The "disobedience" of Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre

Good and devout men of sincere faith and piety can and do disagree about the course of action selected by Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre. What few understand in depth is that disobedient clergy in the Church achieved a theological and liturgical coup at the Second Vatican Council making what was forbidden just a half-decade prior now the law of the Church. It is absolutely necessary to see the disobedience of these men as suddenly not only accepted, but promoted in the Church. So the "disobedience" of Monsignor Lefebvre isn't really disobedience to the Tradition and perennial magisterium of the Church, but a disobedience to the prudential judgment of two Popes who tried to bury Tradition. In the case of Paul VI, it turns out his suppression of the TLM was not only illicit, but a grave crime against the faith. John Paul II's motu proprio accusing Monsignor Lefebvre of self-excommunication was nullified by Pope Benedict XVI in 2009.

As time goes by and the Catholic Church continues to plummet downward in a death-spiral of crisis, Archbishop Lefebvre is not only justified in his actions but it becomes clearer that he more than any other single priest helped to save the Church from even worse degrees of apostasy.

[editor's update: the German Diocese of Trier is consolidating 172 parishes into 35 and the Diocese of Pittsburgh, PA is consolidating 188 parishes into 48 while 34 priests are caught in a disgusting scandal of sodomy in the Diocese of Naples, Italy.]

It is also worth noting that Pope Benedict XVI's position is that the crisis in the Church was caused by the collapse of the liturgy. This is why Catholics can so confidently rally behind the action of Archbishop Lefebvre; he, more than any individual in the Catholic Church helped preserve the sacred liturgy in all its purity, mystery, integrity, and beauty.