It was with extreme interest, pleasure, and personal benefit that I read the Spanish copy of Prof. Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira’s work dedicated to me with expressions of great affection and esteem, for which I am grateful.
“Revolution and Counter-Revolution” is a masterly work whose teachings should be disseminated far and wide so as to penetrate the conscience, not only of all those who consider themselves truly Catholic, but I would say even more, of all other men of good will. In it, the latter would learn that salvation can be found only in Jesus Christ and His Church; the former would feel confirmed and fortified in their Faith and psychologically and spiritually forewarned and immunised against the cunning process that employs many of them as useful idiots or fellow travellers.
Its analysis of the revolutionary process is impressive and revealing on account of its realism and profound understanding of history, from the end of the Middle Ages in decadence, which paved the way for the paganising Renaissance and the pseudo Reformation, thence for the terrible French Revolution, and soon after, atheistic Communism. That historical analysis is not only external. The actions and reactions it deals with are also explained in light of human psychology, both individual psychology and the collective psychology of the masses. However, it is necessary to recognise that someone directs this profound and systematic dechristianisation.
Man undoubtedly tends toward evil-pride and sensuality-but were not someone holding the reins of these disorderly tendencies and sagaciously co-ordinating them, they most probably would not have produced such a constant, skilful, and systematic action, which, tenaciously maintained, profits even from the ups and downs caused by the resistance and natural “reaction” of the opposing forces.
“Revolution and Counter-Revolution” also foresees, although using caution in its prognoses and by means of hypotheses, the next possible evolution of the revolutionary action and, in turn, that of the Counter-Revolution. The book abounds in perspicacious sociological, political, psychological, and evolutive insights and observations, not few of which are worthy of an anthology. Many of them outline the intelligent “tactics” that favour the Revolution and those that may and should be used in a general counter-revolutionary “strategy.”
In sum, I would dare to affirm that this is a prophetic work in the best sense of the word. It should be taught in the Church’s centers of higher education so that at least the elite classes become fully aware of a crushing reality about which, I believe, they do not have a clear notion. This, among other things, would contribute to revealing and unmasking the useful idiots or fellow travellers, among whom are found many ecclesiastical figures, who act in a suicidal manner by playing the enemy’s game; this group of idiots, allies of the Revolution, would in good measure disappear…
The second part of the book well explains the Counter-Revolution’s nature and the courageous and “aggressive” tactics that counterrevolutionaries must implement while always avoiding excesses and improper and imprudent attitudes. Before such realities, one doubts there is a true “strategy” in the Church as there is in the Revolution. One does find many “tactical” elements, actions, and institutions, but they seem to act in isolation, without a notion of the whole. The concept of a Counter-Revolution and the realisation that a Counter-Revolution is acting could unify and provide a greater sense of collaboration within the Church.
I must congratulate the TFP movement for the stature and quality of its founder, Prof. Plinio. I foresee and desire with all my soul a vast development and a future full of counter-revolutionary successes for the TFP. I conclude stating that the spirit with which this work is written greatly impresses me: It is a profoundly Christian spirit, one with a passionate love for the Church.
This book is an authentic product of Christian wisdom. It is moving to find in a layman such a sincere devotion to the Mother of Jesus and ours-a clear sign of predestination.
“Uncertain, like everyone, about tomorrow, we prayerfully raise our eyes to the lofty throne of Mary, Queen of the Universe… We beseech the Virgin, therefore, to accept this filial homage, a tribute of love and an expression of absolute confidence in her triumph” (pp. 165, 167).
Rome, September 8, 1993
Feast of the Nativity of Our Lady
Fr. Anastasio Gutierrez
Fr. Anastasio Gutierrrez, C.M.F., is one of the Catholic Church’s most renowned canonists. Born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in 1911, Father Gutierrez is a Spanish citizen who has lived in Rome for the last fifty years.
In Rome, he received his doctorate in Canon Law from the Pontifical Lateran University. Later, he held a chair at that university’s School of Canon Law, eventually becoming its dean.
Father Gutierrez served as a peritus during the Second Vatican Council, and for many years was Cardinal Larraona’s assistant in the Congregation for the Religious. He also is a founder of the Institutum Iuridicum Claretianum of Rome. He participated in the commission charged to write the new Code of Canon Law, and is presently a consultant to the following Vatican dicasteries: Congregation for the Oriental Churches, Congregation for the Clergy, and Congregation for the Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life.
He is also a consultant to the Pontifical Council for the Interpretation of Legislative Texts, the highest Church organ for canonical questions. More recently, Father Gutierrez became postulator of Queen Isabella of Castile’s cause of canonisation. He surrendered his soul to God on January 6, 1998.
From: “Revolution and Counter-Revolution,” Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira, Irish Society for Christian Civilisation, Dublin, 2019, page 172-174.