Menzingen extols modernist Cardinal Castrillion Hoyos, RIP

Ecclesia Dei and the Fraternity of St. Peter

In 1999, an interesting thing happened within the Fraternity of St. Peter. Sixteen priests signed a letter which they sent to Rome, accusing the Superior General of St. Peter’s of making it a Lefebvrist society. At the same time, some bishops complained to Rome that a certain number of priests of St. Peter refused to concelebrate in the new rite, or, when members did accept to concelebrate, the Superior General scolded and punished them. Rome moved against St. Peter’s and the other Ecclesia Dei societies with Protocol 1411 (July 3, 1999) [see The Angelus, November 1999 - Ed.], which stated that the general law in the Church is the New Mass, and as such every Catholic priest has a strict right to make use of the general law. Conclusion? Any superior in an Ecclesia Dei society is forbidden to prohibit their priests from celebrating the New Mass. It was a knock-out blow in the sense that these societies did believe, as much as I can make of it, that they had an exclusive right to celebrate only the Tridentine Mass. We have to give credit to Fr. Bisig [Superior General of the Fraternity of St. Peter at the time - Ed.] that he had fought all these years to celebrate only the Tridentine Mass. When Fr. Bisig heard that decree, he went to Rome to appeal the Protocol with a fellow superior of an Ecclesia Dei society. They met with Cardinal Medina who told them, "I am your best friend." This was the cardinal who issued that decree! The following day they met with Cardinals Medina, Ratzinger, Felici and Msgr. Perl. They protested the Protocol. They begged to have it remain unpublished. Msgr. Perl replied that he did not see anywhere in the Fraternity’s statutes an exclusive right to the Tridentine Mass.

It’s terrible what I say now, but it is an example of how Rome is arbitrary. They know where they want to go, and they just go! They are above the law. There have been several examples of this. In 2000, Cardinal Castrillon-Hoyos intervened in the Fraternity of St. Peter by removing Fr. Bisig as Superior General. The majority of the chapter made recourse against this decision of the Cardinal. Now, when you make a recourse, it is to a higher authority from whom you seek justice. In this case, however, the appeal was returned to Cardinal Castrillon. They were obliged to make the recourse to the same person who made the decision! Of course, it was a done deal!

It was also during this time that the Ecclesia Dei Commission - and especially Msgr. Perl - wanted to introduce the 1965 rubrics of the Mass to its societies. It is apparent that Msgr. Perl’s intention is to oblige Ecclesia Dei to have an Old Mass which looks as much as possible like the New Mass. This means to suppress, for example, the prayers at the foot of the altar, having lessons only in the vernacular, etc. There was even a rumor about introducing the new calendar.

In September of the same year, Michael Davies, representing Una Voce, and Cardinal Castrillon spoke about these matters. In an exchange of letters between them in October, you see affirmed by the cardinal an absolute power of decision without reference to any right or custom. Nothing! They just decide. In one letter he obliges all Ecclesia Dei priests to give Communion in the hand to faithful who request it. They base their argument on the fact that in the Roman Missal of 1962 nothing definitive is said about the faithful necessarily receiving Communion on the tongue. We could argue, of course, that in 1962 the 1917 Code of Canon Law then in effect clearly expressed how to receive Communion. But they just don’t care: they just go to their point.

In this letter to Mr. Davies was included a reminder that the first condition for an Ecclesia Dei community to be granted the Indult Mass is to have nothing to do with those who question the legitimacy of the New Mass. Well, that’s the Society of St. Pius X! Yet, barely a month later Cardinal Castrillon sent me an invitation to visit him in order to prepare a visit to the Pope!

Movements towards the Society

Already in April [2000], Msgr. Perl had said,


Soon after, Cardinal Castrillon is appointed President of Ecclesia Dei. He is the first president of this commission who is not retired and is less than 80 years old.

At the beginning of May, he sent his first letter to the four bishops of the Society. He announced his presidency, how he knew Archbishop Lefebvre from his days in Columbia, South America, that he respected his attitude towards the liturgy, and invited us to start something with him. It is true, by the way, that the cardinal knew Archbishop Lefebvre, which means that we knew him! Cardinal Castrillon helped change the constitution of Columbia to make it a non-Catholic state. During his time in Columbia, he was a major mediator between the guerillas and the government. Thus we can presume that he is qualified as a professional mediator! In all honesty, his behavior in Rome is understood by everybody there as conservative. As Prefect of the Congregation for the Clergy, he definitely has a real care for the priests, and he wants his priests to be priests. He insists that the priests have a good formation, and that is to his credit.

I decided that each bishop could do what he wanted with the letter. I trust our bishops enough to know that there would be no discrepancy in our answers, which in fact, happened. All four answered similarly, that is, we are not schismatics, we are still in the Church.

The Society’s Jubilee Pilgrimage

The important event in 2000 was the Society’s Jubilee Pilgrimage to Rome [in August]. It shook the Vatican’s conscience. It was a very simple demonstration. Someone in the Curia was reported to say, "What can we do for these people? They are Catholic!" One of the radio stations reported that this kind of pilgrimage had never before been seen in 2000 years of Church history: 6,000 schismatics praying for the pope in St. Peter’s! The porter of the house where Cardinal Ratzinger and all the other cardinals live said to one of our priests, "You gave us a strong lesson."

At the conclusion of the pilgrimage, Cardinal Hoyos invited all four Society bishops for a meal with him. For nobody to go would be impolite; for all of us to go would be too military. Finally, three of us went. Throughout the discussion, it was obvious that the cardinal tried to diminish the problem with us, almost to the point of saying there was no problem! We had to say, "Oh yes, there is a problem." Up to now, our attitude was always to say we are Catholic, we are not schismatics, as though we were saying, "There is no problem." Then, Rome was saying, "Oh yes, there is a problem! You’re excommunicated; you’re schismatics!" and so on. Now, they use exactly the contrary move. Rome says there’s no problem and we are the ones to say there is one.

I tried to start a discussion on the Mass. The cardinal said, "I am not an expert." The President of the Ecclesia Dei Commission said that! That means, of course, "I don’t want to discuss the matter." How could I start to speak to the one who is responsible for the Latin Mass when he tells you that he is not an expert? He continued, "There are so few things that separate us." He said, "We believe in the same God." Okay, good start. "We believe in the same Eucharist." So I answered with some very broad affirmations. After some time, Bishop Williamson said, "Your Eminence, it’s two religions." The cardinal seemed taken aback.

During our half-hour together alone, the cardinal said to us, "I don’t want the Roman Curia to know what we speak about." So that’s the level of trust you find in the Vatican. During the meal, the monsignor in charge of accompanying us on the pilgrimage made his very favorable report to Cardinal Castrillon. It was highly praiseworthy of the Society, no doubt about it. This monsignor asked me to bless him. Cardinal Castrillon said, speaking of the Society, "The fruits are good. Hence, the Holy Ghost is there." And then I asked him, "But your Eminence, where do these fruits come from?" Silence; no answer. When I saw that he didn’t want to speak about important matters, I offered to send him a memorandum about the problems. He agreed to that. I directed Bishop Tissier de Mallerais to send him a letter asking him to free the Latin Mass for all priests, anywhere, any time, without any special permissions, without any problems. That was the first approach.

In October, later that year, I gave an interview to 30 Days magazine. It was curious because 30 Days reported all the positive remarks about us and Rome, and just dropped the negative. It made a favorable impression in Rome which was not exactly accurate, but Cardinal Castrillon used it to lay some groundwork for me to meet with the pope. I didn’t know what to expect. Cardinal Castrillon started very quickly saying:


Cardinal Castrillon said it didn’t matter. This showed me that the article was just a convenient excuse. What he wanted was to start discussions.

The meeting of December 29th

A meeting between Cardinal Hoyos and myself was scheduled for December 29 [2001]. At this meeting I wanted to stress two things, the first of which was that whatever happens - even if there is an agreement with Rome - the Society of St. Pius X is going to "continue to fight against Liberalism, Modernism, and Freemasonry." Cardinal Castrillon didn’t respond at that time, but he kept this phrase in his report, which he later handed to the pope. The cardinal told me that when the Holy Father read that the Society insisted - no matter what - to "continue to fight against Liberalism, Modernism, and Freemasonry," he pointed at it with his finger and said in Italian, "That’s us! That’s us!" When the cardinal told me this, I thought, "Touché!"

But the pope didn’t mean what I thought he meant. The pope did not mean that he represented the Liberalism, Modernism, and Freemasonry that we are fighting against. No, he identified himself as a fellow fighter in the fight the Society is waging! He was saying that he was fighting against these things with us! We’re saying what the pope does is Modernism, is Liberalism. In principles, he’s linked to Freemasonry to a certain extent. Yet, the pope says, "I am fighting the same fight as you." How can you understand that?! That’s why I tell you, I don’t understand this pope. If you’d speak only of abortion, fine. But Assisi, for example, is a typical example of Modernism. And the pope wants it. It’s his idea. The Society attacks Assisi with all its possible weapons; it shouts to the blasphemy, to the abomination we have there. How can it be said that we and the pope are fighting together?!

The second thing I spoke about dealt with the Mass and the Fraternity of St. Peter. The cardinal said, "I don’t understand the question of the Mass." I answered, "The Protestants do." From there, I tried to show what’s wrong with the New Mass, saying, "How is it possible that a Catholic Mass could be a Protestant service at the same time?" Does he know the Confession of Augsburg recently invited the different congregations of Lutherans to make use of the Catholic missal for their Last Supper services? They did! There is a Protestant professor of theology who said, "Now that the idea of sacrifice has been lifted from the Mass a Protestant can feel at home with the New Mass."

I also gave him a quote from an ex-canon  of the Church, Paul Roca, who died in 1890. In one of his books he wrote that the Mass will one day receive a deep transformation thanks to an ecumenical council which will bring it in harmony with the principles of this world. He died in 1890, and was able to make a prophecy so very precise. That is striking; that shows that hidden forces have been working, that have enough influence in the Church to do such things.

Renan [French intellectual, (1823-1892)], who wrote about the eventual death of the Catholic Church, was asked on his deathbed if he believed in the Catholic Church? Near death himself, he answered, "I believe in the Church of the future." To be able to say such things means occult forces have for a long time planned to transform the Church.

Alice Bailey, foundress of the New Age movement, wrote a book [1920] entitled The Exteriorization of the Hierarchy. She said that toward the end of the 20th century the Catholic Church will have adopted Masonic principles. It will keep, however, the appearance of religion to avoid alienating the faithful. God knows how and why He allowed plans like these to be fulfilled. It’s surprising.

So I told all these things to the cardinal and then he said, "So, here’s what Rome proposes to you: We want a solution in which we solve the problem of bishops, bishops who would be ordinaries, that is, true bishops, maybe with dioceses, and priests and faithful." He spoke about an arrangement like that of Opus Dei, that is, a personal prelature. He foresaw our difficulty in having the pope himself choose the bishop to head this personal prelature, for this is the usual procedure. He said either the Society’s priests or the Society’s bishops should present three names to the pope every time another bishop is needed for Tradition.

I must tell you this first proposal looked very, very interesting to me, especially since I had been very hard on Cardinal Castrillon. I had dismissed his earlier attempt to make the May 5 [1988] Protocol a basis of discussion, saying to him, "I’m sorry, but this will not work now. That Protocol had been hastily authored. The current crisis and the high stakes demand more clarity." I re-stated all our objections to Vatican II - religious liberty, ecumenism, collegiality. I spoke of the new Code of Canon Law. I threw a lot of punches and I was really amazed to see how much he was able to absorb and still continue in a pleasant way. I really admired that. I thought, well, he is really a mediator, because I really threw a lot of things at him.

One of my arguments was, "We don’t trust you. You are very kind in what you say, but we don’t trust you. Not you personally, but Rome." I let him know Rome’s actions against the Fraternity of St. Peter didn’t help my confidence. Rome has tried to crush the Fraternity of St. Peter. The Fraternity claimed to be with the pope, with Rome, accepted the Council, accepted the New Mass, etc. The cardinal explained to me why he had to remove Fr. Bisig:

I have nothing against somebody who wants to celebrate only the Old Mass, but Fr. Bisig wanted to make an oath against the New Mass. I cannot accept someone who defies a general law of the Church on paper.

Actually, in fact, the story is that during a kind of reconciliation meeting of the Fraternity of St. Peter [Fr. Bisig] tried to impose on the priests of St. Peter’s a promise to celebrate the New Mass only once a year.

I had been insistent with the cardinal that I did not trust Rome because of what happened to the Fraternity of St. Peter. "You make promises to the Society, but look at what you did to St. Peter’s," I said. Every time he gave a similar response: "Oh, it’s not the same. St. Peter’s is against the New Mass. You are in favor of the Old!" Should we trust such an answer? The cardinal says, "Yes, but..." Yes, but... what? But we are more of a threat than St. Peter’s! Another time he said, "Well, St. Peter’s wasn’t protected." But the cardinal was appointed their protector! It’s like a policeman who would shoot a child and then say, "He didn’t have a bullet-proof vest on." But the job of a policeman is to protect the child, not to shoot him! So, here is Cardinal Hoyos saying they were not protected. So how can the Society expect to be protected?

The cardinal’s position is evident from his interviews such as in 30 Days: "It’s fine to celebrate either Mass, but please don’t pit one against the other. Don’t make use of one against the other." Well, the Society is definitely against the New Mass. We even say that it is "intrinsically evil." That’s a delicate label that needs a little explanation. By this we mean that the New Mass in itself - the New Mass as the New Mass, as it is written - is evil, because as such you find in it the definition of evil. The definition of evil is "the privation of a due good." Something that should be in the New Mass is not there and that’s evil. What is really Catholic has been taken out of the New Mass. The Catholic specification of the Mass has been taken away. That’s enough to say that it is evil. And look at the terrible fruits.

What does Cardinal Castrillon say about whether the New Mass is evil? "No, we cannot say so because the pope has approved it." This reply is a reference to the infallibility of the pope: "The pope has promoted the New Mass, hence the New Mass is infallibly good." That’s the final argument of Rome, and when Rome uses this argument, no discussion is possible. The only discussion that we can start at that point is to question that premise. Clearly, our next step in discussions with Rome will be to question this premise: "Did papal infallibility enter in the promulgation of the New Mass?" It will be delicate, but if we want Rome one day to question some things about the Second Vatican Council, we have to dig in on that point. And we will. We are continuing our studies on the Mass and preparing, so to speak, the next rounds of ammunition.

All this was our first meeting. The cardinal seemed to be happy with my answers. I was really wondering what was going on in his mind. He even had said several times, "We want you to fight against Liberalism, Modernism, and Freemasonry in the Church!" I said, "What am I hearing?!" At the end of the discussion, he asked, "When will you be back in Rome?" I said, "Around January 15th." "Okay, come here, we’ll have a formal meeting, and we’ll sign an agreement." Done. Two weeks. I replied, "No, that’s not possible." He said, "We’ll have a little meeting with the pope and once it’s signed we’ll have a formal meeting with the pope." Without committing myself, I anticipated I would receive a visit around January 15th. Source