SSPX Statement On Canonization of Paul VI

On the occasion of the Synod of Bishops on Sunday, October 14, 2018, Pope Francis will celebrate the canonization of Pope Paul VI.

The Priestly Fraternity of St. Pius X reiterates the grave misgivings expressed at the beatification of Paul VI on October 19, 2014:

- These beatifications and canonizations of the last popes through an accelerated process are beyond the wisdom of centuries of Church rules. Are they not striving for the canonization of the Popes of the Second Vatican Council, rather than the determination of the heroic nature of their theological virtues? Knowing that the first task of a Pope - the Successor of Peter - is to strengthen the brethren in the faith (Lk 22, 32), there is every reason to be at a loss.

- Certainly Paul VI. the Pope of the encyclical Humanae Vitae (July 25, 1968), who brought light and comfort to the Catholic families at a time when the fundamental principles of marriage were violently attacked. He is also the author of the Creed of the People of God (June 30, 1968), through which he wished to recall the Catholic Articles of Faith denied by prevailing Progressiveism, notably the scandalous Dutch Catechism (1966).

- But Paul VI. is also the pope who completed the Second Vatican Council; He spread a doctrinal liberalism within the Church, which is expressed in errors such as religious freedom, collegiality, and ecumenism. The result was a confusion, as he himself had to admit on December 7, 1968: "The Church makes an hour of unrest, of self-criticism, you could even say, self-destruction [...] as if the Church was taking on itself." The next year he admitted: "In many areas the Council has not yet brought us peace of mind, but has rather provoked unrest and problems that are not conducive to the strengthening of the Kingdom of God in the Church and in souls." This went on in the alarm call of June 29, 1972: "The smoke of Satan has penetrated through some gap in the temple of God: doubt, uncertainty, questioning, restlessness, dissatisfaction, confrontations have spread ..." - But he let it pass in this statement without taking appropriate measures to stop this self-destruction.

- Paul VI. is the pope who, for ecumenical reasons, ordered the liturgical reform of the Mass and all rites of sacramental dispensation. The Cardinals Ottaviani and Bacci denounced the new Mass as a "striking departure from Catholic theology of Mass, both in the whole and in the details, as described in the XXII. Session of the Council Archbishop Lefebvre explained in succession that the new Mass "filled with Protestant spirit [...] contains a poison harmful to the faith" 2.

- Under his pontificate, many priests and religious were persecuted and even condemned for their loyalty to the Tridentine Mass. The Society recalls with pain the condemnation of Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre in 1976; he was declared suspens a divinis because of his attachment to this Mass and his categorical opposition to the reforms. Only in 2007 it came through the Motu Proprio Benedict XVI. recognizing that the Tridentine Mass has never been abolished.

Today, more than ever, the Priestly Fraternity of St. Pius X renews its attachment to the 2,000-year tradition of the Church. She is convinced that this fidelity, far from being a backward spasm, will bring the cure for the Church's self-destruction. So its Superior General, H.H.P. Davide Pagliarani, recently proclaims: "Our dearest wish is that the official Church does not consider the treasure of tradition as a burden or as a long-outdated berth, but as the only possible way to renew oneself."

Menzingen, on October 13, 2018

Text: German District of SSPX

Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com

AMDG