Book Review

A month or so ago, I was sent some books 'for review' - not new ones, but quite old works. Tomorrow, I shall embark upon They have uncrowned Him, by Archbishop Lefebvre. We are clearly moving into a period of new appraisal of the Council, and many of us have read our own Dr Aidan Nichols' book, gently and elegantly dialoguing with an adherent of the SSPX; and that of Mgr Gherardini, a Canon of S Peter's in Rome with a distinguished academic record. It seems to me appropriate to see how Mgr Lefebvre's book has stood the test of the years ... the quarter of a century since it was written.

As you would expect, I shall approach it quite unambiguously from the point of view of one who accepts ex animo that Vatican II was lawfully convoked and its texts lawfully confirmed; and that it is deserving of the obsequium religiosum due to a Holy Ecumenical Council of the Universal Church, utpote quod defined no new dogmas and uttered no anathemas. And one who accepts, with the appropriate levels of adherence, the Magisterium of the post-Conciliar Church. In accordance with Revised Blog Policy which I announced yesterday, if I find it necessary to disagree with the Archbishop, I shall do so temperately and very gently, determined neither to be divisive nor to upset those who still view the Archbishop with great reverence. In particular, nothing that I write should be deemed to imply any criticism of the SSPX.