Cardinal Fernandez

The Society of St Pius X has issued a forceful public response to Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández’s warning that planned episcopal consecrations without papal approval would constitute “a schismatic act”, arguing that the Society is acting out of necessity for the “salvation of souls” The Society of St Pius X has issued a forceful response to Cardinal Fernández’s warning that planned episcopal consecrations without papal approval would constitute “a schismatic act”, arguing that the Society is acting out of necessity for the “salvation of souls” and therefore incurs no automatic excommunication under canon law. The response was published on 15 May by the Society’s official in-house news service, through Fr Jean-Michel Gleize, the French professor at the seminary at Écône who took part in doctrinal discussions with Rome between 2009 and 2011. The intervention follows a statement issued two days earlier by Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, who warned that the episcopal consecrations announced by the SSPX “do not have the corresponding pontifical mandate”. Cardinal Fernández said: “This gesture will constitute ‘a schismatic act’ (John Paul II, Ecclesia Dei, n. 3), and ‘formal adherence to the schism constitutes a grave offense against God and entails the excommunication established by Church law’.” The cardinal added that the Holy Father was praying that the Society’s leaders would “retrace their steps regarding the very serious decision they have taken”. Fr Gleize’s reply interpreted the Vatican declaration as confirmation that Pope Leo XIV will refuse to grant authorisation for the consecrations expected to take place on July 1. “The novelty that appears in this declaration from Rome,” Fr Gleize wrote, “is that the episcopal consecrations scheduled for July 1st will not be ‘accompanied by the corresponding papal mandate’. Coming from a Prefect of a Vatican dicastery, this remark is quite clearly an attempt to convey to the Society that Pope Leo XIV will refuse to authorise the consecrations.” Fr Gleize based much of his argument on Canons 1323 and 1324 of the 1983 Code of Canon Law, maintaining that a person acting out of necessity, or under the sincere belief that such necessity exists, is not subject to automatic penalties. Quoting canon law directly, Fr Gleize argued that a person who violates a law “out of necessity, or to avoid serious harm, is not punishable by any penalty”, provided the act is not “intrinsically evil or causes harm to souls”. He further contended that even if Church authorities judged the act objectively wrong, “the penalty of latae sententiae is not incurred” where the accused acted in good faith under a perceived necessity. “In other words,” Fr Gleize wrote, “even if one admits that there is no real necessity to justify the act, the mere fact that the perpetrator committed the act driven by what he believed to be a real necessity is sufficient to excuse him from the crime.” The SSPX professor insisted that the Society’s intention remained the good of the Church rather than rebellion against papal authority. “This is why it disregards this application of ecclesiastical law that would accuse it of a crime and impose the corresponding penalty,” Fr Gleize stated. “Why? Simply because ecclesiastical law cannot be applied to the detriment of the salvation of souls.” Fr Gleize added: “In all reality, there is no wrongdoing, no schism on the part of the Fraternity. But only the same zeal which remains unchanged, even if it takes on paradoxical forms in the eyes of the world, for the glory of God and the salvation of souls.” The response concluded with an unusually confrontational passage directed at senior churchmen associated with more progressive currents in the Church. “Excommunicated? But by whom?” Fr Gleize asked. “By those who receive the blessing of a schismatic woman, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Sarah Mullally? By those who authorise the blessing of Fiducia Supplicans? And who kneel before Pachamama?” Cardinal Fernández’s statement had drawn immediate comparisons with events preceding the 1988 consecrations carried out by Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre at Écône without papal mandate. Shortly before those consecrations, Cardinal Bernardin Gantin, then prefect of the Congregation for Bishops, issued a formal canonical warning to Archbishop Lefebvre declaring that such an act would incur automatic excommunication. “Since on June 15, 1988 you stated that you intended to ordain four priests to the episcopate without having obtained the mandate of the Supreme Pontiff,” Cardinal Gantin wrote, “I myself convey to you this public canonical warning.” His Eminence added: “If you should carry out your intention as stated above, you yourself and also the bishops ordained by you shall incur ipso facto excommunication latae sententiae reserved to the Apostolic See.” Archbishop Lefebvre nevertheless proceeded with the consecrations on June 30, 1988, leading Pope St John Paul II to issue the motu proprio Ecclesia Dei, which described the act as schismatic. The SSPX has long disputed that interpretation, insisting that Archbishop Lefebvre acted in a state of necessity amid what the Society viewed as a profound doctrinal and liturgical crisis in the Church following the Second Vatican Council. The latest public exchange between Cardinal Fernández and Fr Gleize now appears to indicate that tensions between Rome and the Society are entering a new and potentially decisive phase ahead of the proposed July consecrations. Photo credit: Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith

Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, Prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, has released a statement warning that planned episcopal consecrations by the Society of St Pius X risk constituting “a schismatic act” Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández has warned that the Society of St Pius X risks committing “a schismatic act” through episcopal consecrations without papal approval, in the first public intervention since the meeting with the SSPX on 12 February. In a statement released by the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith on 13 May, the prefect said the planned SSPX episcopal ordinations “do not have the corresponding pontifical mandate” and reiterated the penalties attached under canon law to such an action. “The episcopal ordinations announced by the Priestly Society of Saint Pius X do not have the corresponding pontifical mandate,” Cardinal Fernández said. “This gesture will constitute ‘a schismatic act’ (John Paul II, Ecclesia Dei , n. 3), and ‘formal adherence to the schism constitutes a grave offense against God and entails the excommunication established by Church law’ ( ibid ., 5c; cf. Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts, Explanatory Note , 24 August 1996).” The statement concluded: “The Holy Father continues in his prayers to ask the Holy Spirit to enlighten the leaders of the Priestly Society of Saint Pius X so that they retrace their steps regarding the very serious decision they have taken.” The intervention followed reports earlier on Wednesday morning by Vatican correspondent Nico Spuntoni in the Italian newspaper Il Giornale that the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith was preparing a text concerning the Society and the limits of its relationship with Rome. While no formal canonical decree has yet been issued, Cardinal Fernández’s statement closely resembles the warning sent to Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre shortly before the episcopal consecrations at Écône in 1988. On 17 June 1988, Cardinal Bernardin Gantin, prefect of the Congregation for Bishops, issued a public canonical warning to Lefebvre after the French archbishop announced that he intended to consecrate four bishops without pontifical mandate. “Since on June 15, 1988 you stated that you intended to ordain four priests to the episcopate without having obtained the mandate of the Supreme Pontiff as required by Canon 1013 of the 1983 Code of Canon Law, I myself convey to you this public canonical warning,” Cardinal Gantin wrote. His Eminence continued: “If you should carry out your intention as stated above, you yourself and also the bishops ordained by you shall incur ipso facto excommunication latae sententiae reserved to the Apostolic See in accordance with Canon 1382.” The letter concluded with a direct appeal to Lefebvre “in the name of Jesus Christ” to reconsider what it described as a grave act against the unity of the Church. Furthermore, the statement’s citation of a 1996 explanatory note issued by the Pontifical Council for the Interpretation of Legislative Texts recalls one of the strongest Vatican texts ever published on the canonical status of the SSPX. The 1996 document stated that the 1988 consecrations represented “the consummation of a progressive global situation of a schismatic character” and said that “the whole Lefebvrian movement is to be held schismatic”. It added: “As long as there are no changes which may lead to the re-establishment of this necessary communion, the whole Lefebvrian movement is to be held schismatic, in view of the existence of a formal declaration by the Supreme Authority on this matter.” The explanatory note also addressed Catholics attending SSPX chapels and clergy belonging to the Society. It distinguished between occasional attendance at SSPX liturgies and what it called “formal adherence to the schism”. According to the document, such adherence involved “a free and informed agreement with the substance of the schism” together with an external manifestation of separation from ecclesial communion. The text said that in the case of SSPX priests and deacons “there seems no doubt that their ministerial activity in the ambit of the schismatic movement is a more than evident sign” of formal adherence. The SSPX was founded in 1970 by Archbishop Lefebvre, a former superior general of the Holy Ghost Fathers and one of the leading conservative critics of Vatican II. Tensions between the Society and Rome escalated throughout the 1970s and 1980s over liturgical reform, ecumenism, collegiality and religious liberty. The crisis culminated on 30 June 1988 when Lefebvre consecrated four bishops at Écône without papal approval. The Holy See responded by declaring that Lefebvre, Bishop Antônio de Castro Mayer and the four newly consecrated bishops had incurred automatic excommunication. Two days after the consecrations, Pope St John Paul II issued the motu proprio Ecclesia Dei adflicta , describing the consecrations as “a schismatic act”. Relations improved significantly under Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI. In 2009 he lifted the excommunications of the four bishops as part of an attempt to facilitate reconciliation, though the Society’s canonical status remained unresolved. Pope Francis later granted SSPX priests faculties to validly hear confessions during the Year of Mercy, later extending the provision indefinitely. Local bishops were also authorised under certain conditions to delegate SSPX priests to witness marriages. Despite those concessions, doctrinal discussions between Rome and the Society have remained stalled for years, particularly over the interpretation of Vatican II and the authority of post-conciliar reforms. The Vatican statement issued on Wednesday is the first direct intervention from the doctrinal dicastery since the 12 February meeting with SSPX superior Fr Davide Pagliarani, which the dicastery described as “cordial and sincere”. The DDF reiterated that the ordination of bishops without a mandate from the Roman Pontiff would entail “a decisive rupture of ecclesial communion”, namely “a schism”, with “grave consequences for the Society as a whole”, the dicastery noted. For that reason, it proposed suspending the episcopal ordinations announced for 1 July 2026, which had been declared without papal approval. However, the SSPX rejected the proposal in a communiqué and decided to proceed with the episcopal consecrations.