Well, let me say that my eminently sensible wife, who does not wear pants out of the house anymore, who needs to defend her traditionalist credentials to no one, and who has regularly attended Society chapels, was at a Mass where Bishop Williamson showed up. She does NOT think highly of him, and has heard him...for instance...expound on the sinfulness of wearing lacy underwear, and she almost walked out once when he started denying the Holocaust. The SSPX priest in residence even made a special point of prepping the congregration a week before he came to be careful about what they wore and said, etc. He was saying all this to SSPXers, mind you, who are generally not known for their tolerance of immodest fashions.
My wife and I talked about it this morning, and she's fairly convinced that a) he won't come back, and b) we're better off without him unless he works on his "problem" areas. She foresees a schism within the Society, with him on the other side.
She foresees a schism within the Society, with him on the other side.
I'm hoping this doesn't happen. As an ex-SSPXer myself, I know too well the different factions in play. These factions are mostly evident in their larger locales (St. Mary's, KS & Post Falls, ID) and barely existent in their smaller chapels to be honest, but they do exist and the infighting has, in my opinion, caused the spiritual destruction of many well intentioned souls. I've seen it.
No, I too am praying that the SSPX returns. It will be a huge boost for Tradition and offer many viable geographical options for attending Mass way over and above the current availability.
If Williamson leads his own schismatic group, I foresee him joining up with likes of the "Bishop' Kelly, the SSPV, and other branch SSPV breakaways. Personal differences may be put aside given the new situation. The SSPV, in other words, could very well get a huge boost and come out from oblivion and be the new frontman of "schismatic traditionalism".
The CMRI will continue to wallow in its overt sedevacantism.