Abp. Viganò, Abp. Lefebvre and Sedevacantism

By H.E. Bishop Thomas Aquinas, O.S.B.

Monsignor Viganò was a true hero as soon as he realized, or began to realize, the moral and doctrinal decomposition of the conciliar Church. Unfortunately, he seems to be leaning towards the sedevacantist position. Time will tell what his true position is.

As for Archbishop Lefebvre, he had already begun this fight against the Conciliar Church in circumstances more decisive than today. He had won the confidence of the faithful the world over thanks to the solidity of his training and the superiority of his prudence. His prudence enabled him to avoid both the ralliment of the Ecclesia Dei communities and the error of sedevacantism. With precision, he showed how Dom Gérard and others were committing suicide by placing themselves under the authority of the modernists, and how the sedevacantists, for their part, were placing themselves in a position as uncertain as it was dangerous, by asserting more than the Church's teaching allows.

Some people think that Archbishop Lefebvre would be a sedevacantist today. I don't think so. I even believe the opposite. I believe that the arguments he put forward during his lifetime are still relevant today. His arguments are simple. What becomes of the Church if the popes from John XXIII to Francis are not popes? Are the cardinals they appoint not cardinals? Who will elect the pope? How can we ever have a pope again? This seems to jeopardize the very existence of the Church. The best thing to do is to wait for the judgment the Church will one day issue, which will define and resolve this question.

Faced with the divergence of ideas and procedures within Tradition, I see only one reasonable course of action: to keep and pass on what we have received from Archbishop Lefebvre, both doctrinally and prudentially. But many will say: prudence takes into account the evolution of the situation between the state of the crisis at Archbishop Lefebvre's time and today. Yes, there have been changes, but they are not essential. The essence of the crisis remains the same.

Like the Arian crisis, which lasted some 60 years, this crisis continues without any essential changes. That's why Archbishop Lefebvre's example remains relevant today.

May Our Lady, who defeated all heresies, grant us the grace to overcome the attacks of the devil and the modernists.

+ Thomas Aquinas, O.S.B.