Stumbling At the Finish Line:
Another Look at the SSPX’s Illogical Stance on the Pope Question
Commentary by Francis del Sarto
The strange ecclesial soap opera that is the series of on-again, off-again negotiations between Benedict XVI and the Society of St. Pius X in 2012 took yet another curious turn in mid-September 2012, when the SSPX’s Bishop Bernard Tissier de Mallerais revealed the contents of a confidential letter sent back in the summer by Benedict to Bishop Bernard Fellay, head of the Society.
According to Bp. Tissier:
On 30 June 2012 – this is a secret but will be revealed to the public – the Pope himself wrote a letter to our Superior General, Mgr.
On July 15, 2010, The Remnant published an article by Milwaukee-based Mr. John Salza, J.D., critiquing the theological position known as sedevacantism (from the Latin sede vacante, “the chair being empty”), which basically holds that the claimants to the papal throne after the death of Pope Pius XII on October 9, 1958, are illegitimate and not true Popes at all, and that the church of which John XXIII, Paul VI, John Paul I, John Paul II, and Benedict XVI have been the heads is not the Catholic Church of our Lord Jesus Christ but a modernist institution masquerading as the Catholic Church, with the ultimate aim to eradicate true, traditional Catholicism from the face of the earth in order to lead souls to hell.… READ MORE
How Bp. Williamson Puts Souls at Risk
by Gutting All Meaning from a Well-Known Expression
image: Wikimedia Commons (Deepika Ravishankar) / CC BY-SA 4.0
Of the various reasons the Catholic Church down through the ages has insisted on Latin as the language of her Roman rite liturgy has been the variability of vernacular languages, and hence the reliability of them to consistently preserve word meanings. When one is dealing with unchangeable eternal truths, it is crucial to be certain that the way those truths are expressed cannot deviate in meaning, which is all too easy to do when a living language is being used as witnessed in the “New Mass”.… READ MORE
Unspinning Christopher Ferrara’s Defense of Benedict XVI
Forever trying to persuade his readers, and presumably himself, that “Pope” Benedict XVI is “our only friend in the Vatican” – quite in contradiction to his former sarcastic use of the same phrase in reference to the very same Joseph Ratzinger – New Jersey-based attorney Christopher A. Ferrara is still busy claiming that Benedict XVI is a genuine friend of the message of Our Lady of Fatima, specifically of the Third Secret, which, he argues (and Novus Ordo Watch agrees), has only been released in part by the Vatican.
Though it is easy to understand why a man who is a lawyer by profession should habitually write in a rhetorically-persuasive style, desiring to get his readership to agree with his position, it is nonetheless not tolerable that a position should be allowed to continue to be put forth that has been clearly refuted.… READ MORE
The Vatican, the SSPX, and the “Restoration of Tradition”
“Thus saith the Lord: Stand ye on the ways, and see and ask for the old paths which is the good way, and walk ye in it: and you shall find refreshment for your souls. And they said: we will not walk.” ―Jeremias 6:16
“No servant can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or he will hold to the one, and despise the other.” ―Our Blessed Lord Jesus Christ (Luke 16:13)
“But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach a gospel to you besides that which we have preached to you, let him be anathema.” … READ MORE
The Society of St. Pius X after the
Lifting of the “Excommunications” of 1988
Bp. Bernard Fellay, SSPX Superior (1994-2018)
“The Bride of Christ cannot be made false to her Spouse: she is incorrupt and modest. She knows but one dwelling, she guards the sanctity of the nuptial chamber chastely and modestly”
“We must be on guard against minimizing these [Traditionalist] movements. Without a doubt, they represent a sectarian zealotry that is the antithesis of Catholicity. We cannot resist them too firmly.”
Reflections on a 50-Year Vacancy of the Apostolic See
Fifty years ago, around 3:50 am local time on October 9, 1958, His Holiness Pope Pius XII drew his last breath in Rome. At that time, most Catholics surely viewed this as simply an ordinary death of yet another Pope, and though lamentable, a new Pope would surely follow soon, and all would be well.
The last 50 years have proven beyond the shadow of a doubt that such was not the case. At first, everything seemed to go the usual way. The deceased Pope received a solemn funeral, and a conclave to elect his successor was scheduled for October 25.… READ MORE
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