A new way to look at the “status” of the SSPX

https://wdtprs.com/2021/12/a-new-way-to-look-at-the-status-of-the-sspx-wherein-fr-hunwicke-bowls-a-wicked-googly/

A new way to look at the “status” of the SSPX. Wherein Fr. Hunwicke bowls a wicked googly.
Posted on 10 December 2021 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf
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With great respect to Fr. John Hunwicke, I reproduce here, entirely, his recent comments about the ecclesial “status” of the SSPX. This is a theological curve-ball thrown for a strike on the inside. In terms Fr. H would perhaps be more inclined to accept.. quidquid recipitur and all that – it’s a wicked googly.

I’ll add a some links, emphases, and comments for the uninitiated. What follows, the aforementioned excepted, is the venerable Fr. H’s.

Spoiler: He’s right.

SSPX: Status.

It seems hardly respectful, with regard to a body as admirable as the SSPX, for an outsider to discuss its ‘status’. I write what follows aware that it may seem arrogant to the point of being infuriating; and with very real apologies to readers who find that I am simply making them angry.

The status of the SSPX has, in my reading, always or usually been treated in canonical terms. Thus, ‘states of necessity’ become points of discussion. I cannot help wondering whether it might be more realistic to discuss it in terms of Ecclesiology.

In the CDF document Communionis notio of 1992, there is a chapter “De Communione Ecclesiali et OEcumenismo”. It affirms the existence of a “Communio quaedam etsi non perfecta” [a certain communion although not perfect / albeit imperfect] with separated Christians. It then goes on to discuss the status of “Ecclesiae orientales orthodoxae”, explaining that, although seiunctae a Sede Petri [separated from the See of Peter], they “cum Ecclesia Catholica coniunctae esse pergunt” [remain joined / united to the Catholic Church].

The reason for this is that they possess “successio apostolica et valida Eucharistia” [apostolic succession and valid Eucharist], and, because of this, deserve (merentur) the ‘titulus Ecclesiarum particularium’ [title of particular Churches]. Quoting Vatican II, the CDF assures us that “per celebrationem Eucharistiae Domini in his singulis Ecclesiis, Ecclesia Dei aedificatur et crescit” [through the celebration of the Eucharist of the Lord in each of these individual Churches, the Church of God is built up and grows]; and then adds to the conciliar wording this interesting and thought-provoking phrase “quia in quacumque valida Eucharistiae celebratione vero praesens fit Ecclesia una, sancta, catholica, et apostolica.” [because in whatsoever valid celebration of the Eucharist the one, holy, Catholic and apostolic Church becomes truly present.]

I am not suggesting a precise identity between Separated Byzantines, and the SSPX. But the principles which apply in the favour of one can hardly be denied to the other.

The defences often advanced for the position of the SSPX state or imply that it is has the same status as organisations such as, for example, Opus Dei or the Dominican Order. It seems to me that, given the decades which have followed the Écône consecrations, this description no longer ticks the necessary boxes. Indeed, at a human level, one might wonder whether it is appropriate for Roman Pontiffs to fawn upon Separated Byzantines (and even Separated non-Chalcedonians), sometimes (literally!!!) groveling before them, while maintaining a disdainful distance from a community which is theologically closer to the full Magisterium of the Catholic Church than are the Separated ‘Orientals’.

The curious action of PF in not granting formal faculties to absolve to SSPX clergy, while ‘giving permission’ to the laity to go to them for Confession, seems to me to express perfectly (if unintentionally!) the ecclesiological analysis which, I argue, is offered by Communionis notio.

How ‘ecclesial’ is the SSPX? I suggest that one litmus-paper here might reside in the Chrism Mass and the use of the Oils of Chrism and of the Catechumens.

If a bishop … say, Bishop Fellay … makes available to a presbyter the oils which he has consecrated, and if that presbyter receives and uses them, then the Episcopal Ministry of that bishop becomes most intimately internal to all the rites of Christian Initiation performed by that presbyter.

This, it seems to me, is ecclesial and sacramental.

I think, and I’ve consulted Those Whom I Know, Fr. Hunwicke is right.

Click his link, above, and boost his stats.

 

Great news. Thanks.

https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/breaking-pope-francis-confirms-fssp-not-affected-by-his-general-restrictions-on-latin-mass

Pope Francis confirms FSSP ‘not affected’ by his ‘general’ restrictions on Latin Mass
LifeSiteMon Feb 21, 2022 - 5:13 am EST

VATICAN CITY (LifeSiteNews) — Pope Francis confirmed in writing that the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter is “not affected” by the “general provision” restricting the Traditional Latin Mass, as contained in Traditionis Custodes, after he met with some of its superiors.

In a press release February 21, the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter (FSSP) said the Pope gave a private audience to two members of the Fraternity on February 11.


Fr. Benoît Paul-Joseph, the superior of the District of France, and Fr. Vincent Ribeton, Rector of the FSSP’s European seminary in Wigratzbad, were received by the Pope in Rome “for nearly an hour.”

Describing the audience as “cordial,” the two priests “recalled the origins of the Fraternity in 1988,” upon which Pope Francis “expressed that he was very impressed by the approach taken by its founders, their desire to remain faithful to the Roman Pontiff and their trust in the Church.”

Declaring that the FSSP’s gesture should be “preserved, protected and encouraged,” Francis reportedly “made it clear” that the FSSP and institutes similarly devoted to the traditional Mass “are not affected by the general provisions of the Motu Proprio Traditionis Custodes, since the use of the ancient liturgical books was at the origin of their existence and is provided for in their constitutions.”

While no explicit mention was made of institutes and groups, such as the Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest (ICKSP) or the Institute of the Good Shepherd (IBP), they would appear to be covered by the communique’s mention of “institutes such as the Fraternity of St. Peter” being exempt from the Papal restrictions on the Mass.

In order to certify such a provision, Pope Francis signed a decree, dated February 11, confirming the FSSP members’ right and faculties to use the liturgical books of 1962, as outlined in the Fraternity’s constitutions.

The decree reads:

The Holy Father Francis, grants to each and every member of the Society of Apostolic Life ‘Fraternity of Saint Peter’, founded on July 18, 1988 and declared of “Pontifical Right” by the Holy See, the faculty to celebrate the sacrifice of the Mass, and to carry out the sacraments and other sacred rites, as well as to fulfill the Divine Office, according to the typical editions of the liturgical books, namely the Missal, the Ritual, the Pontifical and the Roman Breviary, in force in the year 1962.

The decree added that FSSP members could exercise their constitutional right to offer the traditional liturgy “in their own churches or oratories,” but elsewhere they would have to seek “the consent of the Ordinary of the place, except for the celebration of private Masses.”

Pope Francis nevertheless added afterwards that “without prejudice to what has been said above … the provisions of the motu proprio Traditionis Custodes be taken into account as well.” He did not clarify how this is to be implemented in practice.

Nor was it clarified how the Pope’s confusing statement in TraditionisCustodes (TC) — “The liturgical books promulgated by Saint Paul VI and Saint John Paul II, in conformity with the decrees of Vatican Council II, are the unique expression of the lex orandi of the Roman Rite” — was to be understood in light of his personal support of the FSSP’s use of the liturgical books of 1962.

One possibility of the Pope’s reference is that priests ordained for the FSSP after July 16, 2021, under the provisions of Traditionis Custodes, might technically have to apply to the Vatican for confirmation of the already granted permission to celebrate the traditional Mass. Such details have yet to be clarified.

Starting February 2, the FSSP had been holding a novena to Our Lady of Lourdes in its churches worldwide, culminating with a solemn consecration of the Fraternity to the Immaculate Heart of Mary on February 11, the day of Pope Francis’ meeting with FSSP delegates. The act of consecration invoked the protection of Our Lady to “be ever upon our Fraternity, so that we may faithfully proclaim the Holy Gospel and bring the Sacraments to ever more souls.”

In light of the recent announcement, the FSSP urged “all the faithful who feel close to them as a spiritual family to attend or join them in prayer at the Mass tomorrow.”

Under TC, the FSSP, along with other former Ecclesia Dei groups such as the ICKSP and IBP, fall under the purview of the Congregation for Divine Worship (CDW) and the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies for Apostolic Life, as Francis writes that it will be up to these curial bodies to “exercise the authority of the Holy See with respect to the observance of these provisions.”

After Traditionis Custodes was released in 2021, the FSSP respondedby expressing how it was “surprise[d]” and “deeply saddened” by the document, stating that “the Fraternity in no way recognizes itself in the criticisms made” by Francis against the Latin Mass.

While Pope Francis has confirmed the FSSP remains largely free from his move against the Latin Mass, the FSSP’s constitutions were already officially approved by the Holy See in 2003. They stipulate that one of the key aims of the Fraternity is to achieve the “sanctification of priests” through the “faithful observance of the ‘liturgical and disciplinary traditions’ according to the dispositions of the Motu proprio Ecclesia Dei of July 2, 1988, which is at the origin of its foundation.”

Ecclesia Dei called for “a wide and generous application of the directives already issued some time ago by the Apostolic See for the use of the Roman Missal according to the typical edition of 1962.”

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Unfortunately I’m always suspect regarding seemingly good news from our current pope. Usually right after a tidbit of good news drops from this Vatican, it’s followed not long after by something for worse to the bad side…