SSPX vs ?, Persecution, and the Band Plays On!

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JMJ

 Just another collection of articles lovingly scraped from the intergnat by hand.  When time allows to poke around to see if there is anything new and find - sadly - that very little is new. 

This means we need to continue to stay the course and remain Catholic by doing what Catholic Dogma, Doctrine and Principles demand.  To depart from this path is to depart from the path to salvation.

P^3

1. SSPX: 
1. Salza and Siscoe  continue their attacks against the SSPX and, to me, are obviously operating under a confirmation bias / cognitive dissonance.  Reading their article below (8.4) we find a caricature of what the SSPX actually states. 
2. First for clarity, the SSPX position on the documents of the Second Vatican Council is that of the theological note provided by the Cardinal Felici (if memory serves): Accept any statement that repeats prior dogma and doctrine, Interpret inline with prior doctrine any ambiguous statement and be very cautious of any novelty. 
3. Their article goes on at length making a bunch of assertions about the 'theological note' of the documents of the Second Vatican Council. Unfortunately, there is nothing in the footnotes to support their assertions.
   
4. Now we come to issue with the new Profession of Faith. The issue is contained in the last article (see SSPX link 8.2 below): "Moreover, I adhere with religious submission of will and intellect to the teachings which either the Roman Pontiff or the College of Bishops enunciate when they exercise their authentic Magisterium, even if they do not intend to proclaim these teachings by a definitive act."  The rationale provided by ++Lefebvre and the SSPX is that agreeing to this new addition means: "As Archbishop Lefebvre said in his sermon, the 1989 Profession of Faith would mean accepting Vatican II and its consequences."  
5. If you want to know what the SSPX believes in terms of the Second Vatican Council look at link 8.7.  
6. My overall conclusion is that Salsa and Siscoe are tilting at windmills. The article creates a straw-man argument based on assertions without evidence and then proceeds to found all their conclusions on them.  So ... the article is more like a debate where the antagonist issues a tangle of concepts and arguments that are off base.
7. I think it can be best summed up as, Salza and Siscoe are working very hard to prove something that the actual authorities in Rome have never said ... that the SSPX has doctrinal errors.
   
8. References
1. The state of necessity - District of Canada
2. Why Didn't Archbishop Lefebvre Sign the Vatican's Profession of Faith in 1989? - District of the USA
3. PROFESSION OF FAITH
4. True or False Pope: The 1989 Profession of Faith: More Errors and Dishonesty from the SSPX
5. SSPX:  What are Theological Notes?
6. SSPX:  On the Authority of the Second Vatican Council:Infallible or not?
7.  https://tradicat.blogspot.com/2015/07/doctrinal-preamble-april-15-2012-vs.html
2. Persecution 
1. The FBI continues to try and do damage control and I wonder where the line is for truth and fiction.  
2. Suffice to say that schism is a word used frequently for anyone that doesn't toe the line.  I just don't get how calling someone a heretic is translated as a schismatic act.
   
3. References
1. FBI director spars with GOP Senators about memo on 'radical traditionalist Catholics'- Detroit Catholic
2. Brazilian priest accused of schism faces canonical proceedings
3. Atos da Cúria | Arquidiocese de São Paulo
4. RORATE CÆLI: Cardinal Gregory: "Tradition dies a slow death, sometimes a bloody death" 
5. Silence from Rome, turmoil in Texas, and plenty of blame to go around – Catholic World Report
3.  The Band Plays On!
1.  There are a number of articles that caught my eye. The article on what V2 put forward for the renewal of the Mass was one thing.  
2. I included the article on "Where Peter Is" for levity ... ok I am kidding. Basically, the author (Mike Lewis) seems to be saying he will accept anything and pronounce judgments on other Catholics just like Voris et al.  For example his assertion that there is a 'cultural of sexual abuse in the ... SSPX'. Really, his writing has the same end as CMTV, just without the bling.
3. The fact that an argentinian VP is a practicing Catholic and may have attended the SSPX is somehow news worthy.
4. One paragraph in the Crisis Magazine article popped out at me: "The hardcore traditionalists were intense and underground. Archbishop Lefebvre (even if you weren’t SSPX) was regarded as the godfather of the movement. These traditionalists, however, were not reactionary—they simply wanted to maintain continuity with Tradition, a tradition that “always was.” They were hardliners, but they had to be—it was not easy to be a traditionalist Catholic during this period. You had to be dug in, hardcore. 
5. So in the end not much has changed over the past 40 years.  The same conflict rages on with people taking one of three sides (progressive, traditionalist, and sideline).
   
6. References
1. The Mass of Vatican II – Catholic World Report
2. Michael Voris forced out at Church Militant - Where Peter Is
3. 4 key facts about Victoria Villarruel, the Catholic vice-president-elect of Argentina – Catholic World Report
4. Is Traditionalism an Essence or a Reaction? - Crisis Magazine
   
4. And Now a Word From Our Sponsors 
1.  This is meant to be a funny thing.  I started this blog because in 2012 I was heavily involved in forum discussions on the negotiations between Rome and the SSPX.  These discussions were usually trying to be a voice of reason and Catholic Doctrine in the face of emotional reactions from 'Resistors' on the Ignis Ardens forum. I found that the work I would do to write an article was quickly submerged under a flood of responses, counter-arguments and noise.  So I created this blog as a repository for my articles or reposts of ones that I thought were important. There are over 1900 posts and over half a million 'reads' in eleven years. 
2. In the early days the majority of my opponents were passionate supporters of Bishop Williamson. I noticed an article posted on Suscipe Domine (a forum with a functional moderation function!) and thought I would point out a key issue with the good Bishop's position, let's place "Spot the Doctrinal Error."
   
3.  Spot the Error: 
1. The strength of the "Resistance" is, firstly, the Truth, and secondly the very looseness of the connections between the various small groups resisting the revolution of Vatican II. 
2. That revolution swiftly overcame the large part of the Catholic Church because Catholics were too obedient to unfaithful authorities above. 
3. Likewise the large part of the SSPX was swiftly blunted in 2012 because its priests were too respectful of the authority of their official leaders above them, who wanted to get back in with apostate Rome. 
4. They were serving no longer the true Church or the true Faith, like Archbishop Lefebvre, but themselves. 
5. On the contrary, to capture one small pocket of Resistants will not necessarily mean capturing even a second pocket. Thus the Faith will survive until God chooses to restore Catholic structure, in His own good time. 
4. The error is in article 2.  
1. We need to make certain of a few things. We owe obedience to the person in the office.  It doesn't matter if they are good, bad, faithful, or faithless. Nor does it matter if we feel they have somehow 'lost' their office. Feelings don't matter.  
2. What matters is staying Catholic by adhering to the Dogmas, Doctrines and Principles.  
3. If a lawful order is given by a lawful authority - then we have an obligation to obey - provided it does not require us to sin.  (See articles on True Obedience)
   
4. Since Bishop Williamson and the rest of the 'Resistance' are allergic to the thought that the Pope could actually issue a command that required obedience and are not ready and willing to obey in such a case - who is acting for themselves? Who is truly serving the Catholic Church???  To ask the question is almost to answer it.
   
5. References
   
1. Bp. Williamson's Eleison Comments - Page 2
2. https://sspx.ca/en/news-events/news/true-obedience-the-mark-of-a-faithful-catholic  
3. https://tradicat.blogspot.com/search/label/Series%20-%20True%20Obedience