Archbishop Lefebvre and the Vatican by Fr. François Laisney [1988]

[Stone]

May 5, 1988

Draft of a Letter Given to Archbishop Lefebvre for the Holy Father

Fr. Klemens, secretary to Cardinal Ratzinger, gave to Archbishop Lefebvre, with the Protocol, a draft of the following letter which the Cardinal wanted Archbishop Lefebvre to write to the Pope:


Most Holy Father,

I have learned with joy that you have favorably received the declaration made in my name and in the name of the Priestly Society of Saint Pius X—in which is expressed our adhesion to the Church and to the Roman Pontiff—as well as the proposals drafted during the recent dialogues between Cardinal Ratzinger and myself, in order to give to the Society a regular canonical status in full communion with the Apostolic See.

It seems to me that the moment has arrived to present to Your Holiness the humble but pressing request that the agreement which we reached be now implemented so that my personal situation and that of the Society be normalized for the good of holy Church.

Most Holy Father, it is this good of the Church that I have pursued in all conscience in the sight of God during these past years through much suffering. However, I know that even in good faith, one can make mistakes. Therefore, I humbly ask you to forgive all that in my behavior or that of the Society may have hurt the Vicar of Christ or the Church, and on my part, I forgive from the depth of my heart what I had to suffer.

Lastly, I wish to express my gratitude for the intention that you manifested to take into account the particular situation of the Society, proposing to nominate a bishop chosen from its members, and especially in charge of providing for its specific needs. Of course, I leave to Your Holiness the decision concerning the person to be chosen and the opportune moment. May I just express the wish that this be not in the too distant future?

With confidence putting all these matters into your hands, please, would you deign to receive the homage of my filial and deeply respectful sentiments in Jesus and Mary.

✠ ✠ ✠

In his own hand writing, Archbishop Lefebvre corrected the third and fourth paragraphs of this draft but never sent even the corrected letter. The two questionable paragraphs were corrected as follows:

“Most Holy Father, it is this good of the Church that I have pursued in all conscience in the sight of God during these past years. However, if in my behavior or that of the Society we may have pained you, we are deeply sorry.”

“Lastly, I wish to express my gratitude for the intention that you manifested to take into account the particular situation of the Society, proposing to nominate a bishop chosen from its members, and especially in charge of providing for its specific needs. Of course, I leave to Your Holiness the decision concerning the person to be chosen from among the names submitted to your judgment.”

You will notice that, by upholding the Tradition of the Church, His Grace does not consider that he hurt the Successor of Peter as such. It is only as a private person that Pope John Paul II may have been pained by the strong stand of Archbishop Lefebvre. You will also notice that the vague expression regarding the date has been deleted (i.e., “May I just express the wish that this be not in the too distant future?”).