Catholic Family News

“A House Built On Sand”: SSPX Superior General Responds to Pope’s “Human Fraternity” Text

(Photo: Fr. Davide Pagliarani, SSPX Superior General, center, with his First and Second Assistants, Bishop Alfonso de Galarreta, left, and Fr. Christian Bouchacourt, respectively.)

“The Document on Human Fraternity for World Peace and Living Together signed by Pope Francis and the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar is nothing but a house built on sand.” Thus affirms Fr. Davide Pagliarani, Superior General of the Society of St. Pius X (SSPX), in a statement released by the Society on Sunday (full text below).

Fr. Pagliarani’s comments come in response to the joint declaration signed by Pope Francis and Dr. Ahmad Al-Tayyeb, the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar Mosque and University (Cairo, Egypt), during the Pope’s recent trip to the United Arab Emirates (Feb. 3-5, 2019). Together with his First and Second Assistants, Fr. Pagliarani rightly asserts that “[a]n ecumenical Christ would not be the true Christ,” while observing that “true fraternity exists only in Jesus Christ and in Him alone”.

Concerning the claim that “the pluralism and the diversity of religions” is “willed by God in His wisdom”, Fr. Pagliarani notes that this false assertion is “opposed to the dogma that declares that the Catholic religion is the one true religion”, which thus qualifies the proposition as “heresy”, a conclusion shared by a Dominican theologian.

Since its publication on Feb. 4, the Pope’s Human Fraternity document has faced significant scrutiny from a myriad of notable sources, including Professor Roberto de Mattei, Bishop Athanasius Schneider, and Cardinal Gerhard Müller. Fr. Pagliarani, elected Superior General of the SSPX last July, has thankfully added his voices to those who are respectfully but firmly resisting this latest error of Pope Francis, whose naturalistic emphasis on “human fraternity” apart from Christ is strikingly similar to Freemasonry, the object of repeated condemnations by the Church (e.g. Pope Leo XIII’s 1884 encyclical Humanum Genus).

Catholic Family News thanks Fr. Pagliarani for his clear opposition to the Human Fraternity document and recognizes in his statement a reassurance that the Society’s new leadership fully intends to uphold the legacy of their venerable founder.

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True Fraternity Exists Only in Jesus Christ

An ecumenical Christ would not be the true Christ. For more than fifty years, modern ecumenism and interreligious dialogue have ceaselessly presented to the world a diminished, unrecognizable, and disfigured Christ.

The Word of God, the only Son of the Father, uncreated Eternal Wisdom took flesh and became man; faced with this historical fact no one can remain indifferent: “He that is not with Me is against Me: and He that gathereth not with Me scattereth” (Mt 12:30). By the fact of the Incarnation, Christ became the High Priest of the unique New Covenant and the Teacher who proclaims the truth to us; He became the King of hearts and of societies and “the firstborn amongst many brethren” (Rom 8:29). Thus true fraternity exists only in Jesus Christ and in Him alone: “For there is no other Name under heaven given to men, whereby we must be saved” (Acts 4:12). 

It is a truth of the faith that Christ is King of all men and that He wants to unite them in His Church, His unique Bride, His only Mystical Body. The kingdom that He establishes is a reign of truth and grace, of holiness, justice, and charity, and consequently peaceful. There can be no true peace apart from Our Lord. It is therefore impossible to find peace outside the reign of Christ and of the religion that He founded. To forget this truth is to build on sand, and Christ Himself warns us that such an undertaking is doomed to fail (cf.Mt 7:26-27). 

The Document on Human Fraternity for World Peace and Living Together signed by Pope Francis and the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar is nothing but a house built on sand. It is furthermore an impious gesture that scorns the First Commandment of God and attributes to the Divine Wisdom, incarnate in Jesus Christ Who died for us on the Cross, the statement that “the pluralism and the diversity of religions” is “willed by God in His wisdom”.

Such talk is opposed to the dogma that declares that the Catholic religion is the one true religion (cf.Syllabus of Errors, proposition 21). When something is a dogma, anything opposed to it is called heresy. God cannot contradict Himself.

Following Saint Paul and our revered founder, Abp. Marcel Lefebvre, under the protection of Our Lady, Queen of Peace, we will continue to hand on the Catholic faith that we have received (cf.1 Cor 11:23), working with all our might for the salvation of souls and of nations, by preaching the true faith and the true religion.

“Going therefore, teach ye all nations: baptizing them in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost” (Mt 28:19-20). “He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved: but he that believeth not shall be condemned” (Mk 16:16).

February 24, 2019

Father Davide Pagliarani, Superior General

Bp. Alfonso de Galarreta, First Assistant
Father Christian Bouchacourt, Second Assistant

Reprinted with permission from FSSPX News.

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Matt Gaspers

Matt Gaspers is the Managing Editor of Catholic Family News. He was asked by John Vennari (1958-2017), longtime Editor of CFN and stalwart defender of the Faith, to carry on CFN’s important work shortly before Mr. Vennari’s passing. In addition to writing for CFN, Mr. Gaspers has also been published by The Fatima Crusader, OnePeterFive, and LifeSiteNews. His study and writing interests include theology, Church history, Fatima, Islam, and the spiritual life. He has spoken at conferences hosted by Catholic Family News and the Fatima Center. He and his wife, together with their children, reside in Colorado.

Matt Gaspers

Avatar photo

Matt Gaspers is the Managing Editor of Catholic Family News. He was asked by John Vennari (1958-2017), longtime Editor of CFN and stalwart defender of the Faith, to carry on CFN’s important work shortly before Mr. Vennari’s passing. In addition to writing for CFN, Mr. Gaspers has also been published by The Fatima Crusader, OnePeterFive, and LifeSiteNews. His study and writing interests include theology, Church history, Fatima, Islam, and the spiritual life. He has spoken at conferences hosted by Catholic Family News and the Fatima Center. He and his wife, together with their children, reside in Colorado.