(PerMariam) — The Society of Saint Pius X has responded to the Holy See’s warning of excommunication by publishing an open declaration of Catholic Faith, writing to Pope Leo and expressing their desire “to truly call ourselves Catholics and, consequently, your sons.” For over fifty years the Society of Saint Pius X (SSPX) “has endeavoured to set before the Holy See a matter of conscience in the face of the errors that are destroying Catholic faith and morals,” according to the SSPX’s superior general Fr. Davide Pagliarani. “Regrettably,” he added, “all the discussions entered into have remained without result, and none of the concerns expressed have received any truly satisfactory response.” {The full statement can be read online, or at the bottom of this article. For Per Mariam’s full coverage of the ongoing SSPX consecrations, see here.} He lamented that in that same time period, “the only solution truly considered by the Holy See has appeared to be that of canonical sanctions …
The declaration, as far as it goes, does express the Truths of the Catholic Faith. But, they leave out something important. The Truth that the Holy Spirit protects the Catholic Faith from holding and teaching error. The Pope is infallible and the Church is indefectible. It is for this reason that disobedience to the Pope or the Magisterium will result in excommunication and also damnation. In order to explain how the Church DID teach error at Vatican II and in many instances since then, the only valid explanation is that the Popes since Vatican II are not valid Popes. They apostatized from the FAITH. The current occupiers of the Vatican are not Catholics, they are a heretical sect. They should not be obeyed because they subverted the Faith and taught/teach error. But, the SSPX adopted a recognize and resist strategy which is wholly Protestant, not at all in keeping with the Catholic Faith. They profess that the Pope is the Pope, but they can decide what to obey and what not to obey. That is NOT Catholic. That is why sedevacantism is the only Catholic and logical response to the what has been happening since Vatican II.
Unfortunately, not only is what you say incorrect, it also indicates a poor understanding of the teaching of the Catholic Church. In fact, your comment makes me want to weep with despair about the woeful ignorance in the Catholic Church today. The Pope is only infallible when making an ex cathedra statement to the Universal Church on a matter of Faith and Morals. In all other matters, not only can he be in error but he can also lead others into error. That is why we cleave to the 2,000 year Magisterium and praxis, and not to the fallible pronouncements and praxis which contradict that Magisterium and praxis. The Church is indefectible in her enduring Institution by Christ and in Her Infallible teachings as faithfully preserved unchanged. Her members -- you, me, the clergy, and even the Pope himself -- are not indefectible. And if you understand the issues, SSPX is precisely objecting to the widespread abandonment of Catholic Church teaching and praxis by members of the hierarchy and clergy, while SSPX continues faithfully to maintain our entire Catholic inheritance of 2,000 years before Vatican II. ON PAPAL INFALLIBILITY: "Papal infallibility is a dogma of the Catholic Church which states that, in virtue of the promise of Jesus to Peter, the pope when he speaks ex cathedra is preserved from the possibility of error on doctrine 'initially given to the apostolic Church and handed down in Scripture and tradition'. It does not mean that the pope cannot sin or otherwise err." ON THE CHURCH'S INDEFECTIBILITY: "The indefectibility of the Catholic Church means that the Church, founded by Christ, will never fail or cease to exist, maintaining its essential teachings and structure until the end of time. This concept affirms that the Church possesses an 'unconquered stability' and will always remain the institution of salvation" [N.B. this refers to preserving Her essential teachings and structure; not automatically endorsing -- without question or resistance -- new, merely "pastoral" guidance and practice which contradicts all that the Church has always held and taught and practiced for 2,000 years until Vatican II, which brought about a clear rupture in its name during the last 50 years which followed]. ON EX CATHEDRA PRONOUNCEMENTS: "An ex cathedra papal statement is a solemn definition of doctrine on faith or morals issued by the Pope as universal pastor of the Church, with explicit intent to bind all the faithful, by the supreme exercise of his apostolic authority. Vatican I (1870) defined those four conditions in Pastor Aeternus. Catholic theologians universally recognize only two: the Immaculate Conception (1854) and the Bodily Assumption of Mary (1950)" Ex Cathedra Papal Statements | Complete List & … FURTHERMORE..... Each of us is culpable if we do not diligently educate ourselves on the Church's enduring Magisterium of 2,000 years so that we do not fall into and hold the Modernist errors now widespread in the Catholic Church. Pope Pius X called the Modernism presently invading the Catholic Church "the synthesis of all heresies". During the time of the Arian heresy, there was widespread error being held in the Catholic Church about the very divinity of Christ Himself. Pascendi Dominici Gregis (September 8, 1907) PRIME EXAMPLE OF HOW MEMBERS OF THE WIDESPREAD CHURCH CAN BE IN ERROR, AND MUST BE RESISTED: "The Arian controversy was a significant dispute in early Christianity, with Arianism spreading widely among various Christian communities, particularly among Germanic tribes like the Goths, Vandals, and others. It was a major theological conflict that divided the Church for decades."
You don't have to weep with despair over my ignorance. You did not say one thing that I did not already know. But, you said the part that was unnecessary to my point.
Truly a scandal for Rome...the above list of their transgressions is the major reason the sspx wants to be set up differently....and they could be if the charity which should be the hallmark and driving principle of the Catholic Church really existed!
Modernism cannot coexist with Catholicism. The Society of Saint Pius X is right to expose the confusion and errors coming from Rome today, and to highlight how radically different authentic Catholicism is from modernist thinking. As Saint Jerome wrote of the Arian crisis, “the whole world groaned and was astonished to find itself Arian.” Today, one could say: the whole world groans, astonished to find itself modernist.
1) An Amazonian Rite is approved; 2) Pachamama is honored; 3) homosexual blessings go without censure; 4) the Holy See allows Gay Activist pilgrimages to enter Saint Peters without objection or moral correction; 5) an Anglican female "Archbishop" is received with honors and "blesses" Bishops who accept her "blessing" in a Roman Basilica; 6) Pope Leo even prays she "may be fruitful in the service to which the Holy Spirit has called you" (i.e. the Holy Spirit collaborates in the spreading of error?); 7) the Vatican collaborates with WEF and globalist agendas, etc. etc.. BUT.....SSPX -- faithful to the Church of the Ages, and the Mass of the Ages -- alone receives condemnation for wanting to provide for its over 600,000 truly Catholic faithful, its hundreds of truly Catholic chapels and schools, its five Catholic seminaries and 300+ seminarians, its religious and 700+ Priests. No State of Emergency.....?