Roman Catholic Archbishops

"Dialogue is contrary to Catholic doctrine. Dialogue presupposes the meeting of two equal and opposing parties; therefore, it can in no way have anything to do with the Catholic Faith. All this confusion leads to compromises that destroy the doctrine of the Church, to the misfortune of humanity and of the Church itself."

"(About Pinochet) I am not saying that his regime is perfect, but at least we find Christian principles as the fundamental program of his political orientation. He is a man of justice and order and favors the presence of the Catholic Church, even if the Chilean bishops—what a paradox!—are not at all grateful to him. [...] When Pinochet recently escaped an assassination attempt, [...] people shouted, “Thank you, Holy Virgin, for protecting the general's life."

"The idea that all truths are equal, all religions are equal, and therefore all morals have equal dignity, that every conscience is valid in its own way, that everyone can judge theologically what they can do, all these are humanistic ideas of total laxity without any discipline of thought, which lead to the position that everyone can do as they please. All this is absolutely contrary to our Catholic Faith."

"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."

"The enemy is within the Church. Pope St. Pius X announced it. La Salette announced it. Fatima announced it. Everything had been announced! We have known for a century and a half that he would be introduced into the Church. Well, he is already there, he is already there. Let them not come and ask us to suspend ordinations. Who is asking not to ordain? Who is asking not to form good priests anymore? The Holy Spirit or the Devil? It is clear. Is it normal in the Church to ask a bishop not to form good priests? Is such a thing normal? [...] They know that the doctrine taught there is the true doctrine: they know it perfectly well, they wrote it in the visitors' report, an excellent report in favor of the seminary. That is what Cardinal Garrone told me when he asked me to come to Rome. He said to me: “The report is good, we know that the seminary is good.” But then why close the seminary? Simply because we do not want to follow the Masonic orientation of ecumenism, all those orientations that have been forged by the Masonic lodges. [...] This does not come from the Holy Spirit [...] It is a Masonic lodge that has managed to penetrate the Vatican and has taken everything into its own hands. And it obviously cannot listen to us. It is obvious: we are an obstacle to their plan, to their plan to destroy the priesthood, the Mass, the liturgy. It is obvious! It is obvious! And must we obey? I believe in my conscience before God, when I am told, “Reflect well in your conscience before God on what you are doing.” [...] I truly believe that by doing what I am doing and ordaining the priests that I will ordain, I believe that I am serving the Church. I would not do it if I thought for a moment that it could be contrary to the good of the Church. (at min. 10:07-11:58)"

"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."

"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.’"

"More than a century ago, secret societies, Illuminati, humanists, modernists, and others, of whom we now have all the texts and evidence, were preparing for a Vatican Council in which they would infiltrate their own ideas for a humanist church. [...] The Second Vatican Council was planned by liberals; it was a liberal council; the Pope is a liberal, and those around him are liberals."

"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. [...]"

"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."

"At this time, it is important to remind Catholics around the world that obedience to the pope is not a primary virtue. The hierarchy of virtues begins with the three theological virtues of Faith, Hope and Charity, followed by the four cardinal virtues of Justice, Temperance, Prudence and Fortitude. Obedience is a derivative of the cardinal virtue of Justice. Therefore, it is far from being ranked first in the hierarchy of virtues. Some bishops do not want to give the slightest impression of disobeying the Holy Father. I understand how they feel. It is clearly very unpleasant, if not very painful."

"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?"

"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."

"[On the issues of religious freedom and “The Church in the Contemporary World”] Cardinal [Giuseppe] Frings from Germany, Cardinal [Franz] Koenig [from Austria]. These figures had already met and discussed these resolutions before the Council, and their specific aim was to compromise with the secular world, to introduce Enlightenment and modernist ideas into Church doctrine. [...] I did everything I could to stop these decisions, which I consider contrary to and destructive of the Catholic Faith. The Council was legitimately convened, but for the purpose of spreading all these ideas. Interviewer': Were there other Cardinals who agreed with you? Mgr. Lefebvre: Yes. There was Cardinal [Ernesto] Ruffini [of Palermo], Cardinal [Giuseppe] Siri [of Genoa], and Cardinal [Antonio] Caggiano [of Buenos Aires]. Interviewer: Were there any bishops who supported you? Mgr. Lefebvre: Yes. Many bishops supported my position. Interviewer: How many bishops? Mgr. Lefebvre: There were more than 250 bishops. They had also formed a group for the purpose of defending the true Catholic Faith."

"Reconciliation naturally demands the release of political prisoners mainly because no one (political party) can claim to have acted in complete innocence during the conflict. For the nation to be reconciled, everyone must feel free to come and go without fear of being molested."

"Though Catholic doctrine condemns tyrannicide as opposed to the natural law, formerly great theologians of the Church like St. Thomas, Suarez, and Bañez, O.P., permitted rebellion against oppressive rulers when the tyranny had become extreme and when no other means of safety were available. This merely carried to its logical conclusion the doctrine of the Middle Ages that the supreme ruling authority comes from God through the people for the public good. As the people immediately give sovereignty to the ruler, so the people can deprive him of his sovereignty when he has used his power oppressively."

"We experienced periods of political turbulence, fortunately without tragic consequences such as civil wars or similar events. We have reached a sufficient degree of political maturity. This does not mean that we have completely reached it, we are still developing it. But I wonder: how long did it take Europe to develop a democratic system? 200 years? 250 years? We are only 50 years old and we are not behaving badly; we have no complexes about our "democratic credentials" or how to do election campaigns and so on."

"It is sometimes supposed that St. Patrick's apostolate in Ireland was an unbroken series of peaceful triumphs, and yet it was quite the reverse. No storm of persecution was, indeed stirred up to assail the infant Church, but the saint himself was subjected to frequent trials."

"The Archbishop was himself as a rock, gentle, yielding, mossy on the surface; but beneath all that gentleness strength and power and immovability of principle were found."

"The charge made by the Jansenists that the popes curtailed the rights of archbishops in order to increase and strengthen their own claim of universal primacy, is best refuted by the fact that the metropolitan authority in it struggles against encroaching primates and patriarchs or rival metropolitans, found no stronger support than that given by the Holy See. On the other hand, Rome had also to defend the native or acquired rights and privileges of suffragan bishops against usurping claims of their metropolitans. That the Holy See did not exceed its powers is further proved by the fact the Council of Trent restricted rights of metropolitans even more than the popes had done."

"It is no presumption to say that our educated Catholic laity is, unfortunately, too little acquainted with the safely stored treasures of Catholic tradition and learning regarding the Holy Scriptures. We fear also that too little time is given to biblical study and questions in many of our Catholic colleges and high schools. When the divine character and the historical authority, the genuineness and credibility of our holy books are more than ever attacked, even in popular literature, with the most insidious arguments of a pretended science and criticism, it behoves the educated Catholic to know something of the unanswerable proofs, by which the Catholic Church, the divinely appointed custodian and interpreter of God’s written Word, defends her claims to and her belief in the Sacred Scriptures. Nor should he forego the enhanced pleasure and profit in reading the sacred Books which he will assuredly derive from a better knowledge of their historical, geographical, political, and domestic surroundings. The wider the budding rose unfolds its fragrant leaves, the more abundantly will it drink of the refreshing morning-dew. So will the Christian soul open itself, by study and prayer, to receive in fuller measure the waters of eternal life, flowing, as from a rich fountain-head, from the Words of the Living God."

"He proved zealous in extending spiritual administration through curacies and convents, striving to bring into greater veneration sacred places and relics, and to practise charity in a manner that brought him in contact with the poor and assisted to make him popular with the masses. Among the rich and the officials he found less welcome, owing partly to his persevering efforts for episcopal rights, partly to the enforcement of a stricter morality among the higher classes."

"A gesture of generosity is also a sign of confidence, it means that we have full confidence in the Church; we believe that the mercy and justice of God are infinite."

"We must remind our country that our Church has not only the unfailing deposit of revealed truth, but also a practical wisdom, made up from her experience in all the ages and all the nations of modern times; that her experience demonstrates that Godless education trains unprincipled citizens, who are their country's scourge, and, finally, her ruin, — that the only way to make a prosperous and happy state is to mould the individual and the family in the mould of Christian principles and virtue, for such as are the individual and the family, such also must be the nation."

"In the Philippines today there is a crisis in credibility. The country needs new leaders. We have difficulty trusting other people, difficulty in believing our national leaders. When a political leader says one thing and does another this is a blow to credibility. If we lose our young people, we lose our hope and our future."

"The practice of devotion to the dead is also consoling to humanity and eminently worthy of a religion which seconds all the purest feelings of the human heart."

"By his tact he soon removed the ill-feeling that had existed between Catholics and Protestants in Nova Scotia. He took a great interest in public affairs. He was strongly opposed to Fenianism, and was a warm advocate of the confederation of the British North American provinces. At the Vatican Council he was a prominent figure, and, while opposed to the declaration of the dogma of infallibility, he loyally accepted it as soon as it had been declared."

"In the present social context, dominated by globalization, young people are facing the challenge of a market which, taken to extremes, leads to a spiritual and moral lack, emotional discomfort, and even suicide. Thus, there is an increasing urgency that requires a youth ministry adequate to meet the needs of contemporary youth."

"Although a rigid disciplinarian, and ascetic in his personal tastes, Croke was on occasion a noted raconteur. His generosity and hospitality were unbounded."

"He devoted himself in a very special manner to the evangelising of the Maoris, with whom he became exceedingly popular, not only as an ecclesiastic, but as an athlete. A bishop who never inquired about gates, but took at a jump every fence or obstacle that came in his way, was just the type of prelate to captivate these brave and high-spirited children of nature."

"Let us no longer listen to the voice of blinding passion, but act in public and private affairs as thinking and reasoning human beings, vindicating our own views as best we can, and making all charitable allowances for others. Let us have honorable ambition; yes! but let us be moderate and modest in our pretensions."

"I have tried to proceed methodically and with all the clearness possible, so as to be easily understood by persons not familiar with theological studies. God grant that I may attain the end I have in view, and dissipating the doubts which beset many minds, confirm them in the truth, or lead them into the bosom of the Catholic Church!"

"He soon attained to prominence through the interest he manifested in questions that concerned education and the public good."

"The government demonstrated its weakness and appears to have given way to pressure from extremists. In our diocese and all over the country Christians and Muslims have campaigned together for the abolition of the death penalty. This campaign has nothing to do with religion. Every life is precious. Our campaign is to save all lives."

"Prodigy of the right hand of the Most High! To accomplish great wonders, He prefers to use abject instruments, sometimes the most unsuitable and despised by men, so that the result cannot be attributed to the creature, but to the Creator alone. Thus, in the fifteenth century, at the height of humanism, when the Christian powers themselves, instead of listening to the voice of the Supreme Shepherd and moving in unison against the Crescent that threatened the freedom of the civilised world, were engaged in subtle political rivalries among themselves. God raised up a poor son of St. Francis, who, gaunt in face, barefoot and destitute, moved half of Europe with his fiery words and led it to triumph under the walls of Belgrade. “Digitus Dei est hic”."

"Try not to disappoint Jesus, who is and will always be our point of reference."

"There is much talk everywhere about goodwill and peace in order to avoid international conflict at all costs. But does not this Nordic philosophy [racism], which has become both theosophy and politics, constitute the forge where the most deadly weapons for a future war are being forged?"

"Among us, the Catholic Church today is faced not so much with a new fascist state, since this already existed in the year of the Concordat, but with a prevailing philosophical-religious system in which, although it is not said in words, the denial of the Apostolic Creed, of the spiritual transcendence of religion, of the rights of the Christian family and of the individual is implicit. [...] Faced with an apostolic creed and a Catholic Church of divine origin, we therefore have a fascist creed and a totalitarian state which, just like the Hegelian one, claims divine attributes for itself. On the religious level, the Concordat has been vaporised. [...] Now, if the principle of non-contradiction still applies in philosophy, everyone can see that between Christianity, based on the Decalogue and the Creed of divine origin, and this new Hegelian state, totalitarian, authoritarian, sovereign source of Catholic ethics and spirituality [...] – that Roman Catholicism, of course, which pre-existed Christianity itself – there is an irreducible antinomy. Christianity is essentially supernatural and is spirit. This Hegelian state, on the other hand, is material force and is entirely political. Christianity wants to love, fear and serve God; this formula, on the other hand, instead of statolatry, usurps the rights of God and opposes him. [...] In the fascist state [...] there is a single “absolute, totalitarian, entirely sovereign” entity which leaves no room for others and yields the sceptre to no one. It is the state which penetrates the very spirits and consciences of its subjects."

"The ancient crusades against the infidels should be considered from that supernatural point of view, which is precisely how the ancients viewed them. They represented the greatest effort of Christianity to prevent the brute force of the Muslims from destroying the civilisation of the Gospel. The soul of this powerful, long-lasting resistance, which was finally victorious at Lepanto and Vienna, was the Roman Papacy, which for over five centuries, sparing no sacrifice or expense, united the Catholic forces of every nation under the banner of the Cross and, directing them against the Crescent, spared Europe a great number of internal wars, ensuring its triumph over Western Asia and Islam."

"After 16 centuries, here is another March on Rome, and here is another edict of religious peace, of that peace which was signed in the Lateran Treaty, and which, by giving Italy to God, gave God to Italy ... God also wanted to give the Duce a reward that brings his historical figure closer to the great spirits of Constantine and Augustus, surrounding Rome and the King with a new flourishing imperial laurel wreath, thanks to the work of Benito Mussolini."

"A kind of heresy has arisen abroad and is spreading everywhere, which not only attacks the supernatural foundations of the Catholic Church, but also materialises in human blood the spiritual concepts of the individual, the nation and the homeland, denies humanity any other spiritual value, and thus constitutes an international danger no less than that of Bolshevism itself. It is the so-called racism."

"Once it was Islam that threatened Christian civilisation. Now it is Judaism, a people without a homeland, who therefore hate that of others, allied as they are with Freemasonry. Jews and Freemasons are waging a war against Catholicism and Europe that is all the more difficult and dangerous because it is so subtle. Even against this terrible danger, we must resort to the invincible weapons of prayer; and since we are not allowed to hate anyone, but are instead commanded to love everyone, even our enemies, we implore today the conversion of all these errant souls, those who have unleashed the terrible scourge of war and who alone have benefited from it: the Bolshevik Jews, Zionists, Freemasons, etc. – so that, converted all to penance, “Ecclesia ... tranquilla devotione laetetur”."

"We had to penetrate into a country never yet visited by a Catholic priest. The rivers, lakes, mountains, prairies, forests and hills of Oregon would soon resound with the praises of the Holy Name of Jesus ; the cross would be planted from place to place, from shore to shore, on a space of one thousand leagues which we had yet to travel, and the word of Him who said that that sign would attract all to Him in the person of these poor wandering sheep to which we were sent. What a joy! What a sweet consolation for missionaries!"

"Our Lord Jesus Christ sent forth His Church to electrify the world and to startle the old Caesarism by proclaiming the dignity and the inalienable rights of every human being — dignity and rights based, not on the power and glory of empire, but on the immortality of the individual soul and its relation to the Infinite and Eternal God. The proclamation was a battle-cry."

"Archbishop Taché had to a considerable extent shaped the destinies of the Canadian West. He was a writer of no mean order. His literary productions have a special aroma of delicacy and, at times, quiet wit, which denote the well-bred gentleman, and his French is remarkably pure and free from foreign elements."

"The phenomenon of early marriage is one of the worst scourges afflicting the population of my diocese, which needs to be immediately stopped. The girls, even before birth, are destined to marry and parents, once born, do not allow them to go to school so that they do not have any external contacts. It is a very serious problem. To help this segment of the population we are planning a college for these children, where they could be guaranteed, in addition to education, true "freedom" from this slavery."

"Fonte was, however, of too cautious and unambitious a nature to accept a distinction which entailed a compromised course of action."

"With the passing of John Paul II the youth of the whole world loses one of its greatest advocates."

"With deep gratitude and joy we welcome the election of the new Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI . The choice of Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger turns our Church in the right direction. We can be sure the Holy Father will continue the work of his predecessor and we know we can rely on him to guide the Church towards God with great responsibility."

"Lent is a time to confirm our faith in the Lord Jesus and our determination to announce his mystery of salvation with new zeal. Heed God's Word, to learn the truth of man, where we come from, where we are going and what we must do to be happy and obtain salvation. May the liturgical and ascetic season of Lent help us to open our hearts to the loving mercy of the Lord Jesus who forgives, reconciles, enhances and makes us more worthy."