(LifeSiteNews) — SSPX Superior General Father Davide Pagliarani declared it a “false dilemma” to suggest the Society must choose between the “integral” Catholic faith and the Church, telling the faithful at its episcopal consecration Mass that the SSPX remains in the Church because it “professes the same faith.”
During his homily at the liturgy on Wednesday in Écône, Switzerland, Pagliarani addressed the “dilemma” some believe has been set before the traditionalist priestly society: “We choose the integral faith, but we are separating ourselves from the Church.”
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According to Pagliarani, who heads the SSPX, “that is a false dilemma.” He argues instead:
One belongs to the Church first and foremost through faith – through the integral profession of the faith, through the integral profession of the faith of the Church. Just as one belongs to a nation because one speaks the same language, shares the same identity and culture; just as one belongs to a family because one bears the same name and lives in the same house; so too one belongs to the Church because one professes the same faith.
Pagliarani noted the expressed desire of the SSPX to uphold “the faith of the Church in order to remain in the Church” and stressed that wilful separation from the Church for them “is therefore a false dilemma into which we cannot enter, because we cannot choose between faith and the Church – no one can.”
Additionally, Pagliarani noted that the Society is often “accused of not loving the Pope, of not respecting him.” However, the priest clarified the position of the SSPX that, on the contrary, “we love the Pope sincerely, as Vicar of Christ, as head of the Church,” such that they “no longer wish to see the Pope humiliated alongside false pastors, representatives of false religions.” Indeed, Pagliarani adds, “It is because we love the Vicar of Christ that we no longer want this humiliation for the Pope – a humiliation that falls upon the whole Church, which is treated on an equal footing with false religions.”
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Just 24 hours later, the Vatcan issued a decree of excommunication against the four newly created bishops of the Society and the two consecrating bishops, saying it had been automatically incurred as a result of what was described as a “schismatic act.”
An explanatory note, published by the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF) to supplement the excommunication document, further noted that all SSPX priests are “considered schismatic … resulting in them being subject to the excommunication provided for by law.”
“As regards the lay faithful,” the note continued, “those who formally adhere to the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Pius X under the conditions established in the Explanatory Note of the Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts of 1996 (cf. ibid. , 7), still in force, which this Dicastery adopts, are to be considered schismatic and excommunicated.”
The DDF, headed by Cardinal Victor Manuel Fernández, made a final note of caution, stating that henceforth, “the sacred ministers of the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Pius X are administering the sacraments illicitly and that the sacrament of penance administered by them and the marriage assisted by them are invalid.”
The SSPX has consistently maintained that their episcopal consecrations are necessary for the survival of its apostolic work and are justified, in part, by a “state of necessity” in the Church.
READ: Vatican Cardinal Fernández declares six SSPX bishops excommunicated