The Church
1. The changes following the Second Vatican Council have proven so
damaging to the Roman Catholic Religion and so detrimental to the
sanctification of souls that one can easily discern that "an enemy has
done this." This Council marked the culmination of the first phase of a
liberal and modernist intrusion into the Roman Catholic Church, which
intrusion had already begun in the nineteenth century and to which St.
Pius X alerted the Church in 1907. In his Encyclical "Pascendi" he
states: "The partisans of error are to be sought not only among the
Church's open enemies; but, what is to be most dreaded and deplored, in
her very bosom, and are... thoroughly imbued with the poisonous
doctrines taught by the enemies of the Church, and lost to all sense of
modesty, put themselves forward as reformers of the Church." This
intrusion was made possible because men influenced by modernist ideas
gained positions of authority, thereby permitting confirmed heretics
and enemies of the Church to overtake our Catholic institutions.
2. The aforesaid intruders have embraced and promoted the modernist and
liberal program of the reform of the Church, condemned by the Roman
Pontiffs, particularly by Pius VI, Gregory XVI, Pius IX, Leo XIII, St.
Pius X, Pius XI and Pius XII.
3. These intruders have attempted to promulgate, in the name of the
Roman Catholic Church, abominable novelties in every aspect of her
life, i.e., in the areas of doctrine, morals, liturgy, canon law,
pastoral practices, seminary education and religious life.
4. The intrusion of the liberals and Modernists into positions of
control has caused the widespread destruction of Catholic Faith, morals
and worship and the creation of a new religion-the so-called conciliar
religion which is not the Catholic Religion. It should be apparent to
all that this new religion is not the Catholic Religion because since
its introduction into our Catholic institutions, these institutions no
longer manifest the four marks of the true Church, the marks of unity,
holiness, catholicity, apostolicity. Thus, those who promote the
doctrines and reforms of the conciliar religion do not represent the
Roman Catholic Church, which is absolutely and exclusively identified
with the Mystical Body of Christ and which is known by its four marks.
5. The Catholic Church was established by Our Lord Jesus Christ for the
purpose of teaching, ruling and sanctifying the faithful in His name.
The members of its hierarchy are true successors of the Apostles, and
the Pope, who as the head of the Catholic hierarchy, is the successor
of Saint Peter and the Vicar of Christ on earth. A Roman Pontiff
consequently has universal and immediate jurisdiction over all the
faithful.
6. To this Catholic hierarchy throughout the ages have been addressed
the words of Christ to the Apostles: "As the Father hath sent me, I
also send you" (John 20:21). By virtue of its divine institution,
therefore, the hierarchy, by its very nature, exercises an authority
over the faithful which is the very authority of Christ.
7. To exercise authority over the Church one must externally be a
member of the Church. To be a member of the Church one must profess the
Catholic Faith. Public abandonment of the Faith severs one from the
Church and causes one to lose any position of authority one may have
had. For this reason, theologians of all time have held and taught, and
Canon Law confirms in canon 1325, no.2, that anyone who publicly and
notoriously defects from the Faith by obstinately denying or doubting
any article of Divine and Catholic Faith is a heretic. It is evident
that any such a person could not possibly rule the faithful, for by
analogy to a physical body, it would be impossible to be the head of a
body of which one is not even a member.
8. Thus Canon Law equally provides for the tacit resignation from
positions of authority of those who defect publicly from the Catholic
Faith (Canon 188, no.4).
9. But those who presently are thought to be occupying hierarchical
positions in the Catholic Church are acting, for the most part, as if
they do not have the Faith, according to all human means of judging.
10. Among Catholics who are presently adhering to tradition, bishops,
priests, and laity alike, we observe a marked difference of opinion
concerning the legitimacy of the present hierarchy. We hold that there
is certain and sufficient evidence to assert, as a legitimate
theological opinion, that anyone who publicly professes the conciliar
religion does not legitimately hold any position of authority in the
Catholic Church for the reasons stated in paragraph seven. While we do
not claim the authority to settle this question definitively, we
believe that the legitimacy of this theological opinion is dictated by
logic and a correct application of Catholic theological principles. We
recognize that the definitive and authoritative resolution to such
theological questions rests ultimately with the magisterium of the
Church. We thus deplore the attempt of some to settle this question by
acting as though they had the authority to bind the consciences of the
faithful in matters which have not been definitively settled by the
Church.
11. The secondary object of the infallibility of the Church is her
rites and disciplines. Because of this secondary infallibility, it is
impossible for her to prescribe for the universal Church a law which is
harmful or evil. But the Modernists have promulgated, purportedly in
the name of the Church, rites and disciplines which are poisonous, evil
and harmful to souls. It is therefore certain that these rites and
disciplines do not come from the Roman Catholic Church.
The Sacraments
12. Since the Second Vatican Council, the sacraments of the Catholic
Church have been radically altered by the Modernists. These alterations
contain substantial changes with regard to the ceremonies of the
sacraments. In addition, they have effected changes in the very matter
and form of the sacraments thus rendering some of them doubtful or
invalid.
13. In any case, therefore, in which the form or matter of the
sacraments has been altered, we hold them thereby to be invalid if the
change is substantial, or doubtfully valid where the matter or form is
not certain, depending on the nature of the alteration effected. A
clear example of such an alteration is the approval of grape juice as
the matter for the sacrament of the Holy Eucharist by the Modernists
operating in the Congregation for Divine Worship.
14. Sacraments in the new religion are further rendered doubtful or
invalid (1) by a defect of intention on the part of the minister in
certain cases and (2) by the deviations, undertaken by the ministers,
in individual cases which corrupt form and/or matter.
15. In the practical order, in the course of our pastoral activity, the
Church obliges us to require the reiteration according to the
traditional rites, either conditionally or absolutely, as the case may
be, of any sacrament conferred in a doubtful or invalid manner. We
refer the final determination of the validity or invalidity of the
doubtful sacraments to the judgment of the Church when a normal state
of affairs shall be restored.
The Sacred Liturgy
16. The Modernists have destroyed the sacred liturgy of the Roman
Catholic Church in nearly all of her holy places. The process which
brought about this destruction was begun well before the Second Vatican
Council and achieved its ultimate expression in the impious New Order
of the Mass promulgated by Paul VI in 1969. This destruction was
effected by applying to the liturgy the principle of conforming the
Church to the modern world. The end result was the New Mass and the
many liturgical aberrations produced by it, thereby changing the
liturgy from a treasury of Catholic doctrine and piety into a cesspool
of protestantism, modernism, ecumenism, pantheism, and virtually every
error condemned by the Roman Catholic Church.
17. We consequently reject this New Mass as an evil ceremony, since it
is a purveyor of sacrilege, error, and heresy rather than the beacon of
Catholic light and truth. We equally reject all the sacramental rites
and ceremonies reformed in accordance with the modernist principles. In
the light of the foregoing, we must conclude that it is objectively a
mortal sin to take active part in the New Mass.
18. Since the very authors of the New Mass admit themselves that their
destructive activity began before the Second Vatican Council, we
logically reject the first steps before the Council which led to the
general reform of Vatican II, particularly those produced by Annibale
Bugnini in his work as Secretary of the Commission for Liturgical
Reform. We do not presume to bind others to this rejection of all the
pre-conciliar reforms, but we believe it is both right and expedient
for the good of the Church to adhere to the Missal of Saint Pius V,
reformed by Clement VIII, Urban Vlll and Saint Pius X. While it is
possible that there could be differences of opinion concerning the
acceptability of the pre-Conciliar reforms, the principle remains the
same: that we should follow a determined set of rules used by the
Church at some time before the Council.
The New Code of Canon Law
19.. We utterly reject and condemn the New Code of Canon Law for the
sole reason that it is a legal expression of the modernist distortion
of the Roman Catholic Church. Its non-Catholic nature is recognizable
by the blasphemous, sacrilegious, and impious practices which it
condones and mandates concerning the Holy Eucharist, whereby it
sanctions the giving of the Body and Blood of Christ to heretics and
schismatics, and the receiving of Communion from heretical and
schismatic sects.
Annulments
20. Since the Second Vatican Council, the Modernists have been
granting, purportedly in the name of the Church, annulments to married
couples for reasons which have no foundation either in the traditional
Canon Law of the Church or in the Roman Catholic doctrine concerning
matrimony.
21. We consequently deplore this contempt for the Holy Sacrament of
Matrimony commonly found among the Modernists operating the diocesan
marriage tribunals and the Rota itself. In the practical order,
therefore, we refuse to recognize any annulments coming forth from the
aforesaid courts unless it can be demonstrated beyond any reasonable
doubt that the marriage bond of the annulled marriage did not exist in
the first place. For, according to canon 1014 of the Code of Canon Law:
"Marriage enjoys the favor of the law, consequently, in doubt, the
validity of the marriage must be maintained until the contrary is
proved."
Conclusion
22. In the light of the foregoing, we see no other practical course to
follow than (1) to adhere with the certitude of the Faith to all of the
doctrinal and moral teaching of the Roman Catholic Church; (2) to
continue the work of the Church for the salvation of souls, and fulfill
our duties as priests by providing the Catholic faithful with integral
Catholic doctrine and unquestionably valid sacraments, using the
faculties which the Church provides for such critical situations, for
"jurisdiction is not granted a man for his own benefit, but for the
good of the people and for the glory of God." (St. Thomas Aquinas,
Summa Theologica, Supplement, Q.8, A.5) Therefore, "since necessity
knows no law, in cases of necessity the ordinance of the Church does
not hinder." (ibid. Q. 8, A.6); (3) to reject the destructive modernist
alteration of the Catholic liturgy and discipline; (4) to condemn,
reprove and reject the poisonous errors of the Modernists, refusing the
Catholic name to their tenets, worship, and discipline and thereby
rejecting ecclesial communion with them. Mindful of the words of Saint
Ephraem, Doctor of the Church, bidding us "not to sit with heretics nor
associate with apostates," and that "it would be better to teach demons
than to try to convince heretics," we deplore every initiative that
would seek to make compatible, in one Church, Roman Catholicism and
Modernism.
23. These things we declare, mindful of St. Paul's injunction to the
Ephesians to "have not fellowship with the unfruitful works of
darkness" and in fulfillment of his command to "reprove them." (5:11)
These things we do in the firm certitude of adhering to the
indestructible and supernatural unity of the Roman Catholic Church,
which extends, unaltered and pure, from her foundation by Our Lord
Jesus Christ to His Second Coming, from one end of the earth to the
other, from the Church Triumphant in Heaven, to the Church Militant on
earth, to the Church Suffering in Purgatory as one unadulterated Church
and Faith.