“Leap of Faith: Fr. Gary Dilley Makes a Long-Prepared Move to Tradition” (Winter 2003)

From Issue No. 88: Ignatian Vacation (Winter 2003)

“Leap of Faith: Fr. Gary Dilley Makes a Long-Prepared Move to Tradition”

Born in Springfield, Illinois, in 1940, Father Gary Dilley went to Catholic schools. Upon completing secondary school, he entered the Society of the Divine Savior, a teaching order, as a Brother. He lived as a lay religious for 12 years, until he was sent to Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. to study for the Priesthood. There he got his Master’s degree in theology, as well as degrees in history and accounting.

Father notes that theological studies really started to change in the late 1960's, after most of his formation had been completed, though he concedes that that the last few years of his University training were quite affected by the "New Theology."

Ordained in 1972 at the Basilica of the Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C., he first went to Richmond, VA, for a year of Clerical Pastoral Education training. From there Father was assigned to a parish in Sacramento, CA, for almost five years; then he became an Air Force chaplain for five years, after which his Order was corrupting so rapidly that he ultimately decided to become a diocesan priest, and he served a parish in South Carolina as Pastor for 13 years.

Father knew nothing about Tradition through all this time. In fact, his first glimpse of Tradition was in June of 1988 from the NBC Nightly News, when they covered the Society's Episcopal Consecrations. Many of his colleagues were affected by the news, and the subsequent exposure given to Tradition led some of them to the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter (FSSP). After a stay in one of their houses, Fr. Dilley joined the Fraternity as well. He studied Latin again, and eventually became pastor of a Fraternity house for six years.

Father feels that the Fraternity of St. Peter is "very much connected to the Novus Ordo" and tied to the new Sacraments and the Second Vatican Council, all of which must be accepted by the Fraternity's priests. He notes that Fraternity priests must perform the New Mass and the other New Sacraments whenever they are operating outside their own houses, and that their semi-Traditional apostolate cannot be advertised locally by so much as an outdoor Mass schedule sign on the property. Furthermore, the Fraternity is mute concerning the abuses, scandals and sacrileges of their more liberal peers, but they only have plenty of "negative things" to say about the Society of St. Pius X.

Fr. Dilley ultimately decided to leave the FSSP because, as he bluntly states, they are "not Traditionalists," but merely pawns in Rome's game of "playing cat 'n' mouse with Traditionalists," meaning the Society of St. Pius X. The price for recognizing the true distinction between semi-Tradition and the Catholic Faith as handed down for 2,000 years is steep, but he has been willing to pay it.

Father's second "conversion to Tradition" came about following a coincidence of Providence. A few years ago, Father was driving to Minnesota to attend a series of conferences, and he happened to see the entrance sign to St. Thomas Aquinas Seminary in Winona. Fr. Dilley decided to drive in, and he was received by the Rector. He has kept in touch ever since.

Father's contract with the Fraternity of St. Peter expires in January, and after fulfilling a tour of duty for a diocesan Bishop, he plans to stay at the Seminary through Lent. "My spirituality is fed by the old Mass and the old Breviary." His decision comes after five years of reflection, prayer and study.

Fr. Dilley held off from rushing into the Society because it takes "time to read and reflect, and you have to know who the enemy is." Mere emotion is not enough to make a sufficient conversion. "I'm doing this as a matter of conscience." Father has lost many friends in his coming over to the Society, but the Society's members have all been "very gracious" in receiving him.

Father says that to restore the Church would take "divine intervention," and that such a restoration "would have to be done right; it can't just be some sort of quick-fix." The Pope won't act without the consensus of his Curia and the College of Bishops. The corruption of the laity is widespread; he says that many of those married in the Newchurch use contraception, and that this exhibits the key difference between Catholicism and the Newchurch: sacrifice. "To be a true Catholic - I don't like the term 'Traditionalist' - it demands sacrifice." He observes that this notion is entirely lost in the Newchurch. "Of course, Jesus didn't have it easy, so why should we?"

Cast off by one family and embraced by another, Fr. Dilley feels like a "battered person," though he does not regret his decision. "I'm leaving, and I feel like I'm not leaving anything behind."