Comment About Archbishop Marcel-François Joseph Marie Lefebvre, C.S.Sp. † and his Paradoxical Position

Archbishop Marcel-François Joseph Marie Lefebvre, C.S.Sp. † Deceased Bishop Emeritus of Tulle, France Note(s): (left the Church)

Comment

“Traditionalists” such as the French Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, on the other hand, were convinced that the condemnation of religious liberty by the popes of the 19th century was forever binding, and that therefore the teaching of the Council was wrong. Lefebvre submitted his argument to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in the form of dubia,[1] and his dissatisfaction with the Congregation’s response[2] was a decisive factor in his decision, carried out on June 30, 1988, to consecrate four bishops without papal mandate, thus incurring excommunication latæ sententiæ.[3] Lefebvre’s position was somewhat paradoxical, as the then prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, pointed out: by putting his own private interpretation of previous Church teachings above the Church’s official interpretation of her teaching he was giving up precisely the principle of fidelity to Church doctrine that he wanted to defend.[4] - Religious Liberty and Tradition I, December 31, 2014 by Edmund Waldstein, O.Cist. | thejosias.com

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[1] Cf. La crise intégriste: Dubia de Mgr Lefebvre sur la Déclaration coniciliaire sur la liberté religieuse

[2] Cf. La crise intégriste: Réponses de la Congrégation pour la Doctrine de la foi aux Dubia présentés par Mgr Lefebvre

[3] Cf. La crise intégriste: Décret d'excommunication

[4] Cf. La crise intégriste: Lettre du cardinal Ratzinger à Mgr Lefebvre