Posted on 06/25/2006 5:48:00 AM PDT by NYer
The Rev. Yves le Roux, rector of St. Thomas Aquinas Seminary in Winona, is clear about the role of the Society of St. Pius X, of which he is a member.
“We are Roman Catholic,” he said. “We are recognized by Pope Benedict XVI. He is our father, but we are obliged to tell you we do not accept the teachings of Vatican II because it’s not an echo of the traditional church. The Church does not have the ability to teach something new.”
St. Thomas Aquinas is one of six seminaries around the world run by the Society of St. Pius X, a fraternity of priests in disagreement with the Vatican.
On Friday, four of its seminarians were ordained as priests and another made a deacon at an outdoor ceremony on the seminary grounds. About 2,000 people from across the country attended the Mass, celebrated by Bishop Bernard Fellay. Fellay, who lives in Switzerland and is one of the society’s four bishops, was ex-communicated by the Roman Catholic Church in 1988.
Founded in 1969 by the late French Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, the society grew out of his disapproval of the Second Vatican Council, the church’s 1962 modernization of its rituals. Their relationship with the Vatican has been marked by disagreement.
When Lefebvre made Fellay and three others bishops without Vatican approval, Pope John Paul II ex-communicated Lefebvre and all the bishops. The same year, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger — now Pope Benedict XVI — said the society had closed itself off in a “fanaticism of the elect,” as reported by Catholic New Service.
There have been attempts at reconciliation between the two sides as late as this year.
As le Roux and the Rev. Joseph Dreher, 41, vice rector at the seminary, explained, much of the disagreement stems from the liturgy. The society uses the pre-Vatican II Mass, celebrated in Latin.
“The liturgy is an expression of our faith,” Dreher said. “By restoring the old Mass, the true Mass, the Tridentine Mass, it expresses the teachings of the Catholic Church. By restoring that we want to restore the beliefs, which over time, with Vatican II especially, they’ve been put out, watered down, taken out of people’s minds.”
Le Roux, 41, from France, said people believe as they pray. The new Mass, he said, puts man before God, while the Latin Mass gives honor to God.
He also disagrees with Vatican II’s teachings on religious liberty and understanding of non-Catholic religions.
“It’s very surprising for us to hear that other religions can have some truth,” le Roux said.
The two listed repercussions of what they see as a drifting Church: Catholics talk less about hell and sin; it’s difficult to find priests to say penance; and priests marry couples who are living together.
“In the modern Church, the priest is just the president of the assembly,” Dreher said.
Paul Robinson, 30, is one of the priests ordained Friday. Like Dreher, he grew up with the Latin Mass. He said if you grow up in that culture, the society is the “biggest thing going.”
“There would be no reason for me to be a priest if I didn’t believe there was right and wrong,” he said. “We’re always looked at as the mean guys because we believe in things.”
As of 2005, the society had 470 priests serving in 60 nations. St. Thomas Aquinas, on Stockton hill just outside Winona, is its only U.S. seminary.
Wearing a black cassock, le Roux joked about being a dinosaur. He said religion is not just about being nice, it’s also about being holy.
“We are not here to save the Church because the Church is divine and does not need to be saved,” he said. “We are sure, one day or another, the Church will come back.”
I still see little evidence that the little French cult has shed its more, uh, "eccentric" trappings. I do believe, however, that they will for the most part become reconciled with Rome over the next decade or so.
Well, let's face it, logical consistency is not a hallmark of the SSPX.
His third question was: "Is it a sin for me to contribute to the Sunday collection a Pius X Mass" to which we responded:
"3. It would seem that a modest contribution to the collection at Mass could be justified."
"But that means you are not Catholic, since Catholics must obey canon law and the pope, right? "
Canon Law REQUIRES that seminarians be taught Latin before ordination.
Many dioceses in the U.S. and elsewhere do not require their seminarians to be taught Latin.
Are these dioceses, therefore, not Catholic?
BTW does your parish priest know Latin?
I submit that disobedience to the Pope and to Canon Law does not make one non- Catholic. It does make one disobedient and culpability exists to the degree that is determined by the persons inner reasons for his course of action.
What does make one "not Catholic" is falure to believe what Catholics have always believed. It might also include disdain for and failure to practice those traditions which the Church has always practiced.
IMHO, I actually suspect that SSPX will be the antidote to apostasy and heresy......
You're thinking of the Secretary for Divine Worship, Abp. Ranjith.
Many are called few are chosen. The army has a lot more regular soldiers than they do Green Berets.
Check out an SSPX seminarian's daily schedule and academic program, then compare them to the seminary schedule and academic program of your diocese.
Don't hold your breath waiting for that to happen. The snide comments are kind of funny given the subject matter of Bishop Fellay's sermon was the necessity of priests to have the charity of the Sacred Heart...
This Heart will remain open, despite the attacks – because it dies (as on the Cross) in its sacrifice. So must be your charity. So must be the charity of the priest. He must not only show charity, exercise it, but it must supercede any types of attacks.
Humanly speaking, when we give charity, we expect something back. That is normal, that is human. When we don’t, we call it ingratitude – and consider it terrible – and today we are reminded of our ingratitude towards His heart, which has given so much love and receives so much ingratitude.
Yet this heart does not close. It remains open. It is very hard...it is very hard to overcome the ingratitude in returning charity for ingratitude. That is the great lesson that the priest has to exercise everyday. God’s charity is infinitely higher than any evil. And so the heart of the priest has to go so far as to forget if possible all the sufferings and all the contradictions and give again and again and again.
Incorrect. Catholics may attend Orthodox liturgies. Receiving communion is verboten, but attendance is not prohibited.
The Orthodox aren't excommunicated and haven't been since 1965.
I might have considered it at one time, but I've seen way too much selfish, childish, egotistical, pope-bashing trash-talking come from their leaders.
If they were hoping to attract the orthodox, they lost me early on.
And in addition, there is FSSP which is in full communion with the church.
Knights of Columbus with swords! Excellent!
Wow, the SSPX is ordaining 4 seminarians in Wisconsin! Bowl me over with that high number.
Why are you posting this at all? Who cares what the schismatic SSPX says or does? They are a bunch of self-righteous jansenists who think that they are more Catholic than the Church. Frankly, we shouldn't give them any attention since it allows them to propagate their schism.
*Excellent point. The Catholic Faith is all about deportment. If'n your in a schism make sure you follow the rubrics and all is jake.
Once the schism thinks by their actions they have "forced" the Pope into lifting the excommunications, they will intensify the fight imagining they have been divinely commissioned to continue their war for tradition inside the Body of Christ.
IOW, I think, en masse, the schism is collectively delusional and it will not accept yes as an answer..
I am convinced this Pope will not lift the excommuinications and rumors to the contrary, any possible chance for a reconciliation has past.
You didn't know fellay was excomminicated? It was in all the papers
Now, I'll just go and find the relevant information and post it - AGAIN.
Even in doing this I KNOW this tactic will be tried again, and again, and again, and again.....
September 4, 1995
Feast of Pope St. Pius X
Scott M. Windsor, Sr.
P.O. Box 11502
Prescott, Arizona 86304-1502
USA
Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger
Prefect, Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith
Vatican City, Europe
Your Holiness,
My name is Scott Windsor, I live in Prescott, Arizona, USA, which is in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Phoenix under Bishop Thomas O'Brien. I am a convert and a "Traditionalist" Catholic. I truly appreciate the beauty and holiness of the Tridentine Mass. I am married and the father of five, and am extremely concerned for the well-being of all our souls.
In our diocese the Tridentine Mass is not licitly celebrated. Our only options for this Mass are:
1) through "independent" priests or
2) the Society of St. Pius X (SSPX).
Where I live, in Prescott, we only have the SSPX for the Traditional Latin Mass. As a side note, Bishop O'Brien has been petitioned several times to allow the "Indult Mass" here and has been approached by (at the request of some local Prescott parishioners) the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter; all requests have been denied.
I have been well aware of the encyclical Ecclesia Dei , issued by the Holy Father on July 1, 1988 and the ramifications listed therein for those found in "formal adherence" to it. I have struggled with this for a long time, and then last Summer I was made aware of an incident in Hawaii wherein the Bishop of Honolulu (then Bp. Ferrario) had issued a "Canonical Warning" to a Ms. Morley. The particular charges that Bp. Ferrario named against Ms. Morley and the others, was that of schism and "ipso facto" excommunication (at which point he then referenced Ecclesia Dei).
In reading your response to Ms. Morley, you stated that there was "no formal schism, in the strict sense" plus the "charges lacked foundation and hence validity." You also indicated that the actions they were involved in were grave indeed, (assuming you meant the radio productions and the questioning of the soundness of Novus Ordo Missae, and other public embarrassments to the local church), for which you suggested alternative measures including interdict. My concerns for the attending and supporting the local SSPX mission seemed answered and I became more comfortable in my attendance and support there.
Lately, some of my friends on a computer bulletin board service (BBS) have challenged me, stating that I am a schismatic and need to reconcile myself to Holy Mother Church. I have listened to their arguments with earnest and thus have some renewed concerns that I know would be best answered by you.
My specific questions are:
Am I being schismatic in attending the Society of St. Pius X mission here in Prescott?
What does the Hawaiian Case mean to me in Prescott, Arizona, or any other person in a Society of St. Pius X chapel?
In all humbleness and sincerity, I am,
Faithfully yours,
Scott M. Windsor, Sr.
Rome's response follows
PONTIFICIA COMMISSIO ECCLESIA DEI
N. 117/95
Rome, 29 September 1995
Mr. Scott M. Windsor, Sr.
P. O. Box 11502
Prescott, Arizona 86304-1502
U.S.A.
Dear Mr. Windsor,
Thank you for your letter of 4 September 1995 addressed to His Eminence Cardinal Ratzinger. It has been transmitted to this Pontifical Commission as dealing with matters related to our particular competence.
We are aware of the lack of authorized celebrations of the Mass according to the 1962 Roman Missal in the Diocese of Phoenix and we can appreciate your desire to assist at the traditional Mass. We also recognize your earnest desire to remain in full communion with the Successor of Peter and the members of the Church subject to him, a desire which obviously prompted you to write this letter. In order to answer your questions we must explain the Church's present evaluation of the situation of the Society of St. Pius X.
There is no doubt about the validity of the ordination of the priests of the Society of St. Pius X. They are, however, suspended "a divinis" , that is prohibited by the Church from exercising their orders because of their illicit ordination.
The Masses they celebrate are also valid, but it is considered morally illicit for the faithful to participate in these Masses unless they are physically or morally impeded from participating in a Mass celebrated by a Catholic priest in good standing (cf. Code of Canon Law, canon 844.2 ). The fact of not being able to assist at the celebration of the so-called "Tridentine" Mass is not considered a sufficient motive for attending such Masses.
While it is true that the participation in the Mass and sacraments at the chapels of the Society of St. Pius X does not of itself constitute "formal adherence to the schism", such adherence can come about over a period of time as one slowly imbibes a mentality which separates itself from the magisterium of the Supreme Pontiff. Father Peter R. Scott, District Superior of the Society in the United States, has publicly stated that he deplores the "liberalism" of "those who refuse to condemn the New Mass as absolutely offensive to God, or the religious liberty and ecumenism of the postconcilliar church." With such an attitude the society of St. Pius X is effectively tending to establish its own canons of orthodoxy and hence to separate itself from the magisterium of the Supreme Pontiff. According to canon 751 such "refusal of submission to the Roman Pontiff or the communion of the members of the Church subject to him" constitute schism. Hence we cannot encourage your participation in the Masses, the sacraments or other services conducted under the aegis of the Society of St. Pius X.
The situation of at least one of the "independent" priests in the Diocese of Phoenix to whom you allude is somewhat different. He and the community which he serves have declared their desire to regularize their situation and have taken some initial steps to do so. Let us pray that this may soon be accomplished.
Finally, we may say that "the Hawaiian case" resulted in a judgment that the former Bishop of Honolulu did not have grounds to excommunicate the persons involved, but this judgment does not confer the Church's approbation upon the Society of St. Pius X or those who frequent their chapels.
With prayerful best wishes, I remain
Sincerely yours in Christ,
Msgr. Camille Perl
Secretary
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