Pius X should be assuaged considerably by Pope Benedict XVI’s 2007 motu proprio Summorum Pontificum, which further liberalized the use of the Tridentine Mass by Catholic priests. What should I do, for example, if she wants to receive the Sacrament of Confirmation at her mother’s chapel rather than at a recognized Catholic parish? Am I being too legalistic about this?Īnswer: The liturgical needs of those Catholics who participate in the liturgy of the schismatic Society of St. As far as I can tell, they don’t teach anything doctrinally suspect. Our daughter has been going with her and receives catechism lessons there. Pius X (SSPX), which was founded by Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre in 1970. Question: My ex-wife attends Mass at a chapel of the Society of St. We hope that this puts in a clearer light the letter about which you asked us.From the 9 November Our Sunday Visitor with my emphases and comments.įather should be concerned about daughter’s involvement with Society of Pius X chapel Code of Canon Law, canon 843), but he does not have a right to them according to the rite of his choice." Every Catholic has a right to the sacraments (cf. Presently it constitutes an exception to the Church's law and may be granted when the local Bishop judges it to be a valid pastoral service and when he has the priests who are available to celebrate it. It is true that he has asked his brother Bishops to be generous in providing for the celebration of this Mass, but he has not stated that it is a 'right'. "You also state in your letter that the Holy Father has given you a 'right' to the Mass according to the 1962 Roman Missal. However, this provision also depends on the number of people who desire the 'traditional' Mass, their motives and the availability of priests who can celebrate it. Nonetheless, we are frequently in contact with Bishops and do all that we can to see that this provision is made. "This Pontifical Commission does not have the authority to coerce Bishops to provide for the celebration of the Mass according to the 1962 Roman Missal. It would seem that a modest contribution to the collection at Mass could be justified."įurther, the correspondent took the Commission to task for not doing its job properly and we responded thus: His third question was: "Is it a sin for me to contribute to the Sunday collection a Pius X Mass" to which we responded: If your intention is simply to participate in a Mass according to the 1962 Missal for the sake of devotion, this would not be a sin." If your primary reason for attending were to manifest your desire to separate yourself from communion with the Roman Pontiff and those in communion with him, it would be a sin. We have already told you that we cannot recommend your attendance at such a Mass and have explained the reason why. His second question was "Is it a sin for me to attend a Pius X Mass" and we responded stating: In the strict sense you may fulfill your Sunday obligation by attending a Mass celebrated by a priest of the Society of St. His first question was "Can I fulfill my Sunday obligation by attending a Pius X Mass" and our response was: Points 1 and 3 in our letter of 27 September 2002 to this correspondent are accurately reported. To the extent that they adhere to the schism of the late Archbishop Lefebvre, they are also excommunicated.Ģ.) Concretely this means that the Masses offered by these priests are valid, but illicit i.e., contrary to the law of the Church. Pius X are validly ordained, but they are suspended from exercising their priestly functions. Pius X which we will summarize briefly here.ġ.) The priests of the Society of St. In a previous letter to the same correspondent we had already indicated the canonical status of the Society of St. Since a truncated form of this letter has now become public, we judge it appropriate to present the larger context of our response. What was presented in the public forum is an abbreviated version of that letter which omits much of our pastoral counsel. Our letter of 27 September 2002, which was evidently cited in The Remnant and on various websites, was intended as a private communication dealing with the specific circumstances of the person who wrote to us. Unfortunately, as you will understand, we have no way of controlling what is done with our letters by their recipients. Greetings in the Hearts of Jesus & Mary! There have been several inquiries about our letter of 27 September 2002. Pontificia Commissio "Ecclesia Dei" January 18, 2003 At the request of the Commission, we are publishing it below. Pius X Masses Una Voce America has received a communication from the Pontifical Ecclesia Dei Commission, concerning an article which appeared in The Remnant newspaper and various websites.
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