Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira and the Social Kingship of Our Lord Jesus Christ

I may have my differences with Prof. Plinio and the TFP, which he founded, but on the Social Reign of Christ the King, he was absolutely solid!

From One Peter Five

By Robert Lazu Kmita, PhD

Editor’s note: We are currently in great need of more English content about Portuguese traditionalism in general and Dr. Plinio in particular for our Trad Godfathers series, including the TFP. Please send all submissions to onepeterfivesubmissions [at] gmail.com.

In his First Epistle to the Corinthians, Saint Paul the Apostle shows why God permits the existence of heresies:

For there must be also heresies: that they also, who are approved, may be made manifest among you (1 Corinthians 11:19).

Just as, in the case of the righteous Job, the attacks of the evil one—permitted by God—revealed the virtues of that illustrious man, so too the manifestation of heresies and heretics throughout history allows for the unveiling of those viri probati capable of discerning and rejecting error. The entire history of the Church, from its beginnings to the present day, is nothing other than a long series of attacks by heresies against the true faith of the Church, which is “unam, sanctam, catholicam et apostolicam.”

At the end of this multi-millennial journey, all heresies have been replaced by what Saint Pope Pius X called the true “synthesis of all heresies,” namely Modernism, as described in his encyclical Pascendi Dominici Gregis (1907). By citing this encyclical, we have already named one of those viri probati—Pope Pius X himself—raised up by God to combat the errors of our times. Alongside the successor of Saint Peter, other faithful Catholics—clerics, laymen, and monks—have defended Revelation against modernism. But in order to show our gratitude, we must first come to know them. Making these authors and their ideas known is one of the main missions of the OnePeterFive website, edited by Mr. Timothy Flanders.

A list as comprehensive as possible should include Michael Davies, Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, Malachi Martin, Romano Amerio, Walter Matt and his son Michael J. Matt, Father Roger-Thomas Calmel, O.P., Dietrich von Hildebrand, John Senior, and Jean Borella. To those familiar with these names (or at least some of them), it will be immediately clear that the name of Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira (1908–1995) cannot be absent from such a list.

Born in São Paulo, Brazil, into an honorable family of devout Catholics, Dr. Plinio was one of the most tenacious defenders of ancient Catholic Tradition. His entire life and attitude are perfectly summarized in the epitaph engraved upon his tomb:

Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira, vir totus catholicus et apostolicus, plene romanus—a fully Catholic and Apostolic man, fully Roman.

It is worth noting that all these adjectives describing Dr. Plinio represent essential dimensions of Christian Tradition which is the air that the Church breathes, imbued with the discreet work of the Holy Spirit. The first, “Catholicity,” refers to its universality, manifested through the Church spread across the entire earth. The second, “Apostolicity,”concerns the quality of professing the faith and the continuity of that same faith—through Holy Tradition itself—down to us, the Christians of today. Finally, the third distinctive mark, “Romanity,” refers to the features of the civilizational-legal structure of the Roman Empire, which Divine Providence used for the spread of the Faith throughout the world.

I learned of the writings of the Brazilian thinker during my university studies in philosophy. Our Greek language professor at the time had a red-covered book on his desk, bearing the image of a golden lion with a small cross on its chest: it was the Romanian edition of the small work Revolution and Counter-Revolution. Under the influence of Dr. Plinio’s writing, my professor often emphasized, in his lectures, the negative characteristics of modernity. Most frequently, he highlighted its attitude of complete rejection of Tradition—whether sacred Tradition of the Church, or cultural and moral tradition based on the values of Western medieval civilization.

The race for whatever is new and fashionable—for the latest innovations and products, no matter how harmful or immoral they may be (such as contraceptive medicine and abortive pills)—excludes any reference to Christian values and to the virtues of past eras. The world appears to have apostatized at a global scale. Consequently, the modern secular societies exclude through the “separation of Church and State” the greatest good of the soul—salvation.

Presenting to us the classical Greek and Latin authors, our professor developed a substantial critique of modernity, which I would only later learn was inspired by Dr. Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira’s book Revolution and Counter-Revolution.

Another idea strongly emphasized in his writings is the central value of “hierarchy”—both ecclesiastical and secular (political and military). Inseparably connected to political and social hierarchy is the value of hereditary transmission of gifts and qualities, as in European royal and aristocratic houses, but also in crafts passed from father to son. All of these are systematically undermined and excluded in the name of the supreme ideal of the “Brave New World” (Aldous Huxley): absolute equality.

Behind all revolutions and social convulsions of recent centuries, Dr. Plinio unmistakably detects the presence of a terribly destructive idea: the non-existence of hierarchical differences among people. Differences which, let us remember, are based both on native endowments (God gives different gifts and qualities, does He not?) and on differences of status, function, competence, and responsibility. The generalized message with which dominant ideologies continually feed us is one of egalitarianism. We all have equal chances from birth, therefore we all are free to become whatever we desire. The deceptive sirens of today’s world tirelessly repeat: “Follow your dream…”Very likely, there has never been in world history a lie so great, so deep, and yet so widely spread. Just as Pope Benedict XVI denounced the error of relativism, Dr. Plinio ceaselessly denounced the error of egalitarianism.

He did this not only by exposing and denouncing it, but also by demonstrating the special role that royal and aristocratic elites have played throughout the entire history of the Western world and of the Church. Without the existence of numerous Catholic kings and emperors—from Constantine the Great to Blessed Emperor Charles of Austria—the existence of Christian Civilization and Culture would be inconceivable. Such a work, both historical and apologetic in nature, also had a missionary character, for Dr. Plinio continually sought to remind the descendants of Christian royal and aristocratic houses of the principal values they are called to serve and to transmit.

Through all his works—among which Nobility and Analogous Traditional Elites in the Allocutions of Pius XII (1993) stands out—he fought egalitarianism by affirming and demonstrating the irreplaceable value of hierarchy which opposes it. Respect for superiors, founded on the fourth commandment of the Decalogue, that of honoring one’s parents, was transmitted by Dr. Plinio both through his numerous writings and through his example. He gave an exemplary lesson when—refusing to accept Pope Paul VI’s policy toward Communist countries (the so-called Ostpolitik)—he publicly declared that he would resist papal decisions in this regard. But although he acknowledged that he was, in practice, opposing the servile policy of a Pope, he did so while clearly recognizing the authority of the pontifical office. Thus, even when placed in the unpleasant situation of opposing a superior, Dr. Plinio did so while respecting the hierarchy established by God Himself.

From what has been stated so far, another very important idea emerges, expressed through a lesser-known theological notion: “aseity.” Usually applied only to God, it is—according to the Catholic Encyclopaedia—“the property by which a being exists of and from itself.” Applied to man, however, the attribute no longer has the absolute characteristics it has in reference to God. What it indicates instead is the uprightness and inner stability of a fully realized human being.If we were to propose a geometric image, human aseity is like a cylinder whose center of gravity falls within its base: the cylinder will stand. If the center of gravity falls outside the base, it will collapse. In a word, the presence of aseity in a person indicates someone of character. To make it clearer, we may say that such a person is not influenced by fashions: decisions regarding appearance, clothing, behavior, etc., are based exclusively upon unchanging moral values.

I chose the example of attire and clothing because this was one of Dr. Plinio’s favorite subjects. He wrote many articles on such themes, reminding us of the significance of how we dress. Today this is, most often, determined by individual whim—“I dress however I want.”Of course, marketing agencies and fashion houses do everything to tyrannically dictate style to those who wish to feel comfortable and relaxed. A well-educated person, a true Christian, says Dr. Plinio, dresses according to certain principles. The first of these is hierarchical: clothing must represent one’s social rank. At the same time, it must avoid every occasion for scandal (which is why a Christian woman will never wear trousers or mini-skirts). When I read such statements in In Defense of Catholic Action (1943), I understood for the first time why certain nineteenth-century spiritual guides for confession taught that it is immoral to dress more richly than one’s rank permits. Dr. Plinio clarified this for me: clothing must never become a means of pride or vanity, but rather a strict reference to one’s hierarchical level and social state.

Finally, along with everything said so far, I will add one last exceptional idea found in a work by Dr. Plinio published in Italy in 2013: Innocenza primordiale e contemplazione sacrale dell’universo (Primordial Innocence and Sacred Contemplation of the Universe). Created by the Almighty God, the universe is a magnificent book readable by those who know the language of sacred symbols. This is possible because creation possesses an iconic character which, through analogies, indicates the realities of the unseen, eternal, imperishable world. And this character—like a cathedral submerged at the bottom of a lake—cannot be erased by any calamity or catastrophe. It is there, like the impression left in wax by a divine seal. What matters is that we learn the appropriate language to decipher the sacred signs and to read the seal. This is precisely what Dr. Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira wishes to remind us, tearing us from the tyranny of the dominant mechanistic-materialist paradigm. Many authors, animated by good intentions, have attempted to do this. The Brazilian thinker is among the few who have succeeded. It depends on us to continue his work and to make fruitful the seeds he has sown in the soil of our minds and hearts.