Rebuttal to Kennedy Hall`s pro-Apologia for the SSPX Part I: Status of the
Society and the Article ``SSPX Sympathizer``
Serviam Ministries has been serving the Catholic faithful
over the last several years in the Archdiocese of Toronto. Their conferences have
catered to all walks of faithful from regular parish-attending Catholics, to
Traditionalists, in the choice of keynote speakers in their conferences which
are held twice a year. The Serviam conferences` popularity and reputation has
grown so highly, they are promoted on parish websites and bulletins.
In addition, the ministry has branched out to the needs of
men with the Band of Christian Brothers (herein, BCB,) an arm of Serviam
Ministries of which I am part of the Facebook group, and have been privileged
to have attended, and volunteered once at, a conference for the Men's group.
Let me also disclose that Serviam's co-founder, Mr. David
Gilbert and I, share common interest in the Latin Mass/Extraordinary Form (EF)
of the Roman Rite, as he is an executive member of Una Voce Hamilton in that
diocese, and I have been serving at the altar of the Lord for certain offerings
in the Archdiocese of Toronto since October 2011. Mr. Gilbert and Serviam
Ministries have also been a great assistance or promoting organized offerings
of the Latin Mass, especially of my colleagues of St. Patrick's Gregorian Choir
in Toronto. Rest assured without them, there would not have been the 800+
bodies in attendance for the October 2016 offering of a Missa Solemnis/SolemnHigh Mass at the Cathedral of St. Michael in Toronto, with His Eminence ThomasCardinal Collins present on the altar and as homilist.
Almost one month ago, the Serviam Ministries blog posted two
blog post by Mr. Kennedy Hall, one of Serviam`s listed authors of blog
articles. Kennedy is a Catholic father and school teacher in a
Catholic/Separate school system (he does not identify which region's board,
likely to maintain his employment,) who is debating what to do about his son's
education in the faith, as he detests the approach the system takes in regard
to instructing students in the Catholic faith. In looking at educational
options, he has present to him a local academy run by the Society of St. Pius
X.
According to his first posting on Serviam Ministries,
Kennedy did his own "research" into the SSPX. He wrote an initial
post approved by Serviam Ministries on June 13th titled ``SSPX
Sympathizer.`` While Mr. Kennedy says in
the article: ".... This article is not meant to be a propaganda piece for
the SSPX, and in full disclosure, to this day I have still never been to a Mass
offered in one of their Chapels ...." (1) he devoted a full posting to
making a pro-apologia for the Society, rather than focusing on the differences
in education between the SSPX school system and the current Catholic system,
and why a father in the Catholic Church would consider the SSPX school as a
necessary option, which is why I clicked on the link to this article from the
BCB Facebook group in the first place.
Due to commentary on the Facebook postings in Serviam and
BCB's Facebook groups, Mr. Hall was then graciously allowed a follow up on June
22, whereby he states, ".... Once again, it is not my intention to be an
SSPX apologist on this blog. That said,
it is difficult for me to leave certain untruths unanswered when I am in a
position to do so. In full disclosure, my family and I have begun to attend an
SSPX Chapel, and I cannot see us going back to the Novus Ordo, unless necessity
requires for our Sunday Obligation." (2) Again Mr. Kennedy was given an
audience to address some comments from the Facebook group, but now reveals he
is becoming what is called an 'adherent' of the Society, which involves being a
frequent attendee of SSPX Masses, and also again issues a pro-apologia for the
SSPX.
Were Mr. Hall allowed one post, I would have written it off
as a gaffe, or a one-time guest post to simply state an alternative viewpoint
in the Catholic Church. However, between Mr. Kennedy's spiritually troubling
decision to now attend SSPX Masses with his family (and likely, will have his
children attend the charter school,) and my aforementioned background, I must
now address these postings, as well as the SSPX issue and the decision Kennedy
has made.
My motivations are for the sake of defending Traditionalism
from critics who use examples like the SSPX, bloggers, Mr. Kennedy`s articles,
etc. to shun the Latin Mass and/or Catholic Traditionalism, and attack ALL
traditionalists despite a vocal minority being extremists; for fellow Catholics
who are part of the Serviam Ministries and BCB Facebook (TM) groups, and/or
attend their conferences and can access this website; and finally to defend
Holy Mother Church and be subservient to Her.
While I will address what Mr. Kennedy got correct, other
matters will need to be addressed, such as clarifying points about the
situation of the SSPX and the statements of Mr Kennedy`s first article. In a
follow up posting, I will also address the second of Mr. Kennedy`s postings,
but also address the Sunday obligation issue and ``Crisis`` in the Church,
specifically addressing the SSPX`s warnings to avoid the Novus Ordo form of the
liturgy of the Roman Rite, as well as state my own reasoning also as a Catholic
Father of a child (and hopefully more in future) why I would NOT make a
decision such as Mr. Kennedy's as spiritual head of my household.
SITUATION OF THE SSPX RE: STATUS WITHIN THE CHURCH AND MASS ATTENDANCE
Mr. Kennedy is correct when he says that the "... They are not in full communion ... They don’t
have jurisdiction to offer mass publicly in a local diocese ... Their Masses
are valid, but not necessarily licit, and the Church has said they are not in
schism, yet regular attendance at their chapels can lead to a “schismatic”
attitude ...." (1) This is because their leader in 1988, Archbishop Marcel
Lefebvre, decided after a stalled period of requesting a bishop for the SSPX
from the Vatican under Pope John Paul II, to consecrate more bishops for the
Society in a ``crisis`` scenario. Part
of that crisis was Lefebvre’s failing health, with the fear that the Vatican
would not be able to deliver to the SSPX a bishop before his death.
This act, Lefebvre did, was a violation of the Church`s
governing law, Canon Law. This put the four, now three acting bishops in the
Society (as +Williamson was expelled in the last few years for anti-Semitic
propaganda,) as well as +Lefevbre in excommunication, and the Society made
``irregular.`` Because those bishops` priesthoods were valid as they were
ordained prior to the illicit consecrations, by a bishop who was of the same, any
priests they do ordain are valid priests, but since done out of disobedience to
Holy Mother Church`s Canon Law, and operating outside of bishops' jurisdiction,
the priests` Masses are illicit, though the Eucharist is consecrated, and any
sacrament done outside of the permission of the Church is null (e.g.
Confirmation.)
As for attendance at their Masses, at least Kennedy was
honest enough to say what is correct, in that regular attendance at the Masses
of the SSPX can lead to self-schism from Holy Mother Church. The Pontifical
Commision of Ecclesia Dei (PCED,) in a formal letter in 1995, seen here (3)
states as follows: ".... While it is true that the participation in the
Mass and sacraments at the chapels of the Society of St. Pius X does not of
itself constitute "formal adherence to the schism", such adherence
can come about over a period of time as one slowly imbibes a mentality which
separates itself from the magisterium of the Supreme Pontiff ...." While
the overall public presentation of the SSPX seems to be improving from a public
relations perspective, Rome (the Church) has NOT withdrawn or altered the
communication issued in 1995 from the PCED.
As for other sacraments offered by the SSPX, since the 1988
excommunications, the Holy Fathers Emeritus Benedict XVI and Francis I, have
granted the following permissions out of mercy for the current bishops and the
lay faithful, under the SSPX in this order: The removal of the excommunications
of +Fellay, +Galarreta, and +Tissier de Mallerais (+Williamson was included
too, but has since consecrated another bishop of his own, outside of the SSPX,
becoming excommunicated once again from the Church;) valid faculties to conduct
the sacrament of Reconciliation; validity of marriages in the SSPX chapels,
provided a) A diocesan priest officiated the marriage vows portion of the
liturgy, or b) Bishops of a diocese give ``carte blanche`` permission as the
Church`s ordinary judge and officers of its Canon Law, for SSPX priests to
officiate the wedding vow portion of the liturgy, or in the case of the EF, the
pre-Mass vows. The sacramental permissions Mr. Kennedy got right also.
However, Kennedy is wrong in regards to something I left out
above. Kennedy is wrong in saying the following: ``... they fully accept the
Holy Father and his authority." (1) This is incorrect on three different
fronts. The first is their general situation, and involves the Mark of the
Church being "Apostolic." By being outside the scope of the authority
of their local bishops, who are the Church`s ordinary guardians and teachers of
doctrine, dogma, and the laws of the Church in matters ecclesiastical, they at
least indirectly go against the mark of Apostolic Authority, as it is from the
head of the Church in Rome, under the Holy Father, the Supreme Vicar of Christ,
where the authority of the Church flows.
The second front, is that currently as of 2018, the SSPX
still promotes and has published public statements and/or media, that smacks of
Protestantism that defies the Holy Father, particularly Pope Francis. When
Francis was brought into the seat of the Pope, the SSPX, on their USA district
site (a frequent source of Kennedy's in the first post and his second,) accused
Pope Francis in 2013 of heresy in blatant accusations of Modernism. (4) To
start, how can they accuse the pope of Heresy when they have NO direct
spiritual authority in the Church? Furthermore, to accuse the Pope of heresy
violates Scripture in Matthew 16:18, whereby Christ will never allow the gates
of Hell to prevail in the Church, and that includes the Dogma of Infallibility
in faith and morals, proclaimed in the Vatican I council. The SSPX has NOT
repealed their accusations of modernism, including the 2013 article from their
website. For Kennedy to say they are in complete obedience to the Holy Father
and his authority is disingenuous at best, false at its worst.
The final front is by going against the Church’s/Pope’s
jurisdiction over governance of liturgical matters, particularly in the
debasement of the Novus Ordo Mass as an occasion of sin. This topic will be
explored in my second posting to come, alongside other matter.
Works
Cited:
1. Hall, Kennedy. "SSPX Sympathizer" Serviam
Ministries, 13 Jun 2018,
https://www.serviamministries.com/blog/sspx-sympathizer/. Accessed 23
June 2018.
2. Hall, Kennedy. "Response to Comments - Some Clarity
on the Society of St. Pius X" Serviam Ministries, 22 Jun 2018,
https://www.serviamministries.com/blog/response-to-comments-some-clarity-on-the-society-of-st-pius-x/.
Accessed 23 June 2018.
3. "Status of Society of St. Pius X Masses" EWTN.
29 Sept 1995, http://www.ewtn.com/library/curia/cedsspx.htm. Accessed 25 June
2018.
4. District of the Unites States of America. "Pope
Francis and Modernism." Society of St. Pius X, 1 November 2013,
https://sspx.org/en/news-events/news/pope-francis-and-modernism-2729.
Accessed 25 June 2018.
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