Quacks Like a Duck…

Most Catholics have not given the Society of St Pius X (SSPX) much thought at all. Some will be much more aware. What has played out recently has made the news but only in a superficial way, if at all, in most secular media outlets. Coverage was even hit-or-miss in many Catholic news media. Totally understandable. After all, there are two major wars raging, the World Cup is ongoing, the country is sweating in a major heatwave, and only a few people are truly affected by the schismatic acts of the SSPX and the resulting automatic excommunication of their clergy. In some circles, however, the whole situation of the SSPX is a topic that is front and center.

It might be front and center because someone attends one of their chapels (we have none in Alabama), someone might share their views, someone might be sympathetic because they offer the Traditional Latin Mass, or someone might be concerned that this episode will negatively impact the legitimate communities that are focused on the pre-Vatican II liturgy. In other words, to some people this is a massive issue, to others it is a bit of ‘inside baseball,’ while most people regard the whole situation as neither here nor there. Most people will fall into the later category because the SSPX has only about 20,000 parishioners nationwide attending only about 130 chapels. To put this in perspective, there are over 53 million Catholics in America attending about 17,000 parishes across the nation. Something like 160,000 people entered the Catholic Church last year in America alone. Thus, it is understandable that most American Catholics are not particularly aware or concerned with the whole Society of Pius X situation.

But what is the rub between the SSPX and the Vatican? There are too many issues to cover here, but the whole situation can be boiled down to fidelity. The SSPX claims to be faithful to the Church while defying Church authority. They claim that Pope Leo XIV is truly the Pope, but disobey him and deny his authority. They claim to be true Catholics while the rest of the Church is greatly misled and unfaithful. In other words, they are more Catholic than the pope. And everyone else.

Pope John Paul II, Pope Benedict XVI, and Pope Francis all tried to reconcile them, but the SSPX would have none of it. Pope Benedict lifted the excommunication of their priests and bishops. In response the SSPX denied that their clergy were ever excommunicated. Pope Francis regularized their sacraments by extending to the priests of SSPX the faculties to marry and to absolve sins, but they insisted that such a concession was not a concession at all. All along the SSPX has claimed that the Vatican has failed to offer any concessions. This is an absurd and delusional assertion.

As part of the delusion, the SSPX insists on having their own bishops. We do have a general vocations shortage, as do most denominations in the United States, but since when have we had a shortage of bishops? Yes, a diocese might wait months or years to have a retiring bishop replaced, but such a delay is much more bureaucratic in nature than it is vocational. Thus, why would the SSPX need their own bespoke bishops? Do their bishops have power or authority not possessed by diocesan bishops? Don’t they confirm and ordain, the two sacraments ordinarily reserved to bishops? The SSPX claims that the sacraments celebrated in dioceses throughout the world are valid, so why do they really need their own bishops if that is the case? It would seem that they are implicitly denying the validity of the sacraments celebrated outside of the SSPX by insisting on having their own bishops. Despite their claims to the contrary, they act and have been acting since their inception as if they are schismatic.

Putting the recent ordination of bishops aside, the SSPX does not subject themselves to the bishops in the dioceses where they operate. Every deacon and priest does ministry under the authority and jurisdiction of a local bishop. No priest can baptize, hear confessions, offer Mass, officiate at weddings, and so forth without the permission and approval of the local bishop. The same applies even to bishops and archbishops. For example, Bishop Emeritus Baker cannot confirm without bishop Raica’s permission and delegation. The clergy of the SSPX has never recognized the local bishops and have operated independently of them, which is exactly what schism looks like.

—Fr Booth