In his 1951 encyclical on the promotion of Catholic missions, Evangelii Praecones, Pope Pius XII wrote of the great spiritual battle that was raging over seventy years ago:

“Venerable Brethren, you are well aware that almost the whole human race is today allowing itself to be driven into two opposing camps, for Christ or against Christ. The human race is involved today in a supreme crisis, which will issue in its salvation by Christ, or in its dire destruction. The preachers of the Gospel are using their talents and energy to extend the Kingdom of Christ; but there are other preachers who, since they profess materialism and reject all hope of eternal happiness, are trying to drag men down to an abject condition.”

“Archbishop Lefebvre stands for a rigid conservatism which seems to have no place for the necessary development which the Council had to undertake to meet the problems of the world in ferment.” (George Patrick Dwyer, Archbishop of Birmingham, 1976)

“A word that frequently surfaced during the team’s discernment at the retreat was ‘messiness.’ Synodality is not always easy to comprehend; it can also be seen to be a complicated process.” (Final North American Synodal Document)

“And if Christ be not risen again, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain.” (1 Corinthians 15:14)

“Wait for the Lord, do manfully; and let thy heart take courage, and wait thou for the Lord. The Lord is my light and my salvation: whom shall I fear?” (Introit, Tuesday in Passion Week)

After ten years of destructive attacks on the Faith, it has now become clear to all with eyes to see that Francis’s vision for the Church is an unholy nightmare. Traditional Catholics knew this from the beginning, but today many people who respected John Paul II and Paul VI also wonder how we can see Francis as Catholic, let alone pope. Significantly, though, Francis follows his predecessors in claiming to adhere to Vatican II — is he mistaken in this regard or does his failed vision actually flow naturally from Vatican II?

“Something has changed within the Church, and replies given by the Pope to the most urgent questions, such as priestly celibacy and birth control, are hotly debated within the Church itself; the word of the Supreme Pontiff is questioned by bishops, by priests, by the faithful. For a Freemason, a man who questions dogma is already a Freemason without an apron.” (French Freemason Jaques Mitterand, as quoted in Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre’s Open Letter to Confused Catholics)

As Michael Matt highlighted in his recent Remnant Underground, tyrannical governments have occasionally banned the Traditional Latin Mass because they have hated the immutable Catholic Faith it embodies. The Church has always presented for our imitation the saintly examples of those Catholics who have risked their liberty, and even lives, to preserve the Mass in the face of such persecution. Today, however, those purporting to be the Catholic hierarchy in Rome have given us an unmistakable sign of the diabolically disoriented times: they are attempting to do more to outlaw the Traditional Latin Mass than tyrannical governments have ever been able to do.

“We hold fast, with all our heart and with all our soul, to Catholic Rome, Guardian of the Catholic Faith and of the traditions necessary to preserve this faith, to Eternal Rome, Mistress of wisdom and truth. We refuse, on the other hand, and have always refused to follow the Rome of neo-Modernist and neo-Protestant tendencies which were clearly evident in the Second Vatican Council and, after the Council, in all the reforms which issued from it.” (1974 Declaration of Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre)

“O God, Who by sin art offended and by penance appeased, mercifully regard the prayers of Thy suppliant people: and turn aside the scourges of Thine anger, which we deserve for our sins.” (Thursday after Ash Wednesday, Collect)

“May our fasts be acceptable to Thee, O Lord, we beseech Thee: and by expiating our sins, may they render us worthy of Thy grace, and lead us to eternal Remedies.” (Tuesday in Passion Week, Collect)