SSPX is threatening a break with Rome. They risk being left without bishops due to age and health reasons, yet the pope has not appointed new ones. Faced with evasive responses from the Vatican, the Fraternity—founded in 1970—announced that they will consecrate bishops without a pontifical mandate this July.
In practice, this act would amount to a schism: it is not an attack against the teachings of the Church, but against her unity—by refusing to obey, in grave matters, the authority of the pope.
This is what concerns Robert Cardinal Sarah. In a French journal, he states the following:
ROBERT CARDINAL SARAH
“I wish to express my grave concern and my deep sorrow (…). As Saint John Chrysostom says: ‘The unity of the Church, preserved by the Holy Spirit, is more precious than all the riches of this world'.”
As previous prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, the cardinal does not agree with the argument put forward by SSPX. They say they urgently need new bishops to ensure pastoral care for their faithful and for what they call a “guarantee of continuity.”
But cardinal Sarah says that this attitude endangers a greater good.
ROBERT CARDINAL SARAH
“Is it truly to seek the salvation of souls to tear apart the Mystical Body of Christ in a way that may be irreversible?”
He instead recommends obedience and patience. And he offers examples of Church figures who trustingly endured unjust situations—such as Padre Pio.
ROBERT CARDINAL SARAH
“I would like to recall that Pio of Pietrelcina was unjustly condemned during his lifetime by men of the Church. For twelve years, he was forbidden to hear confessions.”
The cardinal was the Vatican’s leading authority on Catholic liturgy—a major point of contention between Rome and SSPX, which rejects the Second Vatican Council and the Novus Ordo rite. Cardinal Sarah points out, however, that the Mass in the old rite reaches its fullness only when it is carried out in the spirit of, and in unity with, Vatican II.
