They say that history doesn’t repeat, but it does rhyme. Bound up as human behavior is with nature, patterns can
remain long dormant, only to re-emerge with time. On that note the news two weeks ago fromÉcône, Switzerland
may have seemed like déjà vu, for those old enough to remember. A traditionalist Catholic group called the Society of Saint Pius X (SSPX), founded by late French archbishop
Marcel Lefebvre in part from a desire to preserve the Latin Mass, but also having problems with The Second Vatican
Council and the liturgy that most Catholics are familiar with, carried out four episcopal consecrations without papal
approval, breaking canon law to merit something called a latae sententiae (automatic) excommunication.
Catholic canon law requires papal approval to create new bishops, the consecrating bishops did not have it, and
the consequence of choosing to act anyway was imposed by the nature of the act and choice made.
Those at the top of the SSPX knew what could happen, but acted anyway, resulting in the Vatican’s announcement
that the four new bishops, their consecrators, SSPX priests generally, and those lay faithful who “formally” adhered
to the SSPX were excommunicate, meaning out of communion and barred from the sacraments. Among them was a
45-year-old born in North Dakota and ordained in Minnesota, Father Michael Goldade.
An exception was made by the Vatican for those who had attended the SSPX but recognized both the Pope’s
authority and the Council of Vatican II, with details on how to remedy the situation for those seeking return to the
Church as an institution included with the announcement. Clergy permissions for certain sacramental actions
(faculties) granted by the late Pope Francis were also rescinded by the Vatican.
The news last week meanwhile mirrored an action taken by Lefebvre 38 years ago on June 30, 1988 during the
pontificate of Pope John Paul II. In the older historical example Lefebvre and a Brazilian archbishop co-consecrated
four new bishops for the SSPX without papal approval, resulting in Lefebvre, his co-consecrator, and the then four
new bishops for the SSPX being excommunicated by the Vatican on July 1, 1988. Pope Benedict XVI had lifted
these original excommunications in 2009 to open dialogue with the group, with Pope Francis granting faculties for
Confession and Marriage. Pope Francis later placed restrictions on the Latin Mass in a document called Traditiones
Custodes in 2021 after hearing from bishops that it had become divisive. The Latin Mass continues to be celebrated
with permission in the Church, while the new action from last week saw the Vatican issue news releases referring to
the SSPX as “Lefebvrists,” according to the principle of naming a schism for its originator.
The SSPX claimed a “grave necessity” in breaking canon law to ordain four new bishops in 1988 and again in
2026, arguing from separate canons that the Vatican’s excommunication lacked validity. A professed need for new
bishops (necessary to ordain new priests) meant breaking church law was acceptable to them, even if disobedient.
That such disobedience was unnecessary to preserve the Latin Mass meanwhile can be shown by the fact that
other orders of traditionally minded priests (like the Fraternal Society of Saint Peter and Institute of Christ the King)
exist in the Church and that the Church ordains new priests for these groups by bishops in communion with Rome.
The SSPX could have priests, if it were patient, but took matters into its own hands and merited the canonical
penalty.
This then, is the summary view.
The Catholic Church and faith the SSPX sincerely believes it is defending through disobedience meanwhile can
be mysterious to many, being a supranational (worldwide) and supernatural (“of God”) communion made up of 24
sui juris or self-governing churches following six worship rites, with the vast majority of the Church numerically
belonging to the Roman rite.
The Catholic Church centers on the Eucharist as to worship and Rome as to its hierarchical structure, both of
which date from antiquity. The priesthood is based on that of Christ (Hebrews 4:14-15), extending through
sacraments the work of the redemption in time. When ruptures emerge in the Church, the side that has “the chair”
(Rome) on its side is considered the true Church, a principle laid down by centuries of Catholic writers including
Optatus of Milevis, with Ignatius of Antioch referring to Rome as “presiding in charity.” In order to prevent the
potential for endless schisms a chair is set up which all must adhere to in this understanding. Should disagreements
arise, the side that has the chair is deemed to be the Church.
To truly understand why all the above matters however (and why the SSPX is both wrong and hurts itself by this)
one must first understand the Catholic view of grace as mediated through sacraments and the role these play in
salvation. Suffice to say for now that the Church and sacraments are founded on Christ’s Incarnation (John 1:1-5),
spanning from the birth of Christ to his offering on the Cross and Ascension to heaven. The Church being instituted
for the salvation of souls continues Christ’s mission in time and space (Matthew 28), bringing the benefits of
Redemption from this act into the present. Faith in Christ is the root and source of all justification, joined to thevirtues of hope and of charity. Baptismal grace enters one into the faith, and preserving it or else restoring it through
Confession when lost grants entrance to heaven.
Willful separation from the Church as with the SSPX meanwhile severs communion and renders grace unfruitful
in this same line, a view articulated by Augustine and developed further in the Middle Ages. As grace and a sharing
in divine life are central to salvation, this same unfruitfulness stands to impact the salvation of those who by willful
act separate themselves from the Church as the body of Christ. Real grace imparted remains “real” in this case but
can only bear fruit by connection to Rome. The SSPX and its adherents put themselves in danger in Catholic
theology through willful separation from the Church. The Vatican in responding as it did is trying to warn its
spiritual children of the danger involved in the matter. Willful adherence to schism, per Cyprian of Carthage, cuts
one off from communion with the Church.
The age of the consecrating bishops in this case means that they will likely die excommunicate, as lifting
excommunication in this case would invite more disobedience, thereby deepening rather than resolving problems in
the Church. Excommunication is not a small matter in Catholic theology, nor as the SSPX seems to think can one
presume that it will be lifted after the fact.
Archbishop Lefebvre himself died excommunicate on the Feast of the Annunciation in 1991, his disobedience
from 1988 in stark contrast to Mary’s fiat from Luke. It is an act of faith to believe that an imperfect Church is still
of God, and that is partly the point. God does not need groups of humans fighting groups of other humans to save
His bride from itself. He needs them to unite around and under the Cross.
The news from Switzerland last week is not the first time that Christianity or Rome has seen the seamless garment
of Christ torn, and it will not be the last. It is rather an old story of human pride, ego, and the implicit fear that God
cannot save Himself or His people from distress, requiring human intervention as when Peter drew his sword
(Matthew 26:51-54, John 18:10-11).
The SSPX belief that it alone can see certain ills or save the Church, and that doing so required disobedience and
excommunication, breaks with tradition while invoking human confirmation bias and inverts the meaning of fidelity,
thereby opening the door for alternate disobedience from those like the German bishops whose actions and mindset
the SSPX itself would oppose.
Ends do not justify means, Man is not all or only good, and the human capacity for self-deception is not to be
underestimated. Wounded human nature does not change by itself, but by grace.
The Vatican continues to work for reconciliation. Those seeking a Latin Mass in communion with Rome within
the Diocese of La Crosse can find this at the shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe in La Crosse, Institute of St. Joseph in
Edson, and St. Mary’s Oratory in Wausau.