Reading Mary Ball Martinez's "The Undermining of the Catholic Church." What the Vatican did to Charles Maurras, Action Francaise and its Supporters was Unconscionable. Why did the Vatican eliminate its greatest defenders even back to the 1920's?
Here is a short quotation from Mary Ball Martinez's book The Undermining of the Catholic Church, p. 39, "The story of the condemnation [of l'Action Francaise] is a bizarre one. How, it has been asked, could Pius XI, who had so recently based his encyclical Quas Primas on the same traditional values l'Action promoted, turn against a movement so in line with his own way of thinking? How could he put on the Index of [Forbidden] Books Catholics were told not to read, the works of Charles Maurras whom he had praised publicly as "the most wonderful defender of the Faith"?
Conclusion: It did not start all of a sudden in 1962.
I read this book years ago and it helped me understand what had happened to the Catholic Church, and, yes, it didn't just start in 1962 or 1958.
ReplyDeleteThis book is a treasure, well worth reading and re-reading.
This indispensibly important book has been rejected by too many traditionalists because of their personality cult driven agendas. It's time that Martinez' book be brought out of the attic, dusted off, and given serious consideration.
ReplyDelete"Trad" Catholics should read this excellent book and take a good hard look at pre-Vat. 2 popes and the part they, Pope Pius X11, especially, played in preparing the way for Vat. 2 and all the changes, the new mass etc.
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