What Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre said about the social rule of Christ.
For, after all, what do we say each day when we pray?
"Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in
heaven". And in the "Gloria" of the Mass? "Thou alone
art the Lord, Jesus Christ". We sing that, but as soon as
we get outside we say, "Oh no, these ideas are out of date:
impossible to think of talking about the Kingdom of
Christ in the world of today." We are living a contradiction.
Are we Christians or not?
Nations are struggling with insoluble difficulties.
There is endless war in many areas, and all mankind
trembles in contemplating the possibility of a nuclear
catastrophe. Solutions are sought that will restore the
economy, stabilize money, eliminate unemployment, and
make industry prosperous. Well, even from the economic
point of view, it is necessary that Christ should reign,
because that means the reign of love and of the commandments
of God, which ensure a balance in society
and bring justice and peace. Is it a Christian attitude to
set one's hopes on this or that politician, or combination
of parties, in the hope that eventually one programme or
another will definitely and finally solve our problems,
when the one and only Lord is deliberately excluded as if
He had nothing to do with human affairs? What sort of a
faith have people who live their lives in two compartments
with a rigid barrier separating their religion from
all their political, professional and other preoccupations?
Is not God, who created heaven and earth, able to solve
our wretched material and social problems? If you have
ever prayed yourself in difficult moments of your life, you
will know by experience that He does not give stones when
His children ask Him for bread.
The Christian social order is at the opposite pole to the
Marxist ideas which, in whatever part of the world they
have been applied, have never brought anything but
misery, oppression of the weakest, contempt for man,
and death. Christian social order respects private
property, protects the family against corrupting
influences, and encourages large families and the
presence of the mother in the home. It allows private
enterprise a proper independance, and encourages
medium and small businesses. It is in favour of a return to
the land and appreciates agriculture at its true value. It
supports professional associations, freedom of education,
and the protection of the citizens against every form of
subversion and revolution.
This Christian order is quite different also from those
liberal systems based on the separation of Church and
State, whose powerlessness to overcome crises becomes
increasingly obvious. How could it be otherwise when
they have deliberately cut themselves off from Him who is
"the light of men"? How could they muster the energies
of their citizens when they have no ideal to put to them
beyond prosperity and comfort? They have been able to
maintain an illusion for some time because the people
have retained Christian habits of thinking and their
rulers have more or less consciously kept some values. But
at a time when everything is being questioned, these
implicit references to the Will of God fade away. Liberal
systems, when they are left to themselves and are no
longer motivated by any higher idea, become exhausted
and fall an easy prey to subversive ideologies.
To speak, then, of the Christian social order is not to
cling to an out-moded past. On the contrary, it is a standpoint
for the future which you should not hesitate to
adopt. You are not fighting a rear-guard action; you are
among those who know what's what because they take
their lessons from Him who said, "I am the Way, the
Truth and the Life". We have the advantage of
possessing the truth. It is not our doing, we must not be
conceited about it; but we must act accordingly. The
possession of the truth is the. advantage the Church has
over error. It is up to her, helped by the grace of God, to
spread it, and not timidly hide it under a bushel.
The solution that we seek must bring the answer not
only to the failure of Marxism but also to the failure of
Christian Democracy, which no longer needs proof.
There has been more than enough of compromise and of
unnatural unions. What is it we are fishing for in these
muddy waters? The Catholic holds the real key-idea; and
his duty is to work with all his might, either personally in
politics or by his vote, to provide his country with representatives,
both at the local and at the national level, who
are resolved to re-establish a Christian social order, such
as is alone capable of bringing peace, justice and true
liberty. There is no other solution.
Excerpts from His book : An Open Letter to Confused Catholics,
Chapter 21. pg 156 to 157 and 159.
"Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in
heaven". And in the "Gloria" of the Mass? "Thou alone
art the Lord, Jesus Christ". We sing that, but as soon as
we get outside we say, "Oh no, these ideas are out of date:
impossible to think of talking about the Kingdom of
Christ in the world of today." We are living a contradiction.
Are we Christians or not?
Nations are struggling with insoluble difficulties.
There is endless war in many areas, and all mankind
trembles in contemplating the possibility of a nuclear
catastrophe. Solutions are sought that will restore the
economy, stabilize money, eliminate unemployment, and
make industry prosperous. Well, even from the economic
point of view, it is necessary that Christ should reign,
because that means the reign of love and of the commandments
of God, which ensure a balance in society
and bring justice and peace. Is it a Christian attitude to
set one's hopes on this or that politician, or combination
of parties, in the hope that eventually one programme or
another will definitely and finally solve our problems,
when the one and only Lord is deliberately excluded as if
He had nothing to do with human affairs? What sort of a
faith have people who live their lives in two compartments
with a rigid barrier separating their religion from
all their political, professional and other preoccupations?
Is not God, who created heaven and earth, able to solve
our wretched material and social problems? If you have
ever prayed yourself in difficult moments of your life, you
will know by experience that He does not give stones when
His children ask Him for bread.
The Christian social order is at the opposite pole to the
Marxist ideas which, in whatever part of the world they
have been applied, have never brought anything but
misery, oppression of the weakest, contempt for man,
and death. Christian social order respects private
property, protects the family against corrupting
influences, and encourages large families and the
presence of the mother in the home. It allows private
enterprise a proper independance, and encourages
medium and small businesses. It is in favour of a return to
the land and appreciates agriculture at its true value. It
supports professional associations, freedom of education,
and the protection of the citizens against every form of
subversion and revolution.
This Christian order is quite different also from those
liberal systems based on the separation of Church and
State, whose powerlessness to overcome crises becomes
increasingly obvious. How could it be otherwise when
they have deliberately cut themselves off from Him who is
"the light of men"? How could they muster the energies
of their citizens when they have no ideal to put to them
beyond prosperity and comfort? They have been able to
maintain an illusion for some time because the people
have retained Christian habits of thinking and their
rulers have more or less consciously kept some values. But
at a time when everything is being questioned, these
implicit references to the Will of God fade away. Liberal
systems, when they are left to themselves and are no
longer motivated by any higher idea, become exhausted
and fall an easy prey to subversive ideologies.
To speak, then, of the Christian social order is not to
cling to an out-moded past. On the contrary, it is a standpoint
for the future which you should not hesitate to
adopt. You are not fighting a rear-guard action; you are
among those who know what's what because they take
their lessons from Him who said, "I am the Way, the
Truth and the Life". We have the advantage of
possessing the truth. It is not our doing, we must not be
conceited about it; but we must act accordingly. The
possession of the truth is the. advantage the Church has
over error. It is up to her, helped by the grace of God, to
spread it, and not timidly hide it under a bushel.
The solution that we seek must bring the answer not
only to the failure of Marxism but also to the failure of
Christian Democracy, which no longer needs proof.
There has been more than enough of compromise and of
unnatural unions. What is it we are fishing for in these
muddy waters? The Catholic holds the real key-idea; and
his duty is to work with all his might, either personally in
politics or by his vote, to provide his country with representatives,
both at the local and at the national level, who
are resolved to re-establish a Christian social order, such
as is alone capable of bringing peace, justice and true
liberty. There is no other solution.
Excerpts from His book : An Open Letter to Confused Catholics,
Chapter 21. pg 156 to 157 and 159.