And so, it continues...
Much of what I have seen has been sadness from many good and faithful Catholics. Some of what I have seen is pure heresy. There are some stating that Cardinal Fernandez, Prefect of the Dicastery of the Doctrine of the Faith, whose office issued the official statement of the sentence of excommunication and declaration of schism, is a heretic, therefore, anything he said is invalid. Wrong, so wrong on many counts. Firstly, that attitude comes right from the Donatist heresy which held that any sacraments administered by sinful clergy were invalid, and one could extrapolate that any administrative act of theirs was invalid as well. The Church condemned this heresy in the third and fourth centuries. Now, I don’t know the Cardinal, but I do seriously doubt that he is a heretic and that if he was, that Pope Leo would allow him to continue in his role as Prefect.
There are others stating that because the leaders of the SSPX did not meet personally with the Pope that, therefore the judicial sentence against them is unjust, and some claim illegal. This runs contrary to the Code of Canon Law, which is the governing laws of the Church. I, and I would assume you as well, are not privy to any “backdoor” communications to and from the Vatican. I do know that several times, Pope Leo publicly reached out to the SSPX leadership, pleading with them not to proceed with the ordination of the four men to the episcopacy. In those communications, he clearly stated the penalty for unmandated consecrations. In light of previous meetings of the SSPX leaders with previous Popes, I doubt much would have resulted in their submission to the legitimate authority of the Pope.
Then we have those using examples of false equivalence, stating that the Pope meets with heretical leaders of other Christian denominations, such as Dame Sarah Mullally, of the Anglican Communion, or even non-Christian leaders/celebrities, yet, he did not meet the SSPX leaders, therefore this is all Pope Leo’s fault. In holding this, they ignore that not only is the Pope the Universal Pastor of the Church, but he is also a sovereign head of state, the elected monarch of the Vatican City State. As a head of state he meets with all sorts of politicians and leaders, which is well within his diplomatic role. He meets with all manner of people in his weekly audiences, and some even in short private audiences, Catholics, non-Catholics, non-Christians, Jews, Muslims, atheists, etc, etc, etc.
All the complaining and criticism is a case of sour grapes. They don’t like that their “champions” who claim to uphold “tradition” got slapped with a clearly known canonical penalty, of which they were warned multiple times. I do not rejoice that the schism of the SSPX is now formal. It has been informal since the very beginning when Archbishop Lefebvre founded them late in the last century. Lefebvre and his successors have willfully ignored the legitimate authority of the Popes, they have unjustly accused the Church of teaching and embracing heresy, they have repeatedly backed out of discussions towards unity.
It is one thing to say that there are, and always will be, sinners within the Church, both lay and cleric who are heretical. It is one thing to say that Vatican II has been poorly implemented at times. But the SSPX is basically denying several very traditional Catholic doctrines - Petrine authority over the entire Church, the indefectible nature of the Church in matters of teaching Faith and Morals, the preservative nature of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in preventing the Church or Pope from teaching heresy. They have publicly stated that the Novus Ordo Mass instituted in light of the reforms of Vatican II is not only heretical, but invalid, telling their followers that it is better to stay home than even passively attend one, and certainly never to receive Holy Communion at one. That, is heresy on THEIR part.
Time and again they have refused to submit to the legitimate authority of the Church, in the person of the Pope, and the local bishops in places where they have their chapels. That is schism, plain and simple. Due to that refusal, their priests and bishops do not have legitimate faculties to administer any sacraments, and due to that, the absolutions they grant in confession, and the marriages they witness are invalid, that is, not truly sacramental.
When a priest or bishop is ordained, he is not a free-lance clergyman. He is ordained FOR the Church, BY the Church, IN union with the Church. He is a man under authority - first and foremost under Christ’s Divine Authority, which He shares with His Mystical Body, the Church. That authority is exercised by validly and licitly ordained bishops, who share their authority with their priests. I cannot see how the SSPX fail to see this, but they do.
What they have done in the consecration of their bishops is to formalize what has been a sad, but informal situation. I see it as an act of pride, the selfsame sin which cast Lucifer from heavenly glory. As a priest friend of mine said of this situation: “it is Protestantism with fiddlebacks (a traditional Roman style chasuble) on”.
This sad situation should cause us all to pray for the unity which Christ wants for His Church; to pray for Our Holy Father Pope Leo, to pray for the leaders and followers of the SSPX to return to their senses and to unity with Christ’s One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church.
Such divisions never end well an only serve to scandalize the believers and non-believers. They result in misinformation, lies, heresies, and division. All of this is the work of Satan to confuse and divide the flock of Christ.
May Christ the Good Shepherd guard and protect His Holy Church, and may Our Lady, Mother of the Church pray for us!
Do stay cool in this horrid heat and humidity, and let us pray for one another always.
God bless!
Father P
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