by Nelson Ribeiro Fragelli
First published on Dec. 29, 2003
This year [this article was originally published in 2011] we celebrate the tenth anniversary of the launching of the book: Nobility and Analogous Traditional Elites. This last work of Professor Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira outlines a true program to bring the world out of the chaos into which it is sinking. It indicates the path for an authentic restoration of Christian Civilization in our days. The book’s eternal truths remain ever timely.
Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira treated the pontifical documents against the errors of our days with a veneration that surpassed enthusiasm. He took a special ardent joy in those documents that fought the egalitarian doctrines originating in the French Revolution which later became the foundation of communism. This can be seen in his first book, In Defense of Catholic Action, and in his last, Nobility and Analogous Traditional Elites in the Allocutions of Pius XII.
This year we commemorate, respectively, sixty and ten years since the launching of these works. This article will take a special look at the background and timeliness of the book on nobility and elites in society.
1943 – 1993 – 2003
His first work, In Defense of Catholic Action, defended the internal order of the Church, threatened by egalitarian ideas.1 Professor Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira focused on a doctrinal error, whereby elements of the laity of the Catholic Action claimed for themselves powers and dignities inherent to the Sacred Hierarchy due to the priesthood’s very nature.2 The thesis of In Defense of Catholic Action was later confirmed by documents of the Supreme Magisterium of the Church.3
His last book on the role of elites could have been titled, In Defense of the Catholic Social Order. It was the crowning work of a life spent defending the fundamental principles of Christian Civilization. Just as the name of a church appears above its doorway, the name of this incomparable apostle, dubbed “The Crusader of the Twentieth Century,”4 is written above an imaginary doorway of an edifice that spans half a century.
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Nobility and Traditional Elites
Throughout history, no institution or political party ever did as much for working men as the Catholic Church. Innumerable saints were dedicated to the most needy. One reason the majority of canonized saints are nobles5 is their inherent drive to protect the least-favored of society.6
Whether in war or at peace, the nobility has given countless examples of heroism and sanctity throughout history. However, since the French Revolution of 1789 the nobility has been the victim of a black legend. Historians and authors constantly defame nobility and, in so doing, degrade the leaders and models of society. This lack of role models has helped the unprecedented religious and moral squalor of our times to advance.
