April 1, 1992
Dear Friends and Benefactors,
One week ago was the first anniversary of the death of Archbishop Lefebvre. Before he died, the controllers of the modern world had pushed him as absolutely low as they could push him, but what man has abased, God is exalting. As quietly as he lived, the Archbishop's name is quietly rising, and will go on rising, until his name once again becomes a curse-word under the Antichrist — "Without him we could have had a situation of no opposition", they will then say.
But now he is safely home, nothing can touch his achievement. It is locked into history. His words and his deeds stand like a rock. More and more people are going to read his words, and more and more people are going to write about his deeds, and as the Devil well knows, there is nothing more he can do about it. All the punches in the book he threw at the Archbishop during his life, but after his death all the Devil can do is make the Archbishop prevail. For, the wilder the storm the Devil calls up in the world and Church, the more clearly it will stand out that the Archbishop was right, and the more people will turn to him, especially youngsters.
I pity decent teachers inside the Novus Ordo system recognizing the finest part of the young minds and souls in front of them turning towards "Lefebvrism" like young plants turn to the light, and then being obliged by the system to cut Lefebvre down again, and to keep cutting him down. Then either their decency goes under, or, in a few cases, they break with the system, but murder will out.
For a classic case of murder will out, see the recent film "JFK" by Oliver Stone, now circulating in the English-speaking world. In a world drowning in lies, it is a grand blow struck for the truth. It is not a religious film, indeed innocent and vulnerable eyes and ears had better watch a video-tape edited when it comes out, rather than now see certain scenes in the complete film. Nor was President Kennedy a religious hero, far from it, indeed in God's eyes his assassination may even have been something of a punishment for his sins — we shall know at the Last Judgment.
But in any case he had courage, he was intending to govern as he saw fit, with the increasing support of the American people, he was more and more threatening the powers-that-be behind the Establishment, particularly with certain moves he was making against the Federal Reserve, and so before he could break them, they used the Establishment to break him, to blow him away in what one might call the crime of the century, right out in public, in Dealey Plaza, Dallas, to demonstrate their power, and to warn any future President never again to take seriously the idea of governing by the people for the people.
This is the story that Oliver Stone begins to tell. He by no means tells the whole story, but whereas some viewers of the film or readers of this letter might be tempted to deny that the government of their democracy could ever be guilty of such a crime, I can assure you from direct Society contacts in Texas and Louisiana that as much as Oliver Stone does tell of the story is substantially true.
But, Excellency, stay out of controversial politics! Keep to religion! Dear readers, my concern is the Fifth, Eighth and above all First Commandments. The Fifth: the assassination in Dealey Plaza could not have been a more flagrant violation of "Thou shalt not kill"; the Eighth: the subsequent cover — up of the truth has been a continual denial of justice, murdering of true witnesses, parading of false witness; the First: it is because many people make an idol of democracy and a false god of their country that they refuse to believe that their leaders, their government, could ever do such a thing. Secularism is a religion of which the State is the Church, its Constitution is the Bible and its politicians are the priests. How could our President dip his hands in blood, or, cover over a trail of it?
Catholics should never fall for such idolatry, and many will protest that nothing could be farther from their thoughts than such foolishness. Really? And if the idolatry is skillfully intermingled with love of country? And if their country is founded on a principle of liberty and equality for all religions, in other words on the principle that truth in religion does not matter?
I do not know if Oliver Stone is a Catholic, in fact he has the reputation of being an out-and-out liberal, but in any case "JFK" is the film of a brave man who loves truth. See it, to see beneath the gloss and the glitter what the 20th century really is. See it, to guess at the controllers of the modern world. See it, to be reminded of the truth of Jeremiah's words (XVII,5): "Thus saith the Lord: Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the Lord."
On the contrary, continues the Prophet (XVII,7), "Blessed be the man that trusteth in the Lord, and the Lord shall be his confidence". Such was Archbishop Lefebvre. Had he not trusted profoundly in God, he would have given way to rage and despair at the power of men assassinating the Church, in the same diabolical early 1960's, long before he founded the Society. But, putting his trust in God alone, he started over again from nothing, and now his cause is advancing inexorably to its triumph, because it was and is God's cause.
A fitting first anniversary tribute to the Archbishop is the publication of our Superior General's letter to Cardinal Oddi of January 7 of this year within his enclosed letter to Friends and Benefactors. Read it to be assured that the Archbishop's mind continues to govern the Society: respect for Rome but no respect for apostasy; love of the erring but slaying of the error.
Also enclosed is a schema on television. I think its usefulness lies in its division into three parts: on the one hand, the enemies of television cannot deny that as a machine it is, like all machines, usable for good as well as evil (Part 1); on the other hand few even of the friends of television will deny that today's programs include horrors without number (part 3); but what often escapes notice is that even if the programming of the machine was angelic, still by its nature, once installed in an average modern home, TV's normal effect will be more or less gravely harmful in a variety of ways (Part 2). Like water and fire, TV is a good servant and a bad master, but given modern living conditions and original sin, TV turns much more easily than fire or water from good servant into bad master. Of course if one denies original sin, there is little problem - indeed those who have little-problem with TV must ask themselves if they believe in original sin. In theory, of course. In practice...?
The Seminary is looking for a chef. A single man or an older couple would be ideal, sharing our beliefs. Accommodation may be available. Major incentive : daily Mass.
May God bless you through Holy Week and Eastertide. The South may or may not "rahse again", bless it, but Mother Church certainly will!
Most sincerely yours in Christ,
