Marcel Lefebvre > Quotes

“This is why I persist, and if you wish to know the real reason for my persistence, it is this. At the hour of my death, when Our Lord asks me: "What have you done with your episcopate, what have you done with your episcopal and priestly grace?" I do not want to hear from his lips the terrible words "You have helped to destroy the Church along with the rest of them." (p. 163)”
― Marcel Lefebvre, Open Letter to Confused Catholics

“God does not punish, just as the Church no longer condemns, except those who stay faithful to Tradition. (p. 61)”
― Marcel Lefebvre, Open Letter to Confused Catholics

“From such an extravegent summary, we can draw only one conclusion: either we must condemn the Second Vatican Council which authorized it, or we must condemn the Council of Trent and all the Popes who, since the sixteenth century, have declared Protestantism heretical and schismatic.”
― Marcel Lefebvre, Open Letter to Confused Catholics

“It is imperative then to return to the traditions of the Church, to the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass of all times, to the Sacraments of all times, and to the adoration and love of our Lord Jesus Christ who is the only way to salvation.”
― Marcel Lefebvre, Luther's Reform and the Modern Mass

“I accept the Rome of all time with its doctrine and with its Faith. That is the Rome we are following, but the Modernist Rome which is changing religion? I refuse it and I reject it. And that is the Rome which was introduced into the Council and which is in the process of destroying the Church. I refuse that Church.”
― Marcel Lefebvre

“I want to be and to stay Catholic. So why am I required to suppress our seminary? Why am I required to suppress our Sacerdotal Fraternity of Saint Pius X? Why am I required not to perform these ordinations? There is only one reason: to bring me into line with this policy. They want me to lend a hand in this destruction of the Church, to join in this communion which, for the Church, is adultery. I will not be an adulterer. I will Keep my Catholic Faith!

That is why I refuse. I refuse to collaborate in the destruction of the Church. I refuse to collaborate in loss of faith, in the general apostasy. I know perfectly well that if I do not perform these ordinations, if I stop, I shall be given nothing.

Ordination sermon of June 29, 1977”
― Marcel Lefebvre

“It was intended that Catholics and Protestants draw closer together, but it is evident that Catholics have become Protestants, rather than the reverse.

The New Mass itself was a Protestant conception and leads to Protestantism, and it is for that reason that we cannot conceive the possibility of using it in our seminaries.

The definition of the Mass as given in the Introduction of the Novus Ordo Missae is clearly a Protestant one, and this, in itself, is inadmissible and inconceivable! Henceforth, the emphasis will be on the Supper, the Meal, and no longer on the Sacrifice.

This shift of emphasis must of necessity lead - and is already leading - to the destruction of Catholic Doctrine which rests upon the Sacrifice of the Cross continued on the altar. It will lead to loss of faith in the Real Presence, and to the ruin of the Catholic priesthood. This alone would suffice to justify our emphatic rejection of the Reform. This means that no compromise whatever can be consented to in this regard. It means also that those who have taken the Mass along that road bear a heavy burden of responsibility.”
― Marcel Lefebvre, Luther's Reform and the Modern Mass

“These, then, are the reasons why we cannot accept compromises concerning Econe. Whatever may be said to us, we shall not agree to abandon the Tradition of the Church. We shall not agree to separate ourselves from all the Popes who have spoken since the Council of Trent or from the Council of Trent. We prefer to be with the Popes of four centuries than be with the present Roman Curia, which wants and institutes all kinds of novelties and thus tends to make us Protestants and Modernists. We do not want that and we are persuaded that, in so acting with the Pope. For the Pope cannot be against Tradition. It is impossible. (lecture given September 9, 1975 in Vienna, Austria)”
― Marcel Lefebvre, Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre Collected Works Volume 2

“Tous les papes ont refusé le mariage de l’Eglise avec la révolution, qui est une union adultère et d’une union adultère ne peuvent venir que des bâtards.”
― Marcel Lefebvre, Open Letter to Confused Catholics

“This is why I persist, and if you wish to know the real reason for my persistence, it is this. At the hour of my death, when Our Lord asks me: “What have you done with your episcopate, what have you done with your episcopal and priestly grace?” I do not want to hear from His lips the terrible words “You have helped to destroy the Church along with the rest of them.”
― Marcel Lefebvre, Open Letter to Confused Catholics

“We can never show enough reverence, nor ever worship the Eucharist with adequately heartfelt veneration. That is why throughout the ages it has been the custom in the Church to receive the Holy Eucharist kneeling. We should receive the Holy Eucharist prostrate and not standing. Are we the equals of Our Lord Jesus Christ? Is it not He who will come upon the clouds of heaven to be our Judge? When we see Our Lord Jesus Christ, shall we not do as did the Apostles on Thabor when they prostrated themselves on the ground in terror and wonder at the greatness and splendor of Our Lord Jesus Christ? Let us keep in our hearts and souls that spirit of worship, that spirit of profound reverence for Him who created us, for Him who redeemed us, for Him who died on the Cross for our sins.”
― Marcel Lefebvre, The Mass of All Time

“I can hear them say: "You exaggerate! There are many good bishops who pray, who have the Faith, who are edifying . . ." They may have been saints, but as soon as they accept the false religious liberty, hence the secular State; false ecumenism, and hence the admission of many ways of salvation; liturgical reform, and hence the practical negation of the Sacrifice of the Mass; the catechism with all their errors and heresies - they are officially contributing to the revolution within the Church and to its destruction!

The current Pope and bishops no longer hand down Our Lord Jesus Christ, but rather a sentimental superficial, charismatic religiosity, through which, as a general rule, the true grace of the Holy Ghost no longer passes. This new religion is not the Catholic religion; it is sterile, incapable of sanctifying society and the family.”
― Marcel Lefebvre, Spiritual Journey

“La Vérité, d’ailleurs, ne se fait pas dans le nombre, le nombre ne fait pas la Vérité.”
― Marcel Lefebvre, Open Letter to Confused Catholics

“I will limit my enumeration of the errors to these: I do not say that everything is bad in this Council, that there are not some fine texts to meditate on. Contrarily, I assert, with the evidence in my hands, that there are some documents that are dangerous and even erroneous, which show liberal tendencies, and modernist tendencies, which afterwards inspired the reforms which are now bringing the Church down to the ground.”
― Marcel Lefebvre, They Have Uncrowned Him

“La foi s’établissait sur des certitudes. En ébranlant celles-ci, on a semé la perplexité.”
― Marcel Lefebvre, Open Letter to Confused Catholics

“I owe it to truth to say and affirm without fear of error that the Mass codified by St. Pius V - and not invented by him, as some often say - expresses clearly these three realities: sacrifice, Real Presence, and the priesthood of the clergy . . . The established customs have not been made at random, they cannot be overthrown abruptly abolished with impunity.”
― Marcel Lefebvre

“Now it was during the Council that the enemies of the Church infiltrated her, and their first objective was to demolish and destroy the Mass insofar as they could. you can read the books of Michael Davies, an English Catholic, who has written magnificent works which demonstrate how the liturgical reform of Vatican II closely resemble that produced under Cranmer at the birth of English Protestantism. If one reads the history of that liturgical transformation, made also by Luther, one sees that now it is exactly the same procedure which is being slowly followed and to all appearances, still apparently good and Catholic. But is just that character of the Mass which is sacrificial and redemptive of sim, through the Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ, which they have removed. They have made of the Mass a simple assembly, one among others, merely presided over by the priest. That is not the Mass! (Jubilee Sermon of September 1979)”
― Marcel Lefebvre, Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre Collected Works Volume 1

“I have seen articles written by the bishops' conference of Holland about means of salvation in non-Christian religions. It is insanity to make that kind of statement. There are no means of salvation outside the Catholic religion and outside our Lord Jesus Christ. There is no salvation outside the Church. It is a dogma of our faith. Why? Because there are no supernatural graces except those that come through the Church.”
― Marcel Lefebvre, A bishop speaks

“The reason so many people hesitate to go on retreat is that they are afraid of having light shed on their soul and being obligated to correct something in themselves. It is a sad thing. So they have a life of superficiality, a life of distraction, a life of noise, to avoid coming face to face with themselves. The voice of God begins to speak the minute we are alone with our conscience. And there are souls who do not want to hear that voice because it is going to tell them something they might be doing wrong . . . They prefer to live in a state of distraction, in the constant commotion of the world.”
― Marcel Lefebvre

“One of the most horrifying practical applications of these liberal principles is the laying of the Church open to all errors, particularly the most monstrous error ever thought up by Satan - communism. Communism now has official access to the Vatican and its world revolution is made markedly easier by the official non-resistance of the Church, nay, by her regular support of the revolution, despite the despairing warnings of cardinals who have been through communist jails.

The refusal by this pastoral Council to issue any official condemnation of communism alone suffices to disgrace it for all time, when one remembers the tens of millions of martyrs, of people having their personalities scientifically destroyed in psychiatric hospitals, serving as guinea pigs for all sorts of experiments. And the pastoral Council which brought together 2,350 Bishops said not a word, in spite of the 450 signatures of Fathers demanding a condemnation, which I myself took to Mgr. Felici, secretary of the Council, together with Mgr. Sigaud, Archbishop of Diamantina.”
― Marcel Lefebvre, A bishop speaks

“It is obvious that if many bishops had acted like Msgr. de Castro Mayer, Bishop of Campos in Brazil, the ideological revolution within the Church could have been limited, because we must not be afraid to affirm that the current Roman authorities, since John XXIII and Paul VI, have made themselves active collaborators of international Freemasonry and of world socialism. John Paul II is above all a communist-loving politician at the service of a world communism retaining a hint of religion. He openly attacks all of the anti-communist governments and does not bring, by his travels, any Catholic revival.

These conciliar Roman authorities cannot but oppose savagely and violently any reaffirmation of the traditional Magisterium. The errors of the Council and its reforms remain the official standard consecrated by the Profession of Faith of Cardinal Ratzinger in March 1989.”
― Marcel Lefebvre, Spiritual Journey

“L’obéissance aveugle n’est pas catholique ; nul n’est exempt de responsabilité pour avoir obéi aux hommes plutôt qu’à Dieu, en acceptant des ordres d’une autorité supérieure, fût-ce du pape, s’ils se révèlent contraires à la volonté de Dieu telle que la Tradition nous la fait connaître avec certitude.”
― Marcel Lefebvre, Open Letter to Confused Catholics

“What was the orientation of the Church for twenty centuries if not that Our Lord Jesus Christ alone is our King? Our Lord Jesus Christ alone is the way to heaven and the road to salvation. As Our Lord Himself said: "I am the Way, I am the Truth, I am the Life. Nobody can enter the sheepfold unless they enter through Me, the door. Ego sum ostium. I am the door to the sheepfold." That means, "I am the door of heaven. Nobody can enter heaven without going through Me." This is what the Church has always taught. And that is why the Church sent missionaries everywhere, into the whole world to say to the Moslems, the Protestants, the pagans, and all those who do not know Our Lord or who fight against Jesus Christ; there is only one way that you can be saved, that you can save your souls: Our Lord Jesus Christ. And so evidently those who directed these religions seized those missionaries and massacred them; they spilled the blood of the missionaries, the Apostles. All the Apostles were martyrs. Why? Because they heralded Our Lord Jesus Christ, they wished to destroy these religions which were enslaving souls and leading them to hell. So the Apostles said: "No, you must no longer believe in all these false divinities, come to Our Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved. He alone is Savior, He alone is salvation. Tu solus altissimus, Tu solus Dominus, Jesu Christe:Thou alone art Most High, Thou alone art Lord, Jesus Christ." We sing this in the Gloria. This is the true orientation of the Church. (sermon given August 25, 1985 Flueli, Switzerland)”
― Marcel Lefebvre, Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre Collected Works Volume 3

“Why does the Church exist on this earth, if not to propagate the Kingship of Our Lord Jesus Christ, to bring by means of this Kingship Christian civilization, the only visible civilization? There is nothing outside of Our Lord Jesus Christ. St. Peter said it: "Non est in alio aliquo salus. There is no other name on earth given for our salvation but that of Our Lord Jesus Christ." Consequently, if a State is Catholic, if the head of a government is Catholic, if 98% of a population is Catholic, it is the duty of the head of State to refuse the other religions, to allow them merely a certain tolerance, if he cannot do otherwise, but to guard the Faith, the Faith that is the source of the salvation of every soul and, as a result, to contribute to the work of the Church in keeping souls united to Our Lord and of saving them for eternity. That is the role of every Catholic head of a Catholic state; that is what the Church has always taught. (Conference at Barcelona, Spain, December 29, 1975)”
― Marcel Lefebvre, Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre Collected Works Volume 3

“Certainly, I am taken as a reactionary, as an "ultra-traditionalist", as someone who impedes reform - and it is true! I am hindering reform. Yes, indeed, for I do not accept it! I consider this reform a reform to destroy the Church. I think that I have showed you this. It is, therefore, clear that it is for this that I am attacked by Rome, by this power of subversion that is found there. I have been asked to close my seminary; I have been asked to send away all my seminarians. In conscience, however, I think that I must say that I will not collaborate in the destruction of the Church; I cannot collaborate in the destruction of the Church!”
― Marcel Lefebvre, Liberalism

“Religious Liberty as spoken of by the Popes was liberty of religion, not religions; these two concepts are not at all the same. The Popes have always affirmed that there must be liberty of religion, but not of all religions without distinction. There was tolerance of error and thus of other religions, but not at all the same rights for both truth and error. Pius VII treated this question very clearly. he protested to King Louis XVIII over the establishment in France of liberty of cults or religions, which had not existed before. "Insofar even as on decrees the liberty of every cult without distinction, one confounds truth and error and places at the same level with sects and faithless Judaism the holy and immaculate Bride of Christ, outside of which there is no salvation." So spoke Pius VII, and so have spoken all the Popes. One cannot put all religions on the same footing.”
― Marcel Lefebvre, Liberalism

“I am asked how it is that I can refuse orders which come from Rome. Indeed, these orders do come from Rome, but which Rome? I believe in the Eternal Rome, the Rome of the Sovereign Pontiffs, the Rome which dispenses the very life of the Church, the Rome which transmits the true Tradition of the Church. I am considered disobedient, but I am moved to ask, why have those who are issuing orders which in themselves are blameworthy been given their authority? The Pope, the cardinals, the bishops, the priests have been given their authority for the purpose of transmitting life, the spiritual life, the supernatural life, eternal life, just as parents and society as a whole have been given their authority to transmit and protect life. The word "authority" itself is from the Latin, "auctoritas', and "auctor" which means "author", author of life. We have authority insofar as we transmit and sustain life. We are not authorized to transmit death, society is not permitted to pass laws which authorize abortion, because abortion is death. In like manner, the Pope, the cardinals, the bishops, and the priests exist as such to transmit and sustain spiritual life. Unfortunately, it is apparent that many of them today no longer transmit or sustain life, but rather authorize spiritual abortion.”
― Marcel Lefebvre, I. The Catholic Mass II. Luther's Mass III. The Essentials of our Faith

“p. 8, line 33: It is said:
The Holy Ghost does not refuse to make use of those churches and communities.

This statement contains an error: A community, insofar as it is a separated community, cannot enjoy the assistance of the Holy Ghost. He can only act directly upon souls or use such means as, of themselves, bear no signs of separation.”
― Marcel Lefebvre, I Accuse the Council

“We ought to remember during this entire contemplation of God that we must apply all that is said of God to Our Lord Jesus Christ, who is God. We cannot separate Jesus Christ from God. We cannot separate the Christian religion from Jesus Christ, who is God, and we must affirm and believe that only the Catholic religion is the Christian religion. These affirmations have, as a result, inescapable conclusions that no ecclesiastical authority can contest: outside of Jesus Christ and the Catholic religion, that is, outside the Church, there is no salvation, no eternal life. Whoever is saved attains to everlasting life by his adhesion to the Mystical Body of Christ.

Another consequence: all of the societies Our Lord created must necessarily work together, in accordance with their entire purpose, to make souls Catholic and to keep them Catholic, in order to procure their eternal salvation, which is the end of all Creation, of the Incarnation, and of the Redemption.”
― Marcel Lefebvre, Spiritual Journey

“This, of course, is very simple for us who are Catholics. This is our Faith, the Faith we have always been taught, and yet, in our own time, how many Catholics still accept this truth, that salvation comes to all men through Jesus Christ, that outside of Christ there is no salvation? I find it extraordinary that Catholics should question the age old adage, "no salvation outside the Church". This is precisely the most important question facing mankind today, just as it has been in every age. Indeed there is nothing more vital to man than for him to know how he is to be saved, by whom he is to be saved, and in what manner he is to be saved. Can there possibly be a question of greater moment for those who inhabit the earth?

Now it is quite certain that when we proclaim today that there is "no salvation outside the Church", many Catholics rise up incredulously and affirm that this is nonsense, that otherwise those not in the Church must be condemned to Hell. The fact is, however, that this remains a crucial tenant to all mankind. As Catholics we are bound to affirm what the Church has always affirmed, because the Church is the repository of all truth; the Sone of God was made man to be crucified for the salvation of all men. Can there possibly be any other source of salvation outside of the Son of God, Our Lord Jesus Christ? Can we as Catholics accept that Luther, Buddha, or Mohammed are also means of eternal salvation? Are they also in Heaven seated at the right hand of God? Yet today, despite the absurdity, many Catholics no longer accept that there is "no salvation outside the Church".”
― Marcel Lefebvre, I. The Catholic Mass II. Luther's Mass III. The Essentials of our Faith