ARLIER TODAY, my friend emailed me a fascinating YouTube interview with Bishop Emeritus René H. Gracida, who fought the Nazis in Germany as a young man and later became a close friend of Pope Saint John Paul II. The interview was conducted by someone named Michael Voris, and you might want to skip to the 1:30 marker, where Bishop Gracida starts talking:
* * YouTube • Bp. Gracida Interview (2015)
His Excellency, currently 92 years old, does not mince words about post-conciliar chaos:
“It was the virus of the false spirit of Vatican II. I was one of them; I was very enthusiastic about some of the reforms of Vatican II. But a little later I came to realize how I had been hoodwinked, and how I had been misled by the progressives.”
When asked about the most concerning areas in the Church today, Bishop Gracida says:
“I have no doubt that the area of the Church’s life that needs the greatest attention is the liturgy. The liturgy is not only worship of God; it is the way we are formed in our faith. So all that has happened in the liturgy since the Second Vatican II that is bad is malforming Catholics even today. So the Novus Ordo—although I have celebrated it, and have appreciated its value at times—I never celebrate it now. All my Masses are in the Traditional Rite because it is the most spiritual, the most reverential, the most clear proclamation of what we believe!”
Then Bishop Gracida explains precisely what he means, ending with a warning:
“When we ruin the liturgy, we remove that which protects the faithful.”
Later on, Bishop Gracida speaks of the “modified” Traditional Rite, by which he means the 1965 Missal. (You can download the 1965 Missal, in Latin & English, as a PDF file.)
AT ONE POINT during the interview, Bishop Gracida is asked when he came to these realizations (see above). His Excellency says:
“I confess that I was a liturgical nut.”
Then he elucidates upon this statement…evening naming names! It seems that people who pay a monthly fee to Michael Voris can watch the full 3-hour interview. I am not a subscriber, but perhaps one of our readers could give us the “highlights” using the CCW Facebook comments section.
