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Ronald Reagan Presidential Library
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Folder Title: Catholic Traditionalist Movement
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A public information service of the
Catholic Traditionalist Movement
82-8
" I have received many appeals from various sources, including Jewish personalities,
who are praying that every effort is made to avoid more loss of human lives, destruction and
suffering in Lebanon. It is very important that those vanquished in battle obtain honorable
conditions. That can be a necessary step towards the recognition of the just aspirations of
all the peoples involved in the conflict." -- JOHN PAUL II, in message to Israeli President
Ytzhak NAVON. (7.9.82)
= I hope there will be a clear assumption of responsibility on the part of the Vatican Bank
which appears to have played the part of de-facto partner in certain operations with the Banco
Ambrosiano ( of which the Vatican owns 1.6 percent, plus an unknown amount of interest in
Ambrosiano's foreign subsidiaries.) -- Italian Treaury Minister Beniamino ANDREATTA,
addressing Italy's parliament concerning that country's largest postwar finance scandal and
the ties between the Vatican Bank, officially known as the Institute of Religious Works, and
the scandal-ridden Banco Ambrosiano whose chairman, Roberto CALVI, was found dead,
hanging from the Blackfriars Bridge in the heart of London's financial district. (6.29.82)
= I am completely unaware of any move by the Holy Father to get rid of me." -- 60-year-
old Lithuanian-American ( Cicero, Illinois ) Archbishop Paul C. MARCINKUS, president of
the Vatican Bank and Chief Administrator of the State of Vatican City, as well as the pope's
personal body guard on trips abroad, answering allegations linking him to convicted bank
swindler Michele SINDONA, now serving a 25-year sentence in the United States for fraud
in connection with the collapse in 1974 of the Franklin National Bank of New York, and
the late Roberto CALVI, found dead, hanging from a London bridge on June 18, 1982, after
the Banco Ambrosiano, of which he was chairman, had come under investigation for dealings
which included $1.4 billion in questionable foreign loans to Latin American banks and possible
illicit arms sale through a Peruvian subsidiary. (7.9.82)
" The donkey is a holy animal, a symbol of poverty and humility; it carried baby Jesus
and Mary on its back I will not eat until the Pope either agrees to let the donkey come
to Rome or at least explains to me why he doesn't want him here." -- Brazilian chauffeur
Damiao Galdino DE SOUZA, explaining to reporters why he started a hunger strike in St.
Peter's Square to protest Vatican refusal to accept a donkey he gave Pope JOHN PAUL II
during the pope's visit to Brazil in 1980. (7.26.82)
TO QUOTE IS ONE THING TO AGREE IS ANOTHER
If First, we agreed that only God is infallible. Second, we agreed that the church is
infallible. How that infallibility is exercised is through general councils or an individual.
Therefore, the pope could express that infallibility. But the way you know that his pro-
nouncement is infallible is that you must have the assent of the people to it." -- Protes-
tant-Episcopal Bishop Arthur A. VOGEL of the Episcopal Diocese of West Missouri, com-
menting on the new concept of infallibility recently agreed upon by the INTERNATIONAL
ANGLICAN-ROMAN CATHOLIC COMMISSION. -- THE KANSAS CITY TIMES. (5.1.82)
= The Church is the whole people of God, and therefore, the pope cannot act indepen-
dently of the church because he is part of it." -- Notre Dame University Theology Depart-
ment Head, Rev. Richard McBRIEN, addressing the annual convention of the CATHOLIC
THEOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA, in New York City. (6.11.82)
11 They are trying to make it seem that I have become just one more African witch doctor.
It is through my faith in God that I have the power to cast out evil spirits and heal." --
Archbishop Emmanuel MILINGO of Lusaka, Zambia, founder of his country's Catholic
charismatic community, which advocates faith healing, commenting in Rome to reporters
on his recall and suspension by the Vatican which describes its measures against the African
prelate as a period of rest and treatment." (7.26.82)
" There are hundreds of Latin American priests, nuns, and even bishops, who have sided
with the socialist process of social change." -- From the appeal of the MEXICAN UNITED
SOCIALIST PARTY (PESUM), urging Christians to vote for socialist parties. (5.82)
" Vote for the party of your choice, even if the choice is for a socialist platform, party
or candidate." -- From the official document entitled " Living Your Political Responsibil-
ities in a Christian Manner," issued by the Catholic bishops of Mexico's Southern Pacific
district. (5.82)
" One could vote for a Marxist party. What's even more important, the dialectical
variety of Marxist thought allows for an individual to be faithful to Christ and be a good
Marxist at the same time." -- Bishop Sergio MENDEZ ARCEO of Cuernavaca, Mexico,
commenting on his country's July 4 presidential election. (5.24.82)
II
A. convinced Marxist cannot be CI Christian, just as a Christian cannot be a Marxist.
Because Marxism goes against God." -- Archbishop Girolamo PRIGIONE, the Vatican's
Apostolic Delegate in Mexico, in a formal statement reacting to the above statements
regarding Mexico's elections. (5.82) -- (Editor's Note: As of August 1982, the above
quoted " Red Bishop of Cuernavaca II has not been called to Rome for 11 a period of rest
and treatment.")
" He was best known as the chief architect of the liturgical renewal which took place
throughout the Catholic Church during and after Vatican Council II." -- From the
RELIGIOUS NEWS SERVICE obituary of Archbishop Annibale BUGNINI, the Vatican's
papal nuncio in Iran, who died July 3 in a Rome hospital at the age of 70. (7.6.82)
II May he rest in peace -- Father Gommar A. DE PAUW, leader of the CATHOLIC
TRADITIONALIST MOVEMENT, when asked to comment on the demise of his former "friend,"
the then II Father Bugnini II during Vatican Council II from 1962 to 1965. (7.4.82)
II Be Thou King of all those who are still involved in the darkness of idolatry and of
Islamism and refuse not to draw them all into the light and kingdom of God. Turn Thine
eyes of mercy toward the children of that race, once Thy chosen people. Of old they
called down upon themselves the Blood of the Saviour; may It now descend upon them
a laver of redemption and of life. -- Passages eliminated by the Lefebvrist SOCIETY
OF SAINT PIUS X from the official Roman Catholic II Act of Consecration of the Human
Race to the Sacred Heart of Jesus." -- As published by THE ANGELUS, II English
Language Publishers & Editor for Archbishop Marcel LEFEBVRE and the International
Society of Saint Pius X," Dickinson, Texas.) (6.82)
" I thought we could have a nice picnic lunch afterward." -- Archbishop Joseph L.
BERNARDIN, explaining to reporters why he decided to conduct a mammoth outdoor
Mass " in Chicago's Grant Park, four days after being installed as that city's new arch-
bishop with special services in Holy Name Cathedral for " churchwomen and permanent
deacons and their wives." -- RNS. (7.23.82)
11 The church's action in this case was a very nuanced response to a very specific
situation. -- Bishop Bernard F. LAW of Springfield-Cape Girardau, Missouri, explain-
ing how, on June 29, -- a first for the Roman Catholic Church in the U.S. -- with the
full approval of JOHN PAUL II, he ordained a 51-year-old married man a priest, with
the former Protestant-Episcopal monister's wife and two daughters present at the ordination.
-- Quoted by Charles AUSTIN of the NEW YORK TIMES. (7.4.82)
" When, before long, the unsuspecting sheep in the parishes will find their married
,
permanent deacons promoted to the priesthood, and their apostate former pastors,
wives and children included, active again in a neighboring parish, they might recall
that the law of priestly celibacy was effectively destroyed in the USA on June 29, 1982,
the feast of Sts. Peter and Paul, to boot. -- Father Gommar A. DE PAUW, leader
of the CATHOLIC TRADITIONALIST MOVEMENT, when asked to comment on Bishop Law's
above quoted statement to the N.Y. Times. (7.4.82)
" On the second Sunday of the assembly, the bishops joined the monks in a Eucharist.
A number of women were among the extraordinary ministers who distributed the bread
and wine during the communion." -- RNS reporting on the 10 days that 252 American
Catholic bishops spent together at Collegeville, Minnesota, in 11 an unprecedented assem-
bly so challenging and relaxing that many of them want to do it again." (6.23.82)
II His frequently praying to God the mother,' as some retribution for 5,000 years of
patriarchy." -- Reason given by the feminist magazine Ms for including a Minnesota
Catholic priest on a list of 40 Heroes encountered during its first 10 years of publishing.
-- RNS. (6.28.81) -- ( Editor's Note: The priest in question is the Rev. Harvey EGAN,
pastor of Minneapolis' St. Joan of Arc Church, best known for inviting pro-abortion feminist
Gloria STEINEM to preach the sermon at two Masses on Sept. 17, 1978. -- Ms' list of
" heroes also included one Protestant minister and a II former Catholic priest.' The minister
is the Rev. Howard MOODY of New York City's Judson Memorial Church who was cited
for " founding the Clergy Consultation Service on Abortion that helped women obtain illegal
abortions before the Supreme Court ruling of 1973. The II former Catholic priest " is Daniel
MAGUIRE, presently professor of ethics at Jesuit Marquette University in Milwaukee, who
was cited as the author of " The Moral Choice: A New American Justice." )
OLDIES
BUT GOODIES
II By their fruits you will know them A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a
bad tree bear good fruit. -- JESUS CHRIST. (Matthew 7, 15-18)
II At that time when Jesus drew near to Jerusalem and saw the city, He wept over it."
-- Gospel of JESUS CHRIST, according to St. LUKE. (19,41)
II Let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall." -- ST. PAUL. (1 Cor. 10, 12)
II He that trusteth in Me, and desireth not to stand by his own judgment, will be void
of human fear. For I am the Judge and Discerner of all secrets
I will judge the guilty
and the innocent The testimony of men oftentimes deceiveth; My judgment is true; it
shall stand and not be overthrown." -- IMITATION OF CHRIST. (III,46,3-4)
II We offer Thee, O Lord, the chalice of salvation, humbly begging of Thy mercy that
it may arise before Thy Divine Majesty, with a pleasing fragrance, for our salvation and
for that of the whole world.' -- From the TRADITIONAL LATIN ROMAN CATHOLIC MASS.
II Who is to guard the guards themselves?" -- JUVENAL. (1st cent. A.D.)
II Money to get power, power to protect money." -- Motto of the MEDICIS. (15th cent.)
" I have never made but one prayer to God, a very short one: o Lord, make my ene-
mies ridiculous.' And God granted it." -- François VOLTAIRE. (18th cent.)
11 The cream rises to the top. So does the scum." -- WELLINGTON. (19th cent.)
II Alas ! Holy Father! There are times when those who obey are heading for perdition."
-- ST. CATHERINE OF SIENA to Pope GREGORY XI. (14th cent.)
II The words of the Consecration, which are the form of this Sacrament, are these: For
this is my Body; for this is the chalice of my Blood, of the new and eternal Testament, the
mystery of faith, which shall be shed for you and FOR MANY unto the remission of sins.'
If anyone omits or changes anything in the form of the Consecration of the Body and Blood
and in this change of words the words do not mean the same thing, then THERE IS NO SA-
CRAMENT. -- From the official ROMAN MISSAL, On Defects, V. (16th cent.)
II The NOVUS ORDO MISSAE' ( New Order of the Mass ) means infidelity to that
sacred deposit of doctrine to which the Catholic Faith is bound forever. If -- Alfredo
Cardinal OTTAVIANI. (1969)
MEMORANDA: August 3, 1979: Death of Alfredo Cardinal OTTAVIANI, Protector
of the Catholic Traditionalist Movement; August 10, 1968: Dedication by Bishop Blaise
KURZ of the C.T.M.'s Headquarters' Ave Maria Chapel in Westbury, New York; August
15: Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary; August 22: Immaculate Heart of Mary; Sept. 3:
St. Pius X, Patron of the C.T.M.; Sept.5, 1978: Pope JOHN PAUL I sends Apostolic
Blessing to the C.T.M.; Sept. 8: Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
Catholic Traditionalist Movement, Inc. Rev. Dr. Gommar A. De Pauw, President
P.O. Box 781. Westburv. New York 11590 Tel. 516 333-6470
Quote
Unquote
A public information service of the
Catholic Traditionalist Movement
82-5
= To ask such questions is easier than to provide the answers." -- JOHN PAUL 11,
visiting a chemical plant near Leghorn, Italy, speaking to a worker who had asked the
Pope's opinion of a local schoolteacher distributing prayercards calling for opposition to
atheism and the downfall of Communism. -- Quoted by RNS. (3.22.82)
= If one day it is said that in 1982 the lay employees of the little state of Vatican City
demonstrated publicly against their employer in order to obtain economic reforms and im-
provements, it will not make anyone marvel." -- From the newsletter of the Vatican Lay
Employees Association, representing some 1,600 workers with salaries ranging from $680
to a maximum of $1,000 a month. -- (3.19.82)
= I greet the representatives of the Circus of Moscow and 1 am happy to have them here
for the audience." -- JOHN PAUL II, exchanging greetings with Nicolay LUNKOV,
Soviet ambassador to Italy, who accopmanied the first Soviet circus ever to play " the
Vatican. -- (3.24.82)
" Hairdressing is an art and, like all the arts which concern the expression or the re-
presentation of the human body, it has ethical aspects which depend on the idea it creates
of the human person and of interpersonal relations." -- JOHN PAUL II, speaking at a
special audience for the international hairdressers festival in Rome. -- (4.21.82)
" The final report of the Anglican-Roman Catholic International Commission expresses
the view that the one Christian Church is a communion of local Churches... Instead of
the single barque of Peter sailing the ocean of history we are now given the picture of a
whole flotilla of vessels Unity does not mean absorption when we speak with Rome."
-- Anglican Archbishop Robert RUNCIE of Canterbury, speaking in the London suburb of
Croynton. -- RNS. (3.19.82)
= Our posture in El Salvador seems to have so isolated US from our natural allies that
even the boundlessly agreeable President PERTINI of Italy seems to have come to Washing-
ton with a view to inquiring whether the United States might develop a foreign policy not
quite so far to the right of the Pope's." -- Columnist Murray KEMPTON, in NEWSDAY.
(3.26.82)
TO QUOTE IS ONE THING, TO AGREE IS ANOTHER
" Both exploitative capitalism and Marxist communism look upon human beings merely
as means of production, as hands or cogs,' and, on this account, they are equally
destructive of human dignity." -- Official declaration of the Roman Catholic Bishops
Conference of the Antilles. -- (2.28.82)
" I guess. I sensed from the beginning that we were embarking on some kind of collision
course, just as, in general, I believe the Roman Catholic Church is on a collision course
with the United States government. = -- Bishop Leroy T. MATTHIESEN of Amarillo, Texas,
discussing the resentment caused by his appeal, last August, to people involved in the pro-
duction of nuclear bombs to seek other employment. -- Quoted in THE WASHINGTON
POST. (3.20.82)
" The nuclear arms race is the greatest spiritual crisis in history." -- Seattle Arch-
bishop Raymond G. HUNTHAUSEN, announcing to a peace conference = at Pacific
Lutheran University in Tacoma, Washington, that, after withholding 50 percent of his
income taxes as an armament protest, he will join a boat blockade when a Trident submarine
arrives in Puget Sound this summer. -- (3.24.82)
" Bishops are the first to surrender when atheists threaten the world. That's the way it
seems anyway. Whatever became of pulpit anti-Communism? Many old-fashioned believers
are wondering." -- Columnist Bill REEL, in the New York DAILY NEWS. (3.25.82)
= We are moving because of philosophic reasons. The basic reason is to put the seminary
into a setting where it can be intouch more intimately with the world in which we live." --
Newark Archbishop Peter GERETY, explaining why his New Jersey seminary -- enrollment
down from 300 to 100 -- is moving from its rural Darlington site to the grounds of Seton
Hall University. -- RNS. (3.17.82)
= He was a noted fund-raiser who was among the most generous prelates in the nation in
donating funds to the Vatican.. In his tenure in Chicago, more than one-third of diocesan
clergy left the priesthood. -- Kenneth A. BRIGGS of the NEW YORK TIMES, in that
paper's obituary of Chicago's Archbishop, John Cardinal CODY. (4.26.82)
II I wish to let everyone know that I have forgiven my enemies, I can turn aside from
the personal abuse, the plotting, the media maneuvering, and even the incomplete untruths.
But, God will not so forgive. God's is another way. -- John Cardinal CODY, 74, in
letter left to be read after his death, amid allegations that the Chicago archbishop diverted
$1 million in church funds to a lady-friend step-cousin. (4.25.82)
= It is evident that JESUS did not fully understand why He had to suffer and die, but
He knew it was God's will for Him." -- Archbishop James V. CASEY of Denver, Color-
ado, in his 1982 Lenten pastoral to his = dear Family in Christ," published on the front-
page of the DENVER CATHOLIC REGISTER. (2.25.82)
" After more than two months we are still waiting for any reaction from the Vatican to
the above quoted clear-cut public rejection of the divinity of Our Lord by a " Catholic "
archbishop." -- Father Gommar A. DE PAUW, leader of the C.T.M. (5.1.82)
II. To incite some riots in the springtime." -- Georgetown University Jesuit Robert F.
DRINAN, former Massachusetts Congressman and current president of AMERICANS FOR
DEMOCRATIC ACTION, " jokingly II explaining the purpose of his visits to college cam-
puses like the one of Drew University, where he called on the 40 million American voters
between the ages of 18 and 30 to II rise and revolt against the United States, the numero
uno merchant of death." -- THE BEACON, official paper of the Diocese of Paterson,
New Jersey. (3.18.82)
" The number of pastorally active priests in the United States declined by 18 percent
during the 1970s In the diocese of Brooklyn, for example, the total number of priests
in service has dropped by a third -- from 1,006 to 671 -- Vatican Yearbook of
Church Statistics 1982.
" Most Canadians -- about 80 percent of those interviewed -- no longer believe in
such fundamental Christian tenets as the divinity of Christ, resurrection of the body and
life after death, or the importance of prayer, even though 90 percent of the people still
claim a Protestant or Catholic affiliation." -- Survey conducted by sociologist Reginald
BIBBY of the University of Lethbridge. (3.2.82)
" The revised Code of Canon Law will be promulgated some time this year. My guess
is that it will be greeted by most Catholics with a huge yawn You're not
inclined
to
be
too serious about legislation when you know that the whole system is being revised." --
Holy Cross Father John REEDY, columnist for THE BEACON, Paterson, N.J. (3.18.82)
II The old model of the parish as a service station which met all the needs of its cus-
tomers is disappearing rapidly. In a sense the customers have taken over the gas station
and are in the process of remodeling it and getting ready to open it as a cooperative ven-
ture. = Dr. Jay P. DOLAN at a consultation on American Catholic parish life held at
Notre Dame University. (3.31.82)
" It is meaningful to me and to any Catholic. It means that I can get married again
and take communion at the altar I'll probably have it around August." -- Alice Mc
MAHON, wife of the CARSON T.V. show announcer who left his wife and four children
10 years ago, commenting on the formal application for a marriage annulment she has filed
with the office of Philadelphia's John Cardinal KROL. -- N.Y. DAILY NEWS. (3.24.82)
" We are not overly concerned about the number of nuns in the United States. There
are now about 130,000, down from about 180,000 fifteen years ago. What does concern US
is the quality of discipleship among nuns, committed to making sacrifices and being involved
in political and social issues." -- = Spokespersons = for the NATIONAL SISTERS VOCA-
TION CONFERENCE interviewed by the Cleveland PLAIN DEALER. (3.20.82)
= The liberalization that followed the Second Vatican Council in the early 1960s con-
tributed to an increase in drinking among nuns Nuns began drinking more openly and
could enter liquor stores and buy what they wanted
Today at least 15 percent of the
country's nuns are alcoholics." -- Official If nuns spokespersons = on the Board of Direc-
tors of the INTERCONGREGATIONAL ALCOHOLISM PROGRAM. -- Reported in the
PITSSBURGH PRESS. (3.20.82)
OLDIES
BUT GOODIES
" By their fruits you will know them A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a
bad tree bear good fruit." -- JESUS CHRIST. (Matthew 7, 15-18)
⑉ You now indeed have sorrow; but I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice;
and your joy no man shall take from you." -- JESUS CHRIST. (John 16,22)
= Behave yourselves honorably among the pagans; that whereas they slander you as evil-
doers, they may through observing you by reason of your good works glorify God in the day
of visitation." -- ST. PETER. ( PETER 2, 12)
= Make no great account of who may be for thee or against thee, but mind and take
care that God be with thee in everything thou dost." -- IMITATION OF CHRIST. (II,
" JESUS CHRIST possesses the knowledge which is called vision, and in such fullness
that it surpasses the scope and clarity of the similar celestial knowledge that all the saints
in Heaven have." -- PIUS XII. (1943)
" For Thou alone art holy, Thou alone art the Lord, Thou alone, O JESUS CHRIST, art
most high. Together with the Holy Ghost, in the glory of God the Father." -- From the
TRADITIONAL LATIN ROMAN CATHOLIC MASS.
" Bishops or priests must not get involved in worldly affairs, and if they do they should
be removed from office." -- ECCLESIASTICAL CANONS OF THE HOLY APOSTLES.
(4th century)
" The clergy must lead a more holy life, both interiorly and exteriorly, than laymen,
and must excel them in giving an example of virtue and good deeds." -- CODE OF
CANON LAW, Canon 124. (1917)
" Catholic Soldier: Military service is not just a necessity. It is an opportunity for you
to do great work in a new kind of life, for God, for self, for others." -- From = TEAMING
UP FOR GOD AND COUNTRY," a World War II booklet published by the Roman Catholic
Bishops of the United States the day after the attack on Pearl Harbour. (1941)
" A striking experience in the history of the Church is the fact that we have more sol-
diers as canonized saints than saints from any other profession, Saints George, Hadrian,
Ignatius, Maurice and Sebastian among them. And this is not surprising at all, since the
definition of sanctity is bravery supernaturalized." -- Francis Cardinal SPELLMAN. (1942)
" Either Communism must die, or Christianity must die. The Devil is their God, MARX
their prophet, LENIN their saint." -- Billy GRAHAM. (1954)
MEMORANDA: May 9: Mother's Day; May 15: Armed Forces Day; May 20: Ascension;
May 22, 1966: Bishop Blaise Kurz becomes Moderator of the Catholic Traditionalist Move-
ment; May 30: Pentecost; May 31: Memorial Day; June: Month of the Sacred Heart.
Catholic Traditionalist Movement, Inc. - Rev. Dr. Gommar A. De Pauw, President
P.O. Box 781, Westbury, New York 11590 Tel. 516 - 333-6470
TRUTH
SOUNDS OF
AND
TRADITION
SPECIAL ISSUE
Air Conditioned
TENETE MOVEMENT, INC.
TRADITIONES
CATHOLIC
Catholic Traditionalist
CTM:
Movement, inc.
SUITE 303 East . PAN AM BUILDING, 200 PARK AVENUE - NEW YORK, N. Y. 10017
79:1-2
©Rev. Dr. Gommar A. De Pauw 1979
All Rights Reserved
ISSN - 0038-187x
CATHOLIC TRADITIONALIST MOVEMENT, Inc.
MAILING ADDRESSES:
General Correspondence:
Suite 303 East, Pan Am Building
200 Park Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10017
Special Projects Division:
P.O. Box 781, Westbury, N.Y. 11590
Radio Mass:
P.O. Box 10, Westbury, N.Y. 11590
Offices and Main Chapel:
210 Maple Avenue, Westbury, N.Y. 11590
Telephone: (516) 333-6470
The CATHOLIC TRADITIONALIST MOVEMENT, literally grown "from the grassroots" as early as 1964, was publicly
launched on March 15, 1965, by Father Gommar A. De Pauw, J.C.D., then a Professor of Theology and Canon Law,
and Academic Dean at Mount St. Mary's Major Seminary in Emmitsburg, Maryland, and theological advisor at the Se-
cond Vatican Council in Rome. Subsequently, and at the direction of Francis Cardinal Spellman, then the Roman
Catholic archbishop of New York, the Movement was incorporated under the laws of the State of New York as a non-
profit, educational organization "to provide the Catholic laity with all information necessary for the correct understan-
ding and implementation of the Second Vatican Council's decisions in full conformity with the traditional doctrine and
practices of the Roman Catholic Church."
Ever since 1968 when, as a result of erroneous interpretations and implementations of the Second Vatican Council's
decisions, the centuries-old Sacrifice of the Mass became threatened with extinction, the C.T.M., as the Movement is
commonly known, has concentrated its efforts on the maintaining of the completely unchanged Latin Roman
Catholic Mass, sometimes called the "Tridentine" Mass, as ordered "in perpetuity" by St. Pope Pius V in 1570:
"By. this our decree, to be valid IN PERPETUITY, we determine and order that NEVER shall anything be added to, omitted
from, or changed in this Missal
At no time in the future can a priest, whether secular or order priest, ever be forced to use any other way of saying Mass. And so
as to preclude once and for all any scruples of conscience and fear of ecclesiastical penalties and censures, we herewith declare that
it is in virtue of our Apostolic Authority that we decree and determine that this our present order and decree is to last in
PERPETUITY and can never be legally revoked or amended at a future date And if anyone would nevertheless ever dare to
attempt any action contrary to this order of ours, given for all times, let him know that he has incurred the wrath of Almighty God
and of the Blessed Apostles Peter and Paul."
(Decree QUO PRIMUM, St. Pius V, July 19, 1570.)
Through a decision of the U.S. Treasury Department, Internal
ble by donors as provided in section 170 of the Code. Be-
Revenue Service, June 23, 1966, the C.T.M. was given tax-
quests, legacies, devises, transfers or gifts to or for the use of
exempt status with the result that "contributions made to the
the C.T.M., Inc. are deductible for Federal estates and gift tax
CATHOLIC TRADITIONALIST MOVEMENT, INC. are deducti-
purposes under the provisions of Section 2055, 2106 and 2522
of the Code."
Funds and time permitting, SOUNDS OF TRUTH AND TRADITION is published four times a year as the official
Newsletter of the Catholic Traditionalist Movement, Inc., whose Founder-President, Father Gommar A. De Pauw,
J.C.D., is solely responsible for all its contents, including the unsigned articles and items composed by others. - Like
all other publications, phonograph records, tapes, cassettes, etc. of the C.T.M., SOUNDS OF TRUTH AND
TRADITION is not for sale, and there are no subscription rates. Copies are sent all over the world, first class mail and
free of charge, not only to all who morally and financially support the C.T.M., but also to everyone who expresses a
sincere interest in the C.T.M.'s aims and activities, and is willing, if able, to share production and mailing expenses.
A FIGHT FOR TRUTH and TRADITION SINCE 1964
Personal from
a. DePaun.
Am / therefore become your enemy. because / tell you the truth?
-Galatians 4:16
My loyal Catholic Friend:
This is truly a very special issue of our CTM-Newsletter, one that some might well
consider worth turning into a keep-sake. Indeed, before the pontificates of PAUL VI
and JOHN PAUL I settle down for good into the pages of History, we are herewith
adding a small footnote to those pages, by focusing the spotlight on the very special
relationship the CATHOLIC TRADITIONALIST MOVEMENT had with the Holy See
during those extraordinary and turbulent days. Our suggestion is you read this special
newsletter the way it was composed: Very carefully, and weighing every word.
I know that your next question is: II But what about the new Pope?" Well, at the
risk of disappointing some of our friends, we will not yet attempt predicting what to
expect during this new pontificate. After almost six months in office JOHN PAUL II
remains the same enigma as when he was elected this past October 16.
Even his first encyclical, "Redemptor Hominis," (The Redeemer of Man), dated
March 4 and released March 15, 1979, unusually long as encyclicals go, did not erase
all question marks.
But then again, Popes are never remembered for what they said, but rather for
what they did! So we will just have to wait a little longer to see what Pope John Paul
will do to bring our Church back from the brink of destruction to which the misinterpre-
tations and misrepresentations of the Vatican II-decrees have brought it. Meanwhile
our prayers to the Holy Ghost remain more than ever in order.
The very day the new Pope released his first encyclical was also the day our CTM
entered its 15th year of fighting II FOR TRUTH AND TRADITION.' When we first
raised the flag of resistance some predicted that we could not hold out for very long.
But, with the grace of God and the exceptional loyalty of the "few that are chosen,"
we did! Fourteen years is not exactly a fly-by-night span
How much longer will we go on
As long as it takes to bring sanity back to
OUR Church
And that's a promise
1
A POPE IS DEAD
LONG LIVE THE PAPACY!
A sermon delivered by Father Gommar A. De Pauw, J.C.D., Founder-President of the
Catholic Traditionalist Movement, at all Masses offered on Sunday, August 14, 1978,
at the C.T.M.-Headquarters' Ave Maria Chapel in Westbury, Long Island, New York
Last Sunday morning I informed you that, even though the newsmedia were not saying
one word about it, friends in Rome had let me know the day before that Pope Paul VI was
gravely ill. And as a result of that information, I asked you last Sunday to pray for the
Pope and for the Church.
Today, exactly a week later, I am asking you the same, to pray for the Pope and for
the Church. With one big difference: today Pope Paul VI is dead, and the Church in even
greater need of prayers.
Each time we offer the traditional Mass we pray and profess in the Apostles' Creed:
" Credo in
Unam, Sanctam, Catholicam et Apostolicam Ecclesiam. -- I believe
in One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church."
Part, -- indeed, a most essential part -- of the catholicity and apostolicity of that
One and Holy Church is the papacy, that almost 2000-years-old-institution that goes back
to the day when the divine Founder of that Church told an undeserving and unworthy
human being whom God's grace would eventually transform from an ugly coward into a
heroic martyr, the eternal words," Tu es Petrus
Thou art Peter, and upon this rock
I will build my Church."
"ONE, HOLY, CATHOLIC, AND APOSTOLIC CHURCH"
It is not difficult to believe in, and remain loyal to the papacy when the Chair of
Peter is occupied by an incumbent who possesses all the human and superhuman qualities
which the wishful imagination of loving sons and daughters likes to attribute to the one
we lovingly call the = Holy Father." And the record is there for all to see, that God
has blessed His Catholic Church with a long list of outstanding Supreme Pontiffs who more
than amply fulfilled the most demanding expectations, among them seventy-seven who
were later canonized as true Saints.
A LONG LIST OF OUTSTANDING SUPREME PONTIFFS
But
one's Catholic faith is truly put to the test when one studies the history of the
Church, only to discover that among the 262 successors of St. Peter -- while no one ever
failed the infallibility exam some failed the general test miserably, outstanding among
those failures such doctrinal disasters as Honorius I (625-638) and moral disgraces as
Alexander VI (1492-1503) of Borgia fame.
2
Official Vatican Photograph of His Holiness Pope PAUL VI (1963 - 1978)
3
But just as one remains a loyal American while most unhappy with certain American
presidents, so true Catholics throughout these twenty centuries always knew how to distinguish
between the papacy and the pope, between the Chair of Peter and its temporary incumbent.
And while at times very unhappy with what certain popes said, did, or were, true Catholics
always remained loyal to the papacy, realizing that one is no longer a Catholic if he breaks
with the papacy, regardless of whether he leaves Peter's bark from the left or from the right.
And so it is natural that, having learned History's lesson to the fullest, the 13-years-old
CATHOLIC TRADITIONALIST MOVEMENT has kept another truly Roman Catholic tradition
alive, that of honoring the papacy at the passing away of a pope.
Ever since word of Pope Paul's death reached US last Sunday afternoon, the papal flag
and the CTM-standard have been flying half-staff over our headquarters, with the bells of
mourning tolling every hour. Last Monday, the first day after the Pope's death, an overflow
crowd attended a memorial Latin traditional Requiem Mass at our chapel, with coverage
by NBC-TV News. And until the end of the official nine day Church mourning period the
customary church entrance bunting and exposition of the late pontiff's picture will remain
outside and inside the chapel. In all this, we, traditionalist Roman Catholics, are indeed
proceeding along the line of one of our Church's most sacred traditions, that of loyalty to
the papacy, loyalty to the Chair of Peter.
A.
Westbury Times, Westhury, 1.
Thursday, August 17,
1918
The
IN MEMORIAM: Picture of the late pontiff, Pope Paul VI, is
encircled by wreath on front door of Ave Maria Chapel in West-
bury while black draping is hung across building's front gable, as
members of traditionalist church mourn the recent death of the
pope.
4
As I stated in my declaration to the press this past Manday," 1 would be less than hanest
if I would now start saying that we, traditionalist Raman Catholics, have always been happy
with every word and action of the late Pope Paul VI." What I wrote about the post-Vatican II
Church in my "Open Letter to Pope Paul VI" on August 15, 1967, made headlines the world
over at the time, since no one had ever said it before. I did reread that long letter this past
week, and I neither retract it nor regret it.
The demise of a pope, however, should be no exception to the rule that permits children
to always remember their father the way they want to. And so, today, and for the rest of
my life, --
I would like to remember Pope Paul VI as the Supreme Pontiff who said: II Some persons
speak of reforming the Church and giving up the Church's traditions. Those persons are not
on the right road. Those persons bring sorrow to the Church and undermine her spiritual and
social structure. -- Paul VI, Feb. 21, 1966.
I would like to remember Pope Paul VI as the Supreme Pantiff who said: " Latin is still
the afficial language of the Catholic Church, despite the new vernacular liturgy. Latin
will live again with greater impetus, despite fears for its survival." -- Paul VI, April 10, 1966.
"GIVING UP THE CHURCH'S TRADITIONS NOT THE RIGHT
ROAD" - PAUL VI, APRIL 10, 1966
I would like to remember Pape Paul VI as the Supreme Pontiff who not only honored me
with the Silver Medal of his pantificate, but who, against all protacol, granted me, a simple
priest, a personal audience in Rame, on that for me unforgettable December 1, 1965, and who,
placing both his hands on my head, gave his blessing to me and to the CATHOLIC TRADITION-
ALIST MOVEMENT, a blessing which, in spite of repeated pressure on the part of reformist
churchmen, he never retracted, but instead, enabled one of his clasest cardinals in Rome to
send me, as recently as this past February 28, 1978, Rome's, true Rome's appreciation for
what the Roman cardinal called our fidelity to Cathalic Tradition."
I would like to remember Pope Paul VI as the Supreme Pontiff who in his handwritten
spiritual last will and testament, made public the day before yesterday on the eve of his burial,
ever so subtly and humbly admitted some of his mistakes: first, by warning the Church of the
future not to accept the world's thinking, customs, or tastes;" then, by stating that ecumenism
with our separated brethren should never mean giving up the true Catholic doctrine;" and,
finally, by asking forgiveness from all those to whom I did not do the right things."
As we all will do some day, Pope Paul VI has entered eternity, has met his Maker and
Judge, that Judge Who already rendered His just verdict last Sunday afternoon at 3:40 PM,
New York time. In true Christian charity, let US now leave Pope Paul VI's record in those
divine hands, and in the hands of History for its more remote and therefore more objective
judgment.
BLESSING TO THE C.T.M. NEVER RETRACTED IN SPITE
OF REPEATED PRESSURE FROM REFORMISTS
5
7
9
MOST CRITICIZED PICTURES -- Clockwise from top left are pictures of Pope PAUL VI as he met with U.S. and world
politicians: President John F. KENNEDY; Martin Luther KING, Jr.; Senator Robert F. KENNEDY; President Lyndon
B. JOHNSON; President Gerald FORD; Israeli Prime Minister Golda MEIR; Soviet Foreign Minister Andrei GROMY-
KO; President Richard NIXON. -- Some praised such encounters as wise world leadership. Others called them cheap
politics, or worse.
Meanwhile, life goes on, and our Church is preparing the election of a new pope.
If there ever was a time that our Church needed prayers, that time is now! Those in the
hierarchy who have brought our Church to the brink of destruction, did not even wait for the
burial of Pope Paul VI to start their diabolically clever maneuverings. If thase evil men
abtain the upperhand at the coming papal conclave, we may well end up with a new pope
whose doings could make us, traditionalist Roman Catholics, wish we were back living in
the days of Paul VI!
But, thank God, there are also still men of true faith, traditionalists at heart, among the
cardinals-electors! Oh yes, I am sure that those of you who, as I did, watched the entire
funeral of Pope Paul on television yesterday, found many a reason for shock and disappointment.
What a far cry from the awe-inspiring traditional papal funerals inside St. Peter's basilica in
the past! But, if you knew, as I do, the fight some conciliarist cardinals had put up in order
to show the world a one hundred percent New Order service in the Italian vernacular and
including people's communion-in-the-hand, then you would have rejoiced as I did over the
first conciliarist public defeat in many a year! Pope Paul's funeral in spite of its at times
unbelievable flaws, was a 75% return to the traditional Latin Mass, including the old Latin
Canon with the only valid Consecration words " pro multis for many of the traditional
Latin Mass, and not the invalidating 1I for all men If of the New Order services in our parishes!
And how hard this defeat came to the conciliarists became at once evident when an American
priest in charge of one telecast did not hesitate to translate the valid Latin II pro multis 11 -
consecration words into the falsified " for all men. " By nightfall the defeated conciliarists
even went as far as to replace the real Roman Latin funeral service of the Pope with telecasts
of New Order English memorial services from Chicago and Washington, D.C.!
POPE PAUL'S FUNERAL FIRST CONCILIARIST PUBLIC DEFEAT
IN MANY A YEAR IN SPITE OF UNBELIEVABLE FLAWS
Is yesterday's partial victory for true Catholicism a first sign of better things to come?
Was it the first turn around the corner, the beginning of a complete return to the traditional
Latin Mass and all other traditions of the true Roman Catholic Church? How I wish I could
be sure of that Perhaps it is,
if we pray hard enough!
PRAY, AND PRAY, AND PRAY we must these days!
Today, and every day until a new pope is elected, I personally will offer all my Masses,
here in the chapel or wherever I may be traveling, as Masses listed in the traditional missal
as votive Masses II pro eligendo pontifice for the election of a pope, for the election,
that is, of the right man to the Chair of Peter; of a holy man who will have learned from the
mistakes our Church has made these past ten years, and who will have the God-given courage
to undo those mistakes and lead God's Church back to even greater accomplishments than
those we now can only nostalgically reminisce about.
PRAY FOR A NEW POPE WITH THE COURAGE TO UNDO
THE MISTAKES OF THE PAST TEN YEARS
7
My dear people, I beg you to pray for the same intention. Offer your Masses and Holy
Communions for the same intention. Keep the same intention in mind when we pray those
beautiful prayers to the Blessed Mother and the Archangel St. Michael after our Mass. Do
the same with your daily prayers and rosaries. I ask you especially to have your children
pray and storm Heaven, as an old expression goes, for the same goal. I ask you in particular
to turn out in force for Mass this coming Tuesday, Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed
Mother; not only because it is a holyday of obligation, but also because you want to join me
in special prayers for our Church in these all-decisive days, and beg the Queen of our Church
to intercede with her Divine Son and have Him send the Holy Ghost to enlighten those mortal
men who carry the awfull responsibility of electing the successor of St. Peter and Vicar of
Christ; to strengthen the good ones among them, and to prevent the evil ones among them
from doing more damage to our Church than weighs already forever on their consciences.
In the words of the Secreta prayer of the Mass for the election of a new pope: = Grant
to us, o Lord, that we may have cause to rejoice, finding a pontiff pleasing to Thy majesty
presiding over the conduct of our Holy Mother the Church." -- Amen !
MOST QUESTIONED PICTURES -- Clockwise from top left are pictures of Pope PAUL VI
as he met with leaders of some of the world's most prominent sects: Anglican Dr. Michael
RAMSEY; Orthodox ATHENAGORAS; Armenian VASKEN l;Coptic SHENOUDA III;
Anglican Dr. Donald COGGAN; Buddhist DAILAI LAMA; and first embracing and then
kissing the feet of Eastern Orthodox MELITON. -- Some hailed such meetings as acts of
great Christian charity. Others called it ecumania
8
THE PAPAL AUDIENCE
SOME COULDNT DIGEST
Historians are already busy trying to pinpoint the historical highlights of the
15-years-long pontificate of the late Pope PAUL VI.
Some point to his re-opening of the Second Vatican Council (1963) interrupted and
technically closed by the death of JOHN XXIII. Some single out, either as a high or
as a low mark, his 1965-visit to the United Nations in New York. Others speak of his
pilgrimage to Fatima (1967), or his Novus Ordo Missae -- in our opinion the gravest
mistake he ever made! -- which he issued in 1968, the same year he wrote his most
controversial encyclical on birth control, Humanae Vitae, which also was to remain his
last encyclical.
Whatever the history books may finally settle on in the field of doctrine and Church
discipline, for US of the CATHOLIC TRADITIONALIST MOVEMENT the emotional high-
light of the pontificate of Paul VI will always remain that pontiff's face-to-face encounter
with our Movement's founder, Father Gommar A. DE PAUW, December 1, 1965.
Here we were in the late fall of 1965. The Catholic Traditionalist Movement, less
than a year old, had been enthusiastically received by people the world over, and
strongly urged on by several bishops and some of the most powerful cardinals in the Church,
such as New York's Francis SPELLMAN, and the Vatican's own Antonio BACCI, Michael
BROWNE, Amleto CICOGNANI, and Alfredo OTTAVIANI.
The unanswered question, however, remained: "Where does Pope Paul VI personally
stand in regard to the C.T.M. and its already controversial leader?"
THE UNANSWERED QUESTION REMAINED: "WHERE DOES
POPE PAUL VI PERSONALLY STAND
No doubt that Cardinals Spellman and Ottaviani were telling the truth when they
assured Father De Pauw that the Pope "knew all about" him and the C.T.M., and "will
never touch you."
Equally true that some Vatican officials kept insisting on calling him "Excellenza"
and "Monsignore" since the late Pope John XXIII provided him with special Vatican II
credentials, and Secretary of State, Amleto Cardinal Cicognani, promoted the then
professor De Pauw to Domestic Prelate, a promotion which Baltimore's Lawrence Cardinal
SHEHAN successfully prevented from being finalized.
Just as true that when the same Shehan demoted the founder of the newly established
C.T.M. from dean of a major seminary to last assistant in some dilapidated parish, the
Vatican at once arranged the priest's transfer from Baltimore to the diocese of Tivoli-Rome.
(No matter how persistently the Baltimore establishment denies it, the authenticated,
signed and sealed canonical Roman documents are there to prove it!)
9
All this being true, the fact was increasingly becoming clear that little by little
a party-line was starting to surface in the Catholic press and among its clerical echoing
parrots in the parishes: "No matter who backs the C.T.M. among bishops and cardinals,
the Pope is personally against it, and Father De Pauw, in his disobedience to the Supreme
Pontiff, is nicely on his way to becoming another Martin LUTHER. ( Even NEWSWEEK,
a year later (Dec. 26, 1966), did not hesitate to speak of "modern American Catholicism's
first Martin Luther," when labeling Father De Pauw "the closest thing to a public dissenter
this country has produced since Vatican Council II."
And so it came as no surprise when Father De Pauw told his "inner circle" in Rome,
where he had been serving as "personal expert" and "procurator" during Vatican Council Il
(1962-1965): = I am not leaving this city until I meet the Pope personally, to hear from his
lips whether I should stop breaking the Church apart, as some accuse me of doing, or
continue, as I believe, serving the Church's best interests."
On Wednesday Nov. 24, 1965 Father De Pauw, backed in this by Cardinals SPELLMAN
and OTTAVIANI and Bishop Blaise KURZ, the future C.T.M. -Moderator, presented himself
to the Vatican Secretariat of State to request a personal encounter with Pope PAUL VI,
"any time, any place, at the convenience of His Holiness."
"I AM NOT LEAVING THIS CITY UNTIL I MEET THE POPE
PERSONALLY, ANY TIME, ANY PLACE"
When four days later, Nov. 28, the OSSERVATORE ROMANO carried the information
that Baltimore's Cardinal SHEHAN had been received by the Pope, it did not take a
detective's acumen to figure out that the chances of the C.T.M.-leader ever meeting the
Pope face-to-face were not exactly a gambler's dream.
Yet, .Well, why don't we just let Father De Pauw's personal diary speak for itself.
Vatican protocol requires that no one who was personally received by a Pope ever directly
quotes from his conversation with the Supreme Pontiff as long as that Pope is alive. With
Pope Paul VI now deceased, the C.T.M.-leader agreed to, for the first time, make public,
with direct quotations, what transpired that day, thus giving our readers a foretaste of what
to expect when his long overdue "Roman Diary" will be published.
ost 1/soly father.
ather Commar
and members of the Ratholic Fra-
ditionalist- Sovement,
humbly prostrate at the feet of
your bag the
Apostolic blexping.
and dis
their
Analys.
10
"MY ROMAN DIARY"
By
FATHER GOMMAR A. DE PAUW
(Excerpts from a forthcoming book)
" TUESDAY, NOV. 30, 1965 -- The storm which has been plaguing Europe for the
last four days is still raging this morning here in Rome, to the point where the Sisters here
have to send their chauffeur to drive US to the chapel of the generalate. After the Mass
the pouring rain stops sufficiently to let US walk to the bus that will take US to the
Council session in St. Peter's. My travel companion today is Bishop Richard ACKERMAN
of Covington, Kentucky, who discusses the "awful" picture published in this week's
NATIONAL CATHOLIC REPORTER showing an Oklahoma priest celebrating Mass facing
the people and flanked by two teen-age girls. The bishop expresses the hope that the
Holy Father will get to know this. I ossure him the Pope will.
11 At St. Peter's Square, learning that there is nothing of importance going on in today's
Council session, I leave the Council bus for the one to the railroad station where I take
another bus for Tivoli, an hour ride of opproximately 40 kilometer, to take care of the
final formalities of my incardination into that diocese.
'When I arrive around 10:30 in Tivoli a real downpour of a cloudburst is flooding the
streets
and me. I still manage to find a taxi to bring me to the "Curia Vescovile"
(Bishop's Chancery) at the Via S. Anna. The chancery is a new building consisting of
two modest rooms, one for the vicar-general and one for the chancellor, plus a small
waiting corridor with four small chairs.
11 The vicar-general, monsignor Mario IACOVELLI, is most accommodating. He is unable
to converse with me in Latin, but we get around in Italian. He soys that for them here
my excardination from Baltimore and my incardination into Tivoli-Rome is a "fait accompli"
if I only will now take the oath required by canon 117,n.3. He places an open Latin
breviary in front of me to take the oath on. He apologizes that the two copies of the
incardination form I have to sign are in Italian instead of Latin, but I state that I have
no objections to the Italian text which I fully understand.
THE VICAR-GENERAL UNABLE TO CONVERSE IN LATIN
" The main gist of the text is that I swear not to leave the diocese of Tivoli without the
written permission of the bishop. To make sure no one is fooling anybody I ask the monsignor
if Bishop Luigi FAVERI of Tivoli has explained my situation to him. He assures me that the
bishop has indeed, and again apologizingly says, "This oath-taking today is only 'pro forma'.
You will be going back to Spellman's city immediately." When I make attempts to sign the
papers, he again most apologizingly this time interrupts me by saying that I have to read
the formula aloud. When I am half way through, he stops me by saying,' That's good enough.
Just sign now." He then shakes my hand and wishes me the best of luck.
11
12
NON-EXISTING PICTURE (1965) -- December 1, 1965, Father Gommar A. DE PAUW,
president of the newly founded C.T.M. was granted a personal audience with Pope PAUL VI.
The official papal photographer was forcibly stopped from taking the customary pictures, by
Chicago-born Bishop Paul C. MARCINKUS, shown here in the background during an audience
of a foreign dignitary in 1970. (See article.)
" I thank the good monsignor but insist that, to do everything just right according to
Canon Law, the bishop send me official "litterae discedendi" (permission to live outside
the diocese) clearly stating that he permits me to return to the U.S.A. The monsignor
hereupon asks when I plan to leave for the States, and when I answer that I intend to
leave next week, he agrees that those letters should be "subito" (at once) prepared. He
assures me that, since the chancellor does not come to the office today, those letters
will be made tomorrow.
" To show my appreciation for his quick and good service I leave the good monsignor a
10,000 lire bill (some $16) for one Mass to be offered by him for my intentions. The poor
man is most appreciative.
" From the curia (chancery) I go to the nearby cathedral. What a dirty-looking
dilapidated place! And freezing inside ! There must be better places than this to pray
your breviary!
THERE MUST BE BETTER PLACES THAN THIS TO PRAY
YOUR BREVIARY
II It has started raining again, and with half the streets still without side walks the mud
and water are a problem. After being steered to the wrong bus I finally get to the right
bus for the return trip to central Rome. These Roman buses are some places! I have already
become used to see boys and girls neck in public, but today in this bus from Tivoli to the
center of Rome I ran into a "first" for me, seeing a man in his twenties publicly neck with
his teen-age boyfriend! This city is rotten in more ways than one!
THIS CITY IS ROTTEN IN MORE WAYS THAN ONE!
" When around 2 p.m. I return to the Villa (Villa Maria Regina, a Vatican-sponsored
"pilgrims house" run by German nuns, in Rome's Ponte Milvio section, where Father De
Pauw stayed during the Vatican Council II with some thirty American and German bishops),
I find on my desk two other documents which Bishop Kurz asked Bishop Faveri to sign in
St. Peter's Basilica this morning during the Council session: one document approves my
appointment as "personal secretary" to Bishop Kurz, and the other my appointment as
Council procurator for Bishop BUEHL of Bavaria.
" The mail also brings me a copy of a letter sent by 27 seminarians and laymen from
St. Mary's, Kentucky to all the American bishops, and expressing their admiration for me
and the C.T.M.
" - While the Mexican hierarchy is being entertained downstairs by Bishop Joseph
HOEFFNER of Muenster, Germany, I receive a complete file from that country explaining
the Mexican C.T.M.'s position in view of the notorious "condemnation" of our Movement
by Mexico City's archbishop MIRANDA.
"If anyone says that the Mass ought to be cele-
brated in the VERNACULAR only,
let him be
anathema (cursed).
-ECUMENICAL COUNCIL OF TRENT.
13
II - At 5 p.m. when we are just about ready to start dinner a special one in honor
of the visiting Mexican bishops -- a car with diplomatic Vatican license plates rolls up
the driveway. The chauffeur informs the portress-sister that he has a message from the
Vatican. To the visible surprise and disappointment of the bishops -- especially of
Muenster's Bishop Joseph Hoeffner, later to become Cardinal-Archbishop of Cologne, --
the document is for "il professore De Pauw."
II Printed in Italian, and signed by Archbishop -- later Cardinal -- Mario NASALLI
ROCCA DI CORNELIANO, Maestro di Camera di Sua Santita, (Master of the House of
His Holiness) it simply states: II Sua Santita ricevera in audienza il Rev. Sac. Gommar A.
De Pauw nel giorno di domani mercoledi alle ore 17. Translation: "His Holiness will
receive the Reverend Father Gommar A. De Pauw in audience tomorrow, Wednesday, at
17 hours (5 p.m.)"
" Since I do not have a black "ferraiola" (the formal mantle required by Vatican protocol
for priests personally received by the Pope) and obviously do not have sufficient time to
have one made up for me, Bishop Kurz immediately turns to a German bishop whose name
I do not know for the moment, to have that bishop's secretary, who knows his way around here,
provide me with one.
= A little later Bishop KURZ tells me that he has no objections to become publicly
linked with the C.T.M., and that he would like to meet some of our New York members
and speak to them. He adds that, since I am his secretary and theological adviser, all
bishops already suspect that he is backing the C.T.M. anyway ! (A year later, the
German-born American Bishop Kurz, an exiled missionary bishop from China, and guest
of New York's Cardinal SPELLMAN, effectively became Bishop-Moderator of the C.T.M.
until his death in 1973.)
FAMILIAR SIGHT (1962-1965): The CTM-leader on his way from the Vatican Secretariat
of State (in background with personal papal quarters) to the Holy Office (now called the
Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.)
14
" WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 1, 1965 -- This looks like quite a day ahead of me.
The Council is for all practical purposes finished. The signing of papers seems to be all
that is left to be done.
" 10 a.m.: German Monsignor Heribert SCHAUF gives me a lift in his car to the
Vatican. We park in the inner-square in front of the Vatican Library where I had a
confidential meeting with Eugene Cardinal TISSERANT a few months back and where
a few days ago burglars stole some invaluable documents and jewels. Schauf goes to
a special meeting of the Theological Commission of which he is a member, representing
the German hierarchy. He sure loves to speak Latin with me. I take care of some more
practical things, and go to the Vatican Bank to cosh some American checks, some
personal, and one sent to me, in the amount of $200, from an "admirer" in Michigan
who wants me to give the money to "a bishop or bishops whose priests are very poor."
" From the Bank I go to the Secretariat-General of the Council to straighten out
the question of my being Procurator for Bishop Berthold BUEHL. Monsignor LUPPI is
out, so I deal with always friendly French-speaking Don TOSTI. When I show him
my Tivoli incardination papers and Bishop FAVERI's approval for my continuing
procuratorship he states that there is no more any problem for me to sign the official
Ecumenical Council decrees. At once he invites me to sign the decree on Divine
Revelation and the one on the Laity, telling me to come back for the other decrees
to be signed tomorrow. Stating that I can sign in any language I prefer, 1 happily
sign in Latin: Sacerdos Gummarus Albertus De Pauw, Procurator Exc. ac Revm.
Berthold Buehl, episcopi titularis Methonensis.'
II Don Tosti, a real swell and humble priest, an exception among those Vatican
peacock-monsignori, then apologizes for the trouble I have encountered here at the
Secretariat-General of the Council during this last session. He gives this explanation:
I
We are just small office boys here! What could we do when your Cardinal SHEHAN
continuously gave US hell? Shehan was furious when he realized that you could attend
all the Council sessions without his recommendation. What I would like to know is if
the unfatherly way that cardinal treated you is typical of the relationship between
bishops and priest in America.' I assured the good priest that Shehan was not at all like
most American bishops.
II From the Secretariat-General I go to the N.C.W.C. -office to pick up Bishop
KURZ' flight-ticket for next Thursday's return-trip to New York.
"WE ARE JUST SMALL OFFICE BOYS HERE"
" I run into Bishop Albert ZUROWESTE of Belleville, Illinois, who is delighted to
1 shake hands with the leader of the Traditionalists. I I am not afraid to be contaminated,
he says jokingly, adding that he is glad that the Catholic press was unable to destroy me.'
As a former president of the N.C.W.C.'s Press Department he adds that under his presidency
the Catholic press did not do what it is doing today. He parts most friendily, saying that he
was looking forward to receiving my next C.T.M. -communication.
"Therefore, brethren, stand fast; and hold the
TRADITIONS which you have learned."
(2 Thess., 2, 15.)-SAINT PAUL.
15
" From the Via della Conciliazione I take a taxi to some German convent near San
Maria Maggiore where the bishop of Wuerzburg's secreatry, Domvikar Albert WAGNER
had arranged for me to pick up the ferraiola required by Vatican protocol for tonight's
personal audience with the Pope. In a nearby office I also finally succeed to find a
machine capable of making a few photostatic copies of my invitation to that papal audience,
since I learned that the original one must be handed over to a papal attendant tonight.
" When I arrive back at the Villa there wait already for me the documents from the
bishop of Tivoli, attesting to my good standing as a priest of his diocese, and giving me
permission to leave the diocese and return to the United States. Actually the letters
are even stronger than anything I had hoped for. They state that I can go anywhere in the
world: I Americam aliasque regiones.' Who said that Italian offices are slow? This beats
everything for fast service, since I only left the Tivoli chancery twenty-four hours ago!
WHO SAID THAT ITALIAN OFFICES ARE SLOW?
Il I spend practically the entire afternoon preparing the Latin letter, explaining once
more the position and aims of the CATHOLIC TRADITIONALIST MOVEMENT, which I
intend to leave with the Pope this evening when I will meet him.
"
4 p.m. I take a good deal of friendly ribbing on the part of the Villa bishops when
they notice me getting ready to go to the papal audience. Since I never wore these things
before in my life, I frankly do not know how to put on the ferraiola and the cincture
required for the occasion. With a surprised Bishop William CONNARE of Greensburg,
Pennsylvania, looking on, it is Covington, Kentucky's Bishop Richard ACKERMAN who
comes to my rescue.
"Just when I am ready to go into the taxi for St. Peter's Basilica the Rome correspondent
of UNITED PRESS INTERNATIONAL, Rufus GOODWIN, telephones me to inquire whether
or not I know anything about a special explanatory note being added to the Council
Declaration on Religious Liberty. I tell him that I too had heard that rumor, but that this
was only one of the many rumors now making the rounds in Rome. I ask him to excuse me
as I am on my way to a papal audience.
It When I arrive at the specially designated side entrance of St. Peter's, two types of
uniformed attendants conduct me past a whole row of surprised looking bishops to a
specially reserved chair on the right side of the throne of the Pope. During the following
general audience, attended by the Patriarch of Lisbon, Portugal, Cardinal Goncalves
CEREJEIRA, Pope Paul speaks on the theme of St. Peter being told by Our Lord at the
lake of Tiberiades that his love for Christ is expected to be greater than that of the other
apostles.
"His Holiness Pope Paul VI gladly grants His
APOSTOLIC BLESSING to Father Gommar A. De
Pauw and to the members of the CATHOLIC TRA-
DITIONALIST MOVEMENT."
-ARCHBISHOP DIEGO VENINI, secret chaplain
of His Holiness, Rescript of November 5, 1965.
16
II At the end of the general audience I am conducted to a side-chapel of St. Peter's,
the one where the body of St. Josaphat is exposed for veneration and a giant-size statue
of Pope Pius XII adorns the wall.
11 The entrance to the chapel proper is closed with a red velvet curtain. There seem to
be about thirty people waiting to be received by the Pope, most in small groups, such as
a couple ambassadors with their families, a group of California Congressmen, the editorial
staff of OUR SUNDAY VISITOR, and a group of Indian dignitaries. A smaller number is
to be received individually by the Pope: the Chief-of-Staff of the Philippine Armed Forces,
U.S. Senator Eugene McCARTHY, the future presidential contender from Minnesota, the
ASSOCIATED PRESS Rome correspondent BOLTON, and myself.
" The Philippine General is very friendly and cordial, but Senator McCarthy is not
interested in carrying on a conversation while we are both waiting side by side. I guess
he did not consider me a potential voter for him.
11 At least three times in a row, red-uniformed lay-attendants and security-officers come
to check my official invitation and identification papers, to see if they match their own
information.
"After about a half hour waiting, the papal official photographer FELICI arrives. As
I had become very well acquainted with him since the very early days of the Ecumenical
Council, Signor Felici is amazed and delighted to see me waiting to be received by the
Pope. He assures me to go out of his way in my case and not only take the customary
black-and-white pictures of any personal papal audience, but special color pictures as
well. He asks me for my address in Rome where he will have them delivered the next day.
THE GENERAL WAS FRIENDLY THE SENATOR WAS NOT
" It is about 6:45 p.m. when a red-uniformed papal lay-attendant accompanies me
into the chapel where Pope Paul, flanked by two Roman monsignori, seated on his throne,
awaits me. On the side stands Chicago-born Monsignor Paul MARCINKUS, the Pope's
English interpreter, and senior American attaché at the Secretariat of State. With a
loud voice Marcinkus introduces me as il Padre De Pauw del Movimento Americano per
la liturgia tradizionale.' ('Father De Pauw of the American Movement for the traditional
liturgy')
= While walking in the direction of the Pope I am still calm enough to notice how
an angry looking Marcinkus runs up to the papal photographer, whispering and pointing his
finger at him. I couldn't help thinking 'There goes my picture!' ( Three days later, Dec. 4,
when Felici's promised pictures had not yet arrived, I went to the office of the pontifical
photographer. What I had suspected was true. Marcinkus had stopped Felici from taking
any picture of me being received by the Pope Felici's assistant showed me the official
list of those whose picture was to be taken while being received by the Pope, and my
name was clearly on it. In any case, if my 'opposition' thinks that they thus destroyed
the evidence of my audience with the Pope, they are mistaken. I had photostats made
my official personal audience invitation, before surrendering the original as required by
papal protocol. And I have the papal archives to back me up!!)
17
BASHICA VATICANA
Ingresso: Arco Compane
Marth)
ANTICAMERA PONTIFICIA
Sua Santità riceverà in udienza
il Rev. Sac. Gommar A. De Pauw,
nel giorno di domani mercologi
alle ore 17
Vaticano, 30 NOV. 1965
COCCA ITROIERS
Il Maestro di Camera di Sua Santità
(Mario Nasalli Rocca di Corneliano)
in
STATEMENT
+
Signore: velo e rigorosamente accollate.
Ecclesiastici: abito pïano.
Non sono ammesse persone oltre quelle indicate nel biglietto.
" THE TRUTH SHALL SET YOU FREE! II -- If one were to believe the "Catholic" press,
led on by Baltimore's Cardinal Shehan's Catholic Review, the CTM-leader, Father De
Pauw, never had a personal audience with Pope PAUL VI. -- The above is a photostatic
copy of the official Vatican invitation to such an audience. The invitation, dated
November 30, 1965, was signed by the future Cardinal Mario Nasalli Rocca di Corneliano,
then "Master of the House of His Holiness, II and reads: "His Holiness will receive the
Reverend Father Gommar A. De Pauw in audience tomorrow, Wednesday, at 5p.m." The
audience actually took place that day, Wednesday, December 1, 1965.
18
II The Pope literally receives me with wide open arms. After I kneel and kiss his ring
he does not let go, and for the next five minutes he holds both my hands in his, while time
after time he forcifully presses them to indicate his approval of some of my words, or emphasize
some of his own.
11 While we look each other straight in the eyes, I told the Pope, in Latin, that I wanted,
first of all, to express personally the unswerving loyalty and filial obedience to the Holy
ROMAN Catholic Church of the millions of traditionalist Catholics in the U.S.A. and the
world, whose true feelings I had expressed in the survey-report I had presented to him nine
days earlier.
" I then thanked him for the way he had intervened in the work of the Ecumenical Council,
when he forbade that Council to discuss the problems of birth-control and the priestly celibacy.
I told him that this was the kind of action the traditionalist Catholics expect from the Pope,
the successor of Peter and the Supreme Pontiff. I added that for US the Pope is not just the
presiding officer of a college of bishops, but the supreme chief with unquestionable authority
over all Catholics, including bishops and cardinals.
11 I then also expressed our delight over his encyclicals 'Ecclesiam Suam,' 'Mense Maio,'
and 'Mysterium Fidei,' which all stressed the unchangeable doctrines of our Church.
" Next I stated that I was soon returning to the United States to resume the public
leadership of the CATHOLIC TRADITIONALIST MOVEMENT, and that I wanted to assure
him personally that this Movement stands ready to cooperate most loyally with Pope and
bishops for the implementation of the Vatican Council's decisions, but only as these
decisions had been voted by the bishops and promulgated by the Pope, and not as they are
being misinterpreted by the self-styled so-called experts of the extreme Left. I repeated
that now that I was resuming the public leadership of the C.T.M., the fight against those
misrepresentations and misinterpretations would go on stronger than ever.
" Finally I asked the Pope for his personal special blessing for me and the members of
the C.T.M., now that our big fight was just beginning.
I
ASKED THE POPE FOR HIS PERSONAL BLESSING
" The Pope nods his head approvingly, looks me straight in the eyes, and continues
holding my hands in his. He starts to speak in Italian, and calls in Marcinkus to act as
interpreter. I tell the Pope, in Italian, that there was no need for an interpreter, since
I understand Italian, but speak Latin to him as a matter of principle and policy. To my
great satisfaction, and Marcinkus' embarrassment, the Pope sends his interpreter away.
11 Here the Pope, until now very friendly and fatherly. assumes a worried and nervous
looking facial expression. He looks almost sad, and I really feel sorry for him, when he
starts by saying that I, and all Catholics, should realize that the Church is going through
one of its gravest periods in History.
11 He asks me to urge the people not to lose faith in the Church, and to continue
to believe that, once the dust stirred up by the Ecumenical Council has settled down,
the unchangeable Church will come out of all this with new rejuvenated vigor. But,
to achieve this, he adds, it is necessary for all Catholics to obey the decisions of the
Vatican Council II.
19
11 I answer by saying that as long as I am the leader of the C.T.M. our Movement
will never lack that obedience. But I repeat once more: I Obedience to the Council
decisions as they were voted and promulgated:yes But we refuse to swallow the mis-
representations of those decisions on the part of certain so-called experts. I add that
Catholic traditionalists believe in the Pope and in the bishops, but not in some of their
advisors.' ( Please note this diary was written in 1965. Fourteen years later, in 1979,
we regretfully admit that we no longer believe in certain bishops either.)
II I made sure to ask one concrete concession which had become of great special
symbolic and practical importance to US. I asked the Pope not to allow the destruction
of the Latin Rite, and allow us, Catholic traditionalists, at least one old-fashioned
Latin Mass a day in each parish.
" The Pope answered that this was up to the bishops in their respective dioceses to
grant US.
" I answered that we knew that this question could be solved by our bishops today,
but that many of our bishops are ill-advised on this subject. Therefore, I added, I was
imploring the Pope to use his influence to convince our bishops to listen to this request
of the traditionalist Catholics. I added: I Most Holy Father, I assure you that the
salvation of countless souls is at stake, not only in the United States, but in many other
countries as well, where Catholic traditionalists feel exactly the way we do in America,
as I know first-hand from personal contacts with their leaders.'
" The Pope had tears in his eyes, but said nothing at this point. When an Italian
monsignor came to remind the Pope that I my time was up,' the Pope waved him off
and kept my hands in his.
I ASKED THE POPE TO ALLOW AT LEAST ONE OLD-
FASHIONED LATIN MASS A DAY IN EACH PARISH
11 I gave the monsignor a dirty look, and asked the Pope once again to give me and
the people I represented his personal 1 special blessing I for the success of the mission
I was now entering into, now that I was resuming the C.T.M.'s public leadership.
" The Pope seemed to hesitate for a few seconds. Looking me straight in the eyes
and holding my hands in his, he asked: It is this special blessing you want?' I answered:
I That is correct, Holy Father.' He then raised his hands and gave me his blessing in the
traditional Latin form, ending by placing both his hands upon my head and keeping them
there for quite some time without saying a word.
= I thank the Pope and kiss his hands while he reaches for a picture of the Blessed
Mother with on the backside his papal coat of arms and in his own handwriting the Latin
inscription: Ave Maria, gratia plena, Dominus tecum. -- In nativitate beatae Mariae
Virginis 1965 Paulus P.P. VI.' ( Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. --
Feast of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary, 1965 -- Paul VI, Pope-Pontiff.') Giving me
the picture he says: I For you, a little memento.'
20
"When I get up and start leaving, the Pope starts talking again to me, at the visible
annoyance of the two lalian monsignori behind his throne. This time he inquires about my
family. I ask him to bless them all, and especially my oldest sister, for 33 years a medical
missionary nun in Africa.
" The Pope reacted surprisedly, and asked if he had understood correctly that I had a
sister who had been a missionary for more than 30 years in Africa. When I answered that
he understood correctly, he shook his head in admiration, saying,' Thirty years a missionary!
What a wonderful life! I most certainly give her a very special blessing , and - here he
spoke to one of the attending monsignori - give her one of these special Madonna pictures
too.' Here the Pope made the sign of the cross in some distant direction.
II As long as I had the Pope for myself, I nervedly asked, 1 And please also bless all
other members of my family and my personal friends.' Again making the sign of the cross,
the Pope said,' Yes, all of them, especially their children and the sick and the suffering.'
" I get up, and an attendant in red-gold uniform conducts me to a small little stairway
leading to a secret exit from St. Peter's to the Porta Santa Maria. I am so excited I almost
put my overcoat on over my borrowed ferraiola. The papal Swiss guards salute and present
their halbards when I leave the Vatican grounds.
" When I arrive a little late for supper at the Villa, the American and German bishops
are all waiting in the dining room to hear how 'I made out.' Some look just a bit envious.
THE POPE MADE THE SIGN OF THE CROSS IN SOME
DISTANT DIRECTION
When newsmedia the world over headlined II Traditionalist Leader Received and
Blessed by Pope !" a furious Cardinal SHEHAN reacted with his own headline in the
BALTIMORE CATHOLIC REVIEW: 11 Vatican official : No Private Audience for De Pauw!"
The Vatican official referred to was a substitute at the Vatican Secretariat of State by
the name of Angelo DELL' ACQUA. Technically Shehan and Acqua were not lying.
The time spent by the C.T.M.-leader with Pope Paul VI was not a "private" audience like
the ones granted with great fanfare to kings and presidents, but only a "personal" one,
sometimes referred to as the "bacci-manu" (hand-kissing audience). (It was not the fault
of Father De Pauw that even the NEW YORK TIMES raised his audience to "private.")
What Shehan, putting pressure on a then low-ranking Vatican official, tried to
accomplish, however, was to destroy the credibility of the C.T.M.- leader by presenting
him to the public as a liar, not beyond making up stories to enhance his own image. As a
matter of fact, in a concomitant article in the same "Catholic" paper, a Shehan-stooge
did not hesitate to write -- an article echoed in most "Catholic" papers in the U.S.A. --
that Father De Pauw never met the Pope personally, and that the closest the C.T.M. leader
ever came to Paul VI was being present at an audience for some 500 advisers, secretaries
and chauffeurs, at the end of Vatican 11. Actually Father De Pauw did not even attend that
audience!)
Dell' Acqua, even though he rapidly rose to Cardinal, did not survive this deception
for very long. He dropped dead a few years later, on a street in France. The orchestrator
of this dirty trick, Shehan, now 81, is still living with it
21
Joannes Sanhs M.I
22
(Photo Vaticana)
SECRETARIA STATVS
EX AFDIBVS VATICANIS, 5 Septembris 1978
Reverende Domine,
luvat me Tibi nuntiare loanni Paulo I, Supremo Ponti-
fici, acceptissima fuisse bene ominantia verba, quibus
Eum ob provectionem ad munus Supremi Ecclesiae Pa-
storis es prosecutus.
Pro quo observantiae et amoris officio Ipse gratias
maximas agens, Benedictionem Apostolicam Tibi libentis-
sime impertit, quam etiam ad cunctos, quos caros habes,
vult pertinere.
Haee de mandato Beatissimi Patris rescribens, me Tibi
addictissimum profiteor .
+ I. (ard. Villot
TRANSLATION: Secretariat of State.
From the Vatican: September 5, 1978.
To the Rev. Father Gommar De Pauw.
Reverendo Domino
Reverend Father: I have the pleasure
Domino GOMMAR DE PAUW
of informing you that the Supreme
Pontiff, John Paul I, was most eager
to accept the good wishes which you sent him the day he assumed the office of Supreme
Shepherd of the Church. -- He personally sends you his profoundest thanks for such
an expression of loyalty and love, while at the same time taking the greatest satisfaction
in sending his Apostolic Blessing to you personally and equally to all those in your care.
-- While I am sending this letter to you by order of the most Holy Father, I declare
myself at the same time your most devoted (s) J. Cardinal Villot.
23
THE C.T.M. NEVER SLEEPS
We have always considered it a serious mistake on the part of the late Pope PAUL VI
that on November 16, 1970, he declared cardinals who reached their 80th birthday no
longer eligible to participate in the election of a new Pope. But if any exceptions were
to be made to this rule, they certainly should not have been in favor of those who, at the
time arrogantly sure they would outlive Paul VI, pressured the Pope into that cave-in.
Among them was Baltimore's answer to Rasputin, Lawrence J. Cardinal SHEHAN.
There were those who said that Shehan's name would never again pop up in anything
controversial where Rome was concerned, after his unsavory entanglement with the Vatican
in 1965, when he tried unsuccessfully to undo the C.T.M.- leader's canonical transfer
from his archdiocese to the diocese of Tivoli-Rome.
But those speculators did not foresee 1978, the year in which the diminutive former
Baltimore archbishop would once again make the Vatican blush, and this time regarding
nothing less than a papal conclave convoked to elect a new Pope.
At C.T.M. - headquarters -- watchdog with an eye on many things! -- we had been
aware for a long time that Shehan's birthday had quietly been changed in the ANNUARIO
PONTIFICIO, the Vatican Directory that lists all cardinals, from March 18, 1898, to
December 18, 1898, rejuvenating him at once by nine months!
When during the summer of 1978 rumors about Pope Paul's increasingly poor health
and possible resignation grew more and more persistent, one Gary MAC EOIN and other
liberal friends of Shehan, calling themselves "the Committee for the Responsible Election
of the Pope, rushed a 300-page book into print titled "The Inner Elite: Dossiers of Papal
Candidates." Listed among the cardinals-electors expected to participate in a conclave
"taking place before Dec. 18, 1978 -- you guessed it! -- Baltimore's Shehan, glowingly
described as one who "as head of his diocese showed great sensitivity in dealing with people,"
and "can be counted on to support an open, moderately progressive candidate" to succeed
Pope Paul VI.
It was bad enough that no sooner reached the news of Pope Paul's death the media
or all American news services started listing Shehan, who had turned 80 five months
before the Pope's death, among the cardinal-electors. But when the C.T.M. learned
that the Vatican Secretariat of State had indeed sent an official invitation to Shehan
to participate in the upcoming conclave, and that Shehan was already on his way to
Rome, we immediately cabled the Vatican authorities the following telegram: " Current
ANNUARIO PONTIFICIO and various publications erroneously list Cardinal Lawrence
SHEHAN of Baltimore as born December 18, 1898. Correct birthday is March of same
year, making him 80 years old and excluded from the papal conclave. Please do not
permit cloud of illegality to hang over future papal election."
Three days later the Vatican responded to what it termed our "thoughtful telegram"
with expressing "appreciation for the consideration of bringing this matter to our atten-
tion," and informing US that "the correct age of Cardinal Shehan has been clarified,
and therefore will pose no problem for the upcoming conclave of Cardinals to select a
successor for the late Pope Paul VI."
24
"HABEMUS PAPAM!"
"WE HAVE A POPE!"
A sermon delivered by Father Gommar A. De Pauw, J.C.D Founder-President of the
Catholic Traditionalist Movement, at all Masses offered on Sunday, August 27, 1978,
at the C.T.M. - Headquarters' Ave Maria Chapel in Westbury, Long Island, New York
You will recall how last Sunday I passed on to you the information I had received the
previous day from our contacts in Rome, that, contrary to what some "infallible experts"
were predicting, we could very well have one of the shortest papal conclaves in history,
so much so that we could very well have a new Pope come next Sunday.
Obviously our Roman contacts knew what they were talking about. For here we are,
after only one day of conclave voting, celebrating the election of Pope John Paul I, the
former Albino Cardinal Luciani of Venice!
What we did at the passing away of Pope Paul VI, we are doing again today: not
venerating or exalting any individual, but honoring and perpetuating the papacy. The
entrance to our chapel is once again decorated -- this time with the yellow and white
papal colors -- while the papal flag and CTM-standard are flying full-staff over our
buildings.
HONORING AND PERPETUATING THE PAPACY
Obviously at least some of our prayers have been answered!
First of all, the enemies of our Church -- and some of them were right inside the
Sistine chape!! -- were unable to let the world enjoy the spectacle of a prolonged
conclave indicative of bitter in-fighting and profound disunity.
You may have heard of the young priest in the New York archdiocese who last
Sunday led his congregation in prayer for the non-election of a new pope and the end
of the papacy. But you may not be aware of the fact that this young clergyman's views
were not far removed from the thinking of some cardinals who were hoping and maneuvering
for weeks, if not months, of conclaving, resulting finally in a "rule by committee," thus
factually proving, to the delight of some Catholic and non-Catholic ecumaniacs, that the
Church of Christ did not need a pope to live on.
"Some persons speak of REFORMING the Church
and giving up the Church's laws, TRADITIONS, and
aspirations
They feel that the whole structure of
the Church should be revised, and that the laws of
the Church are outmoded and out-of-step with the
present times. Those persons are not on the right
road. They bring sorrow to the Church and under-
mine her spiritual and social structure."
-POPE PAUL VI, February 21, 1966.
25
26
FIRST PICTURE -- Flanked by his Masters of Pontifical Ceremonies, Pope JOHN PAUL I
waves and smiles to the crowd in St. Peter's Square on Aug. 26, 1978, immediately following
bis election. by the conclave of 111 cardinals.
Our prayers were also answered by the fact that none, of the leading "papabili" --
leading candidates -- of the "experts" was elected.
I still get chills while thinking what could have happened if some of those "favorites"
had been elected!
( Cardinal Luciani had not even been mentioned as a "long shot" by Ladbroke, England's
professional bookmaker, which made the Curia's Sergio Cardinal Pignedoli the 5-2 favorite.
Neither was Cardinal Luciani's name on a list of "papabili" drawn up by the Italian
ambassador to the Vatican, and a winner-only pool conducted among foreign journalists in
Rome had to return all the 1, 000-lire bets because not one of the visiting media experts
picked Cardinal Luciani.
The Rome papers too did not fare much better, with only one of them mentioning the
patriarch of Venice as a serious possibility, and that paper was -- what irony! -- Rome's
Communist paper "Paese Sera."
One American television crew, ever so capably assisted by one of those American
priests who were out-experting each other on various networks, decided to film interviews
in advance with the 15 leading candidates, but for reasons of time and economy cut back
to an even dozen taped sessions. Cardinal Luciani was 13th on the list!
The biggest piece of crow, however, must still be stuck in the mouths of American
"experts" Gary MacEoin and Andrew Greeley and their "Committee for the Responsible
Election of the Pope." Their "The Inner Elite, a 300-page dossier of papal candidates,
gave eight pages to Argentinian Cardinal Pironio, six pages to Italian Cardinal Benelli,
five pages to Belgian Cardinal Suenens, four pages to Dutch Cardinal Willebrands and
American Cardinal Dearden, with less than a page given to the one who was really to
become Pope!)
THE BIGGEST PIECE OF CROW MUST STILL BE STUCK
IN THE MOUTHS OF "EXPERTS" LIKE
What kind of a person is the new Pope, and what can one expect from him, judging
his past?
I wish I could say that I know the new Pope personally, but I don't. Until last night
I was sure I never was near him in my entire life. But then I learned that he must have
been among the number of Italian bishops with whom I shared many an "expresso" when
I served in Rome during the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965). If I did, I certainly
do not remember it.
The present Pope was at that time one of the youngest among a few hundreds of
bishops of small Italian dioceses, bishops who never made a speech at the Council, but
who could always be relied upon to follow the Ottaviani-Ruffini "traditionalist" line --
unfortunately, the minority line most of the time -- when it came to voting.
The first time I ever heard of him as a possible pope was the day before the closed
conclave began, when our Roman contacts informed the CTM that our number-one
"traditionalist" candidate, Pericle Cardinal Felici, had no chance of being elected, but
that Alfredo Cardinal Ottaviani's "second best" choice, one Albino Cardinal Luciani
of Venice, could still beat the then front-runner Paolo Cardinal Bertoli.
27
All I know about the new Pope is what ! gathered this past night, when I did a little
homework and made a few phone calls, and 1 wish to share that information with you
this morning.
Albino Luciani was born of extremely poor parents his father a migrant often
unemployed brick layer, and his mother a hospital maid -- in the little town of Forno
di Canale, renamed Canale D'Agordo in 1964, between Venice and the Austrian border,
in Northeastern Italy, on October 17, 1912, thus making him the first pope born in the
20th century.
( UPI, stressing how the Lucianis never forget the humble origins and grinding poverty
to which the Pope was born in that Dolomite village 65 years ago, quoted the new Pope's
brother Edoardo, 60, a retired grammar school teacher, as saying:" You just cannot imagine
what it was like in those days. From May to October we went without shoes. The rest of
the year we had to have them because the place was covered with snow.")
THE FIRST POPE BORN IN THE 20TH CENTURY
Perhaps the burden of poverty and unemplayment was too much for the father of
four children, making the future Pope's embittered father give up the practice of his
religion and instead become an outspoken anti-clerical socialist militant, while working
as an immigrant laborer in Switzerland and Germany.
At no time, however, did the father prevent the son from following his calling to the
priesthood, a dream which cametruefor young Albina when, obviously an autstanding
student, he prematurely finished his seminary studies to be ordained a priest at the early
age of twenty-three.
A couple years of parish work in his native diocese of Belluno were followed by post-
graduate studies at Rome's Gregorian University, where he obtained his degree of Doctor
of Thealogy.
Appointed professor of theology and canon law in his own former major seminary alma
mater of Belluno, the training of young priests -- with teaching catechism to children
in a nearby parish over the weekends -- became Father Luciani's life work until in 1958,
at age 46, he was among the very first bishops appointed by the then newly elected Pope
John XXIII.
During his eleven years as bishop of Vittario Veneto he became known as the bishop
of the poor, dressing like a simple priest, wearing no jeweled crosses or rings, and visiting
his parishes not in the customary chauffeured bishop's limousine, but
on a bicycle!
( On Tuesday August 29 the media announced that Pope John Paul had decided to
"simplify" the traditional "trimmings" of the papacy. While we are all for expressions
of humility of this "Servant of the servants of God," we hope the new Pope will not
follow the advice of those who want to do away with every symbol of his supremacy and
turn the Supreme Pontiff into simply a "first among equals.")
In 1969, at age 57, Pope Paul VI appointed him archbishop and patriarch of Venice,
followed by pramotion to cardinal at age 61, in 1973, serving as a member of the Roman
Curia's Congregation for the Sacraments and Divine Warship.
"Have pity on your new Pope who truly did not
expect to rise to this office. Help this poor Vicar
of Christ in carrying his cross."
-August 30, 1978
28
And now Albino Luciani is Pope John Paul the First, Vicar of Christ on earth, 262nd
successor of St. Peter!
I suggest we give our new Pope two things: a chance, and a prayer.
Let us, first of all, give the new Pope a chance! A chance to undo the damages done
to our Church during the two preceding pontificates, those of John XXIII and Paul VI, and
in particular a chance to bring back the traditional Latin dignified liturgy surrounding the
eternal Sacrifice of the Mass his saintly predecessor Pius V ordered "in perpetuity."
( We wish to believe that it was just a temporary "last hurrah" of the papal speech-writer,
a left-over from the days of Paul VI, rather than the new Pope's own evaluation, when in
his first formal message to the College of Cardinals (Aug. he described the Second
Vatican Council as a "magnificent impulse of renovation and life.")
GIVE OUR NEW POPE TWO THINGS: A CHANCE AND A PRAYER
I am not worried about the name selected by the new Pope. And I told the worried
traditionalist Catholics who already telephoned me, that I do not read in that double name
the foreboding of a continuation of all the spiritual sufferings we traditionalist loyal Roman
Catholics have had to undergo since the Second Vatican Council.
If the new Pope intended to become a carbon copy of Pope John XXIII he would have
called himself John XXIV. If he had intentions of becoming another Pope Paul VI he would
have called himself Paul VII. But he did nothing of the kind. He called himself "the First,
a clear indication that he has every intention of being his own man, starting a new direction.
But why then the names John and Paul? I frankly admit that I do not know. I am sure
the new Pope will explain this selection some day. Perhaps it was nothing more than a
sentimental form of respect for the two individuals who placed him on the road to the papacy,
Pope John who made him a bishop, and Pope Paul who made him a cardinal.
( Father De Pauw's "What's in a name" -guessing work did not have to wait very long
for confirmation. Only a few hours after this sermon was delivered, both UPI and AP news
services reported the new Pope's own explanation, given from the central balcony of St.
Peter's Basilica to the more than 200,000 people in the square below, the first Sunday of his
pontificate: " John Paul explained how he decided on the double pontifical name: What
name to take? I had thought little of it!' Noting that John had made him a bishop in 1958
'with his own hands right here in the Basilica,' and that Paul made him a cardinal in 1973,
the new Pope said: So I said to myself, I will call myself John Paul. ")
Let us, traditionalist loyal Roman Catholics, give this humble man a chance as Pope!
If he is good enough for Cardinal Ottaviani, he should be good enough for us!
The new Pope's past record is as traditionalist as we could have hoped for in any papal
candidate at this point in time. Never has the new Pope as bishop or cardinal upheld
anything but the traditionalist views regarding sexual morality, the sacredness and the
indissolubility of marriage, the celibacy of priest, the rejection of the idea of priestesses,
and the Catholic Church's unique position as the one true religion. And while we would
have preferred more courage and less compromise on the part of Cardinal Luciani in the
defense of the traditional Latin Mass, here too we can hope for the new Pope to soon
display the same unwavering position which turned him -- the son of a socialist laborer --
into the leading anti-communist, anti-socialist, anti-marxist among the Italian bishops.
Blessings to the American people. They are a
grand people.
-September 5. 1978
29
( The day after Father De Pauw' sermon the combined UPI and AP wire services published
the following: II Although he is not, on his record, the answer to a liberal Catholic's prayer,
the new Pope is said to have the same qualities of compassion, simplicity, humility, directness
and kindness that made Pope John XXIII papular."
And in its September 4-issue Newsweek magazine wrote: II The new Pontiff offers a long
history of traditionalist views. He oppases marriage for priests, ordination for women, abortian
and divorce. He has been highly critical of homosexuality and the modernization of nuns'
habits. I Now even nuns are starting to dress like young ladies,' he noted recently. And he
is famaus for his adamant anti-Cammunism. During the last Italian election, he urged
Venetions to vote for the Christian Democrats, insisting that there is no possibility of
reconciliation between Marxism and Roman Cathalicism. He has also chastised many modern
theologians who, he thinks, have lost their fidelity to the Church. )
Besides giving him a chance, let US give our new Pope our prayers.
The official Church prayer for the Pope makes US ask the Lord to prevent the Pope fram
falling into the hands of his enemies, 11 in manus inimicarum." Let US particularly pray for
that intention, after what we have witnessed these past fifteen years during the two previous
pantificates. That the enemies of the Church, the enemies of the Pope -- some of whom will
live right with him in the Vatican! --- may not succeed in turning a newly elected traditionalist
Pope into another John XXIII or another Paul VI, but rather into another Saint Pius X whose
successor Pope John Paul became, first in Venice and now in Rome.
Or, perhaps in a less militant vein, let me ask you to offer your Masses, your Haly
Communions, your rosaries and your other prayers far the intention I am offering my three
Masses here today, the same intention I expressed in the Latin telegram I sent to Rome
yesterday afternaon, and which, translated in English, stated:
" In union with Raman Catholics the world over, the Catholic Traditionalist Movement
rejoices in the election of a new Supreme Pontiff, His Holiness Pope John Paul the First.
All our Masses on Sunday August 27 and our prayers will be affered for this intention: May
the Lard enlighten and guide His new Vicar on earth into better and happier days for His
Church and all its loyal members. 11
His Holiness
POPE JOHN PAUL I
Albino Luciani
30
LAST PICTURE -- Pope JOHN PAUL I gently pats the face of a little boy during his regular
Wednesday audience at the Vatican on Sept. 27 -- in what turned out to be the pontiff's
final Wednesday audience before his death on Sept. 29, 1978.
31
A FATHER DIES
Eulogies delivered by Father Gommar A. DE PAUW, J.C.D., Founder-President of the
CATHOLIC TRADITIONALIST MOVEMENT, September 29 and October 1, 1978, at the
C.T.M.- - Headquarters' AVE MARIA CHAPEL in Westbury, Long Island, New York, USA
+++++
SEPTEMBER 29: When Pope PAUL VI died last month I felt like a Catholic priest who
had lost his Pope. When this morning at 4 o'clock I learned of the sudden death of Pope
JOHN PAUL 1, after a pontificate of only 33 days, I felt like an infantry officer in the
field who lost his commander-in-chief, a commander who, after 14 years of fighting
against all odds, had just turned the tide of war into the direction of victory. I also felt
like a son who lost a father, a spiritual father, who died -- we are told -- of a massive
heart attack in bed, while reading the 15th century Flemish monk Thomas a Kempis'
IMITATIO CHRISTI, Imitation of Christ.
The news of Pope John Paul's death reached the world the day the traditional Roman
Catholic calendar honors St. Michael the Archangel. Instead of offering a Mass in honor
of St. Michael today, we are offering a Requiem Mass during which offertory we will be
praying to the same archangel for our Pope and all the faithful departed with the words
"signifer sanctus Michael repraesentet eas in lucem sanctam" -- "may Saint Michael the
standard-bearer lead them into the holy light."
THE TIDE OF WAR INTO THE DIRECTION OF VICTORY
I am still too shocked and saddened by this totally unexpected turn of events to speak
at lenght tonight. So I will just read you the text of the telegram -- or rather the
English translation of the message in Latin -- which I have sent this morning to the
Vatican in my capacity of president of the Catholic Traditionalist Movement:
" In union with Roman Catholics the world over, the CATHOLIC TRADITIONALIST
MOVEMENT mourns the sudden death of Pope JOHN PAUL THE FIRST. -- The shock
of this tragedy is made even more intense for us, since only last week we received the
new Pope's most affectionate greetings and blessing. -- A traditional Latin Requiem
Mass will be offered for our late Supreme Pontiff tonight at the CTM-Headquarters'
Ave Maria Chapel in Westbury, Long Island, New York. -- May Pope JOHN PAUL
intercede in Heaven for the saddened Church he left behind."
His Holiness
POPE JOHN PAUL I
Albino Luciani
Born: October 17, 1912
Elected Supreme Pontiff: August 26, 1978
Inaugurated Supreme Pontiff: September 2, 1978
Entered eternity: September 28, 1978
32
OCTOBER 1, 1978: If things were normal today you would find me in green liturgical
vestments, offering the Mass of the 20th Sunday after Pentecost. Instead, for the second
time in less than two months, I am offering a Requiem Mass for a dead Pope.
If things were normal today you would see in the chapel sanctuary the specially adorned
statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Queen of the Rosary, because today starts October, the
month traditionally dedicated to the Rosary devotion.
Instead, in the sanctuary stands the black-draped picture of the Pope who, after a
pontificate of only 33 days, died of a massive heart attack -- so we are told, -- and
I repeat: SO WE ARE TOLD -- while clutching in his hands the 15th century Flemish
monk Thomas a Kempis' IMITATIO CHRISTI, the Imitation of Christ.
I wish to thank the many of you who joined me here this past Friday evening, the very
day Pope John Paul died, in offering the traditional Latin Requiem Mass for the repose of
his beautiful soul.
I want to add a special word of thanks to those members of our choir who, in spite of
the short notice, came to add to this sad occasion the dignified atmosphere which only
our Church's traditional Gregorian Chant can provide.
Today too I am offering my three Masses for the same intention, praying, among
others, during the offertory prayer, to Saint Michael, the Archangel, on whose feastday
Pope John Paul died, for our fallen commander-in-chief and all the faithful departed,
with the words: "Signifer Sanctus Michael repraesentet eas in lucem sanctam" -- "may
Saint Michael, the standard-bearer, lead them into the holy light." And equally do we
pray that some of that light may descend upon our Church, which, after a mere month of
some light appearing at the end of the dark post-Vatican II tunnel, finds itself suddenly,
brutally, plunged back into the darkness of uncertainty and more.
IF THERE EVER WAS A TIME OUR CHURCH NEEDED
PRAYERS THAT TIME IS NOW!
I ask you to offer your Masses, Communions, rosaries, and other prayers for the same
intention today. I also hope that as many as possible will join me in special Masses for
the future of our Church this coming First Friday evening at 8 o'clock and this coming
First Saturday at noon, feast of Our Lady of the Rosary, together with your children.
If there ever was atime our Church needed prayers, that time is now!
At the memorial Mass this past Friday night I openly expressed my feelings, my shock
and sadness at this totally unexpected turn of events. I am not going through that ordeal
again this morning. So I will just read you the text of the telegram I sent last Friday
morning to the Vatican, in my capacity of president of the CATHOLIC TRADITIONALIST
MOVEMENT. (See above.)
In his short pantificate, Pope John Paul I had
made it clear that he was going to reinstate the old
Latin Mass as the preferred form of worship. as or.
dered by the Second Vatican Council.
DAILY NEWS, SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 1978
33
ONE MAN IN HISTORY
The only person ever to serve as Secretary of State to three Popes -- Paul VI,
John Paul I and John Paul II -- and "Chamberlain of the Holy Roman Church" (Chief
Executive) during two successive papal conclaves, was French Cardinal Jean VILLOT,
who died at 73, on March 9, 1979.
Under Paul VI Villot was not exactly the answer to a traditionalist's prayer. But
insiders told US of the "changed man" the Vatican number-two man had become through
his direct dealings with John Paul I, an association Villot himself described after the
latter's death as "the greatest spiritual experience of my life."
Villot surely had changed in his dealings with the CATHOLIC TRADITIONALIST
MOVEMENT. Twice within practically one month the CTM-leader received a personal
letter from the cardinal. One letter, sent by Villot, Sept. 5, 1978, in his capacity of
Secretary of State, and "by order of the most Holy Father," conveyed to Father DE PAUW
the newly inaugurated Pope's "profoundest thanks for your layalty and love, and the
Apostolic Blessing to you personally and to all in your care." Another letter was sent
by Cardinal Villot as Chamberlain of the Holy Roman Church on October 7, 1978,
"most profoundly" thanking the CTM-leader for the declaration he had made after the
death of Pope John Paul I. Villot's letter ended "with my respect and uttermost devotion
in the Lord. II
Jean Cardinal VILLOT is now part of History
and Eternity
R.I.P
34
"MEDICAL NEGLIGENCE
AT THE VATICAN?"
("Hospital Tribune")
We had every intention of following the Biblical injunction "to let the dead bury the
dead" and turn the page over the Vatican's death-filled summer of '78. But, when on
March 9, 1979 French Cardinal Jean VILLOT, Vatican Secretary of State and Chamberlain
of the Holy Roman Church, died at his Vatican apartment, we couldn't help joining the
Italian people and Catholics the world over in saying "Please God! Not again!"
First we were told that the 73-year-old prelate was in a Rome hospital with influenza.
A week later he is brought back to his Vatican apartment where, 48 hours later, the six-
foot-four strong-as-an-ox son of a French peasant, who had no medical history, is declared
dead from hepatitis and viral pneumonia. Result: people the world over are asking what
kind of doctors they have at the Vatican, and Rome is more and more looking like the
proverbial "nice city to visit, but not to live in."
With Villot's death the never resting Vatican rumor mills are once again turning at
full speed. And every question asked six months ago has suddenly regained new urgency.
Perhaps these questions should be raised again.
PERHAPS THESE QUESTIONS SHOULD BE RAISED AGAIN
When two Popes, PAUL VI and JOHN PAUL 1, a leading anti-communist cardinal,
YU PIN of China, and a Russian Orthodox metropolitan rumored to be ready to defect
to the West and convert to Catholicism, NIKODIM of Leningrad, suddenly collapse and
die in Rome within two months, with the Secretary of State to follow in six months, eye-
brows are bound to be raised, and the question will be asked "What's going on there?"
The failure of the Vatican to order an autopsy on the body of Pope JOHN PAUL I
added to the suspicions and speculation about the cause of his sudden death on Sept. 28,
1978. Among the five sudden deaths at the Vatican within the last six months, his case
is of particular interest.
The Vatican officially announced that the 65-year-old pontiff died of "acute myo-
cardial infarction" heart attack- around 11p.m. of Sept. 28 in his bed,after only
33 days as leader of the world's 732 million Roman Catholics.
Asked by reporters why an autopsy was not conducted, the Vatican press office kept
repeating that such was the case because attending physicians agreed it would not reveal
any more than what was already known.
As if someone in the Vatican was truly determined to produce a tragi-comedy and set
all the rumor mills turning at once, even two versions were given as to who actually
discovered Pope John Paul's body. (A repeat performance -- but with a much larger
audience watching this time -- of the still unresolved mystery of inconsistencies, contra-
dictions and "corrections" that clouded the news of the sudden death of New York's
Francis Cardinal SPELLMAN on Dec. 2, 1967.)
35
There was, of course, the afficial Vatican statement issued abaut two hours after the
65-year-old Pope's bady was found: " This marning (Sept. 29) at about 5:30 a.m. the
private secretary of the Pope, Father (John) Magee, entered the bedroom af Pope John
Paul 1. Not having found him in his chapel as usual, he was loaking for him in his room
and found him dead in bed with the lights on as if he were reading. II Later the same day
Vatican Radio repeatedly reported that Pope John Paul had died with the boak, The
Imitation of Christ, (the 15th century spiritual classic by Thomas a Kempis), in his hands.
It did not take long, however, for the Italian news agency ANSA to question the
official Vatican version that the Pape's body was found by his Irish-born secretary.
In a story it claimed was "partly confirmed" by the late Pope's brather Eduardo
LUCIANI, ANSA said Pope John Paul I was discovered dead in his bedroom by one of the
papal household nuns, Sister Vincenza, who was bringing him his morning coffee.
According to the ANSA story, as related by Religious News Service (RNS), Sister
Vincenza, brought to Rome by Pope John Paul from his household in Venice where he
was Patriarch-Archbishop, carried the pontiff a cup of coffee daily at 4:30 a.m. The
Pope, said ANSA, rose before dawn in order to spend two hours in prayer and meditation
in his private chapel before celebrating Mass at about 7 a.m.
ANSA said the nun left the coffee in the small anteroom of the Pope's bedroom.
When she returned later to collect the cup, said ANSA, she was surprised to find it
untouched. She knacked on the door of the Pope's bedroam and, receiving no answer,
peeked through the keyhole and saw the lights burning in the pontiff's bedroom. Sister
Vincenza then opened the door a few inches and saw Pope John Paul sitting up in bed,
his eyes open, his glasses an and a few sheets of paper in his hand. The sister then dashed
down the carridor and awoke Father Magee, who summoned aid, ANSA said.
No saoner was the ANSA dispatch made public or Vatican press spokesman, Father
Romea PANCIROLI, categorically denied it as being "without faundation in fact."
"AT THE VERY LEAST A CASE OF NEGLIGENCE"
To add to the confusion, a few days later Vatican Radio broadcast a "correction."
"After due investigation," said the radio, "we are in a position to specify that the Pope,
when he was found dead an the morning of Sept. 29, was holding in his hands some sheets
of paper containing his personal writings, not a copy of the Imitation of Christ."
Could anyane blame an arganization like CIVILTA CHRISTIANA for requesting the
Vatican's Promoter of Justice (Canon Law's equivalent of a public prosecutor) to "open
a judicial inquiry to ascertain the true causes of the death of the Supreme Pontiff"?
Civilta Christiana was only saying aloud what millions the world over were whispering or
thinking: "If President CARTER had died under such circumstances, you can be sure the
American people would have demanded an explanation! How could the light be left on
all night without anyone going to see if anything was the matter? The Pope could have
been in agony for hours. Why does the Vatican have no emergency medical service?
At the very least, this is a case of negligence."
36
DEATH OVER ROME -- For the second time in two months the government of the
Church was in the hands of French Cardinal Jean VILLOT, Secretary of State and
Chamberlain, shown here (middle of front row) leading the cardinals to the Sistine
Chapel, Oct. 14, 1978, to begin the conclave to elect a successor to the late
Pope John Paul 1. -- Six months later, March 9, 1979, Villot himself was dead.
37
38
"My blessings and good wishes to you, FATHER
DE PAUW, and to the men and women for whom you
speak."
-ALFREDO CARDINAL OTTAVIANI, Letter of
February 5, 1965.
FIRST PICTURE (1963) -- Alfredo Cardinal OTTAVIANI, Pro-Prefect of the Sacred Congregation
of the Holy Office, places the papal tiara on Pope PAUL VI during coronation at the Vatican on
June 30, 1963. It was the first time in almost a century that a papal coronation was held in St.
Peter's square.
But no matter how loud the cries for an investigation were, the Vatican's answer was
swift and unequivocal. Silvio Cardinal ODDI, speaking for the Commission for the State
of Vatican City, the department in charge of the temporal administration of the papal
enclave, emphatically stated Oct. 4, that the Collegeof Cardinals "will not hold even
a minimum investigation and will not even discuss the issue." "We know with complete
certainty," the cardinal said, "that the death of John Paul I was caused by the fact that
his heart stopped beating from completely natural causes."
One of Italy's top heart specialists, Dr. Pier Luigi PRATI of Rome's largest hospital,
San Camillo, said that in his opinion the Pope's death "could have been due to a cerebral
hemorrhage, but "in order to determine this, an autopsy would be necessary." But a less
dramatic commentary came from Dr. Antonio DA ROS who was the Pope's personal physician
when he was Albino Cardinal Luciani, Patriarch of Venice. In His opinion the burden of
"the new post" and the sensitivity of the new Pope may have been contributing factors in
his heart attack.
"WHY NO AUTOPSY? THE CHURCH HAD NOTHING TO
LOSE IF ONE HAD BEEN CONDUCTED"
11 I met him at the Vatican a few days before his death, said Dr. da Ros. " His
health was fairly good, but the stress of his new post was great. Perhaps he was not
prepared, accustomed to that responsibility. I told the Pope he could not continue at
that pace, and the pontiff replied he could not do anything about it, and that when one
Pope dies they just elect another. In the 33 days of his pontificate the pace of his
activities was very intense. All one has to do to be convinced of this is to check his
schedule since he was elected Pope. This, joined to the particular sensitiveness of
Albino Luciani, may have been a contributing factor to his death."
The late Pope's personal physician's view found some sort of confirmation in what
Rome's Pericle Cardinal FELICI said during a homily at a Requiem Mass in St. Peter's
Basilica for the late Pope on Oct. 10, indicating that the person whom the world
quickly dubbed "the smiling Pope" might well have been crying on the inside.
The Vatican cardinal recalled an incident that took place on Sept. 3, the day of
Pope John Paul's inauguration. That day, said Cardinal Felici, "I greeted the Pope
with a liturgical expression that the Lord might make him happy on this earth. He
answered me, smiling: Yes, happy on the outside, but if you only knew what I'm
feeling inside!"
Milan's highly respected daily, CORRIERE DELLA SERA, -- the late Paul VI's
favorite paper echoed the practically unanimous views of the world's news media
when it wrote that "doubts and suspicions" had arisen over the Pope's death, and that
it could not understand "why an autopsy on Pope John Paul's body was not performed."
In an editorial titled, "Why no autopsy?" Corriere said, "The Church had nothing
to lose -- On the contrary, much to gain -- if an autopsy had been conducted."
39
LAST PICTURE (1978) -- Pope PAUL VI is shown greeting Italian President Sandro PERTINI
at Castelgandolfo, the pontiff's summer residence, on Aug.3, 1978. According to news
sources, it is the last known photograph to be taken of the pontiff before his death, three
days later.
Further, alluding to "doubts and suspicions" -- the other Italian papers were full
of rumors pointing to either extreme-rightists or communists for the "foul play, -- the
Milan paper noted that Chinese Cardinal YU PIN collapsed during the funeral of Pope
Paul VI (Aug. 12) and died four days later (Aug. 16), and that Russian Orthodox Metro-
politan NIKODIM had died of a heart attack on Sept. 5 during a private audience with
Pope John Paul.
"A Chinese, a Russian, and then the Pope himself, said Corriere. "Coincidences. But
never in recent times have there been so many deaths of a sudden nature and so close together
in the Vatican. Suspicion is flowing through Rome already so full of suspicions, and is
entering the Vatican. Not even the throne of St. Peter is safe."
To claim, as some self-styled canon lawyers did, that Canon Law -- Pope Paul VI's
Apostolic Constitution of 1975, to be specific, -- excludes autopsies on the body of a
Pope is simply not true.
Article 17 of that apostolic constitution neither imposes nor excludes, but simply says
nothing concerning autopsies on the bodies of dead Popes. The article only directs the
Papal Chamberlain ( at that time French Cardinal Jean VILLOT) to "officially ascertain
the pontiff's death in the presence of the papal master of ceremonies, of the cleric prelates
and of the secretary chancellor, who shall draw up the official death certificate."
CANON LAW DOES NOT EXCLUDE PAPAL AUTOPSIES
Neither did the late Pope's family help to clarify matters. The Pope's niece, Amalia
LUCIANI, said that "in my family almost no one believes that it was a heart attack that
killed my uncle, adding, "He never had heart trouble or any illnesses of that kind."
"I think it was simply collapse,' said the 23-year-old resident of the late Pope's home
town, Canale d'Agordo, in northern Italy. "But only an autopsy would be able to furnish
the answer to that question."
On the other hand, a cousin of Pope John Paul I, Agnes LACOTTE, 58, a daughter of
an aunt of the late pontiff, said she was not surprised by his death. "Many members of the
Luciani family had died of heart attacks,' she said.
Pope John Paul himself had alluded to his health just a day before he died. Speaking
to a group of sick who attended his Sept. 27 general audience, he said, I want you to
know that your Pope understands and loves you very much. Your Pope has been eight times
in the hospital and has undergone four operations." The four operations the Pope alluded to
were for tonsils, a gall bladder condition, an eye inflammation and a lung condition.
TOTAL
We speak to you in Latin because, as is well
known Latin is the official language of the Church,
and Latin expresses in an evident and effective way
the Church's universality and unity."
-September 3. 1978
41
But not only sensation-hungry magazines and boulevard papers raised questions. In
the U.S.A. the monthly HOSPITAL TRIBUNE, a professional publication published by
Medical Tribune, Inc., 641 Lexington Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10022, with Arthur M.
Sackler, M.D. as International Publisher and Harry Henderson as Editor-in-Chief, carried
a huge tabloid-size picture of the present Pope, JOHN PAUL II, on the front-page of its
Nov. 1978-issue with as title "Medical Problems at the Vatican," while its "Special
Report"on page 4 carried the even stronger title "Medical Negligence at the Vatican?"
The one and a half page article by Bruce RENTON is highly critical of the poor
medical services available to "the Popes, highest of the holy in much of the world,"
and calls them unbelievably inferior to the services at the disposal not only of other
world leaders but even of such lesser luminaries as New York's Governor CAREY and
Cardinal COOKE.
The article extends its criticism even to the present Pope JOHN PAUL II whom it
describes, in spite of his Public Relations' image of the vigorous sportsman, as "yet
another untested Pope,' with "not a hint of health status or a physical exam.
Referring to the "sociomedical furor" created by the death of two Popes within the
space of 53 days -- the artticle ignores the other "vatican deaths," -- Hospital
Tribune expresses shock in discovering that Pope Paul VI died "of a presumed cardio-
vascular condition that just might have been reversible,' and Pope John Paul I "of a
presumed massive coronary occlusion, unattended, with no real clue as to his cardio-
vascular status, no evidence anyone knew what it was,"
and not so much as a
death certificate issued." ( Referring to the death certificate issued by the Vatican
doctors for Paul VI the article quotes an unnamed "young Italian heart surgeon"as
saying, "If I had issued a death certificate like that in New York, I would have been
run through the door.")
The most devastating criticism of the Vatican's medical services, however, is the
one by the world's first heart surgeon, Dr. Christiaan BARNARD of Capetown's Groote
Schuur Hospital, who headed a team of South-African and Italian doctors that investigated
the death of Pope Paul VI from a purely medical viewpoint. Writing in SALVE, an
Italian medical journal, Barnard wrote -- as quoted by Hospital Tribune -- that Pope
Paul VI's "death certificate was impossibly vague, stating only proximate causes of
death, and that Pope Paul "might have been saved had the Vatican possessed an ICU
(Intensive Care Unit) or had the Pope been taken to a hospital and put in intensive care."
"IF I HAD ISSUED A DEATH CERTIFICATE LIKE THAT IN
NEW YORK, I WOULD HAVE BEEN RUN THROUGH THE DOOR"
Popes Paul VI and John Paul I are gone. But the controversy surrounding their deaths
lingers on, and is bound to continue for a long time. Perhaps somebody should tell the
present incumbent on the Chair of Peter that before going ahead with his announced plans
to build a tennis court and a swimming pool in the Vatican, the money could be more wisely
spent on a well equipped ICU and a couple of decently salaried physicians and nurses!
42
FROM POLAND TO POPE
On Monday evening, October 16, 1978, the day Cardinal Karol WOJTYLA, archbishop
of Krakow, Poland, became Pope JOHN PAUL II, Father Gommar A. DE PAUW, founder-
president of the CATHOLIC TRADITIONALIST MOVEMENT, offered a traditional Latin
Roman Catholic Mass for the Church, at the C.T.M's headquarters' Ave Maria Chapel in
Westbury, Long Island, New York.
To an overflow congregation which was given copies of the apostolic blessing sent to the
C.T.M. - leader by the late Pope John Paul I just a few days before that pontiff's untimely
death, Father De Pauw made the following declaration:
11 Fifteen years ago I met a Polish cardinal in Rome. And speaking to a group of other
Church dignitaries I remarked: What a great Pope this Polish cardinal would make The
name of that Polish cardinal was Stefan Wyszynski.
Last year Cardinal Wyszynski was taken to a hospital in Warsaw, the capital of his
Soviet-occupied homeland, for what was at first described as minor problems. After under-
going surgery, however, the cardinal left the hospital a somewhat changed and more subdued
man.
This afternoon I saw Car dinal Wyszynski on television, with a strange and sad sort of
daze in his eyes, standing on the balcony of Rome's St. Peter's basilica, a few feet away
from another much younger Polish cardinal who had just become Pope.
If Polish cardinal Wyszynski had become our new Pope, you would now hear me deliver
a fiery talk of praise and admiration for an uncompromising foe of atheistic communism who
became his country's living symbol of no-deal resistance to tyranny.
Considering what we know and what we do not know about the other Polish cardinal
who just became Pope John Paul II, I believe the sensible position to take is the one
suggested to me by a simple Catholic soul I met this afternoon when I stopped for a cup of
coffee at a roadside diner: I Let's wait and see.'
Meanwhile I urge you to do two things. First: Pray, pray very hard, for our Roman
Catholic Church. Second: Continue to believe that, no matter what, the CTM will
remain loyal to TRUTH AND TRADITION, because, where Truth and Tradition are, there
is THE LORD'S CHURCH.
May the Lord and His Immaculate Mother protect US all."
On October 17, 1978 the C.T.M. sent the Vatican a telegram on the occasion of
the election of John Paul II. Exactly a week later the Vatican acknowledged "the
thoughtful telegram" "with kind and cordial regards."
"KIND AND CORDIAL REGARDS"
43
THE POPE OF?
FIRST PICTURE -- Pope JOHN PAUL II, the former Cardinal Karol Wojtyla of Poland,
acknowledges cheers of thousands in St. Peter's Square on October 16, 1978, after being
elected to succeed the late Pope John Paul I.
The new pontiff is the first non-Italian Pope to be chosen in 455 years. The last was Adrian VI,
a Dutchman who reigned from Jan. 9, 1522 to Sept. 14, 1523.
44
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IN THIS ISSUE
A Pope is dead...Long live the Papacy!...p. 2
The papal Audience some couldn't digest, p. 9
"My Roman Diary" by Fr. Gommar A. De Pauw, p. 11
The C.T.M. never sleeps, p. 24
"Habemus Papam!" We have a Pope! p. 25
A Father dies...p. 32
One Man in History, p. 34
"Medical Negligence at the Vatican?" p. 35
From Poland to Pope, p. 43
Unless differently stated,
all photos in this issue are
from RELIGIOUS NEWS
SERVICE, while the
accompanying texts are
our own.