Catholic Candle note: The article below refers to Rome’s betrayal of the Catholic Faith. However, a reader would be mistaken if he assumed that Pope Francis’ betrayal somehow means that he is not the pope.

Sedevacantism is wrong and is (material or formal) schism. Catholic Candle is not sedevacantist. On the contrary, we published a series of articles showing that sedevacantism is false (and also showing that former Pope Benedict is not still the pope).

We recommend a small book explaining the errors of sedevacantism. It is available:

➢   Here, for free: https://catholiccandle.neocities.org/faith/against-sedevacantism.html or

➢   Here, at cost ($4): https://www.amazon.com/Sedevacantism-Material-Quanta-Cura-Press/dp/B08FP5NQR6/ref=sr_1_1

Here is what St. Bernard of Clairvaux, Doctor of the Church, teaches concerning the need to recognize and respect the authority of a superior – such as the pope – even when he is bad:

Even should the life of any superior be so notoriously wicked as to admit of no excuse or dissimulation, nevertheless, for God’s sake, Who is the source of all power, we are bound to honor such a one, not on account of his personal merits, which are non-existent, but because of the divine ordination and the dignity of his office.[1]

However, even while recognizing the pope’s authority and our duty to obey him when we are able, we know we must resist the evil he says and does. Read more about this principle here: https://catholiccandle.neocities.org/faith/against-sedevacantism.html#section-7

A Lost N-SSPX Society

A “lost” Society of St. Pius X sought anti-Catholic conciliar church acceptance from Rome after Archbishop Lefebvre died.  The N-SSPX Ship of State lost its compass and rudder on the storm-tossed religious sea of Vatican II.

There are those who say that Archbishop Lefebvre wanted to reunite with Rome, but the critical difference is that he was adamant that that could not happen unless and until Rome converted back to the Catholic Faith.  This was l988 and he had just survived the trap of the conciliar church proposing to recognize him and the Society, with impossible conditions, and from then on he refused to even discuss making a practical deal with Rome until Rome converted.

I believe that Rome has lost the Faith (as Our Lady of La Salette predicted it would) and is the seat of the anti-Catholic conciliar church of VC II.  If you think about it, you have to wonder why the Society would want to negotiate and seek acceptance from the conciliar church in Rome.  Rome, in pursuit of religious liberty, makes little pretext any more of believing that there is only one true Church, founded by Christ, and is the only possible path to salvation.

It becomes clearer if you keep in mind that there exist:

1.    The true Catholic Church; and

2.    A false, revolutionary conciliar church from Vatican II which is Catholic in name only and headquartered in Rome.

This Conciliar church is not merely a liberal way of thinking.  It is a human organization (which deceptively uses the name “Catholic”) and has its own:

➢   false doctrines (e.g., the teachings of VC II, accepting the COVID vaccine);

➢   false and sacrilegious worship (e.g., Novus Ordo mass);

➢   places for sacrileges (viz., the conciliar churches stolen from the Catholic Church);

➢   false priesthood (new concept of priesthood; doubtfully valid ordinations);

➢   false laws (e,g,, the new 1983 Code of Canon Law);

➢   false catechisms (e.g., the new conciliar Catechism of the Catholic Church);

➢   false bibles (e.g., replacing the Douay Rheims Bible);

➢   new, politically-correct “Decalogue” (i.e., new humanist 10 Commandments issued by Pope John Paul II);

➢  new, politically-correct “Beatitudes” (issued by Pope Francis);

➢   new Mysteries of the Rosary (the so-called “Luminous Mysteries”);

➢   new (supposed) “saints” and new canonization process (e.g., so-called “St. John Paul II”);

➢   new (supposed) “miracles” and “apparitions”; and

➢   new (supposed) “sacraments” with conciliar names and formulae: for Catholics, it’s Confession; for conciliars, it’s “Reconciliation”, and on Occasion it’s “Group Reconciliation”.

The above are merely some of the changes that the Society and its followers will have to overlook and be willing to accept for canonical recognition from Rome. I expect that the N-SSPX will never have an additional bishop unless Rome approves.

Now, as these above changes clearly indicate, this conciliar church is a different (and false) religion.  It uses the power structures of the Catholic Church for its own ends, punishing (including excommunicating) those who resist it.

But if followers of the Society were expecting the N-SSPX to make a powerful, public stand against Rome’s latest heresies (e.g., accepting the COVID vaccines, approval of the unnatural life style, religious liberty, celebrating Luther, etc.), then they usually wait in vain.  If they had hoped for a strong defense against heresy from the N-SSPX, they get a mere mention of it instead.  It’s well understood that when those in a position of authority (like the N-SSPX) fail to call a “spade” (heresy) a “spade” (heresy), the silence indicates acceptance.  Or, when derogatory statements about the Faith go unchallenged, it reveals a lack of zeal for the Faith.

This is just one of the Society’s problems: I believe they have lost their zeal for the Faith.  The leadership of the N-SSPX no longer has the burning desire to fight daily against the anti-Catholic conciliar church, as Archbishop Lefebvre did.

Unfortunately, loss of zeal leads gradually to loss of faith.  This is very similar to what happened in the 1960s, after Vatican II, when the crisis of faith came from the top down (the pope), and was bewilderingly accepted by the clergy and the people in the pews.  The return to the holy Catholic Faith seems likely to be from the bottom up, for Rome and (if the N-SSPX ever returns) for the N-SSPX too.

So, what is in store for the followers of the N-SSPX on their slippery slope of compromise?  They want to believe the Society knows best, and will go along to get along.  However, The Imitation of Christ states that: “We frequently judge that things are as we wish them to be, for through personal feeling, true perspective is easily lost.”[2]  In other words, just because they would like to believe that today’s N-SSPX is the same Society as it was under Archbishop Lefebvre, that doesn’t make it so.

Belonging to the Society today is the easiest path for followers, when most of the people they know join them on the slippery slope, and it “proves” to them that they are correct in their position.  And if there are only a very few who hold a contrary view and are willing to stand up and fight for Christ the King and against liberalism, then “those people” must be kooks and radicals.

Most members of the N-SSPX don’t want to work hard to understand or study the Faith, no matter how little energy and time it takes.  Plus, they think they are too busy, and that God will understand.  Wrong!  God expects Catholics to earn Heaven and keep the Faith.

So, what does the future look like, being that Rome has not converted?  This means real trouble for uncompromising traditional Catholics.  But keep in mind that they are not alone, for Christ is surely with them, with extra graces and love. 

We must pray hard, continue to sacrifice, and be on guard for-N-SSPX and conciliar traps, like accepting a hybrid Mass, being married or confessed in the Society (with its indults for the two Sacraments).

Let us trust in God, with strong hearts! Faithful and informed Catholics are sure to succeed.  They have Christ with them.

Catholic Candle note:  Occasionally, we analyze the liberal statements of the “new” SSPX.  Yet, 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 those 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 be reminded 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 occasion of the N-SSPX’s liberalism to study our Traditional Catholic Faith better and the corresponding N-SSPX liberalism.

For those readers who are resolute in their determination 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”.

The “New” SSPX (and Calvin) Teach the

Heresy of the Predestination of the Damned

Recently, the Society of St. Pius X published an article which teaches that “divine predestination includes all poor sinners”.[1]

The “new” SSPX frequently teaches heresy as if it were Catholic doctrine.  For example, in 2016, the SSPX characterized the deadly sin of presumption as if it were the Theological Virtue of Hope.[2]

We mention this recent SSPX heresy because it is an instructive contrast to the Catholic truth and further brings to mind that the heretic John Calvin taught that the wicked were predestined – a heresy which was condemned by the Council of Trent.[3]

In twenty-five words, here is the explanation of the Catholic truth which is opposed to the heresy of the SSPX and Calvin:

Predestination is God’s foreknowledge of what He Himself will do.  But sinners damn themselves.  It is not God’s work.  Thus, the damned are not predestined.

Let’s look at the explanations of three of the great Catholic Doctors:

St. Paul shows us that the saints are predestined, but not the damned (i.e., not “all poor sinners” as the SSPX says).  Below, St. Paul plainly teaches that the predestined are the saints, who from their predestination, are then “glorified”:

Whom He predestinated, them He also called.  And whom He called, them He also justified.  And whom He justified, them He also glorified.

Romans, 8:30 (emphasis added).

St. Thomas Aquinas, greatest Doctor of the Catholic Church, elaborates on this Catholic doctrine that God’s predestination is God’s foreknowledge of what He Himself will do in causing the salvation of the saints.  Here are St. Thomas’s words:

Predestination refers to a certain preordination in the soul of those to whom this is done.  God predestines from eternity the blessings He gives to His saints.  For this reason, predestination is eternal.  Predestination differs from God’s foreknowledge because foreknowledge refers only to knowing the future, whereas predestination refers to what God Himself causes in the saints.  Therefore, God foreknows concerning sinners but predestines the salvation of the saints.[4]

In other words, God foreknows that some people will damn themselves but He does not force them to commit the sins that cause them to damn themselves.  Thus, God does not predestine them. 

By contrast, God is a necessary cause bringing about the salvation of the saints and God’s work in their salvation is called “predestination”.  Thus, the saints are predestined, but not “all poor sinners” (as the SSPX heretically claims).

The great Doctor of Grace, St. Augustine, explains this Catholic doctrine the same way as St. Paul and St. Thomas, showing that every person who is predestined, goes to heaven:

Predestination is nothing else than the foreknowledge and foreordaining of those gracious gifts [that God gives] which make certain the salvation of all who are saved.[5]

Conclusion

The “new” SSPX teaches heresy when it says that God predestines “all poor sinners”.  Again, here is the explanation of the Catholic truth which is opposed to the heresy of the SSPX and Calvin:

Predestination is God’s foreknowledge of what He Himself will do.  But sinners damn themselves.  It is not God’s work.  Thus, the damned are not predestined.

If you care about your eternal salvation, do not trust the “new” SSPX’s teaching on this or other matters.

Catholic Candle note: The article below is an update of an article and data about the plummeting SSPX totals from its “rosary crusades”, comparing 2009, to 2016, and now in 2021.

St. Paul infallibly teaches us: “without Faith, it is impossible to please God.”  Hebrews, 11:6.  Therefore, without faith, no piety pleases God or can be a true piety.

There is no true Faith outside the Catholic Church.  Therefore, there can be no true piety outside the Catholic Church. 

As a person’s Faith weakens, so does his piety, diminishing his prayer life.  Our Lord told us that strong prayers require strong Faith and that strengthening our Faith will strengthen our prayers.  Here are His words:

If you have faith as a grain of mustard seed, you shall say to this mountain, “Remove from hence hither”, and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible to you.

St. Matthew’s Gospel, ch.17, v.19.

Just as our prayers become stronger when our Faith becomes stronger, likewise our prayers weaken when our Faith weakens.

The “old” SSPX recognized this obvious correlation, when discussing the conciliar church.  For example, in 2002, the SSPX said (regarding the use of the rosary in the conciliar church): “the rosary … has fallen into disuse and even contempt”.[1]

Of course, this decline in prayer took time among conciliar Catholics, just as their decline in Faith also took time.  Nonetheless, their decline in piety and prayer was inevitable, given their decline in Faith.

This same decline in Faith and piety is now occurring in the “new” SSPX, although (of course) this takes time and the decline still has far to go.  The decline of Faith is chronicled in Catholic Candle[2] and elsewhere.  Similarly, the corresponding decline of piety is palpable in every “new” SSPX parish, although in some more than others (as was similarly true among conciliar parishes in the 1970s).

One measure of the “new” SSPX’s overall decline in piety, is the tally of the latest rosary crusade:

➢  During the latest 4¼ month rosary crusade in the U.S. District (from November 21, 2020 through April 1, 2021)[3] the “new” SSPX claims its followers said 282,508 rosaries.[4]  If we multiply this by three, it would give us the approximate annual rate of 847,524.  

➢  Compare this to the 2016 one-year rosary crusade (beginning in August 2016), when the SSPX U.S. District tallied approximately 1.5 Million rosaries.[5]

➢  Compare that to the one-year rosary crusade (beginning May 2009), when the same U.S. District tallied approximately 5.5 Million rosaries.[6]

➢  In other words, after the weakening of the Faith within the SSPX, especially since 2012, SSPX followers prayed the rosary in 2020-2021 at a monthly rate which was a little more than half (56.5%) of the rate in 2016 and only roughly one seventh (15.4%) the monthly rate of 2009!

To our readers who still attend the “new” SSPX chapels:

Are you worried and scared?  Are you afraid to forgo sacraments that are frequent and relatively easy to obtain?  If you leave the “new” SSPX, do you fear you will lose whatever piety and prayer life you have?

The opposite is true!  If you stand up for the Faith and reject compromise and liberalism, God will strengthen your Faith and your piety, as He does for all Catholics who stand up for Him! 

If you put the Faith first and thus stand against compromise and liberalism, God will strengthen your Faith because you put it (and Him) first and act by the light of your Faith, by shunning the evils you now silently tolerate.

Likewise, because your prayer life and piety grow proportionately with your Faith (as shown above), you will improve your prayer life without those compromise sacraments you now receive from the “new” SSPX and which you dread forsaking.

If you stay in the (new) SSPX, your Faith and piety will inevitably atrophy, just as even the staunchest conciliar Catholics inescapably weakened.

The most important thing you can do for your piety and prayer life, is to leave the “new” liberal SSPX and its sacraments!  Do it now!

If you have followed the New SSPX in its effort to be reconciled with Rome ever since Archbishop Lefebvre died, you noticed a type of Liberalism that deceives its followers.  Rome insists that the SSPX accept the evils of Vatican II, and the SSPX can’t do that – oh, they would if they could and still hold on to their pseudo-traditional followers.  But they can’t do that quite yet.

So, how has the “new” SSPX managed to hold onto these followers so far and still please Rome?  I’ll tell you how.  They use Judas-type Liberalism.  What is Judas-type Liberalism?  It’s when you have one N-SSPX leader making a liberal VC II statement, followed later by another N-SSPX leader making a traditional refutation of that statement.  In this way, the pseudo-traditional followers of the Society can believe the statement that salves their conscience and, of course, reject what bothers them.  So, you see, it is a Liberalism that deceives the ill-informed consciences of the Society supporters, but satisfies Rome that the N-SSPX is beginning to see the “truth” of the Second Vatican Council, which is a requisite for reconciliation.  Rome is happy with the N-SSPX, and so are its followers.  The N-SSPX found they could please both by being “for” and “against” something at the same time.  Judas-type Liberalism has been successful ever since the archbishop died.

Let me demonstrate Judas-type Liberalism based on a speech by Father Benoit De Jorno on Nov. 28, 2020.  He is the Superior of the N-SSPX district in France, and he refutes previous statements by Bishop Fellay.  Here is Fr. De Jorno:

Since 1969, a new rite has been introduced into the Church, profoundly modifying its worship and, as a consequence, seriously damaging the Faith, because, as we know, ‘lex orandi, lex credendi’ – the rule of prayer is the rule of faith.  The Society of St. Pius X, standing against this sickening novelty from the very moment of its foundation ….[1]

Fr. De Jorno also warned against humanism, saying:

[T]his deadly humanism has penetrated the Church, has become conciliar; with the Second Vatican Council, a great change, a great upheaval, a new doctrine has profoundly infiltrated the Church; ecumenism in particular is a cancer that gnaws at her bone marrow.  And the scourge is precisely the new mass, which as we know, significantly departs from Catholic tradition.[2]

These more conservative words are surely contrary to the repeated position taken by Bishop Fellay, who attended the new mass himself, showing by his own example the Society’s position that the new mass is acceptable.  After he attended the new mass, he enthusiastically praised it.[3] 

Bishop Fellay’s two assistants also attended the new mass when visiting Pope Francis, showing by their own example the N-SSPX’s position that the new mass is acceptable.[4]

The new SSPX says the new mass gives grace.[5]  In reality, the new mass never gives grace.[6]

Bishop Fellay says that “what needs to be corrected” in the new mass are things like making a better vernacular translation.[7]  This tells people that the “new” SSPX does not have a problem with the new mass itself.

Now, increasingly, the “new” SSPX respects the values of the world and wants to fit in with the world, e.g., the “new” SSPX says its school (in Missouri) is “very much like other schools”.[8]

The “new” Society no longer remembers what it is like to be a sign of contradiction, like Our Lord.

Another aspect of the “cult of man” (humanism) is to adopt the “modesty” standards of the world.  The “new” SSPX now progressively promotes mini-skirts, women with bare shoulders or exposed flanks, and women wearing trousers.[9]

The above examples of Judas-type Liberalism are only a few of the many, but they show the N-SSPX tactics as to how they please Rome and their followers’ consciences at the same time.

Don’t hold out hope that the N-SSPX will change course and become uncompromising and traditional, as the conciliar hierarchy promotes ever-more-extreme modernism, because the Society believes they can achieve reconciliation without defections, using the Judas-type Liberalism to put the final “piece of the puzzle” in place to please Rome.  This final piece is the acceptance, at least in part, of the soul-destroying Novus Ordo mass.

Based on the past success of the Judas-type Liberalism, I predict and won’t be surprised if in 2023 (or before), when Rome celebrates the 60^th anniversary of the Second Vatican Council, they will reconcile with the N-SSPX, who will use “soft” Liberalism again to avoid defections by its supporters.  They may well begin by promoting a hybrid Mass, (i.e., the “best” parts from the Conciliar service mixed with the Traditional Mass).  Bishop Fellay already promotes a hybrid mixture of the new mass and the Traditional Mass.[10]

I predict that the N-SSPX will begin using the hybrid mass slowly.  First, the hybrid mass will be used at N-SSPX chapels once a month and be available as one option.  Later, the hybrid mass will be the only one available on some occasions, e.g., once a month, after the Society is certain they will not lose followers or revenue.

In closing, you can see what the naïve followers of the N-SSPX are up against.  We must hold fast without compromise and can be sure that Our Lord’s grace will help us and He will never abandon His soldiers in the Catacombs.  Our uncompromising position and our love of Our Lord will surely eliminate fear and problems we would otherwise face at our Personal Judgment.

Let us pray hard daily for the misguided leaders of the N-SSPX and their naïve followers.  Moreover, because the SSPX was dear to the heart of Archbishop Lefebvre while he was on earth, (and supposing that he is in Purgatory or Heaven), he is no-doubt continuing to pray hard for his now-wayward Society.  Let us join our prayers to his.

Long ago, the SSPX’s Angelus magazine used to do good work in helping souls understand Tradition.  Although always enjoying a somewhat undeserved reputation for “hard-hitting articles”, in reality, most of its articles even in the good days were too short and lacked sufficient substance to warrant that praise.  But it may be the magazine kept the articles short because that was precisely what its audience wanted.

In November, 2020, the Angelus Online did not hesitate to print a particularly poisonous piece called An Apostate’s Journey Back.[1] Its author is a certain John McFarland, father of SSPX priest Mark McFarland (about whose scandals as an SSPX priest we could write a separate article).  In this article, Mr. McFarland, a self-described fighter against the Resistance,[2] first describes his journey to “Tradition”.  It is, however, clear from what he tells of his story, that he never truly found Tradition, but instead, only a softened, watered-down idea of who Archbishop Lefebvre really was, and thus a false “Tradition”.

First, to his credit, early in his “conversion”, Mr. McFarland correctly identifies the problem.  He says,

I didn’t go more than 50-75 pages into [a book called] “Iota Unum” before I recognized the crucial fact: the Church’s terrible problems did not stem primarily from Rome’s being disobeyed.  They stemmed from Rome’s being followed [by Catholics] in its failure to oppose and its supporting the modernist offensive during and after the Council.

McFarland, who tells us that he is an amateur philosopher and a lawyer, then began to assist at Fr. Ringrose’s St. Athanasius chapel in Northern Virginia.  [To our readers: Fr. Ringrose was a long-time friend of the SSPX until the SSPX’s liberalism and treachery became very apparent.  He broke with the “new” SSPX afterwards, and the “new” SSPX condemned him for it.  He now is affiliated with Bp. Williamson’s group.]

McFarland goes on to say that his newly-ordained son was home in 2012 when he and his son learned of Fr. Ringrose’s signing what McFarland calls the “foundational document” of the Resistance.   McFarland’s reaction was to immediately stop attending that chapel:

He [newly-ordained Fr. McFarland] was home on vacation when I came home from Holy Name Sunday Mass and discovered online its [i.e., The Resistance’s] foundational document, whose signatories included the pastor of St. Athanasius. I told [my son, newly-ordained] Father, he said “Well, you can’t go back there [i.e., to Fr. Ringrose’s chapel].”

We have seen this knee-jerk reaction before, in otherwise-good men who continue to support the liberal “new” SSPX, and will hear nothing of the Resistance’s claims that the SSPX has become increasingly liberal.  We think such men long ago made the tremendous mistake of placing their loyalty firstly in particular men or organizations (such as the SSPX or particular priests they admire), instead of giving unwavering loyalty first to uncompromising, unadulterated Catholic Tradition.  This principle is exemplified in McFarland’s case, where he did not ask Fr. Ringrose (who had a better “nose” for liberalism than McFarland) to carefully explain his decision for his break with the SSPX.  The McFarlands seem instead to have simply left because Fr. Ringrose objected to their group, viz., the SSPX.  If the McFarlands did give Fr. Ringrose a chance to explain, McFarland does not mention it, and thus leaves off all of Fr. Ringrose’s substantial reasons, which in justice he should have mentioned.

McFarland goes on to say he got involved in polemics with Resistance websites, and that the Resistance was, in general, uncharitable.  McFarland does not give any evidence to support this claim but, of course, it is always possible for individuals to overstep civility or charity.  In any case, the Angelus Online article allows McFarland to vent his poison by going on to say,

Most of those who consider themselves traditional Catholics and attack the SSPX refer to themselves as the Resistance. From the time that I first learned about them, it was obvious that they had no proof and that their thinking was incoherent.

Even Bishop Williamson, who must have a great deal of SSPX internal information from before his break with the Society, has never offered testimony for any of the charges against Bishop Fellay circulating in the Resistance.

In regards to thinking [sic], in 2012 Bishop Williamson condemned what he styled the SSPX’s wishing to put itself under the authority of the pope.  But if Bishop Williamson does not accept the authority of the pope, then His Excellency and those of his followers who agree with him look to be schismatics.

Let us take three of McFarland’s assertions, in the order he makes them.

McFarland’s first assertion:

1.    “From the time that I first learned about them [viz., the Resistance], it was obvious that they had no proof and that their thinking was incoherent.”

Is it not rash (and uncharitable) for McFarland to conclude it was “obvious” at his first learning about the Resistance, that they had “no proof” and that their “thinking was incoherent”?  How often does it ever happen that when receiving the initial information about any group, a person can prudently conclude that it is “obvious” that the group as a whole both has no evidence and also is illogical?

Further, McFarland’s hasty conclusion of “no proof” is shown by his overlooking a very long catalog of proof either because he failed to look deeply or he is too liberal to recognize the “new” SSPX’s own liberalism.  For example:

  Isn’t it liberal for the “new” SSPX to reverse its position on abortion-connected vaccines in order to now conclude they are acceptable?[3] 

➢  Isn’t it liberal for the N-SSPX to call the new mass “Catholic worship”?[4]

➢  Isn’t it liberal for the N-SSPX to promote a conciliar speaker who is an expert favorably promoting Pope John Paul II’s heretical “Theology of the Body”?[5]

➢  Isn’t it liberal for the N-SSPX to accept the post-conciliar popes as saints?[6]

➢  Isn’t it liberal for the “new” SSPX to urge its followers to join the pope in praying with false religions?[7]

For anyone who wants additional concrete evidence of the “new” SSPX’s increasing liberalism, click on the “Society of St. Pius X” tab at this link: https://catholiccandle.neocities.org/#gsc.tab=0

McFarland’s second assertion:

2.   Bishop Williamson and the Resistance cannot support “the charges against Bishop Fellay circulating in the Resistance.”

Again, McFarland fails to look deeply or he is too liberal to recognize Bishop Fellay’s own liberalism.  Here are a few examples of it:

❖  Bishop Fellay promotes the new mass as good and holy;[8]

❖  Bishop Fellay denies that there are any errors in the documents of Vatican II;[9] and

❖  Bishop Fellay claims that Vatican II’s teaching on religious liberty “is a very, very limited one: very limited!” although Vatican II itself says that religious liberty is entirely unlimited as long as society does not erupt in violence.[10]

For anyone who wants additional concrete evidence of Bishop Fellay’s liberalism, click on the “Society of St. Pius X” tab, subtab “Bishop Fellay”, found at this link: https://catholiccandle.neocities.org/#gsc.tab=0

McFarland’s third assertion:

3.    Perhaps the worst of McFarland’s nonsense however, is his attempted smearing of the Resistance as schismatic or sedevacantist.  He says, “In regards to thinking [sic], in 2012 Bishop Williamson condemned what he styled the SSPX’s wishing to put itself under the authority of the pope.  But if Bishop Williamson does not accept the authority of the pope, then His Excellency and those of his followers who agree with him look to be schismatics” (emphasis added).  

We emphasize those parts of that remark which show how McFarland grossly misrepresents and over-simplifies the true position of Resistance Catholics; and he does this not once, but twice.  McFarland implies that Bp. Williamson (and Resistance Catholics) have since 2012 wrongly condemned the SSPX for putting itself “under the authority of the pope”.  That is, he implies that Resistance Catholics think that Catholics should reject the pope’s authority outright, simply speaking.  If the situation were really as simple as McFarland paints it, then yes – Bp. Williamson and others who hold that view would indeed have committed the mortal sin of schism (as today’s avowed sedevacantists indeed have).  Such however, is not the case. 

McFarland (knowingly or unknowingly) ignores critical distinctions which separate true Traditional Catholics from men like himself, as well as those outside the Church (sedevacantists and other schismatics).[11]   The truly Traditional Catholic attitude has always been to both acknowledge the authority of the pope as the supreme head of the Catholic Church, and to protect oneself and one’s loved ones by refusing to obey sinful commands from that superior (that is, those commands that are against Faith and Morals).  This is true obedience and this principle applies whether the superior is ecclesiastical, political, or familial.   

But it is true that in the last 50 years, almost every command from conciliar church authorities has posed a serious danger to faith and morals, and thus, Catholics in practice refuse to obey almost everything their superiors command.  Yet those same Catholics know the men issuing these evil commands continue to be their superiors.   

It is precisely this attitude of true filial obedience coupled with caution and prudence that sedevacantists (on the one hand) and liberals like John McFarland (on the other) lack.  But this very balancing act is what Archbishop Lefebvre understood and “walked” every day.  It is true that in the earlier days (1970s) he was not yet certain of what Modernist Rome’s intentions were, and wanted to give them the benefit of the doubt.  But after the mid-1980s, he became completely convinced that Modernist Rome had no other intention but to destroy Catholic Tradition.   

Bishop Williamson (despite his own serious liberalism on various matters)[12] clearly understands all of the above distinctions, as he has repeatedly, clearly, and publicly shown.  Yet McFarland, who implies he has engaged many times in serious polemics with the Resistance, as well as having spoken with Bp. Williamson, mentions none of this.

Conclusion:  The N-SSPX continues to print poison such as McFarland’s article so as to continue to corrupt its readers as well as faithful Traditional Catholics everywhere.  Not only is the N-SSPX no longer Traditional Catholic, but also it works directly AGAINST Catholic Tradition by misrepresenting, smearing, and silencing those who try to sound the alarm concerning its own liberalism.

Catholic Candle note regarding why we occasionally analyze the statements of the liberal N-SSPX. 

Someone could wonder:

Why does Catholic Candle mention the SSPX any longer?  That group is unimportant because it is merely one of very many compromise groups. 

It is true that a compromise priest (or group) is of small importance insofar as he (or the group) is merely one of countless compromisers harming the human element of the Catholic Church.  By contrast, an uncompromising priest is of great importance, even though he is only one.

However, we sometimes mention the “new” SSPX for at least four reasons, motivated by Charity and Faith:

Ø  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 which the N-SSPX presents to their souls.

Ø  Some longtime Catholic Candle readers might “forget” the N-SSPX poison or they might vacillate in their resolution to stay away from the N-SSPX, if they were to never receive a fresh reminder which warns them about the danger of the N-SSPX.  This is like the fact that all it takes for most 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 which the N-SSPX poses to their souls.

Ø  The N-SSPX serves as an important case study for examining the effects of gradualism – which is the usual route by which people leave the truth.  Out of charity for ourselves we occasionally examine the N-SSPX’s gradualism so that we can be more familiar with this tactic of the devil and guard ourselves against it.

Ø  Over time, the N-SSPX has made countless, different liberal compromises.  By our studying all of those different compromises and errors – and by examining the opposing Catholic truth, we better fulfill our duty of continually studying the doctrines of our Faith and the opposing errors that we must fight.

The conciliar church (including the N-SSPX) ignores the role of sin and God’s wrath in their prayers relating to the coronavirus “pandemic”[1]

The Catholic Church has always known that plagues are a just punishment of God for sin.  More than anything else, during times of plague, the Church prays to appease God’s just wrath for our sins.

In the Traditional Votive Mass for the Deliverance from Death in Time of Pestilence, the Church makes the direct connection between the plague, God’s just wrath and our need to repent and to sin no more. 

For example, here is the Introit from this votive Mass:

Be mindful, O Lord, of Thy covenant and say to the destroying Angel: Now hold thy hand, and let not the land be made desolate, and destroy not every living soul.

Here are the words of the Collect:

O God, who willest not the death of the sinner but that he should repent: welcome with pardon Thy people’s return to Thee: and so long as they are faithful in Thy service, do Thou in Thy clemency withdraw the scourge of Thy wrath.

We see throughout history that the Catholic Church’s traditional focus during a plague is on atonement for sin because God sends a plague as a chastisement for sin.  This is evident from the Church’s response during each particular plague which has occurred.  For example, when the plague ravaged Rome, this is what Pope St. Gregory the Great did:

[T]he plague continued to rage at Rome with great violence; and, while the people waited for the emperor’s answer, St. Gregory took occasion from their calamities to exhort them to repentance.  Having made them a pathetic [very moving] sermon on that subject, he appointed a solemn litany, or procession, in seven companies, with a priest at the head of each, who were to march from different churches, and all to meet in that of St. Mary Major; singing Kyrie Eleison as they went along the streets.  During this procession there died in one hour’s time fourscore [i.e., eighty people] of those who assisted at it.  But St. Gregory did not forbear to exhort the people, and to pray till such time as the distemper ceased.[2]

But as [St.] Gregory was passing over the bridge of St. Peter’s, a heavenly vision consoled them [viz., the people] in the midst of their litanies.  The archangel Michael was seen over the tomb of Hadrian, sheathing his flaming sword in token that the pestilence was to cease.  [Saint] Gregory heard the angelic antiphon from heavenly voices – Regina Coeli, lætare, and added himself the concluding verse – Ora pro nobis Deum, alleluia.[3]

When the plague struck Milan, here is what St. Charles Borromeo did:

[T]he plague appeared in Milan.  [Saint] Charles was at Lodi, at the funeral of the bishop.  He at once returned, and inspired confidence in all.  He was convinced that the plague was sent as a chastisement for sin ….[4]

[H]e ordered public supplications to be made, and himself walked in the processions, with a rope round his neck, his feet bare and bleeding from the stones, and carrying a cross; and thus offering himself as a victim for the sins of the people, he endeavored to turn away the anger of God.[5]

There is no end to the other examples we could give of the Catholic Church’s focus on repentance for sin and appeasing God’s just anger – which is the cause of the plague.

In contrast to Catholic Tradition, the conciliar church ignores the role of sin and God’s wrath and focuses on our receiving comfort and relief from being afflicted by the plague

Pope Francis and the conciliar church deny that the coronavirus is a chastisement from God for sin[6] but instead insist that it is only the result of our failing to care for the environment.[7] 

Thus, in the text of the new, recently-published novus ordo “Mass in Time of Pandemic”, there is no mention of appeasing God’s wrath or His chastising us for our sins.  Instead, this new conciliar votive “mass” asks for comfort, strength for healthcare workers, etc.  Here is the new conciliar Collect:

Almighty and eternal God, our refuge in every danger, to whom we turn in our distress; in faith we pray look with compassion on the afflicted, grant eternal rest to the dead, comfort to mourners, healing to the sick, peace to the dying, strength to healthcare workers, wisdom to our leaders and the courage to reach out to all in love, so that together we may give glory to your holy name. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God forever and ever.[8]

The only mention of sin in the conciliar “Mass in Time of Pandemic” is a reference to asking God to keeping people safe, free from sin.  This is the opposite of the traditional focus which acknowledges that we have sinned.  Here is this novus ordo “prayer over the people” from this votive “mass”:

O God, protector of all who hope in you, bless your people, keep them safe, defend them, prepare them, that, free from sin and safe from the enemy, they may persevere always in your love.[9]

The “new”, liberal SSPX follows the conciliar church’s lead, praying only for comfort and relief from the pandemic

The N-SSPX takes its cues from the conciliar church.  As the modernists in Rome jumped on the corona-bandwagon with the newly-published, conciliar “Mass in Time of Pandemic”, likewise the N-SSPX published a booklet proposing a “spiritual crusade in response to the COVID-19 pandemic”.[10]

The N-SSPX booklet proposes that we say the rosary and love Our Lady for sixteen weeks.  (We suppose that the SSPX does not intend the obvious implication that praying the rosary and loving Our Lady be limited to this period.)  Here is the booklet’s proposal:

Together, we want to undertake something special, to change this time of containment into a spiritual remedy.  Let us ensure that the health crisis that menaces our bodies develops into a triumph of faith, hope and charity that refines and vivifies our souls internalizing what is now still too superficial.  So we turn again to the Rosary!  For 16 weeks, we will give our love to Our Lady: from the Sunday of the Good Shepherd until August 15^th.[11]

Just like the conciliar church’s votive “mass”, the only N-SSPX COVID-19 prayer intentions during this rosary crusade are for relief from the sickness.  Here are the two N-SSPX pandemic intentions quoted in full:

1.    To implore the Blessed Virgin Mary for relief from the Coronavirus pandemic.

2.    To ask Our Lord to grant mercy to those souls afflicted by the virus, including protection for medical personnel and other first responders.[12]

Unlike Catholic Tradition, but exactly like the conciliar church, the liberal SSPX makes no mention of praying to appease God’s just wrath for our sins.

Conclusion

From the above, one can clearly see that if he follows the N-SSPX or any other part of the conciliar church, he will gradually lose his Faith, just as people lost the Faith when they stayed in their local conciliar parishes in the late 1960s and afterwards.

Right before the beginning of the holy time of Passiontide, we received Fr. Yves le Roux’s raffle ticket promotion for a new 2020 Jaguar XE luxury car, offered in a SSPX’s fundraiser.  He included a cover letter with his glossy Jaguar promotion. 

Fr. le Roux apparently can’t see the irony of trying to get SSPX followers to desire a rich man’s luxury car, while he also warns (in his cover letter) about the dangers of worldly and sensual objects undermining our souls and creating “insatiable needs” which harm our souls.  Here is a shortened version of Fr. le Roux’s words from his cover letter, followed by the words in his enclosed Jaguar promotion:

The constant search for his [viz., man’s] satisfactions, conscious or not, undermines man.  The inclination of his senses to enjoy their pleasing objects immediately exerts upon man a true tyranny.  …  Penance is a remedy.  It dries up the source of the insatiable needs that man himself has created and imposes a calming remedy that allows him to turn towards higher things and thus to leave the infernal decline into which he was sinking.  …  [Jaguar promotion:] Support us.  Win a 2020 Jaguar XE.[1] 

Despite some pious words, Fr. le Roux is blinded by the “true tyranny” of “pleasing objects” (to use his own words).  He cannot see that he is promoting this very same “tyranny” in his followers. 

As greatly as Fr. le Roux (and the SSPX) are harming the soul of the person who will actually win that rich man’s car, Fr. le Roux also does tremendous harm to all of his followers by promoting worldly desires in them.  (Fr. le Roux wants them all to strongly desire that luxury car so that they will buy many raffle tickets.)

Fr. le Roux’s example is the opposite of Our Lord Jesus Christ, Who teaches us to:

Be not solicitous therefore, saying, what shall we eat: or what shall we drink, or wherewith shall we be clothed?  For after all these things do the heathens seek.  For your Father knoweth that you have need of all these things.  Seek ye therefore first the kingdom of God, and His justice, and all these things shall be added unto you.

St. Matthew’s Gospel, 6:31-33.

St. Thomas Aquinas, greatest Doctor of the Catholic Church, approves of and quotes the teaching of the Venerable Bede, Doctor of the Church, who especially warns priests to avoid that worldly focus we see in the “new”, liberal SSPX.  Here are St. Bede’s words:

For such should be the preacher’s trust in God, that, though he takes no thought for supplying his own wants in this present world, yet he should feel most certain that these will not be left unsatisfied, lest whilst his mind is taken up with temporal things, he should provide less of eternal things to others.[2]

Likewise, St. Thomas Aquinas approves of and quotes the teaching of Pope St. Gregory the Great, Doctor of the Church, who warns priests about the evil of being money-focused.  Here are his words:

For the preacher (of the Gospel) ought to have such trust in God, that although he has provided not for the expenses of this present life, he should still be most certainly convinced that these will not fail him; lest while his mind is engaged in his temporal things, he should be less careful for the spiritual things of others.[3]

By Fr. le Roux hawking Jaguar raffle tickets, he certainly focuses on temporal concerns, against the warnings given by Our Lord and the Doctors of the Church.

It might be that Fr. le Roux thinks he has “no choice” but to regularly ask for money because otherwise his followers would not give it.  But he should compare his money-focus to the instruction given to priests in St. Thomas Aquinas’s work on St. Luke’s Gospel:

However small in amount and vile is the food that you are given, ask for nothing more.”[4]

Conclusion                                                    

Truly, Fr. le Roux and the N-SSPX are the blind leading the blind.  As Our Lord warns us, they all fall into the pit. 

Above, blind Fr. le Roux incoherently warns about desiring the type of luxury goods that he wants his followers to desire.  As he tells us, these desires cause a man to sink further down the infernal path.

More than at any other time of year, Passiontide is a time for a higher focus than Fr. le Roux’s!

Let us continue to pity and pray for Fr. le Roux and his worldly SSPX!

On March 23, 2020, the “new”, liberal SSPX reported that Pope Francis has called for Catholics to jointly pray with non-Catholics.  Below, are the words of the N-SSPX’s report (typos in the original report), describing the pope’s ecumenical call to prayer:

A Call to United [sic] in Prayer

Pope Francis also took the occasion of his Angelus message to invite “the heads of the churches[1] and the leaders of all the Christian[2] communities, together with all Christians of the various confessions, to invoke the Almighty, the All Powerful God, by reciting contemporaneously the prayer that Our Lord Jesus has taught us.”  The Pope continued:

I therefore invite everyone to recite the Our Father at midday [noon Rome time] on March 25 next, on the day when many Christians recall the annunciation to the Virgin Mary of the Incarnation of the Word, so that the Lord may listen to the unanimous prayer of all his [sic] disciples that are preparing to celebrate the victory of the Risen Christ.[3]

In the N-SSPX’s report, the “new” SSPX encouraged its followers to join in the pope’s prayer with the heretical and schismatic groups.  Here are the N-SSPX’s words encouraging participation:

Pope Francis called on the world to unite in prayer to end the COVID-19 (“Coronavirus”) pandemic and stated he will offer an extraordinary blessing.

Those faithful who attend chapels administered by the United States District of the Society of Saint Pius X (SSPX) are encouraged to unite themselves in prayer with the Pope.[4]

By encouraging its followers to join in this prayer with the false (anti-Catholic) religions, the N-SSPX is promoting the conciliar church’s false ecumenism.  As Vatican II says: “[I]t is allowable, indeed desirable, that Catholics join in prayer with their separated brethren.”  Unitatis Redintegratio, §8.

The N-SSPX’s ecumenism contradicts Catholic Tradition and is a mortal sin.  The Catholic Church “has constantly forbidden Her children to hold any communication, in religious matters, with those who are separated from her communion”.[5]

From very ancient times, the Church has forbidden joining with heretics to pray: “If any bishop, or priest, or deacon, shall join in prayers with heretics, let him be suspended from communion”.[6]

Further, the Council of Laodicea decreed: “No one shall pray in common with heretics or schismatics”.  Council of Laodicea, Canon 33.

A reader might wrongly suppose that the only problem with joining the heretics or schismatics in prayer is that the wording of the prayers themselves might be heretical.  But the Catholic Church has always forbidden joining with heretics and schismatics in prayer even if the words of the prayer are good in themselves, such as the psalms.  Here are the words of Bishop Hay, teaching us about the Council of Carthage’s declaration which forbids Catholics to pray even the psalms with heretics:

[I]n one of Her [viz., the Catholic Church’s] most respected councils, held in the year 398, at which the great St. Augustine was present, She speaks thus:

None must either pray or sing psalms with heretics; and whosoever shall communicate with those who are cut off from the communion of the Church, whether clergyman or laic [i.e., layman], let him be excommunicated ….[7]

The Catholic Church’s constant prohibition against praying with heretics and schismatics makes perfect sense because those outside the Church maintain the posture of being enemies of God.[8]  It would be complete stupidity (as well as a great scandal) to join with God’s enemies to attempt to be heard by Him.  For “God doth not hear sinners: but if a man be a server of God, and doth His will, him He heareth.”  St. John’s Gospel, 9:31.[9]

Conclusion

The “new” SSPX has joined the conciliar church.  Whereas Archbishop Lefebvre rightly condemned the ecumenical joint prayer initiatives of the conciliar church, (e.g., at Assisi), the N-SSPX encourages its followers to pray with the heretics and schismatics, along with Pope Francis.

In an article about a cathedral in Spain which had been a mosque until the year 1236 A.D., the “new” SSPX says that this cathedral has had “Catholic worship … exclusively and uninterruptedly” ever since the year 1236.  Here are the N-SSPX’s words:

This ancient church, built in 584 in honor of the martyr St. Vincent of Saragossa, had been transformed into a mosque during the Arab occupation, but was re-consecrated as a cathedral in 1236.  Since that date, Catholic worship has been exclusively and uninterruptedly celebrated in it.[1]

In this way, the N-SSPX indicates that the new mass is “Catholic worship”, since the new mass is said there – as shown in photographic evidence.[2]

Notice also that the N-SSPX refers to the Mass using the term “worship”.  Although the (Traditional) Mass is worship, the term “worship” is more general than the term “Mass” and is the term used by the conciliar church and by protestants to name what they do at church.  “Worship” is a more ecumenical term because it appears to include the “prayer services” of the protestants, which are certainly not the Mass.  The N-SSPX’s transition into the conciliar church becomes smoother by adopting the conciliar manner of speaking.