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By Fr. Gerald E. Murray
The canonically illegal consecration/ordination (the terms are interchangeable) of four new bishops by two Society of St. Pius X (SSPX) bishops who were themselves illegally ordained by Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre 38 years ago is a renewed wound upon the Mystical Body of Christ. This schismatic act of disobedience carried out in direct defiance of Pope Leo XIV's public warning has resulted in the incurring by the six bishops of latae sententiae (automatic) excommunication.
While claiming to uphold the traditional faith of the Catholic Church, the newly excommunicated bishops boldly cast aside what the Catholic Church has always taught her children, namely that the hierarchical nature of Catholicism includes the dogmatic teaching that the pope is the Supreme Authority to whom all Catholics owe obedience. That obedience, needless to say, includes not ordaining bishops when the pope forbids such ordinations.
Simply stated, the pope is the successor of Peter, the Vicar of Christ. He governs the Church. Obedience to his decision about who may or may not receive episcopal ordination is necessary if one is to remain a faithful Catholic.
The Holy See instructed the SSPX earlier this year to desist from carrying out on July 1 the illegal ordination of any new bishops. The SSPX rejected this instruction. This defiance of Pope Leo is an act of grave disobedience that the Holy See judges to be a schismatic act that involves "the refusal of submission to the Supreme Pontiff" (canon 751) by carrying out an act forbidden by canon law, namely the ordaining of bishops without a papal mandate (canon 1387). These episcopal ordinations involve not simply the absence of a papal mandate, but clear disobedience in direct defiance of Pope Leo.
On the eve of the illegal consecrations, Pope Leo wrote to the Superior General of the SSPX, Fr. Davide Pagliarani:
With a paternal heart, and aware of the responsibility entrusted to me by the Lord as the Successor of the Apostle Peter, I address you and, through you, the bishops, priests, seminarians and faithful connected to the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Pius X. . . .[F]illed with Christian affection, I plead with you and ask you with all my heart: please turn back! I urge you to consider carefully the spiritual good of the faithful, because the schismatic act you are about to undertake would deprive them of the licit and, in some cases, even valid reception of the Sacraments, which they love and seek for their sanctification.
The pope has the authority to determine what constitutes a schismatic act, and he has done so. The SSPX has no authority to gainsay or ignore this papal judgment.
Fr. Pagliarani responded: "Paradoxically, in the present circumstances, we believe it to be our very duty to do everything possible to mend Christ's seamless garment, torn by forces and pressures incompatible with a truly Catholic spirit." Paradoxical indeed! The SSPX Superior General incredibly claims that the SSPX will "mend Christ's seamless garment."
No, it tears that garment by committing what he knows the Holy See has deemed a schismatic act. This is akin to an army claiming it has to destroy an enemy-held village in order to save it.
Why did this happen? The SSPX wants to continue ordaining priests who celebrate the Traditional Latin Mass (TLM) while refusing to return to full communion with the pope and the Church. The Society claims that a state of necessity in the Church permits them to ordain new bishops blamelessly. They need some younger bishops, they say, to allow them to continue ordaining new priests in the years to come.
If it were in full communion with the Church, any number of bishops would be willing to ordain the seminarians of the SSPX. Instead, the SSPX has deepened its embrace of a dangerous separatist spirit. Ordaining new bishops against the will of the pope is a necessary action for providing new priests for the SSPX only if it plans to continue operating apart from th...
The canonically illegal consecration/ordination (the terms are interchangeable) of four new bishops by two Society of St. Pius X (SSPX) bishops who were themselves illegally ordained by Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre 38 years ago is a renewed wound upon the Mystical Body of Christ. This schismatic act of disobedience carried out in direct defiance of Pope Leo XIV's public warning has resulted in the incurring by the six bishops of latae sententiae (automatic) excommunication.
While claiming to uphold the traditional faith of the Catholic Church, the newly excommunicated bishops boldly cast aside what the Catholic Church has always taught her children, namely that the hierarchical nature of Catholicism includes the dogmatic teaching that the pope is the Supreme Authority to whom all Catholics owe obedience. That obedience, needless to say, includes not ordaining bishops when the pope forbids such ordinations.
Simply stated, the pope is the successor of Peter, the Vicar of Christ. He governs the Church. Obedience to his decision about who may or may not receive episcopal ordination is necessary if one is to remain a faithful Catholic.
The Holy See instructed the SSPX earlier this year to desist from carrying out on July 1 the illegal ordination of any new bishops. The SSPX rejected this instruction. This defiance of Pope Leo is an act of grave disobedience that the Holy See judges to be a schismatic act that involves "the refusal of submission to the Supreme Pontiff" (canon 751) by carrying out an act forbidden by canon law, namely the ordaining of bishops without a papal mandate (canon 1387). These episcopal ordinations involve not simply the absence of a papal mandate, but clear disobedience in direct defiance of Pope Leo.
On the eve of the illegal consecrations, Pope Leo wrote to the Superior General of the SSPX, Fr. Davide Pagliarani:
With a paternal heart, and aware of the responsibility entrusted to me by the Lord as the Successor of the Apostle Peter, I address you and, through you, the bishops, priests, seminarians and faithful connected to the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Pius X. . . .[F]illed with Christian affection, I plead with you and ask you with all my heart: please turn back! I urge you to consider carefully the spiritual good of the faithful, because the schismatic act you are about to undertake would deprive them of the licit and, in some cases, even valid reception of the Sacraments, which they love and seek for their sanctification.
The pope has the authority to determine what constitutes a schismatic act, and he has done so. The SSPX has no authority to gainsay or ignore this papal judgment.
Fr. Pagliarani responded: "Paradoxically, in the present circumstances, we believe it to be our very duty to do everything possible to mend Christ's seamless garment, torn by forces and pressures incompatible with a truly Catholic spirit." Paradoxical indeed! The SSPX Superior General incredibly claims that the SSPX will "mend Christ's seamless garment."
No, it tears that garment by committing what he knows the Holy See has deemed a schismatic act. This is akin to an army claiming it has to destroy an enemy-held village in order to save it.
Why did this happen? The SSPX wants to continue ordaining priests who celebrate the Traditional Latin Mass (TLM) while refusing to return to full communion with the pope and the Church. The Society claims that a state of necessity in the Church permits them to ordain new bishops blamelessly. They need some younger bishops, they say, to allow them to continue ordaining new priests in the years to come.
If it were in full communion with the Church, any number of bishops would be willing to ordain the seminarians of the SSPX. Instead, the SSPX has deepened its embrace of a dangerous separatist spirit. Ordaining new bishops against the will of the pope is a necessary action for providing new priests for the SSPX only if it plans to continue operating apart from th...