In his masterpiece, Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira does not confine himself to an implacable denunciation of evil. He also tries to outline the only therapy that can defeat it. If the essence of the revolutionary spirit consists in metaphysical hatred for any inequality and any law, the Counter-Revolution will find this strength above all in metaphysical love for the truth, inequality and moral law.
“If the Revolution is disorder, the Counter-Revolution is the restoration of order. And by order we mean the peace of Christ in the Reign of Christ, that is Christian civilization, austere and hierarchical, fundamentally sacral, anti-egalitarian and anti-liberal”.114
The Counter-Revolution is not a return to the past, nor is it a generic reaction, but one “waged against the Revolution as it is in fact today. Therefore, it has to be waged against the revolutionary passions as they are inflamed today, revolutionary ideas as formulated today, revolutionary ambiences as seen today”.115
Just like the Revolution, the Counter-Revolution is also a process that knows different phases and speeds. In the journey from error to truth, however, the fraudulent metamorphoses of the Revolution are not allowed. If the Revolution hides its ultimate aim from its followers, the progress towards the good is obtained from men by making it known and loved in its completeness. The Counter-Revolution is “conservative” only if it means to preserve what is presently good and deserves to live. It is “traditionalist”, but has nothing in common with the pseudo-traditionalism that preserves certain styles or customs, only out of an archaeological love of ancient things. The true Counter-Revolutionary apostle must make his own the regulations established by St Pius X, according to which Catholics must not “veil the more important precepts of the Gospel out of fear of being perhaps less heeded or even completely abandoned,” even if, the holy Pontiff added “it will not be alien to prudence, when proposing the truth, to make use of a certain temporisation when it is a matter of enlightening men who are hostile to our institutions and entirely removed from God.”116
In the actual state, Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira concludes, a Counter-Revolutionary is whoever:
“1) Knows the Revolution, order and the Counter-Revolution in their respective spirits, doctrines, and methods.
“2) Loves the Counter-Revolution and Christian order, and hates the Revolution and ‘anti-order’.
“3) Makes of this love and this hatred the axis around which revolve all his ideals, preferences, and activities.”117
Notes:
114. P. Corrêa de Oliveira, Revolution and Counter-Revolution, p. 75.
115. Ibid, p. 74.
116. St Pius X, Encyclical Jucunda Sane, of 12 March 1904, in ASS, vol. XXXVI, p. 524.
117. P. Corrêa de Oliveira, Revolution and Counter-Revolution, p. 81. He distinguishes between “actual” counter- revolutionaries who have the full picture and “potential” counter-revolutionaries who grasp the clash only in some particular aspect. They must be conquered to the full Counter-Revolution.