Warriors Never Get Old (2020)
March 8th, 2020
Your Excellency, first things first, let me express my
cordial congratulations to you on the occasion of your 80th
anniversary! May Our Lord bless you and Our Lady protect you! I also thank you
for saving some time to answer a few questions.
***
REX!: First question is rather predictable: How do you feel being 80 years
old?
BpW: Quite honestly, a
little weary, but my health is better than I deserve. It is bound to
deteriorate, of course, but it may hold up for a few years yet. As God wills...
REX!: If there was a chance to change any of your key decisions in life,
would there be any? And if yes, which and why? Or are you, in fact, satisfied
how things went?
BpW: Good question! I
certainly do not think that I did everything perfectly, far from it, but I do
not think I have to regret any of the major decisions. Certainly I do not
regret having accepted the vocation to the priesthood. In the Poem of the
Man-God by Maria Valtorta, Our Lord says at one point that the priest’s
life is “tiring, luminous, happy.” That
is what I have found it to be. Thanks be to God.
REX!: What is your memory of celebrating your first Holy Mass ever, as well
as your first Holy Mass as a Bishop?
BpW: To tell the truth,
neither occasion stands out in my memory, although I do remember them both.
They do not stand out, partly because whenever emotion may be involved, many an
Englishman will have a powerful fireman’s hose on hand to keep things cool. So
both events for me were “cool”.
Holy Mass, March 8th, 2020, London
REX!: How do you see your role for the next future? You are still
travelling intensively around the globe fulfilling your duties of a Bishop, you
are issuing your weekly “Comments”, advising people, corresponding with many
souls etc. Do you not plan to limit some of your activities, e.g. travelling?
BpW: I definitely need
to be slowing down, so I plan to be travelling less. I am getting more and more
distracted. I cannot remember what I did five minutes ago! I maintain that it
is the pressure of the pre-apocalyptic Church crisis, but a little birdie on my
shoulder tweets that it is just plain old age!
Birthday party, March 8th, 2020, London
REX!: There are people who see Bishop Williamson as a person putting too
much emphasis on various Catholic prophecies, predictions, etc. – in one word a
“chiliast” – awaiting the end of time soon. Can you comment on how you really
see the state of the world today?
BpW: I do not await
soon the end of time, nor anything involving a thousand years, i.e. a
“chiliast” – but I do await within, say, ten years, a tremendous Chastisement,
far heavier than any merely human Third World War which may lead into it. Then
the triumph of the Immaculate Heart of Mary which will be the Church’s greatest
triumph in all its history. But according to Our Lady of La Salette, that
triumph will last only 25 years before it starts to go sour, and only then
begins the descent to the Antichrist and to the end of the world. In brief, six
years is too soon for the end of the world, 600 years is much too far. Maybe 60
years, but it could be rather more – Almighty God has a very long fuse before
He explodes, but when He does finally explode, watch out! Today He is being
mocked up hill and down dale in the most unbelievable way, but “God is not
mocked” (Gal. VI, 7) – watch out, mankind!
REX!: You spent decades working for the Society of st. Pius X and thus you
surely feel sorry for its development after the death of the Archbishop. What
do you think about possible scenarios for the Society in the nearest future?
BpW: One wishes the
Society well. Where would we be today had Archbishop Lefebvre not spread it all
over the world? But like all human enterprises launched by a brilliant founder,
it is rare that his successors can maintain it at his level, and so it is with
the Society of St Pius X. The main problem as I see it today is the lack in
Society Headquarters of leaders with the vision and faith that inspired the
Archbishop and enabled him to stand up for the Social Kingship of Christ the
King when Vatican II had drenched almost all his fellow-churchmen in the
dignity of man and the glories of democracy and the modern world. How many
priests – or bishops – in the Society today are a match for our totalitarian
environment? Nor do I see much hope of a leader or group of leaders emerging
from within the Society as it is today that will have a sufficient grasp on the
problem in all its fullness. There are many good priests in the Society, the
legacy of Archbishop Lefebvre, and they will continue to do good work, but
never again, humanly speaking, will they spearhead in the Church the defence of
the faith as the Society once gloriously did. I think that Almighty God has
other spearheads in mind, as I think time will show.
REX!: The whole of your adult life you follow in the footsteps of
Archbishop Lefebvre. It means you may be seen as a rebel, trouble maker, and
disobedient. I see you as a battler, a warrior, and a crusader in a good sense
of the word. So let me ask you the last question: Is there still a sufficient
flame of a warrior for Christ the King and His Kingship in your heart?
BpW: If I am to be
honest, I would not give myself the honourable title of a Crusader for Christ
the King. But I do hate the world of lies all around us, and I became Catholic
because of the Truth, and I remain convinced that Christ is the Truth which the
world absolutely needs. With luck, I will die with my boots on, paying homage
to the Truth. Please, great Mother of God!
***
Thank you, Your Excellency, for your time and for what
you do A.M.D.G. God bless you!
Richard Willamson and his younger brother a couple years ago...
Interviewer: D. Grof
Source: REX!
