Letter of Father Kolendo
[In 2021 Fr. Cyprian Kolendo - one of the religious in Poland leaving the post-conciliar Franciscan Order for SSPX wrote the following open letter]
Reverend Father Provincial,
I am writing this letter with great pain, but at the same time knowing that it is not bearable to continue in the state of conscience in which I am without harming my own salvation. For almost a year, I have been seeing how the ideals that guided me when I entered the Order fade, and the pastoral and liturgical practice has in fact become a devilish distortion.
For years, I have believed that my traditionalism is compatible with the environment in which I function, that it is a path that should be remembered for the faithful for their spiritual benefit. Through my ministry, I wanted to lead the faithful to an evolutionary transition from the previous state to the Catholic Tradition. I was under the illusion that the voice of a few traditional prelates, such as Bishop Athanasius Schneider or Card. Robert Sarah, can serve as support, comfort and guidepost, but ... I was deeply mistaken, because these faithful prelates are consistently marginalized.
I was aware of the struggle for the Church, but I was not aware of how infiltrated it was by errors that came from a morbid attempt to adapt Her to the world. The Polish Church appeared to me as a refuge, as (still) a healthy spiritual tissue. However, the reality of the "trial" showed something completely different. The time of Covid manipulations is the period when "the intentions of the hearts of many have come out."
The diagnosis for any faithful interested in the history of the Church is clear. There is an unusual ignorance concerning warning efforts of the popes of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, e.g. the instruction of Alta vendita which Pius IX and Leo XIII published to illustrate the devilish plan against the Church. Encyclicals such as Mirari vos , Pascendi Dominici gregis , Quanta cura and Syllabus as well as others intended to counter the errors of modernity were also ignored. Even today, it is not difficult to read them in the right context and understand what they refer to and what they condemn.
Of course, this is a big simplification, but the source of the present state of the Church is certainly to be found in the infiltration of the Church with the currents of philosophy and theological errors unequivocally condemned by the Magisterium decades earlier. A rhetorical question: where was this now so famous obedience then?
In Polish conditions, the crisis of the Church is closely linked with the history of the political transformation. The lack of vetting [with respect to their collaboration with the communist secret service] of clerics, especially among the hierarchy, kept people of at least dubious qualities in the highest positions. This state of affairs caused years of lowered moral standards for the clergy, and today everything is closed with the compromising attitude of the hierarchy in the face of the fall of numerous, unfortunately, subordinates. On the other hand, there was an attack on the doctrine by allowing to speak and not reacting to the overtly non-Catholic content made public under the guise of freedom of theological research.
Today I can clearly see the Polish Church striving to implement all modernist ideas. Meanwhile, I have the feeling of being the only one in the province that does not accept such a state, because silence or silent criticism with no resistance means finally an acceptance. The lack of common faith and sensitivity to fundamental issues will not be concealed by my, often very fraternal, relationship with many confreres. Therefore, everything that has happened in my life in the last year places me in a state of greater necessity.
The present tragic condition of the Church can only be compared to the Arian crisis in which, by listening to heretical bishops, you risked your own salvation.
To all of this the principle of totalitarian claims to break conscience was applied for everyone who took vows and has been in the hierarchical system. They order people to do unworthy, harmful things, clearly condemned in the light of documents of the Church. The hierarchy claims such rights, forgetting that God was, is and should be finally the addressee of every canonical vow.
One of the venerable priests once told me: “Consider whether your provincial and bishop will go to your final judgment with you, will they be your attorneys or co-defendants? They will not be present! "
Is active implementation of errors against Faith an obedience pleasing God? Without using reason and returning to a Thomist approach, soon the provincial fathers in German monasteries will bless homosexual unions, of course under the "greatest virtue of obedience"!
Let's not be naive, these devilish news will come to our dioceses, especially the one in Opole, in a few / several years. I do not believe in stopping the scandal in the Church in Her present condition.
The only way out of my situation is joining the Priestly Fraternity of St. Pius X (SSPX), where the true treasures of Tradition and healthy Catholic teaching have been preserved and invariably proclaimed for the salvation of souls.
Any other path would be inauthentic and would once again doom me to conflicts of conscience. This is not a decision made in a rush of emotions, although in the face of the prevailing modernism and Protestantization, there were also such decisions. It is a decision made after many months of consideration, combined with the reading of papal encyclicals and the writings of the Doctors of the Church. My individual studies on the problems of the Church go back to the beginning of religious formation and certainly also constitute the basis for this decision.
Acting with full awareness, I am convinced that my only possible reaction is to leave the Order that actively participates in every destructive action aimed at the sacrum. It results from following the general clause "Salvation of souls - the highest law", in this case also of my own soul.
I learned about true obedience thanks to the SSPX, although in the minds of today's post-conciliar priests, the Priestly Brotherhood of St. Pius X is considered disobedient and even synonymous with disobedience. It turned out, however, that it is the Brotherhood that properly understands and fulfills this virtue.
I also understood why Thomism is being so insistently removed from the seminaries. It was in the fight against Thomism that Pius X saw a characteristic symptom of Modernism, and the elimination of Thomism was probably meant to introduce in the Church unreflective obedience , completely detached from the Church's superior goal, i.e. the mission of saving souls.
Priestly Fraternity of St. Pius X spoke aloud what I had felt in my heart almost always. Humility and wisdom, clear, Thomistic, that is, a realistic approach to problems. Archbishop Lefebvre does not need a special apology today, because his works defend themselves, bearing fruit. Anyone who can go beyond the set of circulating, negative and unfair slogans will easily see it.
The Archbishop's fears about the effects of conciliar resolutions have become more and more justified over the years. After all, "time is the measure of truth."
The very fact that the bishops [in Poland], saving themselves from the exodus of the most pious to the SSPX chapels, create the diocesan pastoral ministries of Tradition [name for Summorum Pontificum ministries in Poland], is another proof of God's origin of this work.
Shortly before the first mass, as a result of publishing private e-mail correspondence by people who were not its addressees, in which I refused the ultra-modernist congregation of religious sisters the Communion in the hand, I was subjected to pressure (or rather blackmail). It was certainly the moment when I realized that my paths with the provinces were just going to diverge. Not for personal reasons, but because of an extremely different approach to the most important matter that priestly hands can hold, i.e. the Blessed Sacrament. I wish I had known SSPX at the time, it would have sped up my decision and saved me pangs of conscience when I accepted the obedience.
I do not intend to attack any of fathers or brothers who are victims of innocent ignorance. Nevertheless, I believe that every priest should constantly reflect on the state of the Church, on the supernatural goal to which the Church is to lead. The awakening of faith in the presence of the Lord Jesus in the Eucharist or its extinguishing should be the object of the highest concern for every priest.
After moving to the parish, in the environment of confreres who did not see the problem, I had a choice: accept the notorious violation of my conscience or say "no" and join the community of steadfast priests, because I consider priests of Catholic Tradition to be such. Of course, this decision had to mature in me for some time and then passed to the implementation stage. In the light of the teachings of St. Thomas Aquinas, as well as the judgment of the mind and the voice of conscience, in no case can I agree to act according to the sentence "think what you want, but you must follow the rules".
What valuable can come from obedience in this sense? How is this "virtue of obedience" to correspond with the theological virtues if it obviously kills the virtue of Faith? An attitude that is offensive to reason is when one does not see the servitude of obedience to faith, hope and love. Could it be a virtue at all to accept being a passive instrument in the hands of a hierarchy that is already clearly departing from the Catholic Faith?
From the spiritual side, the situation is clear. The Polish Episcopate, encouraging the faithful to Communion in the hand, implements the guidelines of Martin Bucer, a disciple of Luther, who formulated in the 16th century rules for departing from faith in the Real Presence of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. This fact alone should induce priests to refuse to participate in these practices, relying on conscience and the general clauses of canon law. Justifying the promotion of Communion in the hand with an epidemiological threat related to COVID-19 disease is, to put it mildly, an offense to the mind. This has been clearly and repeatedly demonstrated by the medical community.
It makes no sense to quote the history of the practice of Communion on hand, although it seems that the modernists have already written their version of this story, which ignores the most important abuses and threats to the Catholic Faith.
So it quickly becomes clear to those who take the trouble to discern the situation that this is what Satan does in the Church. How else to call the privileging in churches of people who do not actually distinguish the Body of the Lord from the Christmas wafer?
From the beginning of my religious way, with the clear guidance of the Blessed Virgin, I was given the opportunity to observe this practice. I encountered him for the first time during the field Mass in Trzebnica in a group of pilgrims from Germany. What struck me a lot was the lack of any hint of adoration: after ingestion, they immediately began to joke with each other. I realized that I had to take a closer look at this phenomenon, as it was evidently related to the lack of awareness of the greatness of the One who is received in Communion. Later observations did not differ much from the first one, and I do not fully blame those people for whom it was presented as appropriate and worthy.
Some Statistics: in the United States, 20 years after the introduction of this shameful practice, about 70 % of Catholics no longer believed in the Real Presence of the Savior in the Eucharist.
From the pastoral point of view, I was a witness and participant in the rescue of visible particles from the hands of the communicated ones, I saw people in front of the priest shaking the remnants of the Lord's Body onto the church floor, not to mention the notorious incoherence of movements and the disrespectful handling of the Lord's Body.
"My Holy Son sees himself thrown to the ground and trampled by unclean feet" - Our Lady's apparition in Quito.
And it will not be changed by desperate and erroneous attempts to look for a justification for this practice in patristics. Anyway, already condemned as an error of archeologism by Pius XII. For years I have lulled my conscience to sleep when I said in seminary: “What can I do as a seminarian and religious? It remains for me to be faithful in my little field ”, but today, as a priest, I see that it cannot be done in such a way that, by being silent, I am a tool for introducing profanation and desecration in the Church. We have nothing more precious in this world than the Body of the Lord!
We are unable to imitate St. Francis in everything, but we certainly can and must in honor of the Blessed Sacrament. How much encouragement has always been given to me by the Letter to the entire Order , especially these passages:
"Remember, my brother priests, what is written in the Mosaic Law: how one who transgressed even in outward things at the judgment of the Lord died without any mercy. How much more deserves greater and worse punishments whoever tramples the Son of God and desecrates the Blood of the Covenant, by which he was sanctified, and insults the Spirit of grace. For man despises, defiles and tramples the Lamb of God when, as the Apostle says, not distinguishing and not distinguishing the Holy Bread of Christ from other foods or things, he either eats unworthy, or even though he is worthy, eats in vain and unworthily, because the Lord speaks through Prophet: Cursed is the man who carries out the work of God treacherously. And priests who do not really want to take it to heart he condemns, saying: They will curse your blessings. (...) how holy,righteous and worthy should be the one who touches with his hands, welcomes with his heart and mouth and gives to others the One who is no longer subject to death, but lives in eternal glory, whom the angels longs to see ..."
For a long time I thought that this passage must impregnate the community against the practice of communion on the hand, because it is not necessary to resort to great exegesis to understand the views of St. Francis on this matter. Of course, in the mind of Poverello, there was probably no fear that it was the hierarchy itself that would tell us to do this with the Bread from Heaven. This is a huge blow to the salvation of souls if priests are not concerned about faith in the Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist.
Of course, the promotion of Communion in the hand is not the only reason for my decision, it is more the tip of the iceberg. The real disease is the intrusive Protestantization of the Church, stripping the priesthood of its uniqueness.
This situation could have changed by the Motu Proprio Summorum pontificum , but it was completely ignored in our Province, and it was, after all, the express will of Benedict XVI that there be a return to the celebration of the Mass of Pius V.
I remember from the seminary that during one of the lectures, at the very beginning, it was necessary to subscribe to the lecturer's view of the unworthiness, redundancy and harmfulness of "integrist groups" in the Church, which clearly illustrates the general tendency among the priests of the provinces.
I spent a lot of time myself learning to say the Mass of All Time, which in my heart I have always wanted to celebrate, bearing in mind the unspeakable sense of the sacred that I remembered when I participated in it, while still a layperson. It was my great joy. Today, however, I am condemned to celebrate it either alone in hiding, avoiding awkward questions, or for a very small group of friends who share my belief in the perfection and greatness of this rite.
I wish to celebrate fully only the Mass of All Time, which is a completely different spiritual reality from the Novus Ordo Missae, and only someone who celebrates both rites will understand the dissonance. The entire "Brief Critical Analysis" by Cardinals Ottaviani and Bacci becomes fully understandable and obvious, and the intentions of the creators of the new Mass are best summarized: "All these changes are nothing more than a provocative emphasis on the silent rejection of faith in the dogma of Real Presence."
The difference between such a promoted concelebration and the celebration of Mass of All Time is a real shock. You can see how the whole novus ordo missae is stripped of the gestures of adoration, how many prayers in the new rite of the mass have been removed, and how turning the altar over affects the sense of the sacred. The words of Cardinals Ottaviani and Bacci become clear: "The new liturgy will greatly delight all groups on the brink of apostasy that are ravaging the Church, poisoning her body and attacking doctrinal, liturgical, moral and disciplinary unity in the midst of a spiritual crisis unprecedented in history."
It is really sad to see the commitment of young priests, full of good intentions, in attempts to win over the youth in the Protestant way, to bring the fun and cheerfulness to the Church. After all, no one looks for attractions in the Church, because they have them in the world. Sacrum is what we are looking for in the Church and this is the essence of the fact that man is capax Dei - open to God. Due to the fact that he has a soul and desires to know and love God, he can enter a higher level of life in grace. Only the Mass of All Time gives the fullness of this repletion with God and a genuine directing of one's life to God.
My seminar education was twofold. I myself used studies on the history of the Church and the positions of traditionalists to discover the truth. The famous textbook on the history of the Church by Fr. Kumor, for example, in two sentences dismisses the crux of the problem that arose at the Second Vatican Council.
It was convened not to inculcate into the Church slogans from the French Revolution and all previously condemned errors, but to refine the 5th Marian dogma and oppose communism - a genuine inspiration from the Holy Spirit.
What is the competence of those who are so willing to speak up, assessing the attitude of the Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre? The opinions I heard during the lectures were usually not supported by any substantive arguments. One may ask, what is the state of general knowledge among the clergy regarding the course of the Second Vatican Council? Does the ordinary priest know what happened then and what kind of backstage games took place then?
How timely were the words of St. Pius X from Pascendi Dominici gregis :
“(…) The adherents of error are to be found today not among the open enemies of the Church, but in the Church itself: they hide - so to speak - within the very interior of the Church; hence, they can be more harmful because they are less visible. "
How inconsistent were the attempts to deny the controversy and harmfulness of the conciliar documents which I heard. During one of the lessons, the lecturer was convincing us that the accusation of the Council was a false trace, and in another lecture he quoted the concept of "anonymous Christians" by K. Rahner as the source of the destruction of the missionary spirit.
Of course, the problems of the Church consist of several great, and besides, hundreds of minor errors, which the Council only opened the door … the rest was done by the enemies of the Church in practice. The tragic divergence of the dogmatic and pastoral paths is a characteristic sign of our times and a sign of weakness.
Let this schizophrenia be described in the words of one of the professors of WSD Antonianium [seminary in Poland] about the service with the "Mrs. Pastor": "I was doing exactly what I taught that I must not."
The Church does not start at the Second Vatican Council, and the popes had warned us against such cases of apostasy. Everything is described in the encyclical Mirari vos : "The universal Church abhors every novelty (...) which has been decided once and for all, neither diminished nor changed, nor added, but everything in words and in interpretation must be kept intact."
It is difficult to understand people who, knowing this and similar content, are not critical of what is happening in the Church. Although the awareness of the harmfulness of the Second Vatican Council is increasing among the clergy, all the time openly presenting the matter and calling this event evil and a failure of the Church results in an anathema in the structures of this Church. The gentle criticism of the Vaticanum Secundum, which a clergyman can afford without sanction, only admits the possibility of "misinterpreting the council." However, always with the full and enthusiastic appreciation of the idea of renewal supposedly guiding the Council Fathers, and the emphasis on the illusory hermeneutic of continuity with earlier Church judgments.
In one of the lectures on the Introduction to theology, the Venerable Father Provincial deigned to raise the theme of the Masonic list of John Paul I. What a ray of hope it was in my heart. I thought "he knows" ... but what's behind that? Does the mere fact of knowledge release us from reflecting on the intra-Church activities of those unfortunate prelates who have come into conflict with evil?
In order to maintain the appearance of Marian piety, the Order promotes the so-called apparitions in Medjugorje though their deceptive nature was made clear at the beginning of the message when Gospa stated that "All religions are equal and salvation may be achieved in any religion."
However, no one rebukes priests who write books about this deceptive phenomenon or organize pilgrimages. Perhaps this is why the revelations recognized by the Church and the shocking content that perfectly reflect the present situation in the Church disappear from our eyes.
The words of Our Lady of Quito made a great impression on me:
“After infiltrating all strata of society, the Masonic sects will spread their errors in families with great cunning. (...) However, also then there will be religious congregations that support the Church and holy priests - hidden and beautiful souls who will work with energy and selfless enthusiasm for the salvation of souls. The wicked will wage a cruel war against them, slandering, insulting and harassing them, trying to discourage them from fulfilling their duties (...)
Pray earnestly, (...) that out of love for the Eucharistic Heart of my Most Holy Son, for His Precious Blood poured out with such generosity and for the deep bitterness and pain of His Passion and death, he would have mercy on His servants and put an end to these terrible times, and that he would send to the Church a prelate who will renew the spirit of his priests. "
Of course, these are private revelations, not necessary for salvation, but food for thought. They force to ask, who might it be?
By joining the community, I certainly idealized priests and consecrated persons. It does not change the fact that I have met many great religious brothers, especially non-priests, who have truly been examples of virtue, commitment and brotherhood for me. Many honorable lecturers and formators will also remain in my fond memory. I am sorry at the thought of parting with them, but I cannot put my fraternal relationship, even the most intimate, with my priesthood responsibilities on balance.
When I took my perpetual vows, it was obvious to me that they were not vows in the sense of absolute behaviour, excluding the use of reason. It was obvious and logical for me that the most important thing in everything was the sentence concluding the code of canon law. I must choose to pursue the priesthood in the spirit of Tradition at the expense of the apparent breaking of vows, although there was no choice, because these are two different kinds of graces.
I had to ask myself the question, would staying in the order guarantee me the eternal life promised in perpetual vows? I doubt it!
The great mystic of our time, Padre Pio, on hearing about the conciliar aggiornamento among the Capuchins: "St. Francis will not recognize his sons ” and yet he did not know to what extent the "reforms" would evolve.
It is Phariseeism to believe that simple membership in the Franciscan Order, squandering the legacy of its founder, will automatically guarantee my salvation.
Many of us were secretly critical of the behavior of a certain bishop who commissioned ad hoc an ecumenical service, including a woman dressed in bishop's robes. We were amazed to read the statements of a certain Archbishop, whose unreflective ecumenism offending the Catholic Church is legendary but highly respected in the province, in which he expressed views contrary to Catholic teaching.
How many times in the quiet of the monastery cells, hearing about the ideas and activities of individual bishops, we see their lack of faith and morbid attempts to not expose themselves to public opinion, extreme modernism, ecumenism with Protestants, legitimizing them as equal to the Apostolic Church.
How many times have we heard about it not to be scandalized when during international religious forums we encounter homosexual behaviors, i.e. with monks looking for opportunities to sins crying out for vengeance to heaven. Regardless, the biggest problem for so many are those who wish to return to Tradition as a remedy for all these theological and moral scandals.
We see the symptoms of the disease, and moreover, many respond adequately to them, but we are still afraid to make a diagnosis. Evil feeds primarily on the inactivity of the righteous.
I do not attribute to myself any particular sanctity, because I know very well that in the seminary I have met confreres with much greater humility, asceticism, and piety than mine. But for reasons which I do not deserve, it was I who have got the grace of discovering the true Tradition, and in the face of this fact I cannot and do not want to remain indifferent. Leaving is certainly the most difficult decision in my life, much more difficult than entering a religious order than being ordained a priest, but it is still the fruit of the same grace of calling and serving Christ in His Church.
The extraordinary encouragement I feel on the part of the Blessed Mother gives me confidence in my actions, and it is from her that comes the strength and the ability to enter the path that is so difficult, with all my conflict-free character.
Almost a year in the "Covid ministry" was not a waste of time, I met many wonderful people who accurately assessed the ecclesial situation.
I thank God for so many wonderful souls that the Lord has placed on my way, to whom I have been able to serve with the sacrament of reconciliation and guidance.
It pains me that I will be considered in the Order a traitor , someone who has abandoned obedience, but I have to pay this price in order not to last any longer in the state of frustration and constant crisis in which I find myself. I am not offended by the provinces, and I am not looking for private profit and freedom from my superiors, because such voices may arise. But I emphasize the fact that my departure is not to a diocese, other province or order. In fact, it would not be any change other than to change the environment and free from personal relationships or the bond of precedence. Still, I would be under pressure from the modernist prelates and anything that a priest should resist.
Leaving is a decision that saves my calling. Is it possible to do anything more tragic than to be ordained and then squander or hide what has been received? After all, we will be responsible for every loss of faith in the Presence of Jesus Christ in the Blessed Sacrament ... We will be responsible for the loss of souls who, searching deeply for God and the graces flowing from the Holy Sacrifice, receive only a performance played by the celebrant about God ... Catholic.
I leave many issues untouched, such as: the introduction of demonic cults into the Church in the form of Pachamama, the reactions of prelates to the organized Islamization of Europe under the guise of so-called refugees, the absolute loosening of doctrine, the "lavender mafia", the ennoblement of Luther at the tops of the Vatican. They are certainly also a contribution to my decision.
Today, the only path remaining in faithfulness to Jesus is that of Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano, that is, being somewhere on the periphery of the Church, with a clear outline of the problems that torment him, thus awakening the awareness of fervent believers. Nevertheless, I am aware that the path of departure to SSPX will not be the path of a canonically conciliatory departure.
It is the true obsession of the post-Conciliar Church to meet all kinds of heretics and dissenters, to deceive scandalmongers with the promise of easy salvation. To introduce the days of Islam and Judaism, celebrate the Reformation, and at the same time fight Catholic Tradition as the source of evil. However, this is not a problem if you have lost the ability to say: 'yes, yes, no, no'.
A synthetic reflection on the state of the Church and priesthood, and pastoral events that I have experienced, brings to mind an analogy with an exceeded critical mass. Therefore, I can no longer minister in such a Church. Having taken all the issues together, I understood that I was in a state of greater necessity, in a state that entitles me to refer to the last canon of the Code of Canon Law: "The salvation of souls, which should always be the highest law in the Church."
Nevertheless, I count on understanding, or at least factual reading of the above apology and respect for my sensitivity and concern for my own salvation. I would like to quote the example of Archbishop Vitus Hounder, who obtained the consent of the Holy Father Francis to spend his retirement in the SSPX priory.
Concluding, I will use the words:
"Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by renewing your mind, that you may experience what God's will is good and pleasing and perfect" (Rom 12: 2).
Yours sincerely,
A.M.D.G.,
Father Cyprian Tomasz Kolendo
source: piusx.org.pl/zawsze_wierni/artykul/2994
Reverend Father Provincial,
I am writing this letter with great pain, but at the same time knowing that it is not bearable to continue in the state of conscience in which I am without harming my own salvation. For almost a year, I have been seeing how the ideals that guided me when I entered the Order fade, and the pastoral and liturgical practice has in fact become a devilish distortion.
For years, I have believed that my traditionalism is compatible with the environment in which I function, that it is a path that should be remembered for the faithful for their spiritual benefit. Through my ministry, I wanted to lead the faithful to an evolutionary transition from the previous state to the Catholic Tradition. I was under the illusion that the voice of a few traditional prelates, such as Bishop Athanasius Schneider or Card. Robert Sarah, can serve as support, comfort and guidepost, but ... I was deeply mistaken, because these faithful prelates are consistently marginalized.
I was aware of the struggle for the Church, but I was not aware of how infiltrated it was by errors that came from a morbid attempt to adapt Her to the world. The Polish Church appeared to me as a refuge, as (still) a healthy spiritual tissue. However, the reality of the "trial" showed something completely different. The time of Covid manipulations is the period when "the intentions of the hearts of many have come out."
The diagnosis for any faithful interested in the history of the Church is clear. There is an unusual ignorance concerning warning efforts of the popes of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, e.g. the instruction of Alta vendita which Pius IX and Leo XIII published to illustrate the devilish plan against the Church. Encyclicals such as Mirari vos , Pascendi Dominici gregis , Quanta cura and Syllabus as well as others intended to counter the errors of modernity were also ignored. Even today, it is not difficult to read them in the right context and understand what they refer to and what they condemn.
Of course, this is a big simplification, but the source of the present state of the Church is certainly to be found in the infiltration of the Church with the currents of philosophy and theological errors unequivocally condemned by the Magisterium decades earlier. A rhetorical question: where was this now so famous obedience then?
In Polish conditions, the crisis of the Church is closely linked with the history of the political transformation. The lack of vetting [with respect to their collaboration with the communist secret service] of clerics, especially among the hierarchy, kept people of at least dubious qualities in the highest positions. This state of affairs caused years of lowered moral standards for the clergy, and today everything is closed with the compromising attitude of the hierarchy in the face of the fall of numerous, unfortunately, subordinates. On the other hand, there was an attack on the doctrine by allowing to speak and not reacting to the overtly non-Catholic content made public under the guise of freedom of theological research.
Today I can clearly see the Polish Church striving to implement all modernist ideas. Meanwhile, I have the feeling of being the only one in the province that does not accept such a state, because silence or silent criticism with no resistance means finally an acceptance. The lack of common faith and sensitivity to fundamental issues will not be concealed by my, often very fraternal, relationship with many confreres. Therefore, everything that has happened in my life in the last year places me in a state of greater necessity.
The present tragic condition of the Church can only be compared to the Arian crisis in which, by listening to heretical bishops, you risked your own salvation.
To all of this the principle of totalitarian claims to break conscience was applied for everyone who took vows and has been in the hierarchical system. They order people to do unworthy, harmful things, clearly condemned in the light of documents of the Church. The hierarchy claims such rights, forgetting that God was, is and should be finally the addressee of every canonical vow.
One of the venerable priests once told me: “Consider whether your provincial and bishop will go to your final judgment with you, will they be your attorneys or co-defendants? They will not be present! "
Is active implementation of errors against Faith an obedience pleasing God? Without using reason and returning to a Thomist approach, soon the provincial fathers in German monasteries will bless homosexual unions, of course under the "greatest virtue of obedience"!
Let's not be naive, these devilish news will come to our dioceses, especially the one in Opole, in a few / several years. I do not believe in stopping the scandal in the Church in Her present condition.
The only way out of my situation is joining the Priestly Fraternity of St. Pius X (SSPX), where the true treasures of Tradition and healthy Catholic teaching have been preserved and invariably proclaimed for the salvation of souls.
Any other path would be inauthentic and would once again doom me to conflicts of conscience. This is not a decision made in a rush of emotions, although in the face of the prevailing modernism and Protestantization, there were also such decisions. It is a decision made after many months of consideration, combined with the reading of papal encyclicals and the writings of the Doctors of the Church. My individual studies on the problems of the Church go back to the beginning of religious formation and certainly also constitute the basis for this decision.
Acting with full awareness, I am convinced that my only possible reaction is to leave the Order that actively participates in every destructive action aimed at the sacrum. It results from following the general clause "Salvation of souls - the highest law", in this case also of my own soul.
I learned about true obedience thanks to the SSPX, although in the minds of today's post-conciliar priests, the Priestly Brotherhood of St. Pius X is considered disobedient and even synonymous with disobedience. It turned out, however, that it is the Brotherhood that properly understands and fulfills this virtue.
I also understood why Thomism is being so insistently removed from the seminaries. It was in the fight against Thomism that Pius X saw a characteristic symptom of Modernism, and the elimination of Thomism was probably meant to introduce in the Church unreflective obedience , completely detached from the Church's superior goal, i.e. the mission of saving souls.
Priestly Fraternity of St. Pius X spoke aloud what I had felt in my heart almost always. Humility and wisdom, clear, Thomistic, that is, a realistic approach to problems. Archbishop Lefebvre does not need a special apology today, because his works defend themselves, bearing fruit. Anyone who can go beyond the set of circulating, negative and unfair slogans will easily see it.
The Archbishop's fears about the effects of conciliar resolutions have become more and more justified over the years. After all, "time is the measure of truth."
The very fact that the bishops [in Poland], saving themselves from the exodus of the most pious to the SSPX chapels, create the diocesan pastoral ministries of Tradition [name for Summorum Pontificum ministries in Poland], is another proof of God's origin of this work.
Shortly before the first mass, as a result of publishing private e-mail correspondence by people who were not its addressees, in which I refused the ultra-modernist congregation of religious sisters the Communion in the hand, I was subjected to pressure (or rather blackmail). It was certainly the moment when I realized that my paths with the provinces were just going to diverge. Not for personal reasons, but because of an extremely different approach to the most important matter that priestly hands can hold, i.e. the Blessed Sacrament. I wish I had known SSPX at the time, it would have sped up my decision and saved me pangs of conscience when I accepted the obedience.
I do not intend to attack any of fathers or brothers who are victims of innocent ignorance. Nevertheless, I believe that every priest should constantly reflect on the state of the Church, on the supernatural goal to which the Church is to lead. The awakening of faith in the presence of the Lord Jesus in the Eucharist or its extinguishing should be the object of the highest concern for every priest.
After moving to the parish, in the environment of confreres who did not see the problem, I had a choice: accept the notorious violation of my conscience or say "no" and join the community of steadfast priests, because I consider priests of Catholic Tradition to be such. Of course, this decision had to mature in me for some time and then passed to the implementation stage. In the light of the teachings of St. Thomas Aquinas, as well as the judgment of the mind and the voice of conscience, in no case can I agree to act according to the sentence "think what you want, but you must follow the rules".
What valuable can come from obedience in this sense? How is this "virtue of obedience" to correspond with the theological virtues if it obviously kills the virtue of Faith? An attitude that is offensive to reason is when one does not see the servitude of obedience to faith, hope and love. Could it be a virtue at all to accept being a passive instrument in the hands of a hierarchy that is already clearly departing from the Catholic Faith?
From the spiritual side, the situation is clear. The Polish Episcopate, encouraging the faithful to Communion in the hand, implements the guidelines of Martin Bucer, a disciple of Luther, who formulated in the 16th century rules for departing from faith in the Real Presence of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. This fact alone should induce priests to refuse to participate in these practices, relying on conscience and the general clauses of canon law. Justifying the promotion of Communion in the hand with an epidemiological threat related to COVID-19 disease is, to put it mildly, an offense to the mind. This has been clearly and repeatedly demonstrated by the medical community.
It makes no sense to quote the history of the practice of Communion on hand, although it seems that the modernists have already written their version of this story, which ignores the most important abuses and threats to the Catholic Faith.
So it quickly becomes clear to those who take the trouble to discern the situation that this is what Satan does in the Church. How else to call the privileging in churches of people who do not actually distinguish the Body of the Lord from the Christmas wafer?
From the beginning of my religious way, with the clear guidance of the Blessed Virgin, I was given the opportunity to observe this practice. I encountered him for the first time during the field Mass in Trzebnica in a group of pilgrims from Germany. What struck me a lot was the lack of any hint of adoration: after ingestion, they immediately began to joke with each other. I realized that I had to take a closer look at this phenomenon, as it was evidently related to the lack of awareness of the greatness of the One who is received in Communion. Later observations did not differ much from the first one, and I do not fully blame those people for whom it was presented as appropriate and worthy.
Some Statistics: in the United States, 20 years after the introduction of this shameful practice, about 70 % of Catholics no longer believed in the Real Presence of the Savior in the Eucharist.
From the pastoral point of view, I was a witness and participant in the rescue of visible particles from the hands of the communicated ones, I saw people in front of the priest shaking the remnants of the Lord's Body onto the church floor, not to mention the notorious incoherence of movements and the disrespectful handling of the Lord's Body.
"My Holy Son sees himself thrown to the ground and trampled by unclean feet" - Our Lady's apparition in Quito.
And it will not be changed by desperate and erroneous attempts to look for a justification for this practice in patristics. Anyway, already condemned as an error of archeologism by Pius XII. For years I have lulled my conscience to sleep when I said in seminary: “What can I do as a seminarian and religious? It remains for me to be faithful in my little field ”, but today, as a priest, I see that it cannot be done in such a way that, by being silent, I am a tool for introducing profanation and desecration in the Church. We have nothing more precious in this world than the Body of the Lord!
We are unable to imitate St. Francis in everything, but we certainly can and must in honor of the Blessed Sacrament. How much encouragement has always been given to me by the Letter to the entire Order , especially these passages:
"Remember, my brother priests, what is written in the Mosaic Law: how one who transgressed even in outward things at the judgment of the Lord died without any mercy. How much more deserves greater and worse punishments whoever tramples the Son of God and desecrates the Blood of the Covenant, by which he was sanctified, and insults the Spirit of grace. For man despises, defiles and tramples the Lamb of God when, as the Apostle says, not distinguishing and not distinguishing the Holy Bread of Christ from other foods or things, he either eats unworthy, or even though he is worthy, eats in vain and unworthily, because the Lord speaks through Prophet: Cursed is the man who carries out the work of God treacherously. And priests who do not really want to take it to heart he condemns, saying: They will curse your blessings. (...) how holy,righteous and worthy should be the one who touches with his hands, welcomes with his heart and mouth and gives to others the One who is no longer subject to death, but lives in eternal glory, whom the angels longs to see ..."
For a long time I thought that this passage must impregnate the community against the practice of communion on the hand, because it is not necessary to resort to great exegesis to understand the views of St. Francis on this matter. Of course, in the mind of Poverello, there was probably no fear that it was the hierarchy itself that would tell us to do this with the Bread from Heaven. This is a huge blow to the salvation of souls if priests are not concerned about faith in the Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist.
Of course, the promotion of Communion in the hand is not the only reason for my decision, it is more the tip of the iceberg. The real disease is the intrusive Protestantization of the Church, stripping the priesthood of its uniqueness.
This situation could have changed by the Motu Proprio Summorum pontificum , but it was completely ignored in our Province, and it was, after all, the express will of Benedict XVI that there be a return to the celebration of the Mass of Pius V.
I remember from the seminary that during one of the lectures, at the very beginning, it was necessary to subscribe to the lecturer's view of the unworthiness, redundancy and harmfulness of "integrist groups" in the Church, which clearly illustrates the general tendency among the priests of the provinces.
I spent a lot of time myself learning to say the Mass of All Time, which in my heart I have always wanted to celebrate, bearing in mind the unspeakable sense of the sacred that I remembered when I participated in it, while still a layperson. It was my great joy. Today, however, I am condemned to celebrate it either alone in hiding, avoiding awkward questions, or for a very small group of friends who share my belief in the perfection and greatness of this rite.
I wish to celebrate fully only the Mass of All Time, which is a completely different spiritual reality from the Novus Ordo Missae, and only someone who celebrates both rites will understand the dissonance. The entire "Brief Critical Analysis" by Cardinals Ottaviani and Bacci becomes fully understandable and obvious, and the intentions of the creators of the new Mass are best summarized: "All these changes are nothing more than a provocative emphasis on the silent rejection of faith in the dogma of Real Presence."
The difference between such a promoted concelebration and the celebration of Mass of All Time is a real shock. You can see how the whole novus ordo missae is stripped of the gestures of adoration, how many prayers in the new rite of the mass have been removed, and how turning the altar over affects the sense of the sacred. The words of Cardinals Ottaviani and Bacci become clear: "The new liturgy will greatly delight all groups on the brink of apostasy that are ravaging the Church, poisoning her body and attacking doctrinal, liturgical, moral and disciplinary unity in the midst of a spiritual crisis unprecedented in history."
It is really sad to see the commitment of young priests, full of good intentions, in attempts to win over the youth in the Protestant way, to bring the fun and cheerfulness to the Church. After all, no one looks for attractions in the Church, because they have them in the world. Sacrum is what we are looking for in the Church and this is the essence of the fact that man is capax Dei - open to God. Due to the fact that he has a soul and desires to know and love God, he can enter a higher level of life in grace. Only the Mass of All Time gives the fullness of this repletion with God and a genuine directing of one's life to God.
My seminar education was twofold. I myself used studies on the history of the Church and the positions of traditionalists to discover the truth. The famous textbook on the history of the Church by Fr. Kumor, for example, in two sentences dismisses the crux of the problem that arose at the Second Vatican Council.
It was convened not to inculcate into the Church slogans from the French Revolution and all previously condemned errors, but to refine the 5th Marian dogma and oppose communism - a genuine inspiration from the Holy Spirit.
What is the competence of those who are so willing to speak up, assessing the attitude of the Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre? The opinions I heard during the lectures were usually not supported by any substantive arguments. One may ask, what is the state of general knowledge among the clergy regarding the course of the Second Vatican Council? Does the ordinary priest know what happened then and what kind of backstage games took place then?
How timely were the words of St. Pius X from Pascendi Dominici gregis :
“(…) The adherents of error are to be found today not among the open enemies of the Church, but in the Church itself: they hide - so to speak - within the very interior of the Church; hence, they can be more harmful because they are less visible. "
How inconsistent were the attempts to deny the controversy and harmfulness of the conciliar documents which I heard. During one of the lessons, the lecturer was convincing us that the accusation of the Council was a false trace, and in another lecture he quoted the concept of "anonymous Christians" by K. Rahner as the source of the destruction of the missionary spirit.
Of course, the problems of the Church consist of several great, and besides, hundreds of minor errors, which the Council only opened the door … the rest was done by the enemies of the Church in practice. The tragic divergence of the dogmatic and pastoral paths is a characteristic sign of our times and a sign of weakness.
Let this schizophrenia be described in the words of one of the professors of WSD Antonianium [seminary in Poland] about the service with the "Mrs. Pastor": "I was doing exactly what I taught that I must not."
The Church does not start at the Second Vatican Council, and the popes had warned us against such cases of apostasy. Everything is described in the encyclical Mirari vos : "The universal Church abhors every novelty (...) which has been decided once and for all, neither diminished nor changed, nor added, but everything in words and in interpretation must be kept intact."
It is difficult to understand people who, knowing this and similar content, are not critical of what is happening in the Church. Although the awareness of the harmfulness of the Second Vatican Council is increasing among the clergy, all the time openly presenting the matter and calling this event evil and a failure of the Church results in an anathema in the structures of this Church. The gentle criticism of the Vaticanum Secundum, which a clergyman can afford without sanction, only admits the possibility of "misinterpreting the council." However, always with the full and enthusiastic appreciation of the idea of renewal supposedly guiding the Council Fathers, and the emphasis on the illusory hermeneutic of continuity with earlier Church judgments.
In one of the lectures on the Introduction to theology, the Venerable Father Provincial deigned to raise the theme of the Masonic list of John Paul I. What a ray of hope it was in my heart. I thought "he knows" ... but what's behind that? Does the mere fact of knowledge release us from reflecting on the intra-Church activities of those unfortunate prelates who have come into conflict with evil?
In order to maintain the appearance of Marian piety, the Order promotes the so-called apparitions in Medjugorje though their deceptive nature was made clear at the beginning of the message when Gospa stated that "All religions are equal and salvation may be achieved in any religion."
However, no one rebukes priests who write books about this deceptive phenomenon or organize pilgrimages. Perhaps this is why the revelations recognized by the Church and the shocking content that perfectly reflect the present situation in the Church disappear from our eyes.
The words of Our Lady of Quito made a great impression on me:
“After infiltrating all strata of society, the Masonic sects will spread their errors in families with great cunning. (...) However, also then there will be religious congregations that support the Church and holy priests - hidden and beautiful souls who will work with energy and selfless enthusiasm for the salvation of souls. The wicked will wage a cruel war against them, slandering, insulting and harassing them, trying to discourage them from fulfilling their duties (...)
Pray earnestly, (...) that out of love for the Eucharistic Heart of my Most Holy Son, for His Precious Blood poured out with such generosity and for the deep bitterness and pain of His Passion and death, he would have mercy on His servants and put an end to these terrible times, and that he would send to the Church a prelate who will renew the spirit of his priests. "
Of course, these are private revelations, not necessary for salvation, but food for thought. They force to ask, who might it be?
By joining the community, I certainly idealized priests and consecrated persons. It does not change the fact that I have met many great religious brothers, especially non-priests, who have truly been examples of virtue, commitment and brotherhood for me. Many honorable lecturers and formators will also remain in my fond memory. I am sorry at the thought of parting with them, but I cannot put my fraternal relationship, even the most intimate, with my priesthood responsibilities on balance.
When I took my perpetual vows, it was obvious to me that they were not vows in the sense of absolute behaviour, excluding the use of reason. It was obvious and logical for me that the most important thing in everything was the sentence concluding the code of canon law. I must choose to pursue the priesthood in the spirit of Tradition at the expense of the apparent breaking of vows, although there was no choice, because these are two different kinds of graces.
I had to ask myself the question, would staying in the order guarantee me the eternal life promised in perpetual vows? I doubt it!
The great mystic of our time, Padre Pio, on hearing about the conciliar aggiornamento among the Capuchins: "St. Francis will not recognize his sons ” and yet he did not know to what extent the "reforms" would evolve.
It is Phariseeism to believe that simple membership in the Franciscan Order, squandering the legacy of its founder, will automatically guarantee my salvation.
Many of us were secretly critical of the behavior of a certain bishop who commissioned ad hoc an ecumenical service, including a woman dressed in bishop's robes. We were amazed to read the statements of a certain Archbishop, whose unreflective ecumenism offending the Catholic Church is legendary but highly respected in the province, in which he expressed views contrary to Catholic teaching.
How many times in the quiet of the monastery cells, hearing about the ideas and activities of individual bishops, we see their lack of faith and morbid attempts to not expose themselves to public opinion, extreme modernism, ecumenism with Protestants, legitimizing them as equal to the Apostolic Church.
How many times have we heard about it not to be scandalized when during international religious forums we encounter homosexual behaviors, i.e. with monks looking for opportunities to sins crying out for vengeance to heaven. Regardless, the biggest problem for so many are those who wish to return to Tradition as a remedy for all these theological and moral scandals.
We see the symptoms of the disease, and moreover, many respond adequately to them, but we are still afraid to make a diagnosis. Evil feeds primarily on the inactivity of the righteous.
I do not attribute to myself any particular sanctity, because I know very well that in the seminary I have met confreres with much greater humility, asceticism, and piety than mine. But for reasons which I do not deserve, it was I who have got the grace of discovering the true Tradition, and in the face of this fact I cannot and do not want to remain indifferent. Leaving is certainly the most difficult decision in my life, much more difficult than entering a religious order than being ordained a priest, but it is still the fruit of the same grace of calling and serving Christ in His Church.
The extraordinary encouragement I feel on the part of the Blessed Mother gives me confidence in my actions, and it is from her that comes the strength and the ability to enter the path that is so difficult, with all my conflict-free character.
Almost a year in the "Covid ministry" was not a waste of time, I met many wonderful people who accurately assessed the ecclesial situation.
I thank God for so many wonderful souls that the Lord has placed on my way, to whom I have been able to serve with the sacrament of reconciliation and guidance.
It pains me that I will be considered in the Order a traitor , someone who has abandoned obedience, but I have to pay this price in order not to last any longer in the state of frustration and constant crisis in which I find myself. I am not offended by the provinces, and I am not looking for private profit and freedom from my superiors, because such voices may arise. But I emphasize the fact that my departure is not to a diocese, other province or order. In fact, it would not be any change other than to change the environment and free from personal relationships or the bond of precedence. Still, I would be under pressure from the modernist prelates and anything that a priest should resist.
Leaving is a decision that saves my calling. Is it possible to do anything more tragic than to be ordained and then squander or hide what has been received? After all, we will be responsible for every loss of faith in the Presence of Jesus Christ in the Blessed Sacrament ... We will be responsible for the loss of souls who, searching deeply for God and the graces flowing from the Holy Sacrifice, receive only a performance played by the celebrant about God ... Catholic.
I leave many issues untouched, such as: the introduction of demonic cults into the Church in the form of Pachamama, the reactions of prelates to the organized Islamization of Europe under the guise of so-called refugees, the absolute loosening of doctrine, the "lavender mafia", the ennoblement of Luther at the tops of the Vatican. They are certainly also a contribution to my decision.
Today, the only path remaining in faithfulness to Jesus is that of Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano, that is, being somewhere on the periphery of the Church, with a clear outline of the problems that torment him, thus awakening the awareness of fervent believers. Nevertheless, I am aware that the path of departure to SSPX will not be the path of a canonically conciliatory departure.
It is the true obsession of the post-Conciliar Church to meet all kinds of heretics and dissenters, to deceive scandalmongers with the promise of easy salvation. To introduce the days of Islam and Judaism, celebrate the Reformation, and at the same time fight Catholic Tradition as the source of evil. However, this is not a problem if you have lost the ability to say: 'yes, yes, no, no'.
A synthetic reflection on the state of the Church and priesthood, and pastoral events that I have experienced, brings to mind an analogy with an exceeded critical mass. Therefore, I can no longer minister in such a Church. Having taken all the issues together, I understood that I was in a state of greater necessity, in a state that entitles me to refer to the last canon of the Code of Canon Law: "The salvation of souls, which should always be the highest law in the Church."
Nevertheless, I count on understanding, or at least factual reading of the above apology and respect for my sensitivity and concern for my own salvation. I would like to quote the example of Archbishop Vitus Hounder, who obtained the consent of the Holy Father Francis to spend his retirement in the SSPX priory.
Concluding, I will use the words:
"Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by renewing your mind, that you may experience what God's will is good and pleasing and perfect" (Rom 12: 2).
Yours sincerely,
A.M.D.G.,
Father Cyprian Tomasz Kolendo
source: piusx.org.pl/zawsze_wierni/artykul/2994
