Canonical situation of the Society of St. Pius X
Encyclopedia
The canonical situation of the Society of St. Pius X has been the subject of much controversy since the 1988 Ecône consecrations
.
) signed an agreement intended to open the way for the consecration of a bishop to be a successor to Lefebvre. In the first, doctrinal, part of the document, Lefebvre, in his own name and on behalf of the SSPX:
The second (legal) part of the document envisaged, apart from the canonical reconciliation of the persons concerned, that:
This document was to be submitted to the Pope for his approval. However, Lefebvre quickly developed misgivings. The very next day, he declared he was obliged in conscience to proceed, with or without papal approval, to consecrate a bishop to succeed him.
A further meeting took place in Rome on 24 May. It is said that Lefebvre was promised that the Pope would appoint a bishop from among the members of the SSPX, chosen according to the normal procedures, and that episcopal ordination would take place on 15 August. In return, Lefebvre would have to request reconciliation with the Church on the basis of the protocol of 5 May. Lefebvre, for his part, presented three written requests:
declared that the six bishops who had been involved in the consecration ceremony had incurred automatic excommunication under the Code of Canon Law, and that their action constituted a schismatic act. With regard to others, it said that "formal adherence to the schism is a grave offence against God and carries the penalty of excommunication".
to help SSPX members and adherents who wished "to remain united to the Successor of Peter in the Catholic Church while preserving their spiritual and liturgical traditions" to enter "full ecclesial communion". This Commission has issued many formal written clarifications about the canonical situation of people involved with the Society of St. Pius X.
responded to an enquiry from the Bishop of Sion (Switzerland), which had been referred to the Council by the Congregation for Bishops
, by expressing its judgment that "in the case of the Lefebvrian deacons and priests there seems no doubt that their ministerial activity in the ambit of the schismatic movement is a more than evident sign of the fact that the two requirements" (internal and external) for formal adherence to the schism "have been met". It added: "On the other hand, in the case of the rest of the faithful it is obvious that an occasional participation in liturgical acts or the activity of the Lefebvrian movement, done without making one's own the attitude of doctrinal and disciplinary disunion of such a movement, does not suffice for one to be able to speak of formal adherence to the movement." It stated that its judgment was about the existence of the sin of schism, since for the existence of the canonical crime of schism, which entails excommunication, the conditions listed in canons 1323-1324 of the Code of Canon Law must also be met. While its reply concerned only one diocese, the Pontifical Council said that, if there were serious general pastoral confusion about the situation of the members of the Society of St. Pius X, the Holy See could consider issuing a general decree on the matter. The Holy See has not yet done so.
is not considered a sufficient motive for attending such Masses." The Commission recognized the validity of the ordination of the SSPX priests, but added that they were prohibited from exercising their priestly functions because of not being properly incardinated in a diocese or religious institute in full communion with the Holy See. It also said that the Masses they celebrated were valid but illicit, but the lack of proper faculties on the part of the SSPX priests meant that celebrations of Penance and Matrimony under their auspices were invalid. The Pontifical Commission reaffirmed various of these statements in 2003.
, commented in press and television interviews about the situation of the members of the Society. In one such interview, he said that the 1988 consecrations gave rise to a situation of separation, even if not a formal schism. While the members of the Society were not, in the full strict sense, in schism, they lacked full communion, and the consecrations indicated a schismatic attitude. While, in consecrating the bishops, Lefebvre committed a schismatic act, the members and adherents of the Society could not be called schismatics, but they were in great danger of falling into schism; the Society's bishops were suspended and excommunicated, but other members and adherents were not excommunicated.
On 19 March 1996, Bishop Fabian Bruskewitz
imposed excommunication on Catholics in the Diocese of Lincoln, Nebraska
who after 15 May 1996 remained or became members of any of 12 associations, including the Society of St. Pius X, as well as the Freemasons
and Planned Parenthood
. One of the associations, Call to Action
, appealed the bishop's decree, but the Holy See rejected the appeal.
and to the Pope
s, up to and including Benedict XVI. The SSPX bishops do not claim "ordinary" jurisdiction over the Society's adherents, which would make the latter subject to them, not to the local diocesan bishops, and would amount to an obvious challenge to the Holy See
's authority act of schism. Instead they claim to possess an "extraordinary" jurisdiction. This is of specific importance in Catholic canon law in relation to the sacraments of confession
and marriage
.
is avoided, Christ's faithful for whom it is physically or morally impossible to approach a Catholic minister, may lawfully receive the sacraments of penance, the Eucharist and anointing of the sick from non-Catholic ministers in whose Churches these sacraments are valid." The Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei has stated that, in accordance with canon 144 someone who confesses to an SSPX priest while genuinely not knowing that the priest does not have the required faculty will be validly absolved, but that, with this exception, the sacraments of Penance and Matrimony in which SSPX priests are involved are invalid.
, the Prefect of the Congregation for Bishops
issued a decree on 21 January 2009 remitting, at their request, the excommunication of Bishops Bernard Fellay
, Bernard Tissier de Mallerais
, Richard Williamson and Alfonso de Galarreta
. L'Osservatore Romano
of 25 January 2009, spoke of "the excommunication that they (the four bishops) had incurred twenty years ago", said that they "had incurred latae sententiae excommunication" and declared that, by means of the decree, the Pope "remits the excommunication that lay upon the Prelates in question". In view of inferences drawn from that action, Pope Benedict declared that, for doctrinal reasons, the Society had no canonical status in the Church and that the ministries exercised by its ministers were not legitimate in the Church.
was never suspended a divinis, because he was ordained
priest
on June 29, 1975. The punishment of the Holy See hits priests ordained by Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre
since July, 1976 and an automatic a divinis can never be retroactive.
Ecône consecrations
The Écône consecrations were a set of episcopal consecrations that took place in Écône, Switzerland, on 30 June 1988. They were performed by Roman Catholic Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre and Bishop Antonio de Castro Meyer, and the priests raised to the episcopacy were four members of Lefebvre's Society...
.
1988 Protocol
On 5 May 1988, Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre and Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger (the future Pope Benedict XVIPope Benedict XVI
Benedict XVI is the 265th and current Pope, by virtue of his office of Bishop of Rome, the Sovereign of the Vatican City State and the leader of the Catholic Church as well as the other 22 sui iuris Eastern Catholic Churches in full communion with the Holy See...
) signed an agreement intended to open the way for the consecration of a bishop to be a successor to Lefebvre. In the first, doctrinal, part of the document, Lefebvre, in his own name and on behalf of the SSPX:
- promised fidelity to the Catholic Church and to the Pope
- accepted the doctrine contained in section 25 of the Second Vatican Council’s Dogmatic Constitution Lumen GentiumLumen GentiumLumen Gentium, the Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, is one of the principal documents of the Second Vatican Council. This dogmatic constitution was promulgated by Pope Paul VI on November 21, 1964, following approval by the assembled bishops by a vote of 2,151 to 5...
on the Church’s magisterium - pledged a completely non-polemical attitude of study and communication with the Holy See on the allegedly problematic aspects of the Second Vatican Council and the reforms that had followed it
- recognised the validity of the revised rites of Mass and of the other sacraments
- promised to respect the common discipline of the Church and her laws, making allowance for special provisions granted to the SSPX.
The second (legal) part of the document envisaged, apart from the canonical reconciliation of the persons concerned, that:
- the SSPX would become a Society of Apostolic LifeSociety of Apostolic LifeA society of apostolic life is a group of men or women within the Catholic Church who have come together for a specific purpose. Unlike members of an institute of consecrated life , members of apostolic societies do not make religious vows...
with special exemption regarding public worship, care of souls and apostolic activity, in line with canons 679-683 - the SSPX would be granted the faculty to celebrate the Tridentine rites
- a special commission, including two members of the SSPX, would be set up to facilitate contacts and resolve problems and conflicts
- it would be proposed to the Pope that a member of the SSPX be consecrated as a bishop.
This document was to be submitted to the Pope for his approval. However, Lefebvre quickly developed misgivings. The very next day, he declared he was obliged in conscience to proceed, with or without papal approval, to consecrate a bishop to succeed him.
A further meeting took place in Rome on 24 May. It is said that Lefebvre was promised that the Pope would appoint a bishop from among the members of the SSPX, chosen according to the normal procedures, and that episcopal ordination would take place on 15 August. In return, Lefebvre would have to request reconciliation with the Church on the basis of the protocol of 5 May. Lefebvre, for his part, presented three written requests:
- the episcopal ordination must take place on 30 June
- not one, but three bishops, must be consecrated (a requirement that he had already mentioned)
- the majority of the members of the special commission must be from the SSPX
The Holy See's view
Following the 1988 episcopal consecrations, the Holy SeeHoly See
The Holy See is the episcopal jurisdiction of the Catholic Church in Rome, in which its Bishop is commonly known as the Pope. It is the preeminent episcopal see of the Catholic Church, forming the central government of the Church. As such, diplomatically, and in other spheres the Holy See acts and...
declared that the six bishops who had been involved in the consecration ceremony had incurred automatic excommunication under the Code of Canon Law, and that their action constituted a schismatic act. With regard to others, it said that "formal adherence to the schism is a grave offence against God and carries the penalty of excommunication".
Ecclesia Dei commission
At the same time, the Pope set up the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia deiPontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei
The Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei is a commission of the Catholic Church established by Pope John Paul II's motu proprio Ecclesia Dei of 2 July 1988 for the care of those former followers of Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre who broke with him as a result of his consecration of four priests of his...
to help SSPX members and adherents who wished "to remain united to the Successor of Peter in the Catholic Church while preserving their spiritual and liturgical traditions" to enter "full ecclesial communion". This Commission has issued many formal written clarifications about the canonical situation of people involved with the Society of St. Pius X.
Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts
On 24 August 1996, the Pontifical Council for Legislative TextsPontifical Council for Legislative Texts
The Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts is part of the Roman Curia. Its work "consists mainly in interpreting the laws of the Church". ....
responded to an enquiry from the Bishop of Sion (Switzerland), which had been referred to the Council by the Congregation for Bishops
Congregation for Bishops
The Congregation for Bishops is the congregation of the Roman Curia which oversees the selection of new bishops that are not in mission territories or those areas that come under the jurisdiction of the Congregation for the Oriental Churches who deal with the Eastern Catholics, pending papal...
, by expressing its judgment that "in the case of the Lefebvrian deacons and priests there seems no doubt that their ministerial activity in the ambit of the schismatic movement is a more than evident sign of the fact that the two requirements" (internal and external) for formal adherence to the schism "have been met". It added: "On the other hand, in the case of the rest of the faithful it is obvious that an occasional participation in liturgical acts or the activity of the Lefebvrian movement, done without making one's own the attitude of doctrinal and disciplinary disunion of such a movement, does not suffice for one to be able to speak of formal adherence to the movement." It stated that its judgment was about the existence of the sin of schism, since for the existence of the canonical crime of schism, which entails excommunication, the conditions listed in canons 1323-1324 of the Code of Canon Law must also be met. While its reply concerned only one diocese, the Pontifical Council said that, if there were serious general pastoral confusion about the situation of the members of the Society of St. Pius X, the Holy See could consider issuing a general decree on the matter. The Holy See has not yet done so.
Likelihood of schism
In 1999, the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei stated that it was likely, but not certain, that the SSPX priests were adhering to the schism, which would mean that they were excommunicated, but that people who, "because of their attraction to the traditional Latin Mass and not because they refuse submission to the Roman Pontiff or reject communion with the members of the Church subject to him", attended Mass celebrated by those priests, were not excommunicated, although, the longer they frequented SSPX chapels, the greater the likelihood of imbibing a schismatic mentality that would seem to involve adherence to the schism and so excommunication. It judged that documentation sent to it in 1998 clearly indicated the extent to which "many in authority in the Society of St. Pius X" were in conformity with the formal definition of schism.Moral impediment
In 1995, it declared it "morally illicit for the faithful to participate in these (the SSPX) Masses unless they are physically or morally impeded from participating in a Mass celebrated by a Catholic priest in good standing", and added that "the fact of not being able to assist at the celebration of the so-called 'Tridentine' MassTridentine Mass
The Tridentine Mass is the form of the Roman Rite Mass contained in the typical editions of the Roman Missal that were published from 1570 to 1962. It was the most widely celebrated Mass liturgy in the world until the introduction of the Mass of Paul VI in December 1969...
is not considered a sufficient motive for attending such Masses." The Commission recognized the validity of the ordination of the SSPX priests, but added that they were prohibited from exercising their priestly functions because of not being properly incardinated in a diocese or religious institute in full communion with the Holy See. It also said that the Masses they celebrated were valid but illicit, but the lack of proper faculties on the part of the SSPX priests meant that celebrations of Penance and Matrimony under their auspices were invalid. The Pontifical Commission reaffirmed various of these statements in 2003.
Separation but not schism
Apart from these formal statements, the Commission's President, Cardinal Darío Castrillón Hoyos, who has long favored better relations between the society and the Holy SeeHoly See
The Holy See is the episcopal jurisdiction of the Catholic Church in Rome, in which its Bishop is commonly known as the Pope. It is the preeminent episcopal see of the Catholic Church, forming the central government of the Church. As such, diplomatically, and in other spheres the Holy See acts and...
, commented in press and television interviews about the situation of the members of the Society. In one such interview, he said that the 1988 consecrations gave rise to a situation of separation, even if not a formal schism. While the members of the Society were not, in the full strict sense, in schism, they lacked full communion, and the consecrations indicated a schismatic attitude. While, in consecrating the bishops, Lefebvre committed a schismatic act, the members and adherents of the Society could not be called schismatics, but they were in great danger of falling into schism; the Society's bishops were suspended and excommunicated, but other members and adherents were not excommunicated.
2009 declaration of no canonical status and no legitimate ministry
In his letter of 10 March 2009 concerning his remission of the excommunication of the four bishops of the Society of St Pius X, Pope Benedict XVI reaffirmed: "Until the doctrinal questions are clarified, the Society has no canonical status in the Church, and its ministers - even though they have been freed of the ecclesiastical penalty - do not legitimately exercise any ministry in the Church."The Holy See and sanctions at the diocesan level
On 1 May 1991 Bishop Joseph Ferrario of Honolulu declared six followers of the Society excommunicated on grounds of schism for having procured the services of SSPX Bishop Richard Williamson to administer confirmation. They appealed to Rome and the Holy See declared the decree invalid because their action, though blameworthy, did not constitute schism.On 19 March 1996, Bishop Fabian Bruskewitz
Fabian Bruskewitz
Fabian Wendelin Bruskewitz is an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He is the eighth and current Bishop of Lincoln, Nebraska.-Early life and ministry:...
imposed excommunication on Catholics in the Diocese of Lincoln, Nebraska
Roman Catholic Diocese of Lincoln
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Lincoln is a Roman Catholic diocese in Nebraska, and comprises the majority of the eastern and central portions of the state south of the Platte River. The episcopal see is in Lincoln, Nebraska. It was established on August 2, 1887, by Pope Leo XIII...
who after 15 May 1996 remained or became members of any of 12 associations, including the Society of St. Pius X, as well as the Freemasons
Freemasonry
Freemasonry is a fraternal organisation that arose from obscure origins in the late 16th to early 17th century. Freemasonry now exists in various forms all over the world, with a membership estimated at around six million, including approximately 150,000 under the jurisdictions of the Grand Lodge...
and Planned Parenthood
Planned Parenthood
Planned Parenthood Federation of America , commonly shortened to Planned Parenthood, is the U.S. affiliate of the International Planned Parenthood Federation and one of its larger members. PPFA is a non-profit organization providing reproductive health and maternal and child health services. The...
. One of the associations, Call to Action
Call to Action
Call to Action is an organization that advocates for a variety of liberal causes to change the Catholic Church. Call to Action's goals include women's ordination, an end to mandatory priestly celibacy, a change in the church's teaching on a variety of sexual matters, and a change to the way the...
, appealed the bishop's decree, but the Holy See rejected the appeal.
Extraordinary jurisdiction
The SSPX considers itself faithful to the Catholic ChurchRoman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
and to the Pope
Pope
The Pope is the Bishop of Rome, a position that makes him the leader of the worldwide Catholic Church . In the Catholic Church, the Pope is regarded as the successor of Saint Peter, the Apostle...
s, up to and including Benedict XVI. The SSPX bishops do not claim "ordinary" jurisdiction over the Society's adherents, which would make the latter subject to them, not to the local diocesan bishops, and would amount to an obvious challenge to the Holy See
Holy See
The Holy See is the episcopal jurisdiction of the Catholic Church in Rome, in which its Bishop is commonly known as the Pope. It is the preeminent episcopal see of the Catholic Church, forming the central government of the Church. As such, diplomatically, and in other spheres the Holy See acts and...
's authority act of schism. Instead they claim to possess an "extraordinary" jurisdiction. This is of specific importance in Catholic canon law in relation to the sacraments of confession
Sacrament of Penance (Catholic Church)
In the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church, the Sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation is the method by which individual men and women may be freed from sins committed after receiving the sacrament of Baptism...
and marriage
Catholic marriage
Catholic marriage, also called matrimony, is a "covenant by which a man and a woman establish between themselves a partnership of the whole of life and which is ordered by its nature to the good of the spouses and the procreation and education of offspring...
.
Absolution of sins
To absolve sins validly, a priest must be given the faculty to do so, a faculty that, normally, only the local bishop can give. Similarly, in normal circumstances a marriage can be contracted validly only in the presence of the local bishop or the parish priest or of a priest or deacon delegated by one of these. To overcome this difficulty, the Society claims that absolution and marriage under its auspices are valid, on the grounds of its interpretation of canon 144 §1 of the Code of Canon Law, which states: "In common error, whether of fact or of law, and in positive and probable doubt, whether of law or of fact, the Church supplies executive power of governance for both the external and the internal forum", and canon 844 §2, which declares that, "whenever necessity requires or a genuine spiritual advantage commends it, and provided the danger of error or indifferentismIndifferentism
Indifferentism, in Roman Catholic theology, describes the belief that there is no evidence that one religion or philosophy is superior to another. The Catholic Church ascribes indifferentism to all atheistic, materialistic, pantheistic, and agnostic philosophies...
is avoided, Christ's faithful for whom it is physically or morally impossible to approach a Catholic minister, may lawfully receive the sacraments of penance, the Eucharist and anointing of the sick from non-Catholic ministers in whose Churches these sacraments are valid." The Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei has stated that, in accordance with canon 144 someone who confesses to an SSPX priest while genuinely not knowing that the priest does not have the required faculty will be validly absolved, but that, with this exception, the sacraments of Penance and Matrimony in which SSPX priests are involved are invalid.
Marriage impediments
The Society also claims to have authority to dispense from marriage impediments and to grant marriage annulments. This has led some priests to leave the Society on the grounds that such actions usurp the ordinary jurisdiction of the diocesan bishops and are therefore schismatic acts.The Holy See lifts excommunication of bishops
By the power expressly conferred on him by Pope Benedict XVIPope Benedict XVI
Benedict XVI is the 265th and current Pope, by virtue of his office of Bishop of Rome, the Sovereign of the Vatican City State and the leader of the Catholic Church as well as the other 22 sui iuris Eastern Catholic Churches in full communion with the Holy See...
, the Prefect of the Congregation for Bishops
Congregation for Bishops
The Congregation for Bishops is the congregation of the Roman Curia which oversees the selection of new bishops that are not in mission territories or those areas that come under the jurisdiction of the Congregation for the Oriental Churches who deal with the Eastern Catholics, pending papal...
issued a decree on 21 January 2009 remitting, at their request, the excommunication of Bishops Bernard Fellay
Bernard Fellay
Bernard Fellay, SSPX is a bishop and superior general of the Traditionalist Catholic Society of St. Pius X. In 1988, the Roman Catholic Church declared Fellay automatically excommunicated through being consecrated a bishop by Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, an act that the Holy See described as...
, Bernard Tissier de Mallerais
Bernard Tissier de Mallerais
Bernard Tissier de Mallerais, SSPX is a bishop of the Society of St. Pius X.He was said to have incurred an automatic excommunication latae sententiae by the Roman Catholic Church because of his unauthorized consecration by Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre on 30 June 1988, deemed by the Holy See to be...
, Richard Williamson and Alfonso de Galarreta
Alfonso de Galarreta
Alfonso de Galarreta, SSPX , is a bishop of the Society of Saint Pius X. He was declared excommunicated latae sententiae by Pope John Paul II because of his unauthorized consecration by Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre in 1988, deemed by the Holy See to be "unlawful" and "a schismatic act", though some...
. L'Osservatore Romano
L'Osservatore Romano
L'Osservatore Romano is the "semi-official" newspaper of the Holy See. It covers all the Pope's public activities, publishes editorials by important churchmen, and runs official documents after being released...
of 25 January 2009, spoke of "the excommunication that they (the four bishops) had incurred twenty years ago", said that they "had incurred latae sententiae excommunication" and declared that, by means of the decree, the Pope "remits the excommunication that lay upon the Prelates in question". In view of inferences drawn from that action, Pope Benedict declared that, for doctrinal reasons, the Society had no canonical status in the Church and that the ministries exercised by its ministers were not legitimate in the Church.
Suspension a divinis
By the January 2009 decree, the 1 July 1988 decree declaring the excommunication became "devoid of juridical effect". The other limitations, such as the suspension a divinis of the SSPX clergy, including three of the four bishops, remained in force. Bernard Tissier de MalleraisBernard Tissier de Mallerais
Bernard Tissier de Mallerais, SSPX is a bishop of the Society of St. Pius X.He was said to have incurred an automatic excommunication latae sententiae by the Roman Catholic Church because of his unauthorized consecration by Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre on 30 June 1988, deemed by the Holy See to be...
was never suspended a divinis, because he was ordained
Holy Orders
The term Holy Orders is used by many Christian churches to refer to ordination or to those individuals ordained for a special role or ministry....
priest
Priesthood (Catholic Church)
The ministerial orders of the Catholic Church include the orders of bishops, deacons and presbyters, which in Latin is sacerdos. The ordained priesthood and common priesthood are different in function and essence....
on June 29, 1975. The punishment of the Holy See hits priests ordained by Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre
Marcel Lefebvre
Marcel François Marie Joseph Lefebvre was a French Roman Catholic archbishop. Following a career as an Apostolic Delegate for West Africa and Superior General of the Holy Ghost Fathers, he took the lead in opposing the changes within the Church associated with the Second Vatican Council.In 1970,...
since July, 1976 and an automatic a divinis can never be retroactive.