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Three Reasons the Church's Enemies Hate The Immaculate Conception
TFP ^ | 12.08.06 | Plinio Correa de Oliveira
Posted on 12/12/2006 10:51:32 PM PST by Coleus
The following text is adapted from a lecture Prof. Plinio Correa de
Oliveira gave on June 15, 1973. It has been translated and edited for
publication without his revision. Note, in this text, he uses the
words Revolution and Counter-Revolution as he defined them in his book
Revolution and Counter-Revolution. In this sense, the Revolution is a
centuries-old process, motivated by pride and sensuality, and therefore
egalitarianism and liberalism, that dominates the modern world and
seeks to destroy Christian civilization. Counter-Revolutionaries are
those dedicated to defeating this process and defending the rights of
God. -Ed.
....One of the truly Counter-Revolutionary acts of Pope Pius IX's
pontificate was the proclamation of the Immaculate Conception.
There are three reasons the definition of this dogma was especially
Counter-Revolutionary and therefore hateful to the enemies of the
Church.
First Reason: An Anti-Egalitarian Dogma
As you know, this dogma teaches that Our Lady was immaculate at her
conception, meaning that, at no moment, did she have even the slightest
stain of Original Sin. Both she, and naturally Our Lord Jesus Christ,
were exempt from that rigid law that subjugates all other descendants
of Adam and Eve. Thus, Our Lady was not subject to the miseries of
fallen man. She did not have bad influences, inclinations and
tendencies. In her, everything moved harmonically towards truth,
goodness and therefore God. In this sense, Our Lady is an example of
perfect liberty, meaning that everything her reason, illuminated by
Faith, determined as good, her will desired entirely. She had no
interior obstacles to impede her practice of virtue.
Being "full of grace" increased these effects. Thus, her will
advanced with an unimaginable impetus towards everything that was true
and good. Declaring that a mere human creature had this extraordinary
privilege makes this dogma fundamentally anti-egalitarian, because it
points out an enormous inequality in the work of God. It demonstrates
the total superiority of Our Lady over all other beings. Thus, its
proclamation made Revolutionary egalitarian spirits boil with hatred.
Second Reason: The Unsullied Purity of Our Lady
However, there is a more profound reason why the Revolution hates this
dogma. The Revolution loves evil and is in harmony with those who are
bad, and thus tries to find evil in everything. On the contrary, those
who are irreproachable are a cause of intense hatred. Therefore, the
idea that a being could be utterly spotless from the first moment of
her existence is abhorrent to Revolutionaries. For example: Imagine a
man who is consumed with impurity. When besieged by impure
inclinations, he is ashamed of his consent to them. This leaves him
depressed and utterly devastated.
Imagine this man considering Our Lady, who, being the personification
of transcendental purity, did not have even the least appetite for
lust. He feels hatred and scorn because her virtue smashes his pride.
Furthermore, by declaring Our Lady to be so free from pride, sensuality
and the desire for anything Revolutionary, the proclamation of the
Immaculate Conception affirmed that she was utterly
Counter-Revolutionary. This only inflamed the Revolutionary hatred of
the dogma all the more.
Disputing the Doctrine: A Counter-Revolutionary Struggle
Declaring that Our Lady was so free from pride, sensuality and the
desire for anything Revolutionary, affirmed that she was utterly
Counter-Revolutionary and inflamed the Revolutionary hatred of the
dogma all the more.
For centuries, there were two opposing currents of thought about the
Immaculate Conception in the Church. While it would be an exaggeration
to suggest that everyone who fought against the doctrine was acting
with Revolutionary intentions; it is a fact that all those who were
acting with Revolutionary intentions fought against it. On the other
hand, all those who favored its proclamation, at least on that point,
expressed a Counter-Revolutionary attitude. Thus, in some way the fight
between the Revolution and Counter-Revolution was present in the fight
between these two theological currents.
Third Reason: The Exercise of Papal Infallibility
There is still another reason this dogma is hateful to Revolutionaries:
it was the first dogma proclaimed through Papal Infallibility. At that
time, the dogma of Papal Infallibility had not yet been defined and
there was a current in the Church maintaining that the Pope was only
infallible when presiding over a council. Nevertheless, Pius IX
invoked Papal Infallibility when he defined the Immaculate Conception
after merely consulting some theologians and bishops. For liberal
theologians, this seemed like circular reasoning. If his infallibility
had not been defined, how could he use it? On the contrary, by using
his infallibility, he affirmed that he had it.
This daring affirmation provoked an explosion of indignation among
Revolutionaries, but enormous enthusiasm among Counter-Revolutionaries.
In praise of the new dogma, children all over the world were baptized
under the name: Conception, Concepcion or Concepta to consecrate them
to the Immaculate Conception of Our Lady.
Pius IX: Bringing the Fight to the Enemy
It is not surprising that Pius IX so adamantly affirmed Papal
Infallibility. Very different from those who succeeded him, he was
ever ready to bring the fight to the enemy. He did this in Geneva,
Switzerland, which then was the breeding ground of Calvinism, which is
the most radical form of Protestantism. When Swiss laws changed to
allow a Catholic Cathedral in Geneva, Pius IX ordered that a statue of
the Immaculate Conception be placed in the middle of the city, to
proclaim this dogma in the place where Calvinists, Lutherans and other
Protestants denied it more than anywhere else. This is an example of
Pius IX's leadership in the fight against the Revolution. It is
therefore entirely proper that all Catholics entertain a special
affection for the dogma of the Immaculate Conception, which is so
detested by the enemies of the Church today.
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