The Cardinal, the Curia, and the Corruption of Christ's Church

 This week the Society of Saint Pius X consecrated 4 new bishops for their movement; to ensure that the work they carry out will be able to continue for the foreseeable future.  In response, today the Vatican has announced that not only are the clergy who participated in the consecrations excommunicated, but likewise all the lay faithful who the SSPX ministers to as well.  In the decree of excommunication, Cardinal Victor Fernandez of the "dicastery for the doctrine of the Faith" declared the SSPX and all its adherents to be in schism.  

While Schism is indeed a major problem in the church and something to be avoided at all costs if indeed possible; there have been times throughout the history of the faith when schism has occurred, and have changed the church itself- sometimes for better and sometimes for worse.  The great schism between East and West when the Popes of Rome attempted to exert undue authority over the Byzantine church of the East, the Western Schism that prompted periods of time when there were multiple popes at one time, and the schisms caused by the Protestant reformation: to name a few.  Indeed, it can truthfully be pointed out based on these examples alone, that the Roman claims to papal supremacy and centrality lie at the very heart of most schisms that arise in the Roman/ Western church. But is Schism REALLY as grave an offense as the church in Rome declares it to be, or has it become simply an expression of the fact that a situation in the church has become intolerable and deadly for the soul?     Yes- intolerable and deadly for the soul.  

The SSPX's situation has been precarious for many years; desperately trying to maintain and hold onto the faith despite decades of all out assault and insult from the Roman overlords, who always demand obedience and obeisance before they will even begin to discuss theology or justice.  Yet the SSPX has maintained a relationship with the Vatican despite all that; and even Pope Francis himself, ever the liberal progressive churchman, expressed a desire for the SSPX to be treated as equals and full members of the Roman Church.  Yet, the decision, contrary to popular belief and claims; is not up to the pope.  The truth of the matter is that whether you are "in union with Peter" is determined by the Roman Curia: a group so obsessed with its own self-aggrandizing importance and power, that they claim to be the will of the Pope.  When the "Vatican" excommunicates, it is not the Pope who decides or carries out the decree, but the Curia.  So it is quite comical and dangerous for people to claim that SSPX has violated Papal will, when in plain fact it is the Curia who have made the demands of them which led to this present issue.

But why has the Curia and Cardinal Fernandez done this?   In plain fact, they are carrying out a tradition which began almost as soon as the SSPX was founded in the 1970's.  The Roman Curia has no intention of accepting any perceived challenge to or question of its power in the church; and they are envious of the wealth and property of the faithful in the SSPX.  The SSPX is an organization which is immensely vast, with countless faithful, chapels, religious houses, schools, care homes, charitable outreaches, and more: all of which the Curia has no power over.  Any time, in recent decades, that there have been organizations in the church which are financially independent of the main Roman structure; they have been suppressed and declared to be in Schism.  From this, we can judge that the main concern of the Curia is material wealth and power over the faithful; rather than any true question or concern over doctrine or holy obedience.  The Curia's demands to the SSPX have been based solely on a desire of the Roman authorities to exert full control over the society's property and finances; while masking the deed as being centered on "obedience".  Essentially, the Curia wants for the bishops of the society to die out, so that the properties and faithful can be taken over by the post-counciliar hierarchy, and the society disbanded.  

All the SSPX has asked of Rome over the years has simply been to allow them to continue to worship God in the manner of their forefathers; yet Rome demands obedience to the Curia (claiming to be the Pope) instead.  Truly, the SSPX has been place in a situation which is intolerable and deadly for the soul which seeks God with sincerity.  In the Gospel of Matthew, Christ says " what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone? Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent?"  Sadly, this is exactly what the Curia has done to the SSPX.   When they have asked for bread, they have been bludgeoned with demands for Obedience.  When they have asked for the love of their Holy Father, they are hit with demands for 'dialogue'.   When they have asked for bishops so that they may continue to receive sacraments, they have been called Schismatics and threatened with excommunication.   

Is it a good Father who threatens his children when they ask for help?   Is it a loving father who is so willing to cut his children off from their inheritance that he will not move heaven and earth to bring them back home?   Is it a Holy Father who feeds his children with insults and accusations, rather than the bread of Heaven?  

It is worthwhile to note that while Scripture demand obedience be shown to our Fathers; obedience to God and the truth is always first.  To put it plainly- if your father makes demands of you that will cause your death or illness, you have not only the right to refuse, you have the obligation to seek the preservation of (your) life.  No Father, temporal or spiritual; has the right or authority to demand a soul take action that will cause it either temporal or spiritual death.  In fact it is the Father who threatens his child who is judged as the offender in such a case, rather than the child being held liable for disobedience.  

It is plainly obvious that this present situation is caused not by the SSPX's presumed disobedience; but rather the Roman Curia's constant and historical quest for personal power and wealth.  The Curia is a monster which devours the faithful and spits out sincere souls, despoiled of their tithes and faith in the church.  If the Vatican sincerely wished for the SSPX to be 'regularized' (as they have claimed to want for years), there are extraordinarily simple ways in which it could be accomplished.   They could have given them the same rights and structure as the Greek Catholic Church, the Anglican Ordinariate, or even the Apostolic Administration of St. John Vianney.  Yet the Curia will not allow this, because they would rather get into a pissing match over property and money; instead of sincerely working to alleviate the suffering of Christian souls.  

Roman Canon law has always made provision for the consecration of Bishops without Papal Mandate; and indeed the notion that the mandate of the Pope as necessary PRIOR to the consecration of a bishop is in fact a very recent, modern concept.  At no point in the ministry of our Lord here on earth or in the writings of His Apostles in scripture did Christ demand that the faithful be obedient to Saint Peter or his presumed successors in office.  What has always been proclaimed was the centrality of obedience to the spirit of truth and of God; rather than the ever-passing and ever-changing demands of man.  That spirit which is found in the councils of the church, in which the church speaks with the fullness of her voice; rather than the temporal voice of one man in a scarlet cassock who denounces sacred truth and promotes universalism in salvation.  

From the perspective of one who has studied church history and canon law, the SSPX is not the one in error in this situation; but rather the Cardinals who claim to be speaking on behalf of the church.  

I have written before on the hypocrisy of the Roman hierarchy in being willing to accept bishops consecrated without papal mandate, even in very recent history; which only further serves to prove the point that the heart of this present so-called schism is the hubris of the Roman Curia, rather than Schism on the part of the SSPX.