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 Saint 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. 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.

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 Saint 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 Saint 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 Saint 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.

I am fortunate to have one priest clearly following Tradition. He’s a parish priest at Saint 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.

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.

I have not yet told any bishop that I came to learn things from the Society of Saint 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.