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Quotes of Archbishop Lefebvre: On the Combat for Christ the King

  • "This century of apostasy, without doubt in a different way from the centuries of faith, belongs to Jesus Christ. On the one hand, the apostasy of the great number manifests the heroic fidelity of the small number; it was like this at the time of the prophet Elias in Israel, when God preserved only seven thousand men, who did not bend the knee before Baal [3 Kings 19:18]. Let us therefore not bend the knee before the 'cult of man' [expression of Paul VI], 'established in the sanctuary and sitting as if it were God' [2 Thess. 2:4]. Let us remain Catholics, adorers of the only true God, Our Lord Jesus Christ, with His Father and the Holy Ghost!" (Archbishop Lefebvre, They Have Uncrowned Him. Kansas City: Angelus Press 1988, p. xvii)
  • "What then is the true direction of history? Is there even a direction to history? History is all ordered to a person, who is the center of history and who is Our Lord Jesus Christ, because as St. Paul reveals it:
    'In Him all things have been established in heaven and on earth, things visible and invisible, the thrones, the dominions, the principalities, the powers, all has been created by Him and in Him, and He Himself is before all, and all things have in Him their consistency. He is he head of the body which is the Church, He who is the principle... in order that in all things He hold the first place. For God willed that all the fullness abide in Him; He has willed to reconcile through Him all things with Himself, those which are on earth and those which are in the heavens, by making peace by the blood of His cross.' [Col. 1:17-21]

    "Jesus Christ is therefore the pole of History. History has only one sole law: 'He must reign; ' if He reigns, true progress and prosperity will also reign, which are goods more spiritual than material! If He does not reign, it is decadence, decay, slavery in all its forms, the reign of the Evil One. This is what Holy Scripture promises besides: '[i]The nation and the kingdom that will not serve Thee shall perish, those nations will be entirely destroyed.[/i]' [Isaias 60:12] {Italics in the original} (Archbishop Lefebvre, [i]They Have Uncrowned Him. [/i]Kansas City: Angelus Press 1988, p. 139)
  • “The point of opposition and the reason why there is no possibility of an Agreement [with Modernist Rome] is this; the question is not so much about the Mass, because the Mass is just one consequence of them wanting to get closer to Protestantism, and so they changed the worship, sacraments, catechism, etc. The real fundamental opposition is against the Reign of Our Lord Jesus Christ! … 'Oportet Illum Regnare!' … St. Paul tells us 'Our Lord came to reign, He must reign!' They [the Modernists] say: 'NO!' We say: 'YES!' with all its consequences!” (Abp. Lefebvre, Fideliter No. 70, 1993)
  • “When someone asks if we know when there will be an accord with Rome, my answer is simple: WHEN ROME RE-CROWNS OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST. We cannot be in accord with those who uncrown Our Lord! The day WHEN THEY RECOGNIZE ONCE AGAIN OUR LORD AS KING OF ALL PEOPLES AND NATIONS, it will not be us with whom they have rejoined but the Catholic Church, in which we dwell!” (Archbishop Lefebvre, 1988, Fideliter, No. 68 p. 16)
  • “All those Conciliar Fathers who gave their vote to Dignitatis Humanae and proclaimed Religious Liberty with Paul VI, did they realize that they had in fact uncrowned Our Lord Jesus Christ by tearing away the crown of His Social Royalty? Did they grasp that they had very concretely dethroned Our Lord Jesus Christ from the throne of His Divinity? Did they understand that, making themselves the echo of the apostate nations, they were making those abominable blasphemies rise up towards His throne: We do not want Him to rule over us; We have no king but Caesar?” (Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, They Have Uncrowned Him. Kansas City: Angelus Press, 2003, pp. 211-212)
  • “There will be possibly other manifestations of putting the brakes on by the Vatican; and it is very, very dangerous for us to "rally" ourselves now. No rallying, no rallying to the liberals; no rallying to the ecclesiastics who are governing in the Church now and who are liberals; there is no rallying to these people. From the moment when we rally ourselves, this rallying will be the acceptance of the liberal principles. We cannot do this, even if certain appeasements are given us on the Mass of St. Pius V - certain satisfactions, certain recognitions, certain incardinations, which could even be offered to you eventually... They must give us back everything. They must give up their liberalism, they must come back to the real truth of the Church, to the faith of the Church, to the basic principles of the Church, of this total dependence of society, of families, of individuals on Our Lord Jesus Christ! At that moment when they give us the Mass of all times, very well, then, we are completely in agreement. Then there will be a perfect understanding, we will be able to be recognized, and we will have no more scruples. But as long as one is dealing with people who have made this agreement with the Devil, with liberal ideas, we cannot have any confidence. They will string us along little by little; they will try to catch us in their traps, as long as they have not let go of these false ideas.” (Conference of Archbishop Lefebvre to the priests of the District of France. Dec. 13, 1984)
  • “If ever there were a willingness from Rome to resume discussions, this time, I will be the one to set down the conditions. As Cardinal Oddi said, “Archbishop Lefebvre is in a strong position.” That is why I will demand that the discussions concern doctrinal points. They have to stop with their Ecumenism, they have to bring back the true meaning of the Mass, restore the true definition of the Church, bring back the Catholic meaning of Collegiality, and so on. I expect from them a Catholic, and not a liberal, definition of Religious Liberty. They must accept the encyclical Quas Primas on Christ the King, and the Syllabus (Pius IX). They must accept all this, because this is from now on the condition determining all new discussions between us and them.” (Interview for Controverses, 1989)
  • Fideliter: But there are traditionalists who have made an agreement with Rome without conceding anything.
    Archbishop Lefebvre: "That is false. They have waived their opportunity to oppose Rome. They must remain silent because of the favors that have been granted. Then they start to slip ever so slowly until they end up admitting the errors of Vatican II. It is a very dangerous situation. Such concessions [by] Rome aim only to get the break with the SSPX traditionalists and submit to Rome." (Interview with Fideliter Magazine No. 79, January 1991, shortly before his death in March 1991)
  • “… supposing that Rome calls for a renewed dialogue, then, I will put in conditions. I shall not accept being in the position I was put in during the dialogue. No more. I will place the discussion at the doctrinal level: “Do you agree with the great encyclicals of all the popes who preceded you? Do you agree with Quanta Cura of Pius IX, Immortale Dei and Libertas of Leo X III, Pascendi Gregis of Pius X, Quas Primas of Pius XI, Humani Generis of Pius XII? Are you in full communion with the popes and their teachings? Do you still accept the entire Anti- Modernist Oath? Are you in favor of the social reign of Our Lord Jesus Christ? If you do not accept the doctrine of your predecessors, it is useless to talk! As long as you do not accept the correction of the Council, in consideration of the doctrine of the these popes, your predecessors, no dialogue is possible. It is useless. Thus, the positions will be clear.” (Archbishop Lefebvre, Interview with Fideliter Magazine, Nov.-Dec. 1988)
  • We want to remain united to Jesus Christ, as the Vatican has dethroned the Lord. We want to remain faithful to our Lord King, Prince and Ruler of the world. We cannot change anything in this line of conduct.” (Archbishop Lefebvre, Flavigny, conference, Dec. 1988)
  • "We must build again the Social Reign of Our Lord Jesus Christ in this Christian world which is disappearing. You shall tell me: "But, Monseigneur, this is the fight of David against Goliath!" Yes, indeed, I know. But in his fight against Goliath, David won the victory! How did he win the victory? By a little pebble which he took from the torrent. What is this little stone which we have? Jesus Christ! Our Lord Jesus Christ! We shall say with our ancestors from Vendée:
    "We have no other honor than the honor of Jesus Christ. We have no other fear in the world than to offend Jesus Christ!" They went to their death to defend their God singing this! We also, let us sing with courage, wholeheartedly: "We have no other love than Our Lord Jesus Christ, no other fear than to offend Him!" (Archbishop Lefebvre, 60th Ordination Anniversary Sermon, 1989)

  • "Do not be surprised if we do not come to an understanding with Rome. This is not possible while Rome will not return to faith in the Reign of Our Lord Jesus Christ ... We collided on a point of the Catholic Faith." (Sierre Conference on November 27, 1988; Fideliter No 89)
  • We want to remain united to Jesus Christ, as the Vatican has dethroned the Lord. We want to remain faithful to our Lord King, Prince and Ruler of the world. We cannot change anything in this line of conduct.” (Archbishop Lefebvre, Flavigny, conference, Dec. 1988)

  • "It had to take all the frenzy of the enemies of Jesus Christ to bring them to the point of tearing away His crown, when, in application of the Council of 1962, the innovators suppressed or truncated these three strophes of the hymn from the Vespers of Christ the King:

    The wicked mob screams out,
    "We don't want Christ as King,"
    While we, with shouts of joy, hail
    Thee as the world's supreme King.

    May the rulers of the world
    Publicly honor and extol Thee;
    May the teachers and judges reverence Thee.
    May the laws express Thy order and the arts reflect Thy beauty.

    May kings find renown
    In their submission and dedication to Thee.
    Bring under Thy gentle rule
    Our country and our homes.

    -(Archbishop Lefebvre, They Have Uncrowned Him. Kansas City: Angelus Press 1988, pp. 96-97)
  • "At the risk of repeating myself, I come back to the social kingship of Our Lord Jesus Christ, that dogma of the Catholic faith, which no one can put into doubt without being a heretic: yes, exactly: a heretic!" [Italics in the original]  (Archbishop Lefebvre, They Have Uncrowned Him. Kansas City: Angelus Press 1988, p. 99)
  • "So it is essential for us to have the conviction of this truth of faith: everything, including civil society, has been devised to serve, directly or indirectly, the redeeming plan of Our Lord Jesus Christ." (Archbishop Lefebvre, They Have Uncrowned Him. Kansas City: Angelus Press 1988, p. 101)
  • It is with that that the Holy Ghost inspired the Apostles: the reign of Our Lord Jesus Christ. He is King! He has the right to reign. . .He has the right! And it is an historical fact - His presence in history can no longer be ignored by men; no man can ignore that Our Lord came to save him. And those who know that Our Lord came and, consequently, that God came among men to save us, must accept His reign: the reign of Our Lord. Not only His reign in individuals, in all persons; not only His reign in each one of us: but His reign in the family, in the home. . . but His reign in the State! Ah, here it is something much more difficult: to admit that Our Lord ought to reign over the nations. He is the King of all nations! He it is who will judge - who will judge all princes and kings. (Archbishop Lefebvre, Sermon of Pentecost Sunday 1975)
  • What is this modern man? Who is he? What does he represent, if not often the man who does not believe in Our Lord Jesus Christ, and who does not want to believe in Our Lord Jesus Christ. . .who refuses the reign of Our Lord Jesus Christ. . .who refuses His grace? Men no longer want to believe in the supernatural; they no longer want to believe in the grace of Our Lord. They now believe only in man - in man, who now by his science seems to want to govern the world in the place of God. As for us, we affirm the contrary: the reign of Our Lord Jesus Christ. We want Him to reign: and that is why we adore Him, and seek to adore Him in a manner worthy of Him, worthy of His presence in the Holy Eucharist. That is why we love our ceremonies, why we are attached to this Liturgy which truly expresses what we think in our hearts, what we think in the depths of our souls: that Jesus is present in the Holy Eucharist and that we honour Him as God. He is our King: He has the right to our reverences, He has the right to our genuflections, He has the right to our bows; He has the right to songs worthy of Him, worthy of heaven, which recall the chant of the angels. (Ibid.)
  • We are attacked because we want the reign of Our Lord Jesus Christ, the social reign of Our Lord Jesus Christ; because we affirm as much, because we do all that this reign might be established - that the reign of God, the reign of Our Lord might be established, the reign as well of the Blessed Virgin Mary. That is why we are persecuted; we know it well. (Ibid.)
  • We must refuse to compromise with those who deny the divinity of Our Lord, or with any false ecumenism. We must fight against atheism and laicism in order to help Our Lord to reign over families and over society. We must protect the worship of the Church, the Sacrifice of the Mass, and the sacraments instituted by Our Lord, practicing them according to the rites honored by twenty centuries of tradition.Thus we will properly honor Our Lord, and thus be assured of receiving His grace. ... It is because the novelties which have invaded the Church since the Council diminish the adoration and the honor due to Our Lord, and implicitly throw doubt upon His divinity, that we refuse them. These novelties do not come from the Holy Ghost, nor from His Church, but from those who are imbued with the spirit of Modernism, and with all the errors which convey this spirit, condemned with so much courage and energy by St. Pius X. This holy Pope said to the bishops of France with regard to the Sillon movement: “The true friends of the people are neither revolutionaries nor innovators, but the men of tradition.”(Letter to Friends and Benefactors, April 1980)
  • His reign must be established on earth as it is in heaven. It is He himself who said so in the prayer that he taught us, the Our Father: “Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven”. And this must be the object of our prayers, the intention of our sufferings, and the purpose of our life. We must have no rest until Our Lord’s reign is established. A Catholic whose heart is not animated by this profound desire is not a Catholic. He is not one of the faithful of Our Lord Jesus Christ. It suffices to re-read these lines “Now at last in these times He has spoke to us, with a Son to speak for Him; a Son whom He has appointed to inherit all things, just as it was through Him that He created this world of time” (Heb, 1:2). (Archbishop Lefebvre, The Mass of All Time, Chapter 5: Angelus Press 2007, as quoted from here.)
  • Our Lord Jesus Christ is King now. All power has been given to Him in heaven and on earth. “Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven,” says Our Lord. If, then, Our Lord’s will must be done on earth , it means that His law, the Decalogue, must be applied on earth as it is in heaven. We must profess this even if churchmen want no more of it. This what is dividing the Church at present . As for us, we want Our Lord’s honour and the social kingship of Our Lord Jesus Christ, which must be applied universally. We will fight for this, and we will do our utmost to crown Jesus Christ King. Because we speak of the social reign of Our Lord, we are accused of engaging in politics, then we want to do so, because we want Our Lord Jesus Christ to rule over us. We do not want to be governed by men who are not subject to Our Lord. If only all our rulers understood that they must be subject to Our Lord Jesus Christ, who is the King of Kings, the Lord of lords! He is the King. He could have been the King on earth and continue to govern us. But He will be one day, when He descends upon the clouds in the heavens. Everyone will have to render and account to this King and Judge. (Ibid.)
  • Meanwhile, today, we want authorities, leaders, who know that they will render an account to God for the exercise of their power and their government. For we love to be subject to persons who do not believe themselves to be the authors of all power. Even if they have been elected by the people, the people do not have power; the people are not God. The people can designate the one who will exercise authority, but it does not give the authority; authority comes from God: “there is no power but from God,” says St Paul (Rom.13:1). This is the greatness of authority. This is the true foundation of the power of authority, whether civil or paternal. Paternal authority comes from God. Children know that when they are subject to their parents, they are at the same time subject to God. How beautiful this is; how well God has made things! But how men destroy them! (Ibid.)
  • We do not want to be subject uniquely to men who will do with us what they will. We would not be allowed to think except as these men think. We would not be allowed to act except as these men want us to act. No, we want to be subject to God, yes, we are willing to be subject. That is what we think and what we want. We want to belong to Our Lord Jesus Christ, who is our King. (Ibid.)


Quotes from Other Clergy on the Combat for the Reign of Christ the King
  • "The heresy of our time is the rejection of the social reign of Jesus Christ. From all sides the cry of the Gospel parable resounds: "Nolumus hunc regnare super nos.–We will not have this man to reign over us." Not only are laws no longer made in His name or in conformity with His Gospel, they are made against Him. He is the enemy, and war is declared against Him from every side in the domains of doctrine and action..... (Buatier, Sacrifice in Catholic Dogma [French], p. 114)
  • Meanwhile, He exercises over all nations the royal power, which he received, as Man, on the Day of his Ascension. He redeemed us all by his Blood; we are therefore his people, and he is our King. He is, and he calls himself, King of Kings and Lord of Lords. (Apocalypse 19:16) The kings of the earth reign not either by their own prowess, or by the boasted social compact; they lawfully reign by Christ alone. Peoples and nations are not their own masters; they belong to Christ and are his subjects. His law requires no sanction from man; it is above all human laws, and should be their guide and controller. Why have the nations raged, and the people devised vain things? The kings of the earth stood up, and the princes met together, against the Lord and against his Christ. They said: Let us break their bonds asunder, and let us cast away their yoke from us. (Psalm 2:1-3) How vain all these efforts! for, as the Apostle says, he must reign, until he hath put all his enemies under his feet, (1 Corinthians 15:25) that is, until his second coming, when the pride of man and Satan’s power shall both be at an end.

    "Thus, then, the Son of Man, crowned at his Ascension, must reign over the world to the end of time. But, it will be objected: “How can he be said to reign in these our times, when Kings and Emperors and Presidents acknowledge that their authority comes from the people; and when the people themselves, carried away with the ideas of self-government and liberty and independence, have lost all idea of authority?” And yet, he reigns; he reigns in his justice, since men refused to be guided by his clemency. They expunged his law from their statutes; they gave the rights of citizenship to error and blasphemy: then did he deliver them up, both people and rulers, to their own follies and lies. Authority and power are become ephemeral: and as they scorn to receive the consecration of the Church, the hand that holds them to-day, may be empty tomorrow. Then anarchy, then a new ruler, and then a fresh revolution. This will be the future, as it is the present, history of Nations, until they once more acknowledge Jesus as their King, and resume the constitution of the ages of faith: “It is Christ that conquers! it is Christ that reigns! it is Christ that commands! May Christ preserve his people from all evil!” - Dom Prosper Gueranger, The Liturgical Year, Sunday within the Octave of the Ascension

  • Were the Church’s plight a hundred times worse, a hundred times more cruel, it is still the Lord who is forever Master and King. It is to Him that all power has been given; it is before Him that every knee must bow in heaven, on earth, and under the earth, including those in this kind of hell, for the moment painless, which is the modernist sect. Its harmfulness cannot extend beyond the strict limits set by the Lord, and the Lord only grants it a certain power to obscure, to falsify, and to scandalize in thousands of ways, only for the good of the elect and to augment the gracious splendor of His Church. We ought not to be fearful, but rather persevere with confidence in the Church of always, the everlasting Church, the Church of all time. (Fr. Roger Calmel,  Apologia, Itinéraires, No. 151, March 1971, pp. 104-111.)