French Catholic Traditionalism and the Specter of Reactionary Politics

Abstract

In this article I first sketch out what I think remains the importance and continued appeal of the traditionalist response to Catholic (Vatican II) reform, particularly in light of rising French anxiety concerning the role of religion in civil society. This conservative tendency in French Catholic thought is represented most forcefully by followers of Mgr. Marcel Lefebvre. Lefebrvre's positions involve not only a return to pre-Vatican II practices—the Latin Mass, hierarchical social relations within the Church, etc.—but, more important, a larger rejection of lay society and an implicit (and at times explicit) return to a belief that religious authority and civil authority are or should be one and the same. This rejection of secular society very much puts the traditionalists in league with certain right-wing political parties. My second goal in this article is to sketch out the ways in which the traditionalist church may very well be headed toward reconciliation with the Vatican, subsequent to the election of Pope Benedict XVI, whose position on ecumenism might tend to be somewhat different from that of John Paul II. If this is the case, the mainstream, post-Vatican II church might indeed find itself, willy nilly, drifting distinctly to the right, if only because anti-ecumenical positions inevitably will lead to anti-republican, if not frankly reactionary, political positions.