So...Shall We Talk About Schism and the SSPX?

With the announcement of the SSPX plans to ordain new bishops this summer, we return to the question of schism. That question has to begin with whether Archbishop Lefebvre, Bishop de Castro Mayer, and the four bishops consecrated by Archbishop Lefebvre without pontifical mandate in 1988 actually committed a schismatic act. If they did, they were excommunicated automatically (Latae sententiae). If they did not, they committed an act of disobedience not an act of schism. There's a world of difference.

The Impact on the Catholic Church from Division: Not Pretty!

At the Last Supper, Jesus prayed that all might be one. That reality seems further away than ever. It's easy to understand how the division between religions is disastrous for the world. Religious wars throughout the millennia illustrate that so clearly no one with eyes and ears can miss it. What's more difficult to understand on a spiritual level is the division among Catholics who claim the same religion, but are more and more divided.

Sunday Meditation: "My People Shall Not Be Confounded Forever." Joel 2:27

There's a saying often attributed to Abraham Lincoln that echoes the prophet Joel. It goes something like this:

You can fool all of the people some of the time and some of the people all of the time, but you can't fool all of the people all of the time.

It's tie to never be confounded and fooled again by liars and deceivers working for the enemy. Some people become deceivers out of ignorance. We saw a lot of that during COVID. Low information folks trying to convince those of us doing the research that all the scientists and doctors questioning Fauci et al were quacks and we needed to get with the program. Most of them were just foolish not malicious. But others among the doctors, pharmacists, those profiteering, the mainstream media, etc. were not innocent. They deliberately lied and withheld the truth. And many people died because of it.

Will Pope Leo Lead Us Away from the Path of Confusion?

I pray so. It's no fun to be lost, not to know which way to turn, even to wonder whether up is down and down is up. How many pilots have crashed over that kind of spatial confusion?

It’s not an uncommon occurrence for pilots, especially in poor visibility, and it’s incredibly dangerous. According to the Federal Aviation Administration, between 5 percent and 10 percent of all aviation accidents are caused by spatial disorientation, and of those crashes, 90 percent are fatal.

Pray for Bishop Tissier de Mallerais and for the SSPX

SSPX bishop, Bernard Tissier de Mallerais, took a serious fall about a week ago and has not regained consciousness. Please pray for him and for the SSPX bishops and priests.

Is the SSPX Position Really Indefensible? Part 2

I'm continuing to read and reflect on the article claiming that the SSPX position is "indefensible." I wrote in part 1 about clandestine ordinations forbidden by Rome but performed by both John Paul II when he was bishop of Krakow and Cardinal Josyf Slipyj, a prisoner of Russia. Rome explicitly forbade the clandestine ordinations during the Cold War battle with Communism. The bishops did it anyway. Sometimes, crisis situations necessitate disobedience. John Paul II never expressed any regret over his deliberate disobedience of the pope's directives and he never suffered any consequences despite the automatic punishments defined in canon law. He is now a canonized saint and Cardinal Slipyj's cause is in progress.

Part V: A Pinch of Incense to Modernism -- How Accepting Ecclesia Dei, etc. Poisoned Principles

See all the previous posts in this series on Ecclesia Dei and its aftermath on our Modernism page.

I started out this series bringing up principles. If someone calls you a person of principle, what do they mean? The American Heritage Dictionary defines principle as: 

• A basic truth, law, or assumption.
• A rule or standard, especially of good behavior.
• The collectivity of moral or ethical standards or judgments.

Truth Speaks to the Heart - An Email from a Friend

Editor's Comment: I received this touching email from a friend after she read Two Clear-Sighted Articles about Archbishop Lefebvre and the SSPX Controversy which I posted a few days ago. She was originally concerned about my attending the SSPX Masses, but has since changed her mind. Why? Because she does the research. She is a persistent truth-seeker and I'm privileged to call her friend. 

Two Clear-Sighted Articles on Archbishop Lefebvre and the SSPX Controversy

Editor's Comment: What confusing times we live in, eh! As someone once said to me, "We are all doing our lousy best." While I would modify that to say, "People of good will are doing their lousy best," I think it is a true statement as we travel through this "valley of tears." Let's face it, we're in chaos!

Meditation for Sunday: How will you honor Christ the King today?

Today we dedicated the SSPX Immaculate Heart of Mary chapel in Linden, VA to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. And now I ask myself how I can unite myself more closely to His heart. Mother Teresa said she wanted to become so little she could fit into Christ's heart, that heart which is big enough to contain the entire universe. There is room for all who love Him. 

I couldn't do better today than to share a wonderful post from The Musings of an Old Curmudgeon blog, a sharing so beautiful it moved my heart closer to the heart of Jesus. I send you now there with the prayers of my guardian angel in company with yours that you might bask in the glory and warmth of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. A big thank you to Jovan-Marya Weismiller for his beautiful reflection.

Monsignor Lefebvre, the SSPX, and I

O Jesus, meek and humble of heart, make my heart like unto thine.

The SSPX is NOT in Schism! Stop Already the Ignorant Accusations!

Archbishop Lefebvre was not excommunicated for being in schism.
He was excommunicate for ordaining four bishops without papal approval.
The Vatican never said that the Society was schismatic.  They are not!

I'm tired of hearing ad nauseum the accusation that the SSPX is in schism. THEY ARE NOT! And as the pope cracks down on the TLM (traditional Latin Mass), the flock may, with clear consciences, attend the Masses offered by the Society. 

So let's take a closer look.

This comes from the Fatima Center and is from part 1 of a series on the SSPX:

We Knew It Was Just a Matter of Time: Pope Francis Abrogates Universal Permission for TLM...

We'll get those traditionalist clergy 
and their little lambs too!

It's like a soap opera: As the World of Bergoglio and the Traditional Latin Mass (TLM) Turns.

Next? 

Complete abrogation of the TLM by the pope and his minions at the Vatican? Won't James Martin smile!

Alert! FSSP, Canons of Christ the King, Canons of the New Jerusalem, etc. You are on the enemies list. Get ready for the chopping block!

Alert! SSPX and your flock, get ready for excommunication!

The SSPX Revisited

Archbishop Lefebvre -- Hero or Villain?

Before I get into the subject of the post, I want to address Church Militant's (CM) April 22nd exposé about the SSPX. Yes I watched the Vortex and read the report. It's horrifying if true, just like the horrifying information about bishops and priests all over the country (and world) that we've been steeped in for years. 

Mourning at Mass this Morning

I don't know why it overcame me this morning at Mass, but as I stood for the Our Father and sign of peace, I started thinking about the excommunication of the SSPX in Italy and all the faithful who attend their services. I have friends who go to an SSPX parish here in Annandale so the excommunication felt personal even though it doesn't affect them.

What also grieved my heart was the realization of the double standard, the almost total lack of discipline for the heretics who peddle the murder of the unborn and the destruction of the family and publicly agitate for women's ordination and normalization of fornication and serial marriage.  The list goes on and on.

None of the nuns on the bus or the priests running gay parishes have been disciplined. Clergy and laity who promote contraception and abortion and gay relationships for the most part go on their merry way undisturbed by the local bishop. I think Bishop Bruskewitz was the only one EVER to excommunicate the radical dissenters of Call to Action which he did along with a long list of Masonic organizations and the SSPX.