Replies

Re: "if the Holy Father opened the doors to reconciliation with the SSPX on condition that they acknowledge and accept the Novus Ordo liturgy, what do you suppose the SSPX 'leaders' would do?"

You will have to be more specific with your question. I believe SSPX has already said it would reconcile as long as the right to say the Mass for the ages is not abridged. What they do not want is to be forced to SAY the new rite. My understanding is they are willing for a peaceful coexistence. After all there is the Indult but many at my Chapel went that route and found it was not as promised. The Host from NO rites are used with the Latin Mass etc.

I admit I have no idea how much of a problem this is but there have been groups that reconciled and regretted it. Even the Marionite and Byzantine rites are under pressure, or so I hear. I have no specifics, perhaps you do, just a rumor. I am leaving it to those with more experience.

I have been considering my affection for SSPX. They are very proud and a bit exasperating I grant you but I know what I feel when I am in our little Chapel and what I did not feel in the NO Churches, it was an astonishing difference. I also read Scripture every day. I see much of this fight described in OT and New. They (SSPX) is not telling me this stuff, our priest has little time outside the Sunday sermon and he almost never rails on about the SSPX vs NO. I think there will be a complete removal of the sacrificial aspects of the Mass before it is all said and done. This is pretty clear in the Bible, the question remains who will notice? I hope you will as well as all readers of this thread.

My understanding is they are willing for a peaceful coexistence. After all there is the Indult but many at my Chapel went that route and found it was not as promised.

Not as promised? What does that mean? What was the promise? I have attended an Indult and found it to be identical to the Mass celebrated pre-Vatican II (which I still remember).

The Host from NO rites are used with the Latin Mass etc.

The forumula for confecting the host consists of wheat and water. What's different?

Even the Marionite and Byzantine rites are under pressure, or so I hear.

What sort of pressure? I attend the Maronite Divine Liturgy. If anything, VCII mandated that they are to restore their liturgy to its authentic origins, which they are in the process of doing.

They are very proud and a bit exasperating I grant you but I know what I feel when I am in our little Chapel and what I did not feel in the NO Churches, it was an astonishing difference.

The RC diocese in which I reside is 'shepherded' by one of the most liberal bishops in the US. Exasperated by the liturgical abuses at my parish, I set off in search of a more reverent liturgy, a holy priest and a welcoming community. I compiled a list of other Catholic parishes within a certain radius of home, and included any Eastern Catholic Churches within that range. At NO time did it ever occur to me to include SSPX Chapels on that list!

This is what I do not understand. Why would someone who seeks a more reverant liturgy turn towards a schismatic group? It simply doesn't make any sense.

After visiting different parishes each week, it was the Maronite Catholic liturgy that grabbed my heart and soul and would not relinquish them. That is where I attend Mass each week. The Maronites have welcomed me with open arms and, in utter gratitude to the Lord who directed me to them, I have spent the past year assisting them in all aspects of their community.

The Eastern Churches are the Treasures of the Catholic Church" - Pope John XXIII

By separating themselves from the Magisterium, the SSPX, like other denominations that have traveled this route, are sepated from Church teachings.

"The Pope is the Supreme legislator in the Church." Communion with him is a fundamental, non-negotiable hallmark of Catholicism which is not determined by those who set themselves up to judge him, but by the Pope himself (cf. Second Vatican Council's Dogmatic Constitution on the Church Lumen Gentium #22-25).

It may still be difficult to characterize the entire Society of St. Pius X, but SSPX documentation witnesses to a consistent condemnation of the new Mass, the Pope and anyone who disagrees with the authorities of the Society in the smallest degree. Such behaviour is not consistent with the practice of the Catholic faith.