03-24-2021, 10:29 AM
Taken from The Recusant - Issue 43 [September/October 2017]
We can only apologise for a curious set of circumstances which prevented us from bringing this extraordinary account to the attention of a wider audience sooner. Not a great deal has changed since, except perhaps the episcopal consecration of Fr. Zendejas.
1. Extract from a Conference given by Fr. Rafael, 27th April, 2017 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LXM8dWCeu_0)
“So we ended up in Columbia from June 2013, where a property to was offered to me, halfbuilt. And for three years we were working on this property. At one point we were nine monks. The turning point came in 2016, after having built the second floor which was almost finished. And the turning point was when Bishop Tomas Aquinas stopped supporting me. The only reason was [my] attacking the New Mass and the new SSPX, and this went against the line of Bishop Williamson, because he still thinks there’s something good in the New Mass and in the SSPX, that we have to consider them as Catholic still. So I ended up being stripped of monks and of support, and being interfered with in my internal affairs. They even called the Police to chase me away and keep me away from my property. So I decided to go to Ecuador and was there for eight months. […]
I would summarise them [the Fake Resistance] as being tolerant in doctrine and intolerant in charity, as opposed to what Cardinal Pie said, that we have to be intolerant in doctrine and tolerant in charity [i.e. tolerant of persons]. […]
First Dom Tomas Aquinas said that there is something good in the New Mass. And when I contested it, he said ‘You have to understand it according to the circumstances.’ So he was being evasive. And when we spoke about the SSPX, and that we have to avoid it completely, he told me ‘You are right. But we cannot follow you, because I follow the line of Bishop Williamson.’
Concerning Fr. Zendejas, when I went to visit him in New York, las July [2016], I asked him two main things. First I asked him what advice I should give to my own brother who is a Society of St. Pius X priest, in order to help him leave the liberal new SSPX. And Fr. Zendejas answered me, ‘Just leave him where he is. He should stay inside the SSPX. I think that this is the best he can do.’ And also, speaking about the topic of whether the New Mass give grace or not, he said the following: ‘Of course there is grace at the Novus Ordo Mass. I don’t understand how the Catholic Candle thinks otherwise!’ So he said to me: ‘You should leave the Pfeiffers [sic] alone. Don’t stay with them. And then we can organise a collection
for your monastery in South America. If you do otherwise, we can easily crush you.’ In fact they told me, if I remained with the Fake Resistance they would give me back my monastery after having a retreat for three months. […]
I was shocked by that. But as I told you, I have seen lack of charity and lack of doctrine in this attitude of the Fake Resistance. ‘Fr. Pfeiffer is going down, we’re going up! And we will crush whatever is left!’ basically. I was shocked by that. And he told me: ‘If I had known that you were so rigid, I would not have invited you to visit me here in New York!’ […]
The closer something false is to the truth in appearance, we have to avoid it completely. So I would have to say we have to avoid now completely the Fake Resistance with Bishop Williamson and the other three bishops, and take from them the flag of Christ the King. And that includes also the SSPX and those who are silent about so many errors. Our Lord says ‘He who confesses me before men, I will confess him before my Father.’ ”
2. Extract from a sermon by Fr. David Hewko, 30th April, 2017 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kITzYhrMf08)
“We also learned from Fr. Rafael, he had visited, he was invited to visit Fr. Zendejas last year (2016), and Fr. Zendejas told him, ‘Look we will give you money, we’ll give you buildings, we’ll give you support, just side with Bishop Williamson. Just recant your condemnation of the New Mass and saying that it doesn't give grace.’ Fr. Rafael said, ‘What are you talking about? The New Mass is deadly! How can we possibly compromise on the New Mass?’ So Fr. Zendejas told him ‘If you don't come with us’ - meaning the Fake Resistance, which is like FSSP of 1988, but now in 2015, 2016, 2017 - Fr. Zendejas threatened him and said, ‘If you do not come with us, we will CRUSH you! And we are going to CRUSH Fr. Pfeiffer and Our Lady of Mount Carmel. We will CRUSH them!’ And he means aggressively. So, this is what we are up against. So Fr. Zendejas is going to be made a bishop next month. Pray for him.
This shows you what battles we are in. The lines are drawn. If you are for the New Mass you are on the side you’re on the side of the light. We can never compromise with the New Mass and Vatican II. We should rather die a thousands deaths than compromise on any of these questions of the Faith.”
3. Our Comment - Notice Fr. Zendejas’s use of the word “we”. Who exactly is this “we”? On whose behalf does he speak? Is it not indicative of a group mentality, that there actually is a “we”..? The bishop who continually denounces structure as being so passé, so “yesterday,” and says that what he wants to see is small independent groups who are free to contact each other but not work together, this same Bishop Williamson nevertheless allows himself to be surrounded by acolytes who see themselves precisely as being a “we”, as belonging to a “structure” or “hierarchy” of which he is the head and against which no one is permitted to rebel, to disobey, or to publicly disagree. Bishop Williamson has gone soft on the New Mass?
Very well, then so must we! What’s more, “we will crush” (!) anyone who persists in denouncing the New Mass. Bishop Williamson believes in the Novus Ordo miracles? Then “we” must believe in them too. And woe betide anyone who dares say that they aren’t real! Bishop Williamson promotes the apostolate of a priest suspended for serious immorality? Very well, so must “we,” or at the very least, “we” must keep quiet about it. And so on. Lest anyone should be tempted to think that this is a case of Fr. Zendejas getting carried away and saying things on behalf of his confreres and co-workers which he has no right to say, things with which they would not agree, let us note two very interesting facts. First, that no one has
come forward to contradict him.
Second, that when Dom Tomas Aquinas in effect excommunicated (in all but name) Fr. Cardozo last year, it was for withstanding Bishop Williamson’s hierarchy (his expression, not ours!). Notice the carrot and stick method. Come with us, and all will be well: you’ll find support, money, a relatively quiet life. But if you turn me down, watch out! Trouble is heading your way! “We will crush you!” A sentiment worthy of every Hollywood mafia mob boss, but hardly the way one Catholic addresses another. What do we stand for, what are we against? We seek to crush modernism, but we pray for the modernist. We wish to crush the abortion industry, but we pray for the abortionist. Of course, it could be said that we wish to “crush”
the power of our enemies, but that isn’t quite the same, is it? Perhaps Fr. Zendejas meant to say that… let us be generous and say that his command of the English language let him down.
While we are on the subject, a little thought on Fr. Zendejas’s specific choice of the verb “to crush”. Originally the episcopal motto of Bishop de Castro Mayer and latterly adopted by Bishop Faure in 2015 as his own episcopal motto, “Ipsa Conteret” was also the choice of name for a very short-lived (one issue only) Fake Resistance newsletter. It is a quote from Genesis, specifically God’s words to the serpent following the Fall. “She will crush [your head]” As we said at the time, the unfortunately short-lived Fake Resistance newsletter ought perhaps better to have been called “Ipsi Conteremus” in view of Fr. Zendejas’s threats...
Finally, ask yourself this. This exchange happened in private. The threats and the promises were made in secret. We only know about them because the man who was their object was brave enough to reject them, and braver still to come forward and make them publicly known. Had he not done so, had he given-in to those threats and promises, what would it have looked like? To us on the outside, not privy to what had been said in secret, it would have looked like just one more disappointment, one more priest who had originally joined the Resistance, who had stood strong for a while, and who had ended up going quiet on certain controversial issues (is the New Mass really such a controversial issue now, can that really be?), and who appeared somehow to have managed to keep himself in the good books of Bishop Williamson and the Fake Resistance. We would have wondered, we might even
have suspected or surmised. But we would not have known. That being so, ask yourself this. How many other times might this have taken in place already and we do not know about it? How many times will it happen in future without ever coming to light? The curtain, albeit momentarily, has been lifted; we have been allowed a glimpse of what is going on behind the scene.
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We can only apologise for a curious set of circumstances which prevented us from bringing this extraordinary account to the attention of a wider audience sooner. Not a great deal has changed since, except perhaps the episcopal consecration of Fr. Zendejas.
“We Will Crush You!”
Fr. Rafael vs. The Fake Resistance
1. Extract from a Conference given by Fr. Rafael, 27th April, 2017 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LXM8dWCeu_0)
“So we ended up in Columbia from June 2013, where a property to was offered to me, halfbuilt. And for three years we were working on this property. At one point we were nine monks. The turning point came in 2016, after having built the second floor which was almost finished. And the turning point was when Bishop Tomas Aquinas stopped supporting me. The only reason was [my] attacking the New Mass and the new SSPX, and this went against the line of Bishop Williamson, because he still thinks there’s something good in the New Mass and in the SSPX, that we have to consider them as Catholic still. So I ended up being stripped of monks and of support, and being interfered with in my internal affairs. They even called the Police to chase me away and keep me away from my property. So I decided to go to Ecuador and was there for eight months. […]
I would summarise them [the Fake Resistance] as being tolerant in doctrine and intolerant in charity, as opposed to what Cardinal Pie said, that we have to be intolerant in doctrine and tolerant in charity [i.e. tolerant of persons]. […]
First Dom Tomas Aquinas said that there is something good in the New Mass. And when I contested it, he said ‘You have to understand it according to the circumstances.’ So he was being evasive. And when we spoke about the SSPX, and that we have to avoid it completely, he told me ‘You are right. But we cannot follow you, because I follow the line of Bishop Williamson.’
Concerning Fr. Zendejas, when I went to visit him in New York, las July [2016], I asked him two main things. First I asked him what advice I should give to my own brother who is a Society of St. Pius X priest, in order to help him leave the liberal new SSPX. And Fr. Zendejas answered me, ‘Just leave him where he is. He should stay inside the SSPX. I think that this is the best he can do.’ And also, speaking about the topic of whether the New Mass give grace or not, he said the following: ‘Of course there is grace at the Novus Ordo Mass. I don’t understand how the Catholic Candle thinks otherwise!’ So he said to me: ‘You should leave the Pfeiffers [sic] alone. Don’t stay with them. And then we can organise a collection
for your monastery in South America. If you do otherwise, we can easily crush you.’ In fact they told me, if I remained with the Fake Resistance they would give me back my monastery after having a retreat for three months. […]
I was shocked by that. But as I told you, I have seen lack of charity and lack of doctrine in this attitude of the Fake Resistance. ‘Fr. Pfeiffer is going down, we’re going up! And we will crush whatever is left!’ basically. I was shocked by that. And he told me: ‘If I had known that you were so rigid, I would not have invited you to visit me here in New York!’ […]
The closer something false is to the truth in appearance, we have to avoid it completely. So I would have to say we have to avoid now completely the Fake Resistance with Bishop Williamson and the other three bishops, and take from them the flag of Christ the King. And that includes also the SSPX and those who are silent about so many errors. Our Lord says ‘He who confesses me before men, I will confess him before my Father.’ ”
2. Extract from a sermon by Fr. David Hewko, 30th April, 2017 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kITzYhrMf08)
“We also learned from Fr. Rafael, he had visited, he was invited to visit Fr. Zendejas last year (2016), and Fr. Zendejas told him, ‘Look we will give you money, we’ll give you buildings, we’ll give you support, just side with Bishop Williamson. Just recant your condemnation of the New Mass and saying that it doesn't give grace.’ Fr. Rafael said, ‘What are you talking about? The New Mass is deadly! How can we possibly compromise on the New Mass?’ So Fr. Zendejas told him ‘If you don't come with us’ - meaning the Fake Resistance, which is like FSSP of 1988, but now in 2015, 2016, 2017 - Fr. Zendejas threatened him and said, ‘If you do not come with us, we will CRUSH you! And we are going to CRUSH Fr. Pfeiffer and Our Lady of Mount Carmel. We will CRUSH them!’ And he means aggressively. So, this is what we are up against. So Fr. Zendejas is going to be made a bishop next month. Pray for him.
This shows you what battles we are in. The lines are drawn. If you are for the New Mass you are on the side you’re on the side of the light. We can never compromise with the New Mass and Vatican II. We should rather die a thousands deaths than compromise on any of these questions of the Faith.”
3. Our Comment - Notice Fr. Zendejas’s use of the word “we”. Who exactly is this “we”? On whose behalf does he speak? Is it not indicative of a group mentality, that there actually is a “we”..? The bishop who continually denounces structure as being so passé, so “yesterday,” and says that what he wants to see is small independent groups who are free to contact each other but not work together, this same Bishop Williamson nevertheless allows himself to be surrounded by acolytes who see themselves precisely as being a “we”, as belonging to a “structure” or “hierarchy” of which he is the head and against which no one is permitted to rebel, to disobey, or to publicly disagree. Bishop Williamson has gone soft on the New Mass?
Very well, then so must we! What’s more, “we will crush” (!) anyone who persists in denouncing the New Mass. Bishop Williamson believes in the Novus Ordo miracles? Then “we” must believe in them too. And woe betide anyone who dares say that they aren’t real! Bishop Williamson promotes the apostolate of a priest suspended for serious immorality? Very well, so must “we,” or at the very least, “we” must keep quiet about it. And so on. Lest anyone should be tempted to think that this is a case of Fr. Zendejas getting carried away and saying things on behalf of his confreres and co-workers which he has no right to say, things with which they would not agree, let us note two very interesting facts. First, that no one has
come forward to contradict him.
Second, that when Dom Tomas Aquinas in effect excommunicated (in all but name) Fr. Cardozo last year, it was for withstanding Bishop Williamson’s hierarchy (his expression, not ours!). Notice the carrot and stick method. Come with us, and all will be well: you’ll find support, money, a relatively quiet life. But if you turn me down, watch out! Trouble is heading your way! “We will crush you!” A sentiment worthy of every Hollywood mafia mob boss, but hardly the way one Catholic addresses another. What do we stand for, what are we against? We seek to crush modernism, but we pray for the modernist. We wish to crush the abortion industry, but we pray for the abortionist. Of course, it could be said that we wish to “crush”
the power of our enemies, but that isn’t quite the same, is it? Perhaps Fr. Zendejas meant to say that… let us be generous and say that his command of the English language let him down.
While we are on the subject, a little thought on Fr. Zendejas’s specific choice of the verb “to crush”. Originally the episcopal motto of Bishop de Castro Mayer and latterly adopted by Bishop Faure in 2015 as his own episcopal motto, “Ipsa Conteret” was also the choice of name for a very short-lived (one issue only) Fake Resistance newsletter. It is a quote from Genesis, specifically God’s words to the serpent following the Fall. “She will crush [your head]” As we said at the time, the unfortunately short-lived Fake Resistance newsletter ought perhaps better to have been called “Ipsi Conteremus” in view of Fr. Zendejas’s threats...
Finally, ask yourself this. This exchange happened in private. The threats and the promises were made in secret. We only know about them because the man who was their object was brave enough to reject them, and braver still to come forward and make them publicly known. Had he not done so, had he given-in to those threats and promises, what would it have looked like? To us on the outside, not privy to what had been said in secret, it would have looked like just one more disappointment, one more priest who had originally joined the Resistance, who had stood strong for a while, and who had ended up going quiet on certain controversial issues (is the New Mass really such a controversial issue now, can that really be?), and who appeared somehow to have managed to keep himself in the good books of Bishop Williamson and the Fake Resistance. We would have wondered, we might even
have suspected or surmised. But we would not have known. That being so, ask yourself this. How many other times might this have taken in place already and we do not know about it? How many times will it happen in future without ever coming to light? The curtain, albeit momentarily, has been lifted; we have been allowed a glimpse of what is going on behind the scene.
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"So let us be confident, let us not be unprepared, let us not be outflanked, let us be wise, vigilant, fighting against those who are trying to tear the faith out of our souls and morality out of our hearts, so that we may remain Catholics, remain united to the Blessed Virgin Mary, remain united to the Roman Catholic Church, remain faithful children of the Church."- Abp. Lefebvre