The SSPX is not a Catholic organization. The most important thing about being a Catholic, is to keep the Catholic Faith. We know that the Church is One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic.. All Catholics have one Faith and those who keep that Faith are Catholics, those who do not, are not Catholics. It is not whether or not you have a Mass to go to that makes you a Catholic. For example, in Japan, after Christian missionaries had been to the country and many became Catholic, after a while, there were no Priests in Japan for SEVERAL HUNDRED YEARS! This means no Mass and no confessions to a Priest. They only had baptism, because anyone can baptize, even a midwife. For example, the midwife or a family member will baptize babies when the newborn baby looks like it is going to die. But the Japanese also had the Sacrament of Marriage, because the Church teaches that if there is no priest, a couple can exchange their wedding vows in front of some witnesses, and they will be legally married, because this Sacrament is exchanged between the man and the woman, not BY the PRIEST. And they lived like this in Japan for hundreds of years. But they were still Catholics, because they kept the Catholic Faith. Why am I speaking to you about this example from Japan? To prove that other Christians have lived without the Mass before. It is not something unique, looking at Church history, that many are living without the possibility of attending a Mass.
I hope that you believe that the Novus Ordo (the Second Vatican Council "Church") are not Catholics. Why? Because they do not keep the Catholic Faith. For example, they believe that you can save your soul in any religion, like Islam or Protestantism. As long as you follow your own conscience, you will be saved. This is not the teachings of the Catholic Church. It has always taught that there IS NO SALVATION OUTSIDE the Catholic Church. If a Priest, or a Pope, teaches that you can be saved in other religions, they fall into HERESY and are no longer Catholics. There is a teaching of the Church called IPSO FACTO. It means that if you start accepting a heresy, like the false teaching that you can be saved outside the Catholic Church, or any other heresy, you automatically stop being Catholic. The normal procedure is that someone above you in the Church excommunicates heretics (they kick you out of the Church), but if the heresy is manifested (i.e. public) then you are kicked out of the Church automatically or IPSO FACTO. How? Because Gods' Divine Law kicks you out. This is what has happened to the "Pope" -and I like to call him the anti-pope. He does not believe in Catholic Teachings, and more importantly, he does not TEACH Catholic teachings publicly. And so everyone who knows Catholic teaching can see that he is not a Catholic. You do not become the Pope just because you get to wear the Papal hat.
Sedevacantists, like myself, say; okay, the Novus Ordo teaches that you can be saved in other religions (and many other heresies), therefore they are not keeping the Catholic Faith and they are not the Catholic Church/Catholic Religion. Therefore, I would have nothing more to do with them, than I would with Muslims or Protestants or Hindus. I will not listen to them about their religious believes (unless I am trying to convert them), pray together with them, celebrate Mass with them or believe that they can be saved in their religion. There is no pope at the moment, but the Church still exists as long as there are people who believe the teachings of the Catholic Church. I do not know how God will give us a new pope or when or if, but, just like the Catholics in Japan, I am just waiting and living my Catholic life. I accept that God has punished us for our sins by taking away the Pope and most of the priests for a while, and He will also fix the problem when the time is right. Maybe in my lifetime, maybe after I die. God can still save me by giving me perfect sorrow (contrition) for my sins when I confess them to him in my bedroom every night. Because God can do anything.
The SSPX has a different view. They say that having to live under the conditions that the Japanese did for such a long time is not possible, that there has to be priests available. They also think that there has to be a pope, we need the Mass, we have to have priests. It does not matter that the "pope" believes people can be saved in other religions and other heresies. Maybe he is just a bad pope.. So they actually believe that you can teach that there is salvation in other religions and still be a Catholic. And not only be a Catholic, but even Christ’s vicar on earth, the one person on earth who is supposed to protect and guide the Catholic believers, can teach whatever he wants and still be the pope… They don't believe that the "pope" can be kicked out of the Church automatically (ipso facto), even though it is a church teaching that it is possible.
And then there is another problem. If Ratzinger is the pope, then we also need to obey him. You know, do what he says and teaches. But the SSPX does not. They ordain their own bishops and priests, even though Ratzinger said NO! They celebrate their own Masses in stead of going to the New Mass or the Latin one that the Novus Ordo arranges from time to time. Some SSPX priests, maybe all, will pray "una cum" for Ratzinger during Mass. This means that they pray for and together with him as if he was the head of the Church. But at the same time they will not celebrate Mass with him or believe what he believes or teach what he teaches. Do you see a problem here? This is called SCHISM. You say that someone is Catholic but you will not be together with them in Church. And you will not obey their authority. In this way the SSPX has one leg in the Novus Ordo, and the other leg in tradition. But this is not Catholic teaching. You are not a little bit saved and a little bit not saved. A little bit Catholic and a little bit not Catholic. You are EITHER CATHOLIC or NOT CATHOLIC. And you have to choose sides, not join the Novus Ordo "just a little bit." If they are the Catholic Church, you go with them. If they are not, you stay away. There is only ONE FAITH in the Catholic Church. Anything else is no more than Protestantism, where you can pick and choose what to accept. The SSPX are therefore heretics, their priests are not obeying their "pope" (anti-pope), they are in schism with other people they believe to be Catholic, and they think that the Latin Mass is more important than keeping the Catholic Faith. Do you see the problem here?
If you ask a SSPX “priest” about his believes he will probably answer that "there is no salvation outside the Church". BUT, he will either define Church as both Catholics and those who are ignorant of the Catholic Faith, or he will say that there are also invisible members of the Church, but this is a novus ordo modern invention. In Tradition you do not have a visible and an invisible church. The Church has always been visible.
My hope is that people will have the strength and courage to look into this, so that they will not loose their souls. It is a very important topic. I also have some Church documents published on this blog, just look for the Latin titles.
One day the SSPX and their off shoot SSPX-MC will have to choose.
ReplyDeleteThey will either join the Novus Ordo or convert to Catholicism.
I will pray for them and their salvation.
Vatican Catholic.Com made a great video 'The Truth about SSPX,SSPX-MC,and similar groups'
ReplyDeleteIt reveals the unstable,untenable,and inconsistent R&R position.
The SSPX are apparently going to be incorporated into the Novus Ordo tomorrow.
ReplyDeleteIf you're sedevacantist stay away from SSPX chapels!!!