Vatican’s doctrine chief warned on wednesday That the plan of the Traditionalist Society of St. Pius
Cardinal Victor Manuel Fernandez, prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, said, “This act would be ‘a schismatic act,’ and ‘the formal observance of schism is a grave crime against God and involves excommunication established by Church law.'”
The Cardinal’s brief statement quoted from St. John Paul II Letter ecclesia deiwhich the late Pope wrote in June 1988, shortly after the illegal ordination of four bishops conferred by the society by SSPX founder Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre.
Fernandez added that the Holy Father “continues to ask the Holy Spirit in his prayers to enlighten the leaders of the Priestly Fraternity of St. Pius X so that they may reconsider the very serious decision they have made.”
Under canon law, a bishop who consecrates another bishop without the Pope’s order and the person who receives that consecration are automatically excommunicated.
The SSPX has announced that it intends to proceed with illegal episcopal consecrations at its international seminary in Econ, Switzerland, on July 1, disregarding Vatican warnings of schism.
The decision to proceed with the consecration without papal approval was confirmed February 18 letter Written by Father David Pagliarani, Superior General of the SSPX, a week after a February 12 meeting with Fernández, during which the Vatican proposed a structured theological dialogue to avoid ecclesial rupture.
The SSPX, which celebrates exclusively the traditional Latin Mass, maintains doctrinal differences with some of the teachings and reforms of the Second Vatican Council, particularly with regard to religious freedom and the church’s attitude toward other religions.
Cardinals Gerhard Müller and Robert Sara, prominent supporters of the traditional Latin Mass, have spoken out against the SSPX’s decision to defy the Vatican. Cardinal Joseph Zen, retired archbishop of Hong Kong, has also urged the conservative group to avoid disunity “at all costs.”
The proposed July 1 date for episcopal consecration coincides with the anniversary of the 1988 excommunication of SSPX founder Lefebvre for consecrating four bishops without Rome’s permission.
The Society of St. Pius
