Archbishop Emeritus of Lourenço Marques-Maputo
Rome, March 25, 1994
Feast of the Annunciation
Dear Dr. Plinio:
I attentively read your work, Nobility and Analogous Traditional Elites in the Allocutions of Pius XII, which Your Excellency sent me through the TFPs’ representative in Rome, Mr. Juan Miguel Montes. I cannot fail to congratulate you on this work. It presents the whole richness of the Magisterium the great pontiff Pius XII addressed to the Roman Patriciate and brilliantly comments on it, emphasizing its present relevance and, I would add, its perennity.
There is often talk nowadays of the need to follow the moral dictates of Church social doctrine. And indeed, few pages of that doctrine outdo the riches of the teaching contained in those celebrated allocutions of Pius XII. They remind the aristocracy of Rome of the natural tendency in every society to form an elite and of the need of humbler classes to spontaneously seek and follow an exemplary model set by high society. According to the teachings of that great Pope, the whole patrimony of traditions, Faith and culture accumulated for centuries must constitute the indispensable contribution of traditional elites, “even in the changed conditions” of the present time for the “reconstruction of the universal order” and the consequent attainment of that supreme ideal which is to “establish human society on Christ.”
Searching for an exemplary model in high society is an entirely normal phenomenon. This is why many organs of the media, so often handled to the benefit of egalitarian myth-o-manias of the 20th century, strive to promote false elites and models for the people to imitate.
Let me once again congratulate you on this work, and also on another book of yours, Revolution and Counter-revolution, which I read with great pleasure. I deem it worthy of being read by all contemporary Catholics so they may have a very clear idea of the adversary that Christendom fights against, and of the existing means to confront it.
Promising to keep you, and particularly the dissemination of your work, in my prayers, I greet you with esteem and consideration,
+ Custódio Alvim Pereira
Archbishop Emeritus of Lourenço Marques
