Shortly after the election of Pope Leo XIV, Michael Matt remarked that “the revolution continues,” which remains one of the most apt descriptions of what has taken place since the conclave. To truly understand this, though, one has to grasp the nature of the revolution to which Mr. Matt was referring. For those who agree with what Traditional Catholics like Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre and Michael Davies were saying about the Vatican II revolution in the 1970s, nothing further needs to be said. Moreover, nothing that Leo XIV has said or done since his May 8, 2025 election has been particularly surprising for those who understand what it means for the revolution to continue. And if one wants to know what Traditional Catholics think about the revolution, it suffices to read the works of Archbishop Lefebvre, Michael Davies, and various other defenders of the immutable Catholic Faith from the 1970s.
Here, for example, is an excerpt from a May 25, 1975 sermon from Archbishop Lefebvre, entitled “The One True Religion,” which was published in The Remnant on March 6, 1976:
“Therefore, when our Faith is being attacked from all sides, we must hold steadfastly and firmly to it. We must never accept that there can be any compromise in the affirmation of our Faith. Herein, I think, lies the drama through which we have lived for the last ten, perhaps fifteen years. This drama, this tragic situation we are going through, lies in seeing that our Faith is no longer affirmed with certainty: that through a false ecumenism we have, as it were, reached the point of putting all religions on the same footing, of granting what is called ‘equal rights’ to all religions. This is a tragedy, because it is all entirely contrary to the truth of the church.”
Archbishop Lefebvre spoke these words during Paul VI’s occupation of the papacy but they would have been just as accurate at any time since then. When Traditional Catholics speak of the revolution in the Church, this is the true meaning.
For sixty years, false shepherds have attempted to overturn these truths — this is the revolution which Leo XIV continues today, whether he intends to do so or not.
Later in his sermon, Archbishop Lefebvre clearly described the Church’s immutable teaching on Catholicism’s unique claim to being the one true religion:
“It is Our Lord Jesus Christ Himself who took such care in the founding of our holy Religion, Who left us directions as to what we must do, Who gave Himself to us in the Holy Eucharist through the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. What more could we ask? What other religion can lay claim to possess such a thing? And why? Because the only true religion is that of the Catholic Church. This is a matter of fundamental importance, fundamental for our behavior, fundamental for our religion, and fundamental also for the way we should behave towards those people who do not believe in our holy Religion. This is extremely important, because it is precisely towards those who do not believe, those who do not have our Faith, that we must have immense charity, the true charity. We must not deceive them by telling them that their religion is as good as ours — that is a lie, that is selfishness, that is not true charity.”
These words have been true ever since Jesus founded the Catholic Church and they will remain true until the end of time: One does not need to know anything about the pope or the hierarchy to know that we must always affirm these truths and defend them when they are attacked.
For sixty years, false shepherds have attempted to overturn these truths — this is the revolution which Leo XIV continues today, whether he intends to do so or not. As we begin 2026, not much has changed since The Remnant published the following words in July 2025:
“Leo XIV has inherited this Vatican regime that cruelly offers stones to those who ask for bread, and hurls serpents at those who ask for fish. We did not expect him to reverse the Vatican II revolution overnight, but three months is long enough to at the very least speak out against the rampant heresies prevalent among his bishops and assure Traditional Catholics that they will no longer be persecuted by Rome. Every passing day of Leo XIV’s silence adds to the cruelty of the Vatican II revolution . . . .”
Every passing day of Leo XIV’s silence does indeed add to the cruelty of the Vatican II revolution. And yet it is still the same revolution that Archbishop Lefebvre, Michael Davies, and The Remnant were fighting in the 1970s.
Rather than feign shock at every bad appointment or document from Leo XIV, we should actually be surprised if any appointments or documents are not bad.
How, though, do we combat that revolution today? It seems that it is less important to breathlessly condemn every bad appointment or document from Leo XIV — we should actually be surprised if any appointments or documents are not bad — than to follow the advice with which Archbishop Lefebvre ended his 1975 sermon:
“Here is what I wish you, my most dear brethren, and in this we must be unflinching, whatever happens. We must never agree to diminish our faith; and if by misfortune it were to happen that those who ought to defend our faith came to tell us to lessen or diminish it, then we must say: ‘NO.’ St. Paul put this very well: ‘Though we, or an angel from heaven, preach a gospel to you besides that which we have preached to you, let him be anathema.’ Well that, I think, sums up clearly what I wanted to say to you, so that when you return to your homes you may have the courage, the strength, despite difficulties, despite trials, to remain true to your Faith, come what may, to uphold it for yourselves, your children and future generations, the Faith which Our Lord Jesus Christ gave to us; so that the pathway to heaven may still have many pilgrims, that it may still be crowded with people on their journey upwards, that it may not be a deserted by-way, while on the other hand, the road leading to hell is filled with those who did not believe in Our Lord Jesus Christ, or who rejected Him. We must think on these things, because it is what Our Lord told us: ‘If we do not believe, we shall be condemned.’”
If we are true to the Faith, oppose errors, and try to become saints, we are doing all that we can to combat the revolution that Leo XIV perpetuates. The devil can overcome us not only by persuading us to abandon the Faith but also by coaxing us to make condemnations of Rome the primary part of our Faith. It is far better to instead recognize that Traditional Catholicism has endured for sixty years, despite vigorous persecution from Rome, because God blesses those who do all they can to keep the Faith and lead others to it. Archbishop Lefebvre’s sermon from 1975 remains just as vital today because he was affirming the unadulterated Faith and condemning the errors of the Vatican II revolution that continues today. The fact that Archbishop Lefebvre did not mention Paul VI once in his 1975 sermon did not change the reality that he was doing far more to combat Paul VI’s revolution than if he had condemned every single error that the pontiff had committed — we must keep our eyes on the real battle, which we can only win by overcoming the revolution rather than its generals. Immaculate Heart of Mary, pray for us!
