Editing Marcel Lefebvre (section)

== Theological and political positions ==
{{Conservatism in France|Intellectuals}}
{{See also|Controversies surrounding the Society of St. Pius X}}
=== Background ===
Lefebvre belonged to an identifiable strand of right-wing political and religious opinion in French society that originated among the defeated royalists after the 1789 [[French Revolution]]. Lefebvre's political and theological outlook mirrored that of a significant number of conservative members of French society under the [[French Third Republic]] (1870–1940). The Third Republic was reft by conflicts between the secular Left and the Catholic Right, with many individuals on both sides espousing distinctly radical positions (see, for example, the article on the famous [[Dreyfus affair]]). Thus it has been said that "Lefebvre was... a man formed by the bitter hatreds that defined the battle lines in French society and culture from the French Revolution to the [[Vichy France|Vichy]] regime".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.newsweek.com/did-pope-heal-or-deepen-catholic-schism-78423|title=Did the Pope Heal or Deepen a Catholic Schism?|website=[[Newsweek]]|date=25 January 2009}}</ref>

Lefebvre's first biographer, the English traditionalist writer [[Michael Davies (Catholic writer)|Michael Davies]], wrote in the first volume of his ''Apologia Pro Marcel Lefebvre'':<ref name="Davies13">{{harnvb|Davies|1980|loc=[http://www.sspxasia.com/Documents/Archbishop-Lefebvre/Apologia/Vol_one/Chapter_13.htm Chapter 13]}}</ref>
{{blockquote|In France political feeling tends to be more polarized, more extreme, and far more deeply felt than in England. It can only be understood in the light of the French Revolution and subsequent history... At the risk of a serious over-simplification, it is reasonable to state that up to the Second World War Catholicism in France tended to be identified with right-wing politics and anti-Catholicism with the left... [Lefebvre's] own alleged right-wing political philosophy is nothing more than straight-forward Catholic social teaching as expounded by the Popes for a century or more...}}

In similar vein, the pro-SSPX English priest Michael Crowdy wrote, in his preface to his translation of Lefebvre's ''Open Letter to Confused Catholics'':<ref>{{harvnb|Lefebvre|1987}}</ref>
{{blockquote|We must remember that Lefebvre is writing against the background of France, where ideas are generally more clear‑cut than they are in Great Britain.&nbsp;... Take the word "socialism", for example; that means to some of us, first and foremost, a social ideal of brotherhood and justice. We have had our [[Christian socialism|Christian socialists]]. On the Continent, however, Socialism is uncompromisingly anti‑religious, or almost a substitute for religion, and Communism is seen as the natural development from it. This is the Socialism the Archbishop is writing about. And when he rejects Liberalism, he is not thinking of the [British] [[Liberal Party (UK)|Liberal Party]]&nbsp;... but of that religious liberalism that exalts human liberty above the claims of God or of His Church&nbsp;...}}

=== Theological positions ===
Lefebvre was associated with the following positions:
* The rejection of 'false' or 'aberrant' [[ecumenism]] in favour of Catholic [[religious exclusivism|exclusivism]];<ref>"This spirit of adultery is also made clear in the ecumenism instituted by The Secretariat for the Unity of Christians."{{cite web|url=http://www.sspx.org/miscellaneous/public_statement_ab_lefebvre_june_1988.htm |title=Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre's June 1988 Public Statement against False Ecumenism |access-date=2 September 2006 |url-status=bot: unknown |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061013234122/http://www.sspx.org/miscellaneous/public_statement_ab_lefebvre_june_1988.htm |archive-date=13 October 2006 }}, 19 October 1983, hosted by the United States district of the Society of Pius X</ref>
* The espousal of pragmatic [[religious tolerance]] instead of the principle of [[religious liberty]];<ref>Bernard Tissier de Mallerais{{cite web |url=http://www.sspx.org/miscellaneous/ab_lefebvre_preparing_the_council.htm |title=Archbishop Lefebvre preparing the council |access-date=3 November 2006 |url-status=bot: unknown |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030224200156/http://www.sspx.org/miscellaneous/ab_lefebvre_preparing_the_council.htm |archive-date=24 February 2003 }} . ''Fideliter''. The English translation was taken from the May 2002 issue of The Angelus. "Hence, to accept Religious Liberty was in principle to accept the "rights of man" within the Church. Now, the Church has always condemned these declarations on the "rights of man" which have been made against the authority of God." [http://www.sspxasia.com/Documents/Archbishop-Lefebvre/Conference_at_Long_Island.htm Conference Of His Excellency Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924105336/http://www.sspxasia.com/Documents/Archbishop-Lefebvre/Conference_at_Long_Island.htm |date=24 September 2015 }}, Long Island, New York, 5 November 1983, hosted by SSPXasia.com</ref>
* The rejection of [[Collegiality (Catholic Church)|collegiality]] within the church in favour of strict [[papal supremacy]];<ref>{{harvnb|Reese|1988|loc="Archbishop Lefebvre is known most widely for his support of the Tridentine liturgy and his attacks on the liturgical changes initiated by Vatican II. But his complaints against Vatican II go far beyond liturgical reforms. He also rejects conciliar developments in collegiality, religious liberty and ecumenism. These are seen by him as corresponding to the Revolution's égalité, liberté and fraternité."}}</ref>
* Opposition to the replacement of the [[Tridentine Mass]] with the [[Mass of Paul VI]].<ref>{{harvnb|Vere|2001}}: "However, Lefebvre's continued use of the Tridentine Mass eventually became an issue with the Vatican."</ref>

=== Political positions ===
Political positions espoused by Lefebvre included the following:
* Condemnation of the 1789 [[French Revolution]] and what he called its "Masonic and anti-Catholic principles".<ref>{{harvnb|Lefebvre|1987|loc=[http://www.sspxasia.com/Documents/Archbishop-Lefebvre/OpenLetterToConfusedCatholics/Chapter-13.htm Chapter 13]}}</ref>
* Support for the "Catholic order" of the authoritarian French [[Vichy France|Vichy]] government (1940–1944) of Marshal [[Philippe Pétain]].<ref>Jeremy Rich, "Marcel Lefebvre in Gabon", in Kevin J. Callahan and Sarah Ann Curtis, eds., ''Views from the Margins: Creating Identities in Modern France'' (Univ. of Nebraska Press, 2008), 62–63. {{ISBN|0803215592}}</ref>
* Support for the [[National Front (France)|National Front]] led by [[Jean-Marie Le Pen]].<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Routledge Companion to Fascism and the Far Right|last1=Davies|first1=Peter|last2=Lynch|first2=Derek|publisher=[[Routledge]]|year=2002|isbn=0-415-21494-7|location=London and New York|pages=221}}</ref>
* Opposition to Muslim immigration into Europe. In 1990, Lefebvre was convicted in a French court and sentenced to pay a fine of 5,000 francs when he stated in this connection that "it is your wives, your daughters, your children who will be kidnapped and dragged off to a certain kind of places {{sic}} as they exist in [[Casablanca]]".<ref>[http://koenraadelst.voiceofdharma.com/articles/misc/rushdie.html Afterword: The Rushdie Affair's Legacy] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930184713/http://koenraadelst.voiceofdharma.com/articles/misc/rushdie.html |date=30 September 2007 }}, Koenraad Elst</ref><ref>Archived at [https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/yVt0dnwZMCo Ghostarchive]{{cbignore}} and the [https://web.archive.org/web/20131109155755/http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yVt0dnwZMCo Wayback Machine]{{cbignore}}: {{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yVt0dnwZMCo|title=Archbishop Marcel-François Lefebvre|last=2004noir|date=7 January 2008|via=YouTube}}{{cbignore}}</ref>