Si summo: Pious Ornament Covering the Canadian Advance of the Conciliar Revolution
The letter “Si summo,” dated 25 August 1959 and signed by John XXIII, appoints Alfredo Cardinal Ottaviani as legate to the centenary celebrations of the establishment of the hierarchy in Canada. In solemn Latin, it praises divine beneficence, extols the foundation and growth of the Canadian hierarchy, commemorates François de Laval, urges Canadian bishops and faithful to defend pure doctrine and to promote Christian life amid modern errors, promises spiritual favors including a plenary indulgence, and extends an apostolic blessing.
In reality, beneath courteous phrases and selective emphases, it functions as a carefully controlled, transitionary text: an apparently “traditional” veil preparing Canada’s hierarchy and faithful to submit docilely to the looming conciliar subversion that John XXIII was already engineering.
From Catholic Canada to Conciliar Canada: The Factual Veil
On the factual surface, the letter appears orthodox:
– It recalls the “saecularis memoria” of the Canadian hierarchy, tying it to the divine largesse.
– It honors the founding bishop, François de Montmorency-Laval, presenting him as model of prudence, fortitude, and supernatural trust.
– It exhorts:
– that Catholic faith be treasured as an “inestimable” gift;
– that bishops safeguard pure doctrine from errors;
– that Christ be proclaimed with zeal;
– that the faithful, against materialism, desire heavenly goods.
– It delegates Ottaviani to preside at the celebrations and to impart a plenary indulgence.
At first glance, nothing explicitly heterodox. Yet this is precisely the methodological danger: a text that uses traditional vocabulary to anesthetize vigilance at the very moment the architect of the upcoming council is positioning himself and the local hierarchy for the transformation condemned by the pre-1958 Magisterium as *Modernismus*, *liberalismus*, and *laicismus*.
Three factual omissions and distortions are decisive:
1. There is no integral diagnosis of the doctrinal rot and liberal infection already eroding large parts of the Canadian episcopate and clergy by 1959.
2. There is no concrete insistence on the public, confessional, and exclusive rights of Christ the King over Canadian civil society, contrary to Pius XI’s *Quas primas* and Pius IX’s *Syllabus*.
3. There is no warning against precisely those political, Masonic, and ecumenical currents that John XXIII himself would soon promote and which were already active in Canada.
The letter’s “orthodox decoration” thus becomes a strategic silence: it praises history without arming the faithful against the imminent onslaught of the conciliar sect.
The Soft Rhetoric of Disarmament: Language as Instrument of Transition
The linguistic texture of “Si summo” is smooth, irenic, devout. That, in this context, is the problem.
Key traits:
– Generalized, non-combative references to “materialism”:
– “multi homines in materialismi pravis doctrinis impliciti” (“many men entangled in the depraved doctrines of materialism”).
– No precise denunciation of liberalism, socialism, laicism, or Masonic infiltration, despite pre-1958 papal precision (Pius IX, Leo XIII, Pius X, Pius XI, Pius XII).
– Exhortations to bishops:
– “ut pura religionis doctrina ab insidiis et erroribus defendatur” (“that pure doctrine be defended from snares and errors”).
– Yet no explicit enumeration of modernist theses, even though these had just been anatomized and condemned in *Lamentabili sane exitu* and *Pascendi*.
– Celebratory tone about Canada’s potential:
– The text underlines Canada’s resources, education, organization, as if ecclesial vigor naturally harmonizes with modern national prosperity, without confronting the anti-Christian legal and cultural framework already consolidating.
This is not the language of St. Pius X’s anti-modernist campaign, nor of Pius XI’s thundering insistence on the rights of Christ the King, nor of the *Syllabus*’s crystal-clear anathemas of religious liberty and separation of Church and State. It is the language of gradual accommodation.
The rhetoric functions as:
– A sacralized reassurance: “All is well; your hierarchy is praiseworthy; continue as you are, with a bit more zeal.”
– A deliberate undercutting of militancy: it replaces doctrinally armed watchfulness with dignified commemoration.
In such a letter, at such a moment (1959, council already announced), the most eloquent element is not what is said, but what is studiously unsaid.
Selective Memory: Praise of Laval, Erasure of the Social Kingship of Christ
The text recalls François de Montmorency-Laval as founding bishop and praises the virtues of the pioneers. This, in itself, is just. But even here, the memory is instrumentalized.
– Early Canadian Catholicity was:
– Publicly confessional;
– Bound—however imperfectly—to the recognition of the one true Church;
– Marked by explicit subordination of civil order to divine law.
– Pius XI teaches that true peace and order come only when individuals and states acknowledge and submit to the reign of Christ the King; he explicitly condemns laicism and the banishment of the Church from public life as a plague that must be fought, not managed.
– Pius IX, in the *Syllabus*, condemns:
– the separation of Church and State (prop. 55),
– religious indifferentism (15–18),
– and the notion that civil society can legislate independently of divine and ecclesiastical authority (56–57).
Yet “Si summo”:
– Does not remind Canada that its laws and institutions are bound *in consciencia* to recognize the Catholic religion as the only true religion.
– Does not even gently rebuke the progressive secularization and Masonic-liberal penetration of Canadian public life.
– Does not apply *Quas primas* to insist that Christ’s Kingship binds parliaments, courts, schools, and constitutions.
Instead of calling the Canadian hierarchy to resist laicist legislation and ecumenical dilution, the letter canonizes a harmless hagiography: heroic founders, edifying memory, pious rhetoric, no confrontation. The message is: honor your past, but do not challenge the liberal present. That is not the voice of the pre-1958 magisterial line; it is the early stylistic signature of the conciliar sect.
Doctrinal Ambiguity by Omission: When “Orthodox” Words Serve Modernism
Measured against the integral Catholic doctrine (prior to 1958), several grave deficiencies emerge, each symptomatic rather than incidental.
1. Silence about Modernism as Condemned by St. Pius X
After *Lamentabili sane exitu* and *Pascendi Dominici gregis*, and after the anti-modernist oath, any serious papal act addressing the episcopate in a doctrinally threatened environment had a clear normative pattern:
– Name the modernist errors.
– Recall their condemnation.
– Demand vigilant enforcement.
– Expose false exegesis, relativization of dogma, and democratization of Magisterium.
“Si summo” mentions generic “errors” and “insidiae,” but never:
– evokes *Pascendi* or *Lamentabili*;
– warns against the evolution of dogma, “new theology,” or ecumenical relativism;
– commands strict doctrinal discipline with concrete measures.
In 1959, this is not accidental. The same John XXIII would soon rehabilitate theologians previously censured under Pius XII and convoke a council that jettisoned the anti-modernist framework. The letter’s blandness is part of that program: extinguish the reflex of combat, reduce vigilance to pious generalities.
2. Absence of the Condemnation of Religious Liberty and False Ecumenism
Canada was already moving along a trajectory of:
– practical religious pluralism,
– de facto (and increasingly de jure) equality of sects,
– and a civic ideology contrary to the doctrine that error has no rights.
Integral Catholic teaching (Pius IX, Leo XIII, Pius XI) insists that:
– only the Catholic religion may enjoy full public rights as of justice;
– other cults may be tolerated for grave reasons, but never as a “right.”
“Si summo” refuses to confront this. It:
– does not instruct the Canadian bishops to oppose religious indifferentism in law and culture;
– does not recall that Protestantism is a grave error condemned by the Magisterium, not a partner in a “pan-Christian” project.
This silence is perfectly aligned with the soon-to-be-manifest conciliar propaganda for “religious liberty” and “ecumenical dialogue,” both condemned in substance by the pre-1958 Magisterium.
3. Weak, Disembodied Call to Preach Christ
The letter urges that, “in every way Christ be proclaimed,” citing Philippians 1:18. But:
– There is no insistence that preaching must explicitly include:
– the necessity of the Catholic Church for salvation;
– the rejection of heretical and schismatic sects;
– the Four Last Things, the reality of hell, the need for state of grace.
– There is no warning that mutilating the Gospel by omitting these truths is itself a betrayal.
Integral tradition is crystal clear: the mission of the Church is the supernatural salvation of souls through the preaching of the full doctrine and the administration of true sacraments. By reducing the exhortation to a pleasantly vague “annuntietur Christus,” the letter makes room for the future conciliar re-interpretation of “preaching Christ” as promoting human dignity, dialogue, and “shared values,” without conversion.
4. Uncritical Flattery of the Canadian Hierarchy
“Si summo” heaps praise on Canadian bishops and faithful:
– as if the hierarchy were uniformly sound,
– as if liberal accommodation and pastoral softness were not already widespread,
– as if the danger did not come precisely from within.
Pius X warned of “enemies of the Church within her very bosom”; Pius IX and Leo XIII repeatedly unmasked the complicity of compromised bishops with liberal regimes and secret societies. Here, however, we find:
– no admonition,
– no conditional praise,
– just confidence and commendation.
Such rhetoric functions as cover: those same structures would, within a few years, enthusiastically implement the conciliar revolution—liturgical devastation, doctrinal dilution, ecumenical relativism—in Canada. The letter helps consolidate their status instead of calling them to penance.
Symptomatic Reading: An Instrument of the Conciliar Sect’s Preludium
Examined as a symptom rather than in isolation, “Si summo” reveals several structural features of the conciliar takeover.
1. Traditional Forms, Subverted Function
The letter uses:
– Latin,
– biblical citations,
– references to a saintly founder,
– talk of pure doctrine, indulgences, blessing.
Formally, it looks continuous with pre-1958 papal style. Functionally, it diverges:
– The traditional lexicon is emptied of its militant, exclusive, anti-liberal content.
– The same words are repurposed to legitimize a hierarchy already marching toward aggiornamento.
This is the essence of the conciliar sect: *eadem verba, alius sensus* (the same words, another meaning).
2. Controlled Deployment of Ottaviani
Ottaviani, then associated with doctrinal vigilance, is appointed as legate. This grants the celebration a reassuring “orthodox” face. Yet:
– His presence is instrumentalized to signal continuity while John XXIII is already preparing to neutralize traditional defenses.
– The plenary indulgence and solemn rites under his presidency canonically sanctify the existing Canadian structures just before they are co-opted into the conciliar program.
This is not renewal; it is the tactical use of respected figures to anesthetize resistance.
3. The Missing Anti-Masonic and Anti-Liberal Note
The pre-1958 papal Magisterium constantly names Freemasonry, secret sects, and liberal naturalism as central enemies of the Church (see Pius IX’s and Leo XIII’s repeated condemnations).
“Si summo”:
– speaks of “materialism” only in abstract;
– never unmasks the organized ideologies and powers corrupting Canadian law, education, and culture;
– never calls Catholics to reject Masonic principles underpinning the liberal-democratic order.
This strategic blindness aligns perfectly with the conciliar sect’s decision to suppress any effective condemnation of Freemasonry and liberalism, while embracing their principles under the slogans of “human rights,” “religious freedom,” and “dialogue.”
Supernatural Mission Reduced to Inspirational Morality
Integral Catholic teaching orders everything to one end: the supernatural salvation of souls through Christ’s one true Church, with explicit doctrinal clarity and sacramental realism.
Measured by that standard, the spiritual horizon of “Si summo” is dangerously truncated:
– It exhorts to:
– gratitude for the gift of faith,
– desire for heavenly goods,
– witness against materialism.
– But it omits:
– explicit insistence on the necessity of sanctifying grace and avoidance of mortal sin;
– the gravity of heresy and schism present in Canadian religious pluralism;
– the need for public social profession of the Catholic faith in law, education, and culture;
– warnings against mixing with false religions and sectarian worship.
The supernatural order appears almost as an elevated moral inspiration rather than the binding, exclusive order of divine Revelation. This prepares minds to accept the conciliar reduction of the Church to a “people of God” engaged in dialogue, of sacraments to communal symbols, of dogma to evolving expression.
Against the Conciliar Manipulation: Reasserting the Pre-1958 Judgments
Facing a text like “Si summo,” one must not be deceived by courteous style. The only legitimate criteria remain those of the integral Catholic doctrine:
– *Veritas non recipit mixturam.* Truth does not admit mixture with error.
– Dogma does not evolve into its contrary.
– The Church cannot suddenly bless what she condemned for a century: religious liberty, indifferentism, ecumenism, laicism, liturgical leveling, and the cult of man.
Therefore:
– Any episcopate flattered yet not summoned to wage doctrinal war against liberalism and modernism is being prepared for capitulation.
– Any praise of a nation that suppresses the social Kingship of Christ, without fraternal correction, is a tacit betrayal of *Quas primas* and the *Syllabus*.
– Any letter that speaks loudly about anniversaries and silently about the precise condemned errors of the time is part of the conciliar sect’s method: replace the sharp sword of doctrine with perfumed rhetoric—and then legislate apostasy.
“Si summo” is emblematic: it looks Catholic enough to reassure the inattentive, yet its omissions and tone disclose a shift from guarding the flock against the wolves to softly guiding it toward the pen of the conciliar revolution.
Conclusion: An Edifying Mask for an Approaching Betrayal
The centenary of the Canadian hierarchy, rightly understood, should have been:
– a trumpet call to return fully to the principles of the founders:
– exclusive Catholic truth,
– public confession of Christ the King,
– uncompromising fight against liberal and Masonic infiltration,
– rigorous doctrinal discipline.
– an occasion to apply the thunder of Pius IX, Leo XIII, St. Pius X, Pius XI, and Pius XII against modern errors devouring Canada’s soul.
Instead, “Si summo” offers:
– graceful compliments,
– generic moralism,
– a symbolic indulgence,
– and silence where the pre-1958 Magisterium demanded clear, militant speech.
In that silence, in that selective memory, in that deliberate softness, we discern not a harmless minor letter, but one tile in the mosaic of the conciliar deformation: a pious mask placed upon an approaching betrayal of the faith, of which the Canadian hierarchy would soon become both instrument and victim.
Source:
Si Summo – Ad Alfredum S. R. E. Cardinalem Ottaviani, Supremae Sacrae Congregationis S. Officii Prosecretarium, qui legatus deligitur ad Sollemnia, quibus saecularis memoria Sacrae Hierarchiae in Cana… (vatican.va)
Date: 11.11.2025