By now, most will have heard Pope Leo’s short, but direct, comments on the decision by the SSPX to consecrate new bishops without his approval.
A video from the official Vatican media outlet, Rome Reports, includes those comments and can be viewed here. The Pope’s words were as follows:
“I am still considering making another appeal to say, don’t do this, let’s try to live in communion within the Church.
But it’s their choice. One must understand what it means for them.
For the Church, certainly, division among Christians is always a painful matter, but they refuse to accept certain fundamental elements of the Church and starting with several points of the Vatican Council.
If they make those choices, I’m sorry but we must move forward.”
“Fundamental elements of the Church”
What are those ‘fundamental elements of the Church’ that the Pope claims are rejected by the Society? Dom Alcuin Reid, Prior of the Monastère Saint-Benoît in Brignoles, France, explains this succinctly:
“The “fundamental elements of the Church” are to be found in the teachings of Sacred Scripture, in the dogmatic definitions of the ecumenical councils of the Church, in the Creeds and in the infallible teachings of the Popes on matters of faith and morals. These are the minimum requirements to be in communion with the one, true Catholic Church founded by Christ. In the words of St Paul, the Sacred Liturgy teaches us in the epistle of the votive Mass for the Unity of the Church that “there is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of us all, who is above all and through all and in all” (Eph 4:3–7). These are the “fundamental elements of the Church”.” 1
Yet, all of this and more is included in the Declaration of Faith issued by SSPX Superior-General, Fr. Davide Pagliarani last May. That Declaration echoed Archbishop Lefebvre’s commitment to ‘handing on that which we have received’ (1 Corinthians 11:23), the perennial teaching of the Catholic Church which Our Lord promised would never be lost. (Matthew 16:18).
Clearly, there are no ‘fundamental elements of the Church’ which the Society refuses to accept. So we are left with the obvious conclusion: it is acceptance of pastoral policies of Vatican II, rather than dogma, which is the real stumbling-block.
As former SSPX Visitor, Bishop Athanasius Schneider, remarked in his interview with Diane Montagna,
“The Holy See requires that the SSPX accept, without substantial objection, certain objectively ambiguous and non-definite teachings of the Second Vatican Council, ambiguous statements of the post-conciliar papal magisterium, and objective doctrinal and ritual flaws in the Novus Ordo. Yet God has never demanded the acceptance of doctrines that are unclear or ambiguously formulated, and throughout her history the Church has always acted accordingly.”
None of this is new to anyone familiar with the SSPX question, whether or not they agree with their position. What is new, however, is the degree of resistance thrown up by the Vatican to the upcoming consecrations, especially in the context of flagrant violations of Catholic teaching across the Catholic world from parishes to dioceses to the Curia itself.
Escalation of SSPX penalties
Since the Pope’s comments were made, the situation has grown even more serious: we are now hearing from apparently reliable sources that a document laying out the penalties against the Society has been drawn up, and that it contains punishment far more harsh than we have been led to believe.
The French outlet, Tribune Chrétienne, has published a report suggesting that there could be repercussions for all members of the SSPX, and not only the bishops involved in the Consecrations. The penalty potentially extends even to parishioners who attend the SSPX chapels worldwide. Considering that these last number in the hundreds of thousands, this is indeed a pivotal moment for the Church.
The Gates of Hell will not prevail
Yet, against the backdrop of the illicit restructuring of Church governance in the form of ‘synodality’, a hierarchy preoccupied by social justice issues and the seemingly countless sodomite clerics committing sacrilege on a daily basis, Our Lord’s promise of the Church’s triumph over evil is ever more poignant.
For it may well be that the Consecrations, far from fracturing the Church by causing schism, are in fact the fulfilment of the promise of Christ that He will help His Church resist the Gates of Hell.
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