Roman Catholic Archbishops

"It is not a matter of religious beliefs. It is a natural reality that does not come from ideological or cultural tendencies, but from natural principals that proceed from the very nature of the human person. If we cut ourselves off from the common denominator of human nature...What universal reference would their be in humanity to guarantee our human rights?"

"Comely of person, speaking seven languages, liberal, of an even disposition, unswervingly faithful to his masters, possessing great political penetration, and of an astonishing activity, Granvelle was moreover a generous and enlightened patron of arts and letters. He has been reproached with avarice; in fact he was never satiated with riches and honours, but was unskilled in the art of gaining popularity. Exclusively preoccupied with the service of his masters, he scorned to win the affection of the multitude, and was a much detested in Germany as in the Netherlands. Owing to his great influence he was held responsible for everything that was done, even when he had advised against it. Worldly and ostentatious, and more than once accused of laxity of morals, Granvelle possessed the qualities and defects of a prelate of the Renaissance, with a superiority of intellect and sense of his duties as a statesman which deserve respect. His vast correspondence is an inexhaustible source of information concerning the history of the sixteenth century."

"In the work of evangelisation it is necessary to keep in mind that many university students are attracted to science and technology and they have the right to be taught the fundamentals of faith so they realise there is no opposition between faith and reason."

"May the power of God's love help them defend the family and life, God's gifts to humanity. History will be grateful for all the efforts you are making to resist the forces of darkness."

"The primigenial conscience of humanity confirms the inalterable realty of the union of a man and a woman as mutual complementation and perfecting of the whole of creation. In recent decades this original plan has been relativised. Life is no longer respected in its integrity. The family itself if under attack by a culture which disgregates it."

"The end of Christian life being' supernatural, it is evident that the means of attaining: it must be likewise supernatural. And so our Lord has provided by instituting the Apostolic Hierarchy as the agency of faith through which salvation shall be wrought to the end of time."

"If the world continues to do nothing, the result will be the elimination of the Christian presence. They have settled within our country little by little, attacking the army, civil structures and the population. Now, their main target seems to be Christians. I believe they are trying to trigger an inter-religious conflict. Insecurity continues to increase and has forced us to reduce our pastoral activities."

"Whether one is a Muslim, Christian, Catholic, Protestant or of a traditional African belief, terrorism has spared no one and causes everyone to lose their livelihoods, their home, activities, life and freedom for those who have been taken hostage."

"The cardinal showed heroic courage in tending the plague-stricken. He was also a diligent promoter of the decree passed by the council in favour of the Immaculate Conception of Our Lady."

"There is not in the history of heroism a figure more forlorn and pathetic than that of the President of the Council of Basel."

"His violent action at Basle seems to have resulted from an earnest desire for the reform of the Church, and having made his submission to Nicholas V, he is believed to have done penance for his former disloyal and schismatical conduct. He died shortly after in the odour of sanctity. His private life had always been a penitential one."

"People want to know the truth, not to seek revenge or cultivate hatred, but to better honor their dead. We encourage all human rights activities that give an objective look at the events that have occurred in this part of the Democratic Republic of Congo, from the past to the present day. Remembering our dead, asking for justice and reparation is the best way to promote sincere reconciliation so that these murders, both mass and individual, never take place again."

"A fatalistic and partial vision of the Gospel leads some to see in everything that happens a will of God, even a punishment; others to think that God will do everything for us. This is not the case. The Catholic Church feels within her and shares the cry of the Congolese people, and wants with all her might to stop the bloodshed of so many innocent people."

"He was always a good friend of his order. He was conspicuous for his sanctity and care for the poor."

"We the people of Burundi have suffered deeply but we also believe deeply in the redemptive value of suffering. We sympathise with our Holy Father Pope John Paul II in his present state of suffering."

"We place great emphasis on the formation of our priests but also lay people who play an increasingly important role in the Church, as witnesses of faith in society. We are grateful to the Lord for the fact that we see so many people engaged in pastoral and social activities of the Church, and among these there are also intellectuals and public officials."

"Who stands to gain from the death of innocent civilians? There are some who try to incite tribes against one another and this is something unknown in the area. We must remember that we are all brothers and sisters, to avoid the malediction of Cain."

"Sincere in thought and action, the only one the Archbishop never understood was the flatterer or him who acted a double part. His views were large, and his heart was generous, but withal he was most economical in his administration of church funds, and unusually frugal in his personal habits. It can be said of Archbishop Feehan, I think, without exaggeration, that he was truly a Prince of the Church, in thought, word, and deed."

"Pastoral service has to do with mission, it is not a service for its own sake, so we have to find out what the challenges are today. We know there are many, and therefore let us allow these pastoral workers to be able to support the ministry of mission in their parishes, schools and movements by becoming more and more teachers and witnesses, brothers and sisters who accompany others, like Jesus Christ with the pilgrims of Emmaus, to help them understand the way of faith so that all may become more and more servants of the Lord."

"We all want to live in a safer and more fraternal nation, but I would like to invite you to ask us a few questions: why is the world of crime and drug trafficking born and growing among us? Why has violence grown in society? Why is our coexistence at all levels more aggressive? Why are our ties more deteriorated? Why do we cross the boundaries so easily? These are questions we must ask ourselves because something is happening to us as a society, there is something sick among us. I think it has to do with our individualism, love of money, lack of appreciation for life, forgetting God and other essential values."

"Mateo Sagade Bugueiro, was a man of rather haughty character, and ere long new difficulties arose between him and the representative of the crown, occasioned by the controversy of the former with the commissary-general of the holy crusade. The archbishop also publicly accused the viceroy of withholding and intercepting his correspondence with Spain, but finally a reconciliation was effected, and after that time a better understanding prevailed."

"We have abundant cause for thankfulness to God on account of the many blessings which he has conferred on us ; but we will show ourselves unworthy of these blessings if we do not do all that is in our power to promote every good work by which they may be increased and confirmed to those who shall come after us."

"Yes, we forget this, but that is what Islam is all about. For Muslims, there is only Islam and everyone must submit to it, either by becoming a Muslim or by being a slave to Islam. One or the other. That is how they proceeded, enslaving all those who did not want to submit. Let us remember the religious orders: the Trinitarians and the Order of Our Lady of Mercy, which were founded to rescue Christians held captive as slaves by Muslims. They raided the coasts of France, Spain and the entire Mediterranean, kidnapping Christians and taking them home as slaves. This is still in their minds."

"A Muslim proverb says: ‘Kiss the hand you cannot cut off.’ Yes, only force can intervene. When force is present, then they kiss the hand. But when they have the force, then they cut off the hand. It has always been this way."

"Father Maurice Avril, who is in Salérans, was persecuted by the bishops and had all kinds of trouble because after the Algerian War, he took care of the Harkis who were lucky enough to escape and take refuge in France. The Harkis had fought to defend French Algeria and wrest it from revolutionary control."

"Who can say what events the future holds for us? Perhaps a world conflict will break out and the situation will change radically. [...] Those who provoke the schism are those who change the Faith. I am certain that I belong to the Catholic Church of all times, the eternal Church."

"If you ask a bishop in France whether we should try to convert Muslims, whether they are in France or elsewhere, or convert animists, Buddhists... Oh no! We must not convert them. On the contrary, we must strengthen them in their religion, make them understand the beauty of their religion. It is unbelievable, but it is nevertheless the reality."

"I was a member of the preparatory commissions appointed by Pope John XXIII, and together with the other members—distinguished cardinals and good theologians—we prepared the preliminary outlines that were to serve as a basis for the scholars of the assembly. The preparation of these outlines, which were to be approved and promulgated as authoritative documents of the Church's teaching, required time, reflection, and consultation of ecclesiastical sources and documents. All this had to be taken into account. But then, in the first session of the Council, a group of bishops and cardinals, using modern techniques of pressure, managed to remove the exhaustive work that had been done. Thus, being subject to time constraints and internal regulations, new discussion outlines had to be prepared in other commissions set up in a completely arbitrary manner. Imagine the difficulties this entailed and bear in mind the decisive activity of certain cardinals and bishops, those who were called “coming from the banks of the Rhine,” gathered in the Idoc group, all imbued with modernism and liberalism and who, in addition, could count on a well-financed superstructure of offices, press, distribution, etc."

"The meeting in Assisi is a very serious matter. And if the Pope, whose function is to confirm the Faith, no longer fulfills his duty, what is to be done? The situation has reached the highest degree of gravity. I see no similar precedents in the history of the Church."

"There are some conciliar texts that are clearly in conformity with Tradition and pose no problem: I am thinking of Lumen Gentium, but also of other documents such as those on priestly formation and seminaries. Then there are ambiguous texts, which nevertheless can be correctly “interpreted” in a certain way according to the previous Magisterium. But there are also texts that are frankly in contradiction with Tradition and cannot be “integrated” in any way: the Declaration on Religious Freedom, the Decree on Ecumenism, and the one on the Liturgy. Here agreement becomes impossible. [...] It is the Declaration on Religious Freedom that is the real bone of contention, because the introduction of this liberal principle into the Church has led to other errors. The break with Tradition in this case is evident: eleven Popes, from Pius VI to Pius XII, condemned liberalism, and the Council approved it. No one can convince me that there is no contradiction."

"What value can an excommunication decided by the current liberal government of the Church have? For more than a century, conservative popes have condemned and excommunicated the Lamennais, the Buonaiuti, the Loisy, because they were liberals and modernists. Today, it is they who hold power in the Church, and they want to excommunicate traditionalists, that is, true Catholics."

"Questo catechismo olandese da dove viene? Ma non è un catechismo cattolico, viene dai Cardinali, viene dai Vescovi. e anche il catechismo francese e quello italiano -io l'ho visto questo catechismo italiano- vi sono degli errori, non è più la vera dottrina cattolica come l'avevano insegnata prima. Ma allora questo è una gravissima situazione; allora in tutto il mondo -io posso dirlo perché ho viaggiato in tutto il mondo e ho visto dei gruppi come i vostri che dicono...- ma che cosa passa nella Chiesa, noi non sappiamo più com'è la Chiesa Cattolica. Oggi queste cerimonie, questo culto mezzo protestante e mezzo cattolico, è un teatro, come un teatro, non è più un mistero, questo mistero del sacrificio della Messa, grande mistero, sublime mistero celeste. Non si sente più questa soprannaturalità della Messa. Allora è come vuoto, come una cerimonia vuota: si esce dalla chiesa, non si sa se abbiamo assistito a una cerimonia cattolica o a una cerimonia profana. Ma questo è possibile. Allora la gente buona e semplice dice: "no c'è qualche cosa che non è buona [in] questa riforma". E vedono i seminari vuoti, i noviziati delle suore vuoti.[...] Allora dobbiamo resistere per il bene della Chiesa, non per essere contro quelli che hanno l'autorità nella Chiesa, mai, mai. Io ho molto rispetto per il Santo Padre, per i vescovi, per il cardinale, mai io mi sento [in] cuore di dire una parola indegna, anche il vostro Cardinale, no. Ma io affermo la dottrina cattolica e io dico [che] io voglio rimanere cattolico come sono stato cattolico quando sono stato battezzato."

"I see only one type of ecumenism: that promoted by the Council, which emphasizes respect and collaboration with false religions, placed on the same level. This is a new concept that has been imposed and is in contradiction with Tradition. In place of the “missionary” Church, the new “ecumenical” Church has appeared. The Assisi meeting consecrates this new Church, and this is enormous, scandalous. [...] If salvation is possible even without conversion to Christ in the Church, and while continuing to worship one's false gods, what meaning does mission still have? Then all religions are equal, good... If this Pope had lived at the time of the Roman persecutions of the early centuries, perhaps Christianity would have found a respectable place in the Pantheon of religions."

"I spent fifteen years in Dakar with three million Muslims, one hundred thousand Catholics and four hundred thousand animists, and if during those fifteen years we were able to convert ten Muslims, that was the maximum. I mean truly convert them, make them switch from Islam to Catholicism. I'm not saying that there wasn't some Catholic influence thanks to our schools, where we had up to 10-15% Muslims. I didn't want any more than that, otherwise they would have imposed Islam in our schools. Once they are strong, they impose themselves, take the lead and try to convert others. When they are weak, they listen and keep quiet. The young people who went to our schools were certainly influenced, and it is very possible that some of them wanted to be baptised. But it is very difficult for a young man to convert to Catholicism because he is driven out of his family and knows that he even risks being poisoned. [...] Only university students manage to convert because they are independent. They know that their future is secure; they no longer need their families and will leave for Europe, where they can convert. But converting someone who is part of their family is practically impossible. By inspiring the Islamic religion, the devil has truly prevented the conversion of millions of people."

"And if Muslims were granted all freedoms, polygamy would have to be allowed in the States. Islam is not just about Muslims kneeling in the streets at prayer time; it is also about the threat of submission, i.e. of becoming ‘Dhimmi’ for all those who are not like them. Can we accept this in Catholic states? Can we accept that these states do not defend themselves?"

"Interviewer: By saying this, aren't we running the risk of undermining the Holy Spirit's assistance to the Council? Mgr. Lefebvre: I said that Vatican II was a purely pastoral council, and for this very reason it is clear that the two popes who presided over its sessions did not intend to commit the dogmatic Magisterium of the Holy Church to the even. It is therefore in this perspective that the inspiration of the Holy Spirit in the documents produced by the Council must be considered. The liberal orientation of the Council cannot be attributed to the Holy Spirit; it would be blasphemous, sacrilegious."

"Now there is the tyranny of authority, because there are no more rules. One can no longer refer to the past. [...] We are dealing with people who have a different philosophy from ours, a different way of seeing things, influenced by all the modern and subjectivist philosophers. For them, there is no fixed truth, there are no dogmas. Everything is evolution. This is a completely Masonic conception. It is truly the destruction of the faith."

"[A practical agreement with the Holy See would give] ample space to the apostolate, perhaps, but in ambiguity, following two opposing directions at the same time, which would have ended up causing us to rot. (1988, before the Ecône episcopal consecrations)"

"On Pinochet's dictatorship, 13 April 1987: ‘As soon as a man stands up to save his country from communism and restores Christian order, everything is done to discredit him. There is no country where people can move around as freely as in Chile.’"

"The majority does not make the truth; it is the truth that must make the majority."

"I celebrated Mass according to the new liturgical directives of 1965, but never according to the definitive ones of 1968, which bear the signature of Monsignor Bugnini. [...] The Faith is the teaching of the Church throughout the centuries, in accordance with the teaching of the Apostles. [...] I give you another definition, that contained in the anti-modernist oath of St. Pius X: the submission of the intellect and will to the Revelation of God, because God is the supreme authority and cannot err. Interviwer: And do you really think that Paul VI and John Paul II substantially changed this fundamental core of the Faith? Mgr. Lefebvre: I think they give another definition of the Faith. For them, Faith is a religious sentiment, an interior, subjective act. [...] The conscience is made to obey Revelation, not for itself. The problem is that for the last popes—speaking in Christian terms— the “subject” comes before the “object.” Whereas for the Tradition of the Church, the exact opposite is true: the object precedes the subject."

"Interviewer: You often say that more than a question of liturgy, today it is a question of faith that opposes us to the current Rome. Mgr. Lefebvre: Of course, the question of liturgy and the sacraments is very important, but it is not the most important. The most important question is that of faith. For us, it is settled. We have the faith of always, that of the Council of Trent, of the Catechism of Saint Pius X, of all the Councils and of all the Popes before Vatican II."

"This is what Tradition means to them, the famous living tradition, the only reason for our condemnation. Today they no longer try to prove that what they say is in accordance with what Pius IX wrote, with what the Council of Trent promulgated. All this is over, outdated, as Cardinal Ratzinger says."

"Voting socialist is voting against God. The socialist programme, he said, is terrifying for the souls of children. Economically, it will probably be a disaster, but what is worse is the control it will have over people's minds. Money is nothing compared to souls, and sin will spread everywhere. [...]"

"We accept what is in accordance with perennial teaching, we receive what is ambiguous in accordance with perennial teaching, and we reject what is contrary to it."

"Opposing the highest authorities in the Church and being suspended “a divinis” is a serious and very painful matter for a bishop. How is it possible to endure such a thing, unless for extremely serious reasons? And yes! The reasons for our behaviour and your behaviour are serious reasons: it is the defence of our faith! I have done work very similar to what I have been doing for thirty years. And now, suddenly, I am suspended “a divinis”, perhaps soon to be excommunicated, separated from the Church, renounced, who knows? Is this possible? Could it be that what I have been doing for thirty years was also grounds for suspension “a divinis”?"

"Then one can and must believe that the Church is occupied, occupied by this counter-Church that we know well, that the Popes knew perfectly well and that the Popes have condemned over the centuries, from now back to four centuries ago. The Church has never ceased to condemn this counter-Church that was born and developed with Protestantism, and which is at the root of all modern errors, which has destroyed all philosophy, which has led us to all the errors we know and which the popes have condemned: liberalism, socialism, communism, modernism, Zionism... we are dying from it! We are dying from it! The Popes have done everything to condemn this, and now those who sit on the seats of their predecessors who condemned these things are in agreement with this liberalism, with this ecumenism. (at minutes 4:00-4:40)"

"This cannot be accepted! And the more things become clear, the more we must realize that this program was developed in Masonic lodges, that all these errors were developed in Masonic lodges. It is becoming increasingly clear that there is indeed a Masonic lodge in the Vatican. And now when we go to meet a secretary of a Vatican congregation, or a cardinal sitting on a seat where there used to be holy cardinals who had the Faith and defended the Christian faith, who were men of the Church... now we find ourselves in front of a Freemason. So, is it the same thing? They demand the same obedience. Before, obedience to the Faith was required, to take the anti-modernist oath. A profession of faith was required. Now, what faith do those people ask us to profess? It is no longer the same. They say: Obedience, obedience! Yes, but obedience to the Church. Obedience to what the Church has always commanded! Yes, obedience to the faith of the Church. But obedience to Freemasonry, no. That's it, that's for sure! (at min. 4:45:6:15)"

"They placed a new missal in my hands, saying, “Here is the Mass you must celebrate and will now celebrate in all your houses.” They also told me that if, on this date, today, June 29, before our assembly, we had celebrated a Mass according to the new rite, everything between us and Rome would now be settled."

"Tens of thousands of them were massacred when De Gaulle handed Algeria over to the representatives of the FLN. The latter, of course, could not stand the Harkis who had fought alongside French troops to liberate French Algeria from terrorism and revolutionary rule. Those who were unable to flee to France on boats were tortured, massacred, buried alive and burned alive. What an abominable crime those who took such responsibility will have on their conscience! These were people who had devoted themselves, ready to die to defend French Algeria, just as some of them had come to fight in France in 1939-40, then during the Liberation when they landed in Italy, Corsica and Provence, and later against communism in Indochina. They were abandoned to the mercy of a cruel enemy who subjected them to the most abominable torments. It was a terrible tragedy. Many of their children remained in France; only the adults were sent back. Father Avril, who was a priest in French Algeria, took in more than a hundred of them. He educated them, raised them and took good care of them. The children of these Harkis found themselves in the hands of a priest who took care of their education and who, very gently, tried to convert them—without forcing them, of course—but through persuasion. Seeing the dedication of this priest and those who helped him, they eventually came to understand the beauty of the Catholic religion, and most of them ended up converting. This did not sit well with several bishops, who sent letters of disapproval to Father Avril: leave the Muslims alone; do not convert them! But who are these bishops?"