RU 30+31/2006 - FRANCE, CONVERSION PREACH

- FRANCE: SPECIAL RELEASE (DOUBLE NUMBER)

On July 30, 2006, in the church St Nicolas du Chardonnet in Paris, the Swedish Lutheran pastor Sten Sandmark converted, together with his associate Joacim Svensson, to the Catholic Church. On this occasion, Mgr Tissier de Mallerais, of the FSSPX, pronounced a historic sermon that we are pleased to reproduce and to reveal here. It's hopefully the starting point of a vast "ecumenical" activity - in the true meaning of this word i.e. the return of all other Christians to the Catholic Church - that the FSSPX is called to take over, since the authorities, in the name of modern oecumenism, don't want any more to exercise this function.

" My very dear brothers :

Today, I will preach before the Mass since we have this quite extraordinary opportunity of the conversion of pastor Sten Sandmark and one of his associates, who want to enter into the Catholic Church. It's a big joy for the Church in this feast of Saint Elina, Swedish martyr of the 12th century.

Dear Pastor, I'm not going to try to retrace the course of your conversion. I'll simply say that it was the grace of the Holy Ghost and the fruit of the intercession of the Most Blessed Virgin Mary, mediator of all graces. To say the truth, you were not really a Lutheran, although finding you in the Swedish Lutheran church. You didn't share the doctrine of it, since you conserved the Catholic doctrine of the justification of our souls, of the grace, of the transsubstantiation, of the Holy Mass and many other Catholic dogmas which are denied by the Protestants. But the unity was lacking to you, the unity of Christ's true Church.

You yourself, dear Pastor, were a priest. You were it during 31 years, following a ceremony of ordination. There is evidently a doubt on this ordination, since one doesn't know if the apostolic succession in the Swedish church is valid or not. You celebrated during 31 years what you thought to be a valid Mass in Swedish language, and you wanted during these 31 years of ministry to pursue the mission of redemption of the souls that Christ confided to his Church, as you say it in your beautiful declaration which is at the disposal of the faithful.

You wanted to pursue the mission of the Church by the predication of the Gospel, according to Christ's word to his apostles: ŠGo to the whole world, preach the Gospel to all creatures‹; also by the celebration of the Saint Sacrifice of the Mass, according to Jesus' word to his apostles: ŠEvery time that you will do so, you will do it in my memory‹; and also by the administration of the seven sacraments of which you recognized the existence, sacraments instituted by Our Lord Jesus Christ. But alas, to all this was missing the Catholic unity and the certainty of a valid sacramental administration.

What is, very dear faithful, the Catholic doctrine on the real Church of Our Lord Jesus Christ? It's a mystery of unity professed by the apostle Saint Paul, which we profess in the symbol of the apostles, in our Creed that we will sing within some moments: ŠI believe in only one God, the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost‹. The central mystery of the Christian religion: only one God in three persons, and we will also say: ŠI believe in only one Lord Jesus Christ, in only one Savior, unique Redeemer of souls by his precious Blood versed on the Cross‹. A dogma of faith that is currently denied by some of those who have the highest ranks in the Catholic Church. I believe also in only one baptism (we will sing this also) in remission of the sins. And in short, I believe in the One, Saint, Catholic and Apostolic Church. It's the Mystical Body of Our Lord Christ, i.e. the body whose members are transplanted onto Christ in order to live from the very Life of Our Lord Jesus Christ, our chief and our head.

This Catholic Church has been founded on Peter, the first pope. According to the word of Jesus Christ to Saint Peter: ŠBlessed are you, Simon, son of Jonas, because this is not you, but it's my Father, Who is in the heaven, that revealed it to you, to know that I am God's Son; in the same way, I tell your that you are Peter and that on this stone I will build my Church and the doors of the hell won't prevail against her. And everything that you will bind on the earth, will be bound in the heaven, and everything that you will untie on earth, will be untied in the heaven‹. It is indeed Saint Peter who left to Rome, where he established his episcopal seat, and this made that the Catholic Church is the Roman Church, mother and head of all churches of the world. It's there, in Rome, that Saint Peter sealed by his blood, by his martyrdom, his mission of being the first pope. And it's there that he transmitted to his successors the supreme jurisdictional power on the whole Church, both on the sheep and the pastors, according to Christ's word: ŠPasture my sheep, pasture my herd‹.

Christ's true Church is therefore the Roman Church. And this Catholic Roman Church is necessary to salvation, it's the third truth of faith, the first being the One, Saint, Catholic and Apostolic Church, the second being the Roman Church founded on Peter, and the third being the Roman Church, necessary for the salvation of the souls outside of which no one can operate his salvation. What means that someone who would know that the Catholic Church is Christ's true Church and who, nevertheless, would stay outside of this Church, could not save himself. According to Christ's word: "Who listens to you, listens to Me; who despises you, despises Me; and who despises Me, despises the One that sent Me, God the Father".

Of these truths, dear Pastor, you were convinced and that's why you burned to rejoin the Catholic unity, because you felt well that in the Lutheran Swedish church you were not at home. Indeed, since Martin Luther rebelled in 1517 against the Church and provoked the schism and the Protestant heresy, these communities separated themselves from the Catholic unity and split increasingly into a multitude of sects, all different as to the various dogmas that they either accept or reject, and of which not a single one can prevail herself to come from the apostles by an uninterrupted and legitimate episcopal succession like in the Catholic unity, in the submissiveness to Peter's successor.

To this was added lately, in this Swedish church separated from Rome, the ordination of "priestesses", what is miserable, as well as the nuptial blessing granted to those called Šhomosexuals‹, an abominable thing to God's eyes; that is the best proof that this church is not at all the true Church of Our Lord Jesus Christ. It's why you felt obliged to take the big resolution to convert yourself.

And you approached the Catholic bishop of Sweden, asking him, ten years ago: ŠEminence, I would like to become a Catholic‹. And this bishop answered you shamefully: ŠNo, remain as you are, it's good for oecumenism‹. Here is what the new church of the Council, that we call the conciliar church, did! She prevents the conversion of those who want to come back to the Catholic unity. "Remain as you are, it's good for What a horrible mistake!...

Therefore, since ten years, you were impatient when providentially, last year, the pilgrimage of Unec to Sweden, on the tomb of Saint Bridget, passed not far from you. And you welcomed our pilgrims for the celebration of the Mass because the churches were refused to them. That's how you knew what we call the Catholic Tradition, i.e. the core, the elite of Catholic faithful, faithful to the faith of all times.

Thus you decided to come back to the unique herd of Our Lord Jesus Christ, even though this Church is currently herself shaken by a very severe crisis, by the "cult of man" established instead of God's cult, the "ironing table" replacing the altar of the sacrifice, the "dialogue" replacing the sacrifice offered to God. I was told that in Sweden, one day, certain Catholics asked for the permission to borrow a Lutheran church to be able to celebrate the Mass, the "new Mass". In your Lutheran churches, you have an altar and a table of communion; these Catholics, however, found the means to put a table to celebrate their eucharisty, instead of using the high altar that yet exists even with the Lutherans. There are things that we discover, dear faithful, and that make shame to the conciliar Church.

You approached therefore, dear Pastor, our Priest's Society Saint Pius X founded by Mgr Lefebvre, in particular for the perpetuation of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, that is of the sacrifice of the Cross, reproduced, reactualized on the altar in a non-bloody manner, according to the promise of Our Lord Jesus Christ to his apostles: ŠYou will do this in my memory‹. And it's with the objective, if it pleases to God, to be able to reach one day the Catholic ordination (as well as your associate) that you want to rejoin the Priest's Society Saint Pius X, while perfectly knowing the painful situation which is made to her in the Catholic Church. You want thus, dear Pastor (I regret to call you by this title because you are now Catholic), enter into this fight for the faith which is currently the main goal of our Priest's Society.

With the help of God, and the intercession of the Very Holy Virgin Mary whom we implore today for you, as well as for your associate, you are going to make the solemn abjuration of all heresy and the solemn profession of the Catholic faith, and, if it pleases to God, to pursue your studies until the Catholic ordination in order to renew and to prolong the unique Sacrifice of Our Lord Jesus Christ on our altars. Amen."

- End of the sermon of Mgr Tissier de Mallerais. - ru (cf. LPL July 31)