The Church in Crisis And Scenarios for a Solution

Christian Order Magazine Interview with Dr. Alice von Hildebrand

THE LATIN MASS: Dr. von Hildebrand, at the time that Pope John XXIII summoned the Second Vatican Council, did you perceive a need for a reform within the Church?

ALICE VON HILDERBRAND: Most of the insights about this come from my husband. He always said that the members of the Church, due to the effects of original sin and actual sin, are always in need of reform. The Church's teaching, however, is from God. Not one iota is to be changed or considered in need of reform.

In terms of the present crisis, when did you first perceive something was terribly wrong?

It was in February 1965. I was taking a sabbatical year in Florence. My husband was reading a theological journal, and suddenly I heard him burst into tears. I ran to him, fearful that his heart condition had suddenly caused him pain. I asked him if he was all right. He told me that the article that he had been reading had provided him with the certain insight that the devil had entered the Church. Remember, my husband was the first prominent German to speak out publicly against Hitler and the Nazis. His insights were always prescient.

Had your husband ever talked about his fear for the Church before this incident?

This is stunning...some of what she states is common knowledge for those who have studied, but there is more here that I had not heard before...