22/10/2025
Open Letter to Confused Catholics
Author: Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre
Date: 1986
Source: sspx.org (PDF)
Full Text (Key Sections, Condensed Due to Length):
This is a 200+ page book, so I’ll provide key chapters. Download the PDF for the full version.
Preface:
"I have written this letter for those who are confused by the changes in the Church since Vatican II. Many faithful Catholics no longer recognize their religion. The purpose of this book is to explain the causes of this confusion and to propose a solution based on tradition."
Chapter 1: The New Mass and the New Liturgy:
"The introduction of the New Mass after Vatican II, based on the 1969 Novus Ordo Missae, represents a break with the Church’s 1,500-year tradition. Pope St. Pius V’s Quo Primum Tempore (1570) established the Tridentine Mass as immutable, yet the new rite incorporates Protestant elements, diluting the sacrificial nature of the Mass. This is not a mere adaptation but a revolution, leading to a loss of faith among the laity."
Chapter 2: Ecumenism and Religious Liberty:
"Vatican II’s documents, such as Unitatis Redintegratio and Dignitatis Humanae, promote ecumenism and religious liberty, which contradict the Church’s historic stance. Pope Pius IX, in the Syllabus of Errors (1864), condemned the notion that all religions are equal. This shift has weakened the missionary spirit and the dogma ‘Outside the Church, there is no salvation.’"
Chapter 3: The Crisis in the Priesthood:
"The formation of priests has been altered since Vatican II, producing a generation less attached to tradition. The Tridentine Mass, which requires a disciplined priesthood, has been replaced, leaving the faithful without true shepherds. This crisis must be addressed by returning to the old ways."
Conclusion:
"The solution lies in returning to the traditions of the Church—especially the Tridentine Mass—and resisting the modernist errors of Vatican II. The faithful must stand firm, guided by the Magisterium of all time, not the i
