Cardinal Alfons Maria Stickler, S.D.B. 23. 08. 1910 – 12. 12. 2007 Archivist and Librarian Emeritus of the Holy Roman Church.

On his death, at the age of 97, the ‘traditional world’ of the Catholic Church was bereaved of a true champion in the person of Alfons Maria Cardinal Stickler. Although, physically, a very small man, he was a giant in defence of the Faith and the traditions he loved so dearly. The second of twelve children, he was born in Neunkirchen, Austria, made his first vows in the Salesian Novitiate on 23 August 1928, and was ordained on 27 March 1937. In 1940 he became a Professor of Canon Law and Church Legal History at the Salesian University, then Rector of the same university from 1958 to 1966. During this period he was appointed a peritus (expert) of the Commission for the Liturgy during the Second Vatican Council and so, in his own words, he “experienced Vatican II from the very beginning.” It was because of this first-hand knowledge of what the Council actually mandated, rather than the destructive changes that were imposed upon the Church in the late 1960s and beyond, that led to his support for those lay movements such as the Latin Mass Society and the International Federation Una Voce that were trying to restore the traditions that had been so wilfully cast aside. In an essay Die heilige Liturgie (Steyr, Austria: Ennsthaler Verlag, 1997) he said: “I understood precisely, therefore, the wishes of the Council Fathers, as well as the correct sense of the texts that the Council voted on and adopted. You can understand my astonishment when I found that the final edition of the new Roman Missal in many ways did not correspond to the Conciliar texts that I knew so well, and that it contained much that broadened, changed or even was directly contrary to the Council's provisions.”

On 25 March 1971 he was appointed Prefect of the Vatican Apostolic Library; on 8 September 1983 he was appointed Pro-Librarian of the Holy Roman Church and Pro-Archivist of the Vatican Secret Archives. He was created a cardinal in the Consistory of 25 May 1985 with the Title of S. Giorgio in Velabro. This fact will be of great interest to members of the Latin Mass Society, since San Giorgio in Velabro was also the cardinalate title of Venerable John Henry Cardinal Newman. (While in Rome on 12 May 1879 to receive his red hat Cardinal Newman took the occasion to confirm his lifelong opposition to liberalism in religion, something with which Cardinal Stickler would have wholeheartedly agreed). During his time in charge of the Vatican Apostolic Library, in addition to his work of preservation and modernisation, he oversaw the construction of an underground bomb-proof depository to safeguard the most valuable manuscripts, books, and coins.

In 1986 Cardinal Stickler was appointed a member of the commission of nine cardinals which advised Pope John Paul II that the ‘Tridentine’ Mass had never been suppressed by Pope Paul VI. He revealed this publicly in 1995 and said that the commission recommended (eight against one) a general permission for any priest to celebrate the old Mass or the new. All nine cardinals had agreed that no bishop could forbid a Catholic priest in good standing from celebrating the old Mass, although he did qualify his remarks to clarify the authority and jurisdiction of bishops. A member of that commission was Cardinal Josef Ratzinger – now Pope Benedict XVI.

Older members of the LMS may remember Cardinal Stickler addressing the members at our Annual General Meeting on 20 June 1992 (available here). He said that now he was in his eighties he was more free to accept such invitations which he did with great pleasure to help the faithful who were having difficulties. His Eminence was always consistent in his approach; he dwelt entirely on the facts and refused to speak about the actions of individuals. He regularly attended the General Assemblies of the International Federation Una Voce in Rome. In his report of the 1997 Assembly, at which His Eminence attended, Michael Davies said: “I must, of course, express heartfelt gratitude to our greatest friend in the Sacred College, His Eminence Alfons Cardinal Stickler. The debt that we owe to him cannot possibly be exaggerated. I must make special mention of his now legendary Pontifical Mass in New York in 1996 which attracted a congregation of over five thousand. A large number of New York’s famous policemen came to control the crowds and I noticed that they all seem to have squeezed into the back of the cathedral for the Mass, and followed it with great devotion.”

Such was his support for the Una Voce Federation that he attended its General Assembly in October 2001 despite the effects of shingles and feeling very weak. He said that although he was 91 years of age it was the first time in his life that he had felt really old. Despite being confined to his home in recent years he was not forgotten by the Una Voce Federation. As recently as 9th November 2007 myself, Jack Oostveen and Treasurer Monika Rheinschmitt visited his home to deliver a bouquet from the members.

Those of us who love the traditional liturgy of the Church have had no greater advocate over the past 20 years. Now that he has gone to his judgement we will remember him with great affection and gratitude and pray for the happy repose of his soul.

[Note: Cardinal Stickler’s addresses to the Una Voce Federation will be put on the Federation’s website which is currently under reconstruction.]

Leo Darroch, Executive President – International Federation Una Voce, and Committee Member of the LMS.