Catholic Candle note: Occasionally, we analyze the problems in the liberal SSPX. Someone could wonder:
Why mention the SSPX any longer, since they are unimportant as merely one of very many compromise groups?
It is true that a priest (or group) is of small importance when he (or the group) is merely one of countless compromisers. By contrast, an uncompromising priest is of great importance, even though he is only one.
However, regarding the “new” SSPX: we sometimes mention them for at least these four reasons, motivated by charity:
➢ New Catholic Candle readers might not be sufficiently informed of the N-SSPX’s liberalism to avoid that group. Out of charity for them we occasionally provide these warnings to help these new readers appreciate the danger of the N-SSPX.
➢ Some longtime Catholic Candle readers might forget the N-SSPX poison or vacillate in their resolution to stay away from the N-SSPX, if they never received a reminder warning about the danger of the N-SSPX. This is like the fact that all it takes for many people to become conciliar is to never hear about the errors of Vatican II and the conciliar church. Out of charity for them we occasionally provide these reminders for readers who would otherwise “forget” the danger of the N-SSPX.
➢ The N-SSPX serves as an important study case to examine how leaving the truth often happens. It is a warning to us all about a very common way to depart from the truth and become unfaithful. Out of charity for ourselves we occasionally provide these insights about becoming unfaithful by taking this common road of compromise the N-SSPX is taking.
➢ Over time, the N-SSPX provides us with a thorough catalogue of liberal compromises and studying those compromises and errors with the contrasting Traditional Catholic truth is a helpful means of studying our Faith and guarding ourselves from the principal errors of our time. This helps us to fulfill our duty of continually studying the doctrines of our Faith. Out of charity for ourselves, we use the occasional of the N-SSPX’s liberalism to study our Traditional Catholic Faith better and the corresponding the N-SSPX liberalism.
For those readers who are resolute in their resolution to completely avoid all support for the N-SSPX, they can receive just as much of the substance of those Catholic Candle articles, if they substitute the phrase “a liberal could say” anytime they read “the SSPX teaches”.
I am referring to how Catholics reacted to the very liberal faith-destroying
changes brought about by the Second Vatican Council in the 1960s and ‘70s, and
how the current followers of the N-SSPX are reacting to the very liberal
faith-destroying changes brought about by the current leadership.
In the ‘60s and ‘70s, Catholics who were not happy with the changes believed their Faith was strong enough that they could go along to get along and not lose their Faith. They would fight for tradition when necessary, but fight from “within”. They were wrong. Liberalism and gradualism took over and their naiveté cost them dearly: they lost the Faith without even realizing it. With liberalism and gradualism, you lose your Faith little by little, accepting changes you and others believe make sense and are necessary to be part of today’s world. After all, you must stay relevant and on top of things in our fast-changing world.
This brings us to the followers of today’s liberal N-SSPX. Perhaps their parents (or even grandparents) joined Archbishop Lefebvre in the late ‘70s, after he started the strongly-traditional Society of St. Pius X. The SSPX did much good saving souls until the Archbishop died in 1991. Then the popularity-seeking new leadership took over, gradually liberalizing and changing in order to be more acceptable to the (anti-Catholic) conciliar church in Rome. They stopped fighting against it as the Archbishop had fought when he was alive.
Here again, liberalism and gradualism are taking over, and the N-SSPX followers are losing their Faith little by little, without realizing it. They mistakenly believe that if they accept a little liberalism in order to have the sacraments, God will understand. No, He won’t! God does not accept compromise in the Faith under any circumstance.
I believe the followers of the liberal “new” Society of St. Pius X feel they are strong enough in their Faith that they won’t lose it. After all, their families have been through a lot since the 1970s, fighting for tradition alongside Archbishop Lefebvre. They think they will know when to push back or leave if the new liberal SSPX crosses their line in the sand. They are confident that no one can take their Faith from them and that they will know when to leave.
Besides, they assume there is strength in numbers, and they are comfortable with other parishioners who think like they do. They feel that they can look after each other and discuss any problems they detect, such as the SSPX constantly asking for money. They are convinced that they are watchful and can act when necessary, and that gradualism can’t take their Faith away.
This approach of the N-SSPX’s followers regarding the loss of their Faith, is the same approach taken by most Catholics after the Second Vatican Council. They are unaware that the “necessary” changes they made are gradually robbing them of their Catholic Faith.
So, it is eminently logical to fear that the final results will be the same as in the ‘60s and ‘70s, and that most of them will lose the Faith. The problem, then as now, is that the necessity to act never actually comes, and gradualism takes their Faith before they realize it. In fact, they never notice the point when they have lost the Faith. Just as people in the ‘60s and ‘70s never noticed their loss of Faith, so the N-SSPX’s followers won’t notice it today. That’s the power of the devil and gradualism. They will never correct a problem (i.e., gradually losing the Faith) if they don’t even know they have the problem. This is like an alcoholic never takes steps to change until he first recognizes that he has a drinking problem.
Wake up, followers of the liberal SSPX! – the same SSPX that accepts 95% of the evils of VC II. The N-SSPX is liberal quicksand and those who are in it cannot see it. Save your Faith and your soul! Join the uncompromising Traditional Catholics in the Catacombs, for Faith-saving support and knowledge.