On this day of celebration of my ancestor and patron saint, King Saint Louis of France, my thoughts and prayers are filled with gratitude for the brave Americans who resisted the destruction of the King's statue in St Louis, MO.

I owe a debt of gratitude, in particular, to Father Stephen Schumacher, but also to all lay citizens who surrounded him with their support.

The destructive violence unleashed against our legacy and our history are part of the revolutionary and totalitarian process which resulted in the deaths of Louis XVI (the French sovereign who provided extraordinary assistance to the US) and tens of millions of other people.

What this process is intended to achieve is to erase the past so that a "new man" may emerge. Humanity is not merely the sum of its biological components : it is also the recipient of what has been accomplished by previous generations and of our travels on a spiritual journey.

We need our saints and heroes so that they may inspire us to lead authentically human existences. It cannot be in vain that the Fourth Commandment in the Decalogue asks us to honor our parents, respect what we have received from our forefathers and love our nation.

This is why, in grateful prayer, I wish to include all of those who within families schools institutions of higher learning and elsewhere in our society work so hard to transmit the Western culture and civilization which takes their roots in our Greco-Roman and Christian heritage

Only irresponsible barbarians can have as an objective the rejection of this invaluable treasure which is so critical to the betterment of our humanity.

May St Louis, the patron saint of our heads of State, extend his benevolent protection and extend his blessing over a new blossoming of Christian culture in this 21st Century !