On March 25, 1983, nine American priests of the Society of St. Pius X, addressed a respectful letter to Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre. This letter presented serious issues concerning doctrinal, moral and liturgical matters. The response from the late archbishop was given on April 27, 1983 at a meeting which took place in Oyster Bay Cove, New York. The archbishop did not put forth any plan to remedy the problems but rather arbitrarily, summarily and unjustly expelled the nine priests from the Society of St. Pius X.

The full text of the letter of March 25, 1983, is available at our website: www.olvrc.com. However, the salient issues presented in the letter concern:

1. The use, by the Society of St. Pius X, of "priests" whose ordinations are dubious because they were "ordained" in the New Rite of ordination - one of the fruits of Vatican II.

2. The archbishop's insistence that the nine priests accept the poisoned Modernist liturgy of the so-called "Reforms" of 1962. It must be remembered that the Liturgical Commission which would bring to the world the blasphemous heretical service known as the "New Mass" in 1969, was founded on May 28, 1948. This Liturgical Commission was headed by Ferdinando Antonelli and Annibale Bugnini who would orchestrate all the so-called reforms of the 1950s and the 1960s. In 1979, the Society of St. Pius X published a book entitled The Liturgical Movement written by Father Didier Bonneterre, a French priest of the society. The late archbishop personally wrote a glowing preface for this book. Father Bonneterre, referring to the so-called "reform" of the 1950s, writes: "…they are stages in the realization of a plot intended to bring about the death of the Church." And again: "…we must also recognize, in retrospect, for the reasons given above, they constitute the first stages of the 'auto-demolition' of the Roman liturgy." Now if the so-called "reforms" of the 1950s "…are stages in the realization of a plot intended to bring about the death of the Church." What, then, must one say of the so-called "reforms" of 1962? Indeed, they are further stages in this same plot. Why would the archbishop insist that the priests of the Society of St. Pius X accept these poisonous "reform"'?

3. The nine priests' objection to the archbishop's and the Society's acceptance of annulments granted by the Modernists. The nine priests rightly asserted that the traditional Code of Canon Law stipulates that "marriage enjoys the favor of law; consequently in doubt the validity of the marriage must be maintained until the contrary is proven…" Canon 1014. Accordingly, the annulments granted by the Modernist Church are not worth the paper on which they are printed.

Now, twenty-five years later, we reflect upon the issues presented by the nine priests in their letter of March 25, 1983. The principles upon which the positions of the nine priests based their arguments have not changed for indeed these are the immutable principles of the Roman Catholic Church.

Sadly, one can readily observe that the Society of St. Pius X has not corrected the serious problems raised in 1983. In point of fact, the Society of St. Pius X continues to employ the services of dubiously "ordained" clergymen, thus rendering dubious, if not invalid, the "sacraments" that these clergymen provide in some of the chapels/churches of the SSPX. The Society of St. Pius X not only has not renounced the acceptance of the so-called "annulments" granted by the Modernist Church of Vatican II, but moreover the Society of St. Pius X has arrogated to itself the "authority" to grant "annulments". They seem to forget the words of our Lord: "What God hath joined together, let no man put asunder." In addition, the Society of St. Pius X has not only not renounced the use of the so-called "liturgical reforms" of the Modernists but continues to force-feed the laity with these spiritually toxic rites. The leaders of the Society of St. Pius X proclaim their commitment to attaining "full communion" with the Modernists.

It was then, without doubt, the hand of Divine Providence that guided the events of 1983. Twenty-five years later we are reminded that truth does not change and that we must never compromise.