Tradicat

+ JMJ I have synthesized St. Thomas' principle of obedience as follows: The Catholic principle is laid out as follows: The person issuing the command is in a position of authority over the inferior The command is within the scope of the superior's authority The command does not require the inferior to sin, either in the immediate or proximate case. If the above conditions are met then the person has an obligation to obey. Disobedience in this case is sinful. Now the question is how have the leaders of the SSPX applied this principle in key conditions? Archbishop Lefebvre withdrawing his signature from the protocol of 1988 Archbishop Lefebvre disobeying the order from the Pope to not consecrate bishops Bishop Fellay refusing to sign the pre-amble provided in 2012.

+ JMJ C’est à l’occasion de la cérémonie de bénédiction des cloches de la chapelle de l’école Saint-Michel de La Martinerie, à Châteauroux, que Mgr Fellay a fait pour  Présent  un point sur la situation de la Fraternité Saint-Pie X, dont il est le Supérieur général. Dans un entretien accordé à Fideliter en 2001, vous évoquiez « le mouvement de profonde sympathie du jeune clergé à l’égard de la Fraternité ». Ce mouvement s’est-il amplifié, notamment du fait du motu proprio de 2007 ? — Sans aucun doute ! Ce mouvement a reçu un nouveau souffle avec le motu proprio. Il convient d’ailleurs d’insister sur l’intérêt de Benoît XVI envers la liturgie d’une manière générale. Il a vraiment désiré remettre à la disposition des prêtres et des fidèles toute la liturgie traditionnelle, pas seulement la messe, ce qui ne s’est pas réalisé jusqu’ici à cause de trop nombreuses oppositions. Cependant la jeunesse, précisément parce que cette l...

+ JMJ The SSPX's Superior General answers some questions about the priestly society and its current status with Rome. On the occasion of the blessing of the bells for the chapel of the St-Michel de La Martinerie school in Chateauroux, Bishop Fellay gave Present an update on the situation of the Society of St. Pius X, of which he is the Superior General.

+ JMJ In his latest 'comments' (415) Bishop Williamson starts off with: Should Menzingen ask Rome for recognition? No! How can apostates grant such a petition? There are two points here. First, Bishop Williamson is implying that the SSPX (Menzingen) sought for the discussions and is 'asking' for Recognition.  Whereas it was Rome that requested the discussions, granted the per-conditions, and wants to resolve the issue of the SSPX canonical situation.

+ JMJ The Church of Christ is Apostolic and this is also a 'Mark' of the Church. Specifically it means: The true Church is also to be recognised from her origin, which can be traced back under the law of grace to the Apostles; for her doctrine is the truth not recently given, nor now first heard of, but delivered of old by the Apostles, and disseminated throughout the entire world. ... That all, therefore, might know which was the Catholic Church, the Fathers, guided by the Spirit of God, added to the Creed the word Apostolic. For the Holy Ghost, who presides over the Church, governs her by no other ministers than those of Apostolic succession.  ( Tradicat: Marks of the Church Apostolic - Catechism of Trent ) The consequence of this is Dogma is that if there are no longer any Bishops, then the promise of Our Lord Jesus Christ that the Church would stand to the end of the world, was false. A secondary consequence of this would be the eradication of the priesthoo...

+ JMJ Scruples can be dangerous things in the spiritual life.  It causes a person to "see" sin where there is not and therefore, make bad decisions. It is a kind of confirmation bias. So with out ado ... P^3

+ JMJ Just sharing some diagrams that I created for an upcoming article. SSPX perspective on the present state of the Catholic Church:  'Resistance perspective on the present state of the Catholic Church: P^3

+ JMJ The following is the communiqué of the SSPX regarding the Bishop Williamson's consecration of Fr. Faure. As a follow-up to this article ,  I would like to highlight the rationale for denouncing the consecration. Communiqué of the General House of the Society of St. Pius X concerning the episcopal consecration of Fr. Jean-Michel Faure. On March 19, 2015, Bishop Richard Williamson performed the episcopal consecration of Fr. Jean-Michel Faure at the Benedictine Monastery of the Holy Cross in Nova Friburgo, Brazil. Bishop Williamson and Fr. Faure have not been members of the Society of St. Pius X since 2012 and 2014, respectively, because of their violent criticisms of any relations with the Roman authorities. According to them, such contacts were incompatible with the apostolic work of Archbishop Lefebvre.(1) The Society of St. Pius X regrets sincerely that this spirit of opposition has led to an episcopal consecration. In 1988 Archbishop Lefebvre had c...

+ JMJ Here are some pics of the SSPX ordinations in Winona.  It was muddy and fantastic!  Next year the ordinations will be on June 3rd and the last to be held at Winona. P^3

+ JMJ With the Synod looming large on the horizon, Rorate has posted the following words uttered in 2008. Words worth hearing! P^3 Q. There is a prophecy by Sister Lucia dos Santos, of Fatima, which concerns “the final battle between the Lord and the kingdom of Satan”. The battlefield is the family. Life and the family. We know that you were given charge by John Paul II to plan and establish the Pontifical Institute for the Studies on Marriage and the Family. Yes, I was. At the start of this work entrusted to me by the Servant of God John Paul II, I wrote to Sister Lucia of Fatima through her Bishop as I couldn’t do so directly. Unexplainably however, since I didn’t expect an answer, seeing that I had only asked for prayers, I received a very long letter with her signature – now in the Institute’s archives. In it we find written:  the final battle between the Lord and the reign of Satan will be about marriage and the family .  Don’t be afraid , she added,  ...

+ JMJ This may seem as a strange prelude to the subject of Bishop Williamson's words from 1987, but I'd like to discuss the reaction of five groups of people to information that they don't want believe.  The groups are: Protestants Sede-vacantists "Resistors" Modern Catholics Psychiatric Patients I have had significant in-person or 'on-line' discussions with these 'groups' and all have something in common when confronted with a fact that is inconsistent with their perception of reality. They change the topic in order to not have to face the possibility that their perception of the situation (ie reality) is flawed.

+ JMJ In May, Bishop Fellay gave a conference and noted that the CDF has provided him with the authority to judge a case in which charges were brought against a priest of the SSPX. The CDF provided Bishop Fellay (who from their perspective is suspended) to judge the case of a member of a congregation (who from their perspective does not exist). Attached below is Rorate's For the Record and a link to the Vatican Insider article. Vatican Insider: Holy See puts Fellay in charge of trying one of his own priests Rorate: For the Record: Ecclesia Dei Secretary confirms Vatican delegation to Superior-General of SSPX to judge a Society priest This action by the CDF is significant because this is objectively the granting (albeit for one case) of one of the six conditions set by the 2012 Chapter of the SSPX. The six conditions are: Sine qua non conditions: The freedom to preserve, transmit and teach the sound doctrine of the constant Magisterium of the Church and of...