Before the Vatican II Council began, Pope John XXIII appointed Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre to the Central Preparatory Commission. Archbishop Lefebvre has a solid religious background and track record. He is an ardent supporter of the Catholic Faith and sacred tradition. He was tasked with writing and preparing documents for the Second Vatican Council. However, following the council’s first session, the drafts were rejected because the council prefers to concentrate on reformation, which favors modernism and Protestantism. Archbishop Lefebvre, along with other bishops who opposed the Vatican II reforms, formed the “Coetus Internationalis Patrum” (International Group of Fathers) to halt the reformation and preserve the sacred tradition, but their efforts were futile. As a result, many clergy, including the Holy Ghost Fathers, a religious congregation where he was a superior general, disagreed with his views. He resigned as a superior general of the Holy Ghost Fathers because he refused to implement reforms inspired by the Vatican II Council.
Why did Archbishop Lefebvre and other archbishops refuse the Vatican II Council’s reformation? Because it endangers our faith. He predicted that the council-inspired change would result in disorder, such as communion in the hand, different versions of the Mass in different places (which Pope St. Pius V changed), liturgical dances, and the removal of the Holy Sacrifice as it gradually becomes an entertainment to the faithful. Second, it gains favor with protestants, resulting in our Holy Mass resembling that of Protestants. Third, the Council’s ecumenism includes other religions not founded by our Lord Jesus Christ as part of the Catholic Church, including Paganism. This council’s inspiration is a poison to our faith, and it’s sad to see how those who aren’t aware of it are now slowly drinking it. But God has never abandoned us; He loves us deeply, and the Blessed Virgin Mary will continue to guide us… One year after Archbishop Lefebvre resigned from the Holy Ghost Fathers, he was approached by a group of Traditionalists from the French Seminary.
