He was ordered to retract, but he refused and broke with his order in an open letter of 20 September 1869, addressed to the General of the Discalced Carmelites, but evidently intended for the governing powers of the Church. In it he protested against the "sacrilegious perversion of the Gospel", and went on to say: "It is my profound conviction that if France in particular and the Latin races in general, are given up to social, moral, and religious anarchy, the principal cause is not Catholicism itself, but the manner in which Catholicism has for a long time been understood and practised." His manifesto against the alleged abuses in the Church created intense excitement, not only in France, but throughout the civilized world, and the young monk was hailed as a powerful ally by all the open opponents of the Papacy.