SSPX - Father Davide Pagliarani
Extracts from an interview given by Rev. Father Davide Pagliarani,
the newly appointed Superior General of the Society of Saint Pius X with La Porte Latine..
"The future of the Church and vocations is in families where the parents have planted Our Blessed Lord's Cross."
La Porte Latine - It has now been five months since you were elected Superior General of the Society of
Saint Pius X, for a twelve-year mandate. These five months have certainly allowed you to make a short overview
of the work, founded by Archbishop Lefebvre, complementing your already rich personal experience. What general
impression have you made and have you drawn up your first priorities for the coming years?
The Society is a work of God, and the more we discover it, the more we love it. Two things strike me most in discovering
the Society's labours. Firstly, the providential character of the Society: it is the result of the result of choices
and decisions of a saint, guided only by a supernatural and "prophetic" prudence, whose wisdom we appreciate
even more as the years go by and as the crisis in the Church gets worse. Secondly, I have been able to see that
we are not some privileged people, whom God has spared: He sanctifies all our members and our faithful through
failures, trials, disappointments, and in a nutshell, through the Cross - and not by any other means.
La Porte Latine- With 65 new seminarians this year, the Society holds a new record of entries into
its seminaries over the past thirty years. You were Rector of the La Reja Seminary (Argentina) for almost six years.
How do you intend to foster the development of even more numerous and stronger vocations?
I am convinced that the true solution to increase the number of vocations and their perseverance, does not reside
primarily in human and, so to speak, "technical" means, such as newsletters, apostolic visits or publicity.
First of all, a vocation needs to hatch in a home where Our Blessed Lord, with his Cross and His priesthood, is
loved. A home where there is no spirit of bitterness or criticism towards priests. It is through osmosis, through
contact with truly Catholic parents and priests deeply imbued with the spirit of Our Lord Jesus Christ that a vocation
awakens. It is at this level that we must continue to work with all our strength. A vocation is never the result
of speculative reasoning, or from a lesson we have received, with which we intellectually agree. These elements
can help someone answer God's call, but only if we follow what we said earlier.
La Porte Latine- How can the Church correct the errors of the Council? After fifty years, is it realistic
to think that it will happen?
From a purely human point of view, it is not realistic to think so, because we have a completely reformed Church,
in every aspect of her life, without exception. There is a new conception of faith and of Christian life that has
generated, on a daily basis and in a coherent manner, a new way of understanding and of living the Church. Humanly
speaking, going back is impossible.
But perhaps we forget too often that the Church is fundamentally divine, despite the fact that she is incarnated
in men and in the history of men. One day, a pope, against all expectations and against all human calculations,
will take things in hand and all that needs to be corrected, will be corrected, because the Church is divine and
Our Blessed Lord will never abandon her. In fact, he says exactly that when he solemnly promised that "the
gates of hell shall not prevail against it" (Matt. 16:18). The beauty of the divinity of the Church will be
all the stronger, since the current situation seems irreversible.
La Porte Latine - The District of France is the oldest and the largest district, even if it is now closely
followed by the US District. What are the human, material and apostolic priorities that you have set for the new
superior, Father de Jorna, who was the Rector of the Econe Seminary, for 22 years?
The various priorities can be summed up in a few words. The new District Superior has the beautiful task of ensuring
that the true spirit, bequeathed to us by our founder, reigns in all our houses and in all the members of the Society:
a spirit of love for the Faith and truth, for souls and for the Church, and in particular, all that flows from
it: a spirit of genuine Charity between our members. Insofar as we keep this spirit, we will have a good influence
on souls and the Society will continue to attract many vocations.
La Porte Latine - What a beautiful and exciting program he has! However, it is necessary for the faithful
to associate themselves fully with it. You saw them come in their thousands for the recent pilgrimage to Lourdes,
during which you celebrated the Solemn High Mass on the Feast of Christ the King. What do you ask of them? What
do you offer them?
I was profoundly touched when I saw pilgrims of all ages in Lourdes, and in particular, many families, and many
children. This pilgrimage is truly remarkable and also very significant. It reminds us that the future of the Church
and vocations is in families where the parents have planted Our Blessed Lord's Cross. Indeed, it is only Our Lord's
Cross, and the generosity that results from it, that produces large families. In front of our selfish and apostate
society, chastised by its own sterility, there is no nobler and more precious testimony than that of a young mother
surrounded by her children, like a crown. The world may choose not to listen to our sermons, but it cannot help
but see this magnificent sight. It also is true for the Society. Ultimately, and I say it again, it is the same
ideal of the Cross, which calls a soul to consecrate itself to God and which calls a mother to consecrate herself
generously and unreservedly to the education and sanctification of all the children that Divine Providence wishes
to entrust to her.
Finally, this pilgrimage also reminds us, and above all, that any revival can only happen under the mantle of the
Blessed Virgin Mary, because in the current desert, there is no place in the world that continues to attract souls
as much as Lourdes.
To the faithful of France, I say quite simply: remember that those who preceded you were fighters and crusaders,
miles Christi, and that the current battle for the defence of the faith and the Church is without doubt the most
important that history has ever known.
Happy and Holy New Year for 2019!