⛪ The crisis in the post-conciliar church: an analysis of the rupture with tradition and the accusation of heresy in the writings of Georges de Nantes
This article aims to summarize and fully analyze the ideas contained in the work Lettere, by Abbot Georges de Nantes, according to the selection and presentation by Hilarius Volpe in the 1969 edition. The work constitutes a primordial document of traditionalist catholic resistance to the reforms originating from the second vatican council, tracing the path of a priest who, starting from an initial hope, reaches a radical denunciation of rupture, subversion, and heresy within the highest hierarchy of the church. The tone of the writings is vehemently critical, revealing the anguish of a soul that feels compelled, by fidelity to the church of always, to oppose what it perceives as a "new religion" imposed by the church of its time.
🕊️ From cautious hope to the realization of the great conflict
Initially, the abbot of Nantes welcomes the election of pope John XXIII and the summoning of the ecumenical council with a hope founded on faith. He recalls that, after the magisterial pontificate of Pius XII, "excellent doctor, light of the church" (de Nantes, 1969, p. 11), the election of a "transition" pope was the common prediction. However, he saw in John XXIII a pontiff of great sanctity, close to saint Pius X, and the announcement of the council emerges as a manifestation of the holy spirit to oppose the "divine unanimity of the church" (de Nantes, 1969, p. 13) to the "attraction that the compact block of soviet countries exerts over the peoples". His hope was that the council would serve to unmask and condemn the errors of naturalism, modernism, and progressivism, which were beginning "the crumbling of christian society" (de Nantes, 1969, p. 14).
This hope, however, quickly dissipates with the start of the conciliar work. In the first session, the author identifies a "great scontro of traditionalism and reformism" (de Nantes, 1969, p. 15). On one side, he positions the roman curia, personified by "true 'columns of the church', such as cardinals Ottaviani, Siri, and others" (de Nantes, 1969, p. 15), representing the party of tradition. On the other, he describes the French, German, Belgian, and Dutch episcopates as "the party of movement", committed to a "de-italianization of the church" (p. 15). Nantes' analysis points out that, although the criticisms of traditional forms were brilliant, the "new solutions advocated could not appear more dangerous or inconsistent" (p. 16).
The turning point in his analysis is the "message to all men", released by the conciliar fathers. De Nantes considers it a text of progressive inspiration, whose perspective is "earthly and natural" (p. 18), in flagrant contrast with the supernatural vision of the church. He criticizes the emphasis on building "a more just and more fraternal city" in this world, in collaboration with "all men of good will", without distinction of belief. For him, this represents the abandonment of the sovereign magisterium of the church, which intervenes in earthly things to "recall the law of god and show heaven" (p. 19), in favor of an assimilation into an "immense and wonderful socialist movement" (p. 19).
⚖️ The persecuted priest: fidelity as a crime
The personal trajectory of the abbot of Nantes becomes emblematic of the conflict he describes. In his letter titled "prete perduto" (lost priest), he narrates his forced removal from the parish of Villemaur. His misfortune, according to him, is due to his refusal to remain silent in the face of the great crises of his time. First, his opposition to General de Gaulle's policy in Algeria, which he qualified as "lie", "homicide", and "treason" (p. 40), and second, his increasing resistance to the "new spirit" rising in the church. Reading John XXIII's opening speech of the council on October 11, 1962, was a shock, as he perceived there a "spirit of blissful optimism and universal reform, quite contrary" to his convictions (p. 43).
He refuses to accept that the church should practice "aggiornamento" to conform to the "modern world". His vocation, he states, is "to recall the rights of god, to tell the truth, to speak for the weak and the innocent persecuted, even at the cost of our lives" (p. 23). In this struggle, he identifies a "mystification" (p. 44) and a "religious subversion" (p. 44) in progress, where a new theology, that of Teilhard de Chardin, and a new evolutionary morality are taught to justify a chain of crimes against faith and fatherland. His resistance is, therefore, an act of fidelity to the faith taught to him, to the morality of the decalogue, and to the catholic and French elite that sees itself trampled by a hierarchy that has surrendered to the revolutionary movement.
📜 The accusation of heresy and the rupture with tradition
The core of Georges de Nantes' criticism is that the second vatican council does not represent a development of tradition, but a mortal rupture with the infallible past of the church. In his text "funesto concilio" (fatal council), he argues that conciliar "reformism" introduces "a mortal contradiction between its infallible past and its fallible present: Teilhard in place of st. Thomas Aquinas" (p. 34). The inevitable consequence, for him, is the ruin of the church's own authority, for, "having disowned its tradition, it could no longer claim either the perpetual assistance of the holy spirit or its unique title as a revealed religion" (p. 34).
To ground this accusation, he cites the intellectual Étienne Borne, who openly stated that the passage from the syllabus to the new doctrine of religious freedom could not occur by a development from the implicit to the explicit, but only "through rupture and open negation" (p. 35). For de Nantes, vatican II positions itself as an anti-Gregory XVI, an anti-Pius IX, an anti-Pius X, and an anti-Pius XII (p. 35). The reform, therefore, is not an adaptation, but a revolution that changes the religion and makes the old one heretical.
This conviction leads him to directly accuse pope Paul VI of heresy. In his long and detailed letter to the supreme pontiff, he affirms the existence of two religions and two churches: "that of traditional dogmatics and that of modern pastoral care; that of catholicism and that of ecumenism; that of the worship of god in Jesus Christ and that of the worship of man in the world" (p. 109). He argues that the pope, by becoming a promoter of this "new religion", acts not as the 263rd successor of saint Peter, but as an innovator who founds a new community based on a "transcendent humanism" of masonic inspiration (p. 110). Recalling medieval theology, cited in the presentation of the work by Hilarius Volpe, he defends that a heretical pope loses his primacy ipso facto (p. 7-8), thus justifying his appeal to the clergy of Rome to proceed with the canonical deposition of Paul VI.
🏛️ The appeal to rome and the "sconfessione" (disavowal)
Faced with the sanctions imposed by his bishop, the abbot of Nantes decides to appeal to the judgment of the holy see. In his letter to cardinal Ottaviani, then pro-prefect of the holy office, he requests a doctrinal judgment on his writings, reaffirming his catholic faith and his submission to the legitimate magisterium. He does so, however, under a fundamental principle: "that the new doctrines and laws of the pope, the council, and our bishops must always be understood and accepted in the exact and exclusive measure in which they agree with the immutable doctrine and the constant norms of catholic tradition" (p. 74).
The process that follows, however, does not result in a doctrinal judgment, as he expected. The congregation for the doctrine of the faith, now under the prefecture of cardinal Šeper, demands that he sign a formula of retraction of his "errors" and his "grave accusations of heresy". He categorically refuses, arguing that such a formula requires a blind and unconditional submission to fallible "pastoral" acts, which he considers "exorbitant and visibly contrary to the doctrine of the faith" (p. 187-188). He reaffirms that he cannot, in conscience, retract the accusation of heresy against the pope, as classical catholic theology recognizes such a possibility and teaches that papa haereticus deponendus est (a heretical pope must be deposed) (p. 190).
The final result is a public "notification" from the congregation, in August 1969, which "disavows" him (sconfessa). The document states that, by rebelling against the magisterium, de Nantes "disqualifies the whole of his writings and his activities" (p. 211). Crucially, the notification does not impose formal canonical sanctions, such as excommunication. The abbot interprets this fact as a victory: "the conclusion of this ill-conducted process is, like the whole life of the current church, a double-entry" (p. 213). For him, pope Paul VI, as vicar of christ, could not condemn him for heresy, as his writings contained no doctrinal errors. However, pope Montini, as "pioneer of the aggiornamento", wanted to discredit him for his opposition to the reform. The absence of a formal condemnation is, for de Nantes, proof of the inability of reformist rome to refute the doctrine of eternal rome, and therefore, a tacit validation of his counter-reformation. He concludes that he is not a schismatic, but remains a "son of the church" (p. 194), faithful to tradition, even if persecuted by the revolutionary hierarchy.
📚 Reference
NANTES, Georges de. Lettere. Rome: Giovanni Volpe Editore, 1969.