Perhaps the case of the Society of Pius X helped to clarify this. What makes someone a schismatic? CERTAMEN presents Bishop Athanasius Schneider THE CATHOLIC TRADITION A Hopeful Way Out Of The Crisis Part 5 FSSPX – Schismatic or Catholic? Of course the so-called Fraternity (Society) of St. Pius X,
As they say in the German-speaking world, the Priestly Fraternity of St. Pius X, is a living part of the Church and certainly not schismatic. We must be clear about the terms. What do ‘schism’ and ‘schismatic’ mean? There is no clear definition or explanation, even in canon law.
Canon law states: Whoever does not submit to the Roman Pope and the bishops associated with him, is schismatic. What does it mean not to submit? That’s a question of interpretation and I think that in the future canon law should be clarified.
Perhaps the case of the Society of St Pius X helped to clarify this. What makes someone a schismatic? We have to look at the great tradition of the church. The church didn’t start with the Second Vatican Council or
Since the so-called ‘new’ canon law – not the new one from 1983, I mean the code that Pope Pius X and then Benedict XV promulgated in 1917. So it was a codex, before that there was no codex. It was simply a large collection of
Traditional canon law texts, Corpus Iuris Canonici. And only then (in 1917) was it summarized in a small book as a codex. And that’s how it was defined there. But you would have to define the criteria. What makes one a schismatic?
In the light of the great tradition of the Church, including the Church Fathers of the first centuries, the Church has always remained the same. We do not have a different Church. This is the Church of the Apostles. This is the Church of the Church Fathers and of great saints,
And a schismatic is, as I see it, in keeping with the great tradition of the church, is someone who rejects the authority of the Pope as such. And that means becoming independent of the principle [of authority], and to have their own parallel church, consciously against or without the Roman Pope.
That is schism. Yes, that is schism. And then when a bishop or priest or believer, as a sign of this, no longer mentions the Pope in the canon at mass, that is a concrete sign of the schism, because they don’t want to have communion with him.
That is the act that makes one a schismatic a schismatic. And a theological principle. You can have the same faith – and that is the case with the Orthodox Church, for example, which separated from the Roman See in the 11th century,
From the Holy See, and the Patriarch of Constantinople, at that time, even excommunicated the Pope. And so, with this act of excommunicating the Pope and forming a completely independent church, as the Orthodox did back in the 11th century – unfortunately, that’s schism.
That’s a concrete example of schism. Or other schismatic communities, like the Jansenist church of Utrecht in the 17th century and then the Old Catholic Church in the 19th Century and others. And then the so-called ‘sedevacantists’. “Sede vacante” means that the See of Rome
Is empty. That is again another form of schism. This means that you either reject the Pope on principle and then of course not mention him in the canon or that you consider a specific Pope, a valid Pope, as invalid and therefore no longer mentioned in the canon.
These are today’s so-called contemporary sedevacantist groups which are very diverse in the Church following the Council (Vatican II). So that would be the first criterion – or the second. And so that is actually the essence of a schismatic.
And none of this applies to the Society of St. Pius X or to Archbishop Lefebvre, because they indeed desire to be connected with the Holy See. Archbishop Lefebvre suffered because this was not granted to him. He wished to fully align with tradition while simultaneously being recognized by the Holy See.
And the Holy Seat did not do so at that time. So Archbishop Lefebvre was looking for a solution and that’s what is now the Society of St. Pius X today. It is always ready to be recognised by the Holy See and that is a concrete sign, that one is not schismatic.
And then the fact of praying for the Holy Father, for the respective Pope in the canon and also publicly, as well as mentioning the local bishop, which is something that the Society of St. Pius X has always done and still does today.
And that is a clear sign that it is not schismatic. Of course, then comes the difficult question of the consecration of bishops in 1988, which Archbishop Lefebvre did – without the permission of the Pope and even against his will.
Now this too must be seen in the great light, in the light of the great tradition of church history. In itself, in the old code, for a bishop to consecrate another bishop without the approval of the Pope does not automatically incur the penalty of excommunication, but only suspension.
And that is a big difference between suspension and excommunication. That for practically 2000 years, i.e. until the new code in 1983 an unauthorized episcopal consecration was not formally classified as schismatic but as an act of disobedience.
Suspension is also a punishment for the clergy, it means that you can’t perform acts of ministry or provide the sacraments, but you are not excommunicated. You can receive Communion yourself, but not perform official acts – especially administering the sacraments.
And you have to bear that in mind – here too. Archbishop Lefebvre always made an effort and he always defended himself, saying: “We don’t want to build a parallel church”. He didn’t appoint these bishops either as titular bishops or assign them a diocese,
But it was simply so that the sacraments would be passed on in a traditional form, in a secure form, until the next Pope comes along and these bishops would be regularized, so to speak. The Archbishop said that clearly. That means these bishops were only consecrated,
So that they could confer priestly ordinations, confirmations, the consecration of churches – just for the sacraments or other liturgical acts that are reserved for the bishop. That means it was an emergency solution. And Archbishop Lefebvre intended it to be
A relatively short-term situation with these irregular bishops, so to speak. And it’s clear from his words that he had no schismatic intent. That is, he was disobedient against the Pope, formally. But I repeat: disobedience, even to this degree, the Church did not previously classify as a schismatic act.
And it is not strictly necessary by divine law that one needs the consent of the Pope for the consecration of a bishop. It was the rule in the first millennium, that bishops in the East were simply chosen and consecrated without the consent of the Pope.
The consecrated bishop simply informed the Pope later, that he was a bishop and asked for ecclesiastical recognition – either personally or through his patriarch. But the Pope was not involved in the selection of the candidates and didn’t ‘approve’ specific episcopal consecrations.
And even in the West this was the case for a long time. So this is a sign, and clear evidence, that, in itself, the approval of the Pope for the consecration of a bishop, or for the selection of candidates, is not required by divine law.
What is required by divine right is that the consecrated bishop, regardless of whether he was consecrated with the involvement of the Pope or not, publicly recognizes the Pope, professes the Catholic faith and mentions the Pope during the liturgy, and thus lives in unity with him.
Unless there are very specific difficult situations, emergency situations, as it was in our time after the Council, where it is not possible to have this full canonical order, as is now the case with the Society of St. Pius X.
And we hope that the future Popes will honor Archbishop Lefebvre for his heroic commitment, for the preservation of the purity of the Catholic faith and the Holy Mass, the liturgy and the formation of priests.
I firmly believe that and also that the bishops of the Society of St. Pius X will be regularized and, according to canon law may then fully exercise their ministry. Certamen – The good fight
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