J’accuse le Concile!

The lefevrian contestation of the postconciliar liturgical reform and some still unresolved questions

Abstract

The dissensions of Archbishop M. Lefebvre regarding the teaching of the Vatican Council have been felt no greater than in the area regarding the liturgy. Proposing a diachronic rereading of his writings in relation to the reform of the holy rites, this article highlights the passage from an apparent adhesion to the principles set forth in the Constitution Sacrosanctum Concilium by the same French prelate (who himself signed the same Constitution) to the growing polemic regarding its consequential results, made worse by conspiratorial ideas which brought him to adopt openly schismatic positions. This paper offers an opportunity to verify how the  losing of the royal way as indicated by the conciliar dicta, on the one hand continues to generate nostalgic returns to the past, while on the other, offers pretexts for moving in all but unmapped directions with regards to the true intentions of the Second Vatican Council.