The Vatican this week issued a decree declaring that the bishops involved in the traditionalist Society of St. Pius X’s illicit consecrations have incurred automatic excommunication and that the group is in schism with the Church.
The illicit ordinations occurred in Écône, Switzerland, on July 2 after Pope Leo XIV had urged the group to “turn back” and refrain from carrying out the unauthorized rite.
The SSPX is a controversial fraternity of priests known for their strict traditional celebration of the Latin Mass and opposition to the reforms of the Second Vatican Council.
The group for years has enjoyed a canonically irregular status within the Church, and the faithful have generally been permitted to attend Masses held by SSPX priests. Yet the declaration of schism has raised questions about whether or not Catholics can still attend those liturgies without incurring canonical penalties.
The Vatican recognizes that the faithful may be able to attend an SSPX Mass without suffering excommunication, so long as there is no “formal adherence” to the SSPX.
Formal adherence was described in an important 1996 explanatory note from the Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts, on the “Excommunication for Schism Incurred by Members of Bishop Marcel Lefebvre’s Movement,” which was cited in the new decree’s own explanatory note.
It described two key components: an internal one of freely and consciously sharing the substance of the schism and an external one of making outward expression of that choice, such as the exclusive participation in SSPX Masses.
Notably, in the 1996 note, Vatican officials recognized “that occasional participation in liturgical acts or activities of the Lefebvrian movement — without adopting the movement’s attitude of doctrinal and disciplinary disunity — is not sufficient to constitute formal adherence to the movement.”
It added that in pastoral practice, it is necessary “to take into account the person’s intention and how that inner disposition is translated into action,” and such situations should “be judged on a case-by-case basis by the competent authorities.”
The Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith on July 2 sent a letter to bishops worldwide outlining the means by which clergy and faithful who have taken part in the schism with the Church can return to full communion with the faith.
The letter stipulated that penalties for lay faithful who belong to SSPX “cannot be presumed automatically, but must be assessed case by case.”
The dicastery said that “imputably” in the matter “requires full awareness and deliberate consent.”
Some cases in which laypeople are not considered “imputable,” the dicastery said, include those who have attended SSPX Masses “only for liturgical or spiritual reasons,” along with those who “do not reject the magisterium or the authority of the Roman pontiff.”
‘Strongly discouraged’ for risk of schism, scandal
Nevertheless, the new decree’s explanatory note strongly admonishes the faithful “to remain firmly united with the Roman pontiff, with the bishops in communion with him, and with the entire Church … and to refrain from participating in the celebrations and activities organized by the aforementioned Priestly Fraternity of St. Pius X.”
Ronald Bolster, an associate professor of theology at Franciscan University of Steubenville and dean of the theology school there, said it would be “inappropriate and strongly discouraged to participate in the liturgies and activities” of the SSPX.
To do so, he argued, “would imply support for their schismatic act.”
“Participation could also be a cause of scandal, causing others to consider that such participation is appropriate, and more broadly, suggest that the laws of the Church and the authority of the vicar of Christ can be dismissed or disregarded without consequence,” he said.
William Newton, a theology professor and the chair of Franciscan University’s theology department, also argued that Catholics who attend SSPX Masses “collaborate” in the schism, though he noted that there are degrees of responsibility associated with it.
“Certainly, the culpability for this collaboration can vary as with any sin, because of ignorance or lack of freedom of will,” he said.
“However, the schismatic character of the SSPX has been confirmed by the Church, so ignorance, while still possible, cannot be assumed,” he added.
He noted that there are “alternative valid Masses available to the faithful,” which he said “makes the choice to attend an SSPX Mass that much more likely to be willful collaboration with schism.”
The faithful “should not attend a Mass of the SSPX,” he argued.
Bolster described the schism event as a “most unfortunate situation.”
He urged Catholics to “join Pope Leo in praying that the concerns which have motivated this division can be addressed without further loss of unity. “
Cardinal Gerhard Müller, prefect emeritus of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, was last month even firmer in saying Catholics should not attend SSPX Masses.
In his exclusive interview with EWTN News just days before the illicit consecrations, the cardinal was asked what faithful drawn to SSPX Masses should do if a schism follows. Müller said forcefully that they “shouldn’t go, and cannot participate in the Masses of schismatic priests and bishops.”
