Editor’s note: This is the transcript of Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò’s keynote address (delivered via video) at the REGINA Magazine Conference in Tampa, Florida, on Saturday, January 17. Published with permission.
(LifeSiteNews) — Dear Friends,
It is a joy for me to address all of you who have gathered in Tampa with personalities from the traditional Catholic world. Many of you are aware of the very serious institutional crisis we are experiencing, both in the civil and ecclesiastical spheres. The attack against citizens and the faithful originates from the highest authorities of the State and the Church, in a reversal of their proper purposes. Others among you are bewildered by these developments, unable to believe that those in authority could consciously act to destroy the institutions they preside over. There are some, especially among the so-called “moderates,” who still think that the actions of politicians and bishops are the result of inexperience, naivety, or misunderstandings. Yet, a few years after the beginning of the psychopandemic farce that marked a decisive phase of this attack, the evidence emerges of a single script under a single direction, written by those who make no secret of their desire to depopulate the planet and enslave the remaining part of humanity.
This script does not distinguish between the secular and ecclesiastical worlds: it involves two spheres of life for each of us that liberal and anti-Catholic thought has artificially separated. In the Christian social order, in fact, Church and State are both subject to the Supreme Authority of God, the author of both nature and grace, who has established that the Church should concern herself with the sanctification of her members for the sake of eternal salvation, and that the State should ensure its citizens an orderly, prosperous, and secure life. It is Christ himself, through his vicars on earth, who exercises his Kingship in civil society and his High Priesthood in ecclesiastical society.
The Revolution has overturned these purposes. We now find ourselves with a Catholic hierarchy that propagates doctrinal and moral errors, endangering the eternal life of the faithful; and civil rulers who are demolishing the social fabric of nations and persecuting their own citizens, promoting immigration, crime, the perversion of morals with homosexuality and LGBTQ+ ideology, the impoverishment of families and businesses, and the control of the masses.
This betrayal could only have happened for one reason, which unfortunately the contemporary mentality is unable to understand, having been indoctrinated by centuries of anti-human and anti-Christian ideologies. The reason is the abandonment of God in the name of a “universal brotherhood” that denies and rejects His divine Fatherhood, and the abandonment of Our Lord Jesus Christ, who is King and High Priest, from whom earthly societies – State and Church – have snatched away His crown and scepter, in the illusion that there can be peace, harmony, and prosperity where Satan reigns.
If you wish to act as Catholics and as Americans worthy of the name, you must be clearly aware of your responsibility before God: to fight your daily battle to gain Heaven. A battle in which the Lord assures you of the spiritual weapons you need to win: living your life in the state of Grace, persevering in fervent prayer, receiving the Sacraments frequently, assisting at the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, and being fruitful in good works.
Let Christ reign in your hearts. Be His faithful warriors, ready for sacrifice to serve Him and triumph with Him. Do not allow your minds to be polluted by the errors of the world, nor your wills to be weakened by moral compromises with evil. If you belong entirely to God, it will be thanks to you that He will deign to bring about the rebirth of your communities and your homeland. Viriliter agite, says the Psalm: act manfully. Let your righteousness and your honor make you worthy witnesses of the Baptism you have received.
I bless you all: in Nomine Patris et Filii et Spiritus Sancti. Amen.
+ Carlo Maria Viganò, Archbishop
17 January MMXXVI
S. Antonii Abbatis
