Catholic Church in the countries of America and Thailand is different. Not every
country will have the same situation like here. Fortunately we have that
videotape, "What We Have Lost," made in your country. It was shocking for
me to see that the Novus Ordo has gone so far, that it is so profaned.
But in Thailand it is not to that point. The Novus Ordo Mass and liturgy
are celebrated with proper attitude according to the rubrics. No profane music,
actions... nothing too extreme...some adaptations, but nothing too extreme. So
far there is no outcry for the Latin Mass from the priests or the people because
they are quite comfortable with the Novus Ordo Mass. Of course, if we
study more we will see that consequences of the Novus Ordo Mass have
touched the lives of the people. The Thai Catholics are losing reverence for the
Holy Eucharist, for the church and the holy places. Receiving Communion in the
hand while standing is quite common because the priests and people think that
this is the common practice of the Church requested or demanded by Rome. The
Thai are confused; we don’t think that it is irreverence, but ordered by Rome.
In some places some priests are very strict. You must give your hand to receive
Communion; on the tongue, refused. Some faithful complain. If in this parish the
priest would not give Communion on the tongue, they go to another parish where
the priests are more open; you can receive in the hand or on the tongue. People
can choose to move to other parishes in a city like Bangkok, but in the
countryside you cannot choose. There is only one church.
Kneeling is also objectionable. There is no
communion rail so you can kneel and receive. But priests and some people
complain that such a kneeling person obstructs the way of receiving Communion,
that he is an obstacle.
But in the small community that I gather
around myself from time to time, I give all these instructions about the
traditional Church and what is going on in the Church, and what we should do in
this present crisis of the Church. Once they have made a start towards
Tradition, I try to give them all this news and ask them to come in line for
Communion as though there was a communion rail in the church. So they come and
kneel in line, and we give Communion as you priests are doing. They love to do
that. But, I tell them that when they go back to their home parishes, if their
priest doesn’t like this, they have to comply with the common practice there, in
order not to cause trouble or rivalries for now, or quarrels in a parish.
Lastly, I would like to translate books that
have touched me or that may help people —even a small group —to know what has
happened in the Catholic Church. Thailand is a closed country in a way because
only the Thai language is spoken there — no English, no French —so it is
difficult to invite speakers from outside. You need translators. When Fr.
Couture comes, I translate. I have translated into small booklets three subjects
already. The first booklet was on the consecration to the Immaculate Heart of
Mary because Thai people love our Blessed Lady. This consecration to the
Immaculate Heart of Mary according to the message of Our Lady of Fatima is not
often done in Thailand and we have to open the minds of the people to it.
The second book is an excerpt on the Freemasons from The Plot Against the
Church, a small booklet. If you print thick books people don’t read them.
Thai people don’t love reading; they love talking and singing, so we must make
it easy and simple.
The third book I translated is AA1025: Memoirs of an
Anti-Apostle. This cautions the minds and hearts of the people that
infiltration into the Church is possible and has happened.
I would like to continue translating works
like these when I return to my country.
[After his
conference, Bishop Manat was given hearty applause and then invited the
following questions.]
Which segment of Thai society was
converted to Catholicism? What kind of people became Catholic there?
Roughly they are more ordinary, simple people of Chinese
blood. Usually, pure Thai people are not converted because they are deep in
Buddhism. There are a few intellectual lay people and some of which I’m aware
formed a group of Catholic business people. They have a small group in Bangkok,
those who are rich people and those who have high positions in society. Most of
our people are middle and lower class, even though we don’t have castes as in
India.
How familiar are the priests in
your diocese with your leanings towards Tradition? What do they think of it?
I am fortunate to have one priest clearly following
Tradition. He’s a parish priest at St. Michael’s Catholic Church. Whenever Fr.
Couture has come to Thailand I have taken him to see this priest so he can
become more aware of Catholic Tradition from Fr. Couture. He’s quite open and
there’s no doubt that he’s on his way to Tradition. He has asked me to begin
Perpetual Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament in his parish, so last September I
initiated this devotion in his parish. His is the only parish in Thailand that
has perpetual adoration now. He asked permission to go up to Mount Thabor, a
quiet place, to learn, to practice, to review the Latin Mass. He was ordained in
1965, so he was with the traditional Mass for a few years before the Novus
Ordo. He has started to say the Latin Mass on occasion for the people and
restored the communion rail. This priest is an exception and he has to stay
aloof from other priests because they do not like him. He is being firm and
courageous to stand up for what he knows is best for his people and for himself.
Your Catholic people still seem
to have a sense of the Catholic Faith. How deep has Vatican II gotten into their
systems?
I think it is totally in their systems. There is no move
out of this Vatican II teaching, no move at all. We are deep in Vatican II
teaching from the bishops down to the last member of the faithful. This is
especially true for the professors who teach in the major seminary. Before they
are appointed to be teachers, they are asked to prepare themselves by going to
update their knowledge, to take their licentiate or master’s degree in one of
the universities in Rome. When they come back they teach what they learned in
Rome. There, for example, contrary to the traditional commentaries and
teachings, professors of Scripture read the Bible and teach that it is all
stories. For instance, a professor in Lux Mundi Seminary taught that the story
of the Holy Family being told to escape to Egypt was only an allegory, that it
was not a fact; it was imitating something that happened in the Old Testament,
or something like that... In Rome, they follow the new trends in interpreting
the Bible, and the priests who come from the seminaries there teach these things
to the people. The new priests may be contaminated unknowingly by false
doctrines.
Are there any Thai bishops who
might be leaning towards Tradition and with whom you might speak to encourage
them?
I have not yet told any bishop that I came to learn things
from the Society of St. Pius X. They would be shocked! I think there are some
good bishops, but since they have not had the chance to read the good books I
have read, they have no chance to see reality. They have not seen what I have
seen during these three weeks in your country, so they are in darkness. I can
pass on what I have learned, but will they form the same convictions as I did? I
don’t know... You can give books to anyone, but will they put them down
somewhere and never read them? You have to pray that God may catch someone like
He caught me. If you are not open to God’s grace, there is no chance.
Transcribed by the
Angelus Press staff.
Slightly adapted and abridged to maintain it’s
conversational tone.
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