February, 2009 Adsum
Dear Friends and Benefactors,
With the recent news of the “lifting” of the excommunications of the bishops of the Society of St. Pius X (SSPX), I would not be surprized to see in the future their reconciliation with the Conciliar Church of Vatican II.
The reason for this is that the SSPX has continued the ever-vacillating theology of its founder, the late Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre. For those who have carefully observed the late Archbishop over the years, at one time he held a hard line, in which he declared the Conciliar Church a heretical and schismatic Church, only later to adopt a soft line where he claimed to have mere reservations about some of the errors of Vatican II.
This vacillation of position is not difficult to demonstrate. In June of 1976, after Paul VI had issued a “suspensio a divinis” prohibiting Archbishop Lefebvre from the administration of the Sacraments, the Archbishop responded: “We are suspended a divinis by the Conciliar Church and for the Conciliar Church, to which we have no wish to belong. That Conciliar Church is a schismatic Church, because it breaks with the Catholic Church that has always been. It has its new dogmas, its new priesthood, its new institutions, its new worship, all already condemned by the Church in many a document, official and definitive . . . . The Church that affirms such errors is at once schismatic and heretical.
This Conciliar Church is, therefore, not Catholic.
To whatever extent Pope, Bishops, priests, or faithful adhere to this new Church, they separate themselves from the Catholic Church. (Reflections on Suspension ‘A Divinis’ by Msgr. Marcel Lefebvre)”
Then, in March of 1980, in a letter addressed to John Paul II, the Archbishop wrote: “Holy Father, To put an end to some doubts that are now circulating in Rome and certain traditionalist areas in Europe and America… permit me to state again that which I have always expressed . . . I fully agree with Your Holiness’ judgment of the Second Vatican Council… ‘That the Council must be understood in the light of all Holy Tradition and on the basis of the constant Magisterium of the Holy Church.’
Regarding the Mass of the Novus Ordo, despite all the reservations one must have about it, I have never said that it is in itself invalid or heretical.”
And again in April of 1981, in a letter to “Cardinal” Seper, the Archbishop reiterated: “If some of my words and some of my acts are disapproved by the Holy See, I am very sorry. I state again regarding the Council that I subscribe to the phrase of the Holy Father which asks that one accept it ‘in light of tradition and the constant Magisterium of the Church.’ Regarding the liturgical Reform, I myself signed the Conciliar decree and I have never stated that its applications were in themselves invalid and heretical.”
Later on, in 1987, the Archbishop reversed his soft line: “I have summed it up to Cardinal Ratzinger in certain words, of course, because it is difficult to sum up this whole situation; but I said to him: ‘Eminence, see, even if you grant us a bishop, even if you grant us a certain self-government in relation to the bishops, even if you grant us all the liturgy of 1962, if you grant us to continue the seminaries and Society, as we do it now, we cannot collaborate; it is impossible, impossible, because we work in two diametrically opposed directions: you, you work for the de-Christianization of of society, of human person, and of the Church, and we, we work for its Christianization. They cannot be in agreement. Rome has lost the Faith, my dear friends. Rome is in apostasy. It is not just words, it is not just words in the air that I say to you. It is the truth. Rome is in apostasy.”
And again, in an August, 1987 letter addressed to the future bishops, the Archbishop declared: “My dear friends, The See of Peter and the posts of authority in Rome being occupied by anti-Christs, the destruction of the Kingdom of Our Lord is being rapidly carried out even within His Mystical Body here below… Since this Rome, Modernist and Liberal, is carrying on its work of destruction of the Kingdom of Our Lord…”
For the Archbishop, one day the Conciliar Church is heretical and schismatic and another day it is the Catholic Church. One day it is “Holy Father,” and another day it is “anti-Christ.”
At the root of this confused theology is the erroneous concept of the Papacy. For all the protestations that the SSPX recognizes the Vatican II “popes” as legitimate, they have had no canonical approbation from their “popes” and have continued to establish churches and to administer the Sacraments throughout the world without regard to their lack of juridical status.
This erroneous concept of the SSPX “to recognize and to resist” the one they hold as “pope” is in complete contradiction to the infallible decrees of Vatican Council I in 1870: “And because, by the divine right of apostolic primacy, the Roman Pontiff is at the head of the whole Church, We also teach and declare that he is the supreme judge of the faithful; and that one can have recourse to his judgment in all cases pertaining to ecclesiastical jurisdiction. We declare that the judgment of the Apostolic See, whose authority is unsurpassed, is not subject to review by anyone; nor is anyone allowed to pass judgment on its decision….”
If the false popes of Vatican II were true Popes, the SSPX would have no right to establish churches, to administer the Sacraments, to consecrate bishops without papal mandate, and to assume the role of a quasi-hierarchy that sifts through the “papal” teachings to decipher what is orthodox and what is erroneous. What an utter contradiction! For us, it is because of our belief in the papacy, papal infallibility, and the primacy of jurisdiction of the pope, that we reject these false claimants to the See of St. Peter.
When we examine closely the Church’s teachings on the papacy, we find it irreconcilable that a true Pope could continued from page 1 promulgate heretical teachings of false ecumenism and religious liberty, as well as legislate the sacrilege of “Eucharist sharing” to heretics and schismatics. Vatican Council I clearly stated: “For the fathers of the Fourth Council of Constantinople, following closely in the footsteps of their predecessors, made this solemn profession: ‘The first condition of salvation is to keep the norm of the true faith. For it is impossible that the words of our Lord Jesus Christ who said, “Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church” (Matt. 16:18), should not be verified. And their truth has been proved by the course of history, for in the Apostolic See the Catholic religion has always been kept unsullied, and its teaching kept holy.’ …Indeed, it was this apostolic doctrine that all the Fathers held, and the holy orthodox Doctors reverenced and followed. For they fully realized that this See of St. Peter always remains untainted by any error, according to the divine promise of our Lord and Savior made to the prince of His disciples, ‘I have prayed for thee, that thy faith may not fail; and do thou, when once thou hast turned again, strengthen thy brethren.’ (Luke 22:32).”
So if the SSPX does actually reconcile with the Conciliar Church, the question remains, what price will they pay to be a pea in the ecumenical pod of the Conciliar Church? Will they eventually accept false ecumenism, religious liberty, and the New Mass?
With my prayers and blessing,
Most Rev. Mark A. Pivarunas, CMRI