The following remarks
were made by Richard Cuneo at the 50th observance of the public
launching of the Catholic Traditionalist Movement:
Fr. John,
Members of the Board of Directors of the Catholic Traditionalist Movement,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Thank you
all for coming to this 50th observance of the C.T.M. Manifesto and
public launching of the Movement by Fr. De Pauw.
Four weeks
ago, on Sunday, March 15th, we observed this very important
anniversary spiritually in the Chapel with a special sung Mass of thanksgiving.
Since March 15th, fell during the Lenten season, we delayed this
social observance until today, April 12th. This date was not coincidentally
chosen, because as you know today is the 73rd anniversary of the
ordination of Fr. DePauw.
What took
place 73 years ago in Ghent, Belgium, is so intimately connected to why we are
all gathered here today. On that day, Fr. DePauw took the following 
oath:
The
essence of the anniversary we observe today is about his fidelity to that oath
when he first planted the seed of the Catholic Traditionalist Movement with the
Manifesto, to warn the Holy Father, the entire College of Cardinals, selected
bishops throughout the world, and every Catholic bishop in the United States
and Canada, that the false and erroneous interpretations and applications of
the Second Vatican Council were pushing the Church in a dangerous direction.
Last week you received the special issue of
Sounds of Truth and Tradition detailing Father’s life during the writing of the
Manifesto, its aftermath, and the public launching of the Movement. I urge you
to carefully read through the timeline and accompanying documents carefully.
After doing so, the following should be fully apparent:
1) How faithful Father
was to his ordination oath.
2) How much Father believed in Our Lord’s
promise: “Seek ye first the
Kingdom of God, and all the rest shall
be provided to you.”
3) How alone he truly was
among the clergy, including those who
were behind him.
4) How everything he
did was done according to the laws of God and
of the Church.
We,
gathered here today, are the ones who were entrusted to his responsibility and
to whom he held, taught and publicly professed that same faith, the faith of
our forefathers. As I look around the room today, I see 2nd and even
3rd generations of those loyal laymen and women who stood up to be
counted with Fr. DePauw 50 years ago in his fight for truth and tradition. A fight which he described as not to start
something new, not as a stagnant dues paying society, but as a forever marching
on resistance movement to preserve that inheritance, passed on from generation
to generation, the never to change Truth of Jesus Christ and the Church He
founded, and its very heart, the valid Sacrifice of the Mass, the means by
which we receive today all the merits and graces of Our Lord’s sacrifice on the
Cross of Calvary on the first Good Friday.
When the
good ladies who organized this observance came to me to ask if we could have
this nice social gathering, my initial reaction was to repeat to them Fr.
DePauw’s own words to my mother on the 30th anniversary of the CTM:
“the fact that there is still a need for the Catholic Traditionalist Movement
50 years later, is a sad commentary on the state of affairs of our Church today
and is nothing to celebrate”.
However,
being convinced by these good ladies that we had to do something, I gave them
two stipulations: first, “please leave me out of the planning, I have enough
work to do…and second do not call it a celebration but an observance”. Well, they followed both stipulations faithfully! And I thank them for
it. As well as I thank them for this
very nice gathering and for the beautifully handmade mementos you find on your
tables. I also would like to thank Claudio, the owner of this fine restaurant
and his professional staff, who opened just for us today. They have become a
part of our Chapel family by hosting so many of our gatherings, both of sad and
happy memories.
Ladies and
gentlemen, while we do not celebrate today, we are proud today. Proud because
we continue to faithfully guard that inheritance that Father left us, that
small but vibrant little flame of the true Faith. We are proud today, that 50
years later and ten years after the death of Father, the Catholic
Traditionalist Movement still stands for what it did when Father launched it.
It does so because we continue to avoid heresy on the left, while equally
avoiding schism on the right. We continue to follow that path which Father set
for us 50 years ago. And so we are proud today because we have faithfully
followed what he taught us and told us to do.
Today is
also a day of gratitude. Gratitude to Our Lord for selecting us, to be the few
among the many who were chosen to keep His true Church alive. Gratitude to our
Blessed Mother for her intercession on our behalf and for the protection which
she continues to give to us and to our Chapel, dedicated to her. A Chapel, which thanks to the many sacrifices
Fr. John makes each week, is not just a monument to what was, but a living
example of that true Church we are fighting so hard to preserve.
Today, I
would also like to personally thank the members of our Board of Directors, who
rallied behind me ten years ago and whose loyalty and commitment to continue to
preserve and keep alive Fr. DePauw’s work and message is invaluable to me. As
well I liked to thank those who assist me in preparing our Chapel both inside
and out each week and for the special feasts, keeping it the crown jewel that
Father made it and befitting the house of God.
I would
also like to thank Fr. John, not only for his own fidelity to the True Mass and
Church, but for his cooperation in ensuring that Father’s message is not
forgotten and is followed to the letter.
And I
thank each one of you, for your faith and trust in me over these last ten years
and for your continued spiritual, moral and very generous financial support to
both the Movement and the Chapel.
Today, I
renew to you my pledge which I made to you ten years ago to faithfully follow
those same principles which Father lived by, remembering that a Catholic’s
first loyalty is to God and His true Church. I said then and I repeat today, that if
it does not look like or sound like what Fr. DePauw did and said then it will
not be permitted in the Chapel and will not be written by my hand.
My fellow
loyal traditionalist Roman Catholics, the future is going to get darker, the
times are going to get tougher, and each one of us will continue to be tested
in persevering till the end. But we have ALL we need to continue that fight for
however long it is necessary, it is up to us to make use of it.
I believe that if Fr. DePauw could speak to us right now he
would do so by paraphrasing the words of St. Paul’s second letter to Timothy:
I charge
all of you before God and Jesus Christ, Who shall judge the living and the
dead, by His coming and His kingdom, continue to preach the word of truth and
tradition.
You
continue to live in the time when the leaders of our Church would not endure
sound doctrine and turn away from the truth.
But
continue to be vigilant and persevere doing the work of an evangelist in fulfilling
what I left for you to do. At my first answer to those who sought to destroy
our Church, All forsook me. The same will continue to happen to you.
But don’t
give up, and do not stray from what I preached to you.
Because
the Lord stood by me and strengthened me, so that by me the truth would be
told. He delivered me from every evil. And He will continue to strengthen and
protect you as long as you remain worthy.
Do not
remember me or my ending today in sadness, because I have the peace of God. I
have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I
have kept the faith.
Now go and
do the same, until we can all be together again to enjoy what the Risen Lord
has planned for us.
So be it!