Question 183 – What is the status of the Society of Pius X?

Interview Organization: Confraternity of Our Lady of Fatima
Interviewer Name: Christopher P. Wendt
Date: May 13, 2023
Bishop Athanasius Schneider clarifies that "schism" involves separating from the Pope. He asserts that Archbishop Lefebvre and the Society of Pius X sought Rome’s approval and prayed for the Pope, distinguishing them from sedevacantists. Schneider advocates for understanding and collaboration with the Society to defend the faith and liturgy.
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Transcript:

I think there are some confusions. What does "Schism" mean? Many people have different meanings. What do we mean by "Schism"? Even in the Church, the issue has not been clarified; therefore, we have to be careful in using this term.
Usually in Canon Law, [schism] is when a bishop or a faithful separates themselves from the unity of the Chair of Peter. However, neither Archbishop Lefebvre nor the Society of Pius X had the intention to separate themselves from Rome. On the contrary, they were always seeking Rome's approval. It was the intention of Archbishop Lefebvre until the very last moment; he asked the Holy Father, imploring him to humbly approve or grant his approval. This was his intention.

He did this not to establish a Parallel Church. "Schismatic" means a Parallel Church without any link to Rome. But Archbishop Lefebvre always instructed his priests to pray for the pope. Even now, they still pray for Pope Francis and the local bishop. This is very Catholic.

This is different from Sedevacantism. Sedevacantists do not pray for the pope; they refuse him and do not recognize him and the local bishop. This is a basic and essential difference between the Society of Pius X and the Sedevacantist groups. We have to keep this in mind; it is simply unjust and theologically incorrect to put them on the same level.

I repeat, the intention of Archbishop Lefebvre was to help the Church with his consecrating of Bishops, which he felt in his conscience was something that he needed to do even if he was disobedient to the pope's order. We have to distinguish that disobedience is not always schismatic, and we have to pay attention that it was really an emergency situation in the Church. Basically, it was the problem with the new Mass, with which Archbishop Lefebvre wanted to be sure that it would always preach the faith as it was taught before the council because, unfortunately, there are some (not so many) ambiguous affirmations of doctrine in the council and post-conciliar acts such as the Assisi meeting and the others. So, we have to pay attention to this extraordinary emergency situation in the Church.

Another aspect [to consider] is when Pope Benedict XVI formally lifted the excommunication of the four Bishops; as there was no automatic excommunication for their priesthood, they were only suspended but not excommunicated according to Church Law and the faithful. If they adhere to a schismatic intention, the priests and the faithful can also be guilty of schism, but we still have to prove this. There were no formal schismatic intentions in the bishops and priests in the Society of Pius X. They wanted to be with Rome. They visit Rome and attend talks. Therefore, Pope Francis sent four Bishops six years ago to visit them and to have talks in order to bring them closer to the realization of regularized canon aspects of this fraternity, the Society of Pius X. I was one of the bishops who visited them, with three other bishops. To my knowledge, all three visitors gave positive feedback to Pope Francis. After this report, Pope Francis gave the priests faculties of Confession.

Therefore, it would be contradicting; How can the Pope grant ordinary faculties of confession that imply a kind of jurisdiction to schismatic priests? How can the Pope grant the Archbishops to grant schismatic priests the faculty to assist canonically legitimate marriages, which is also an act of jurisdiction? Even Pope Francis, when he granted the possibility of assisting matrimony, also permitted that a priest from the Society of Pius X to witness canonical matrimony can celebrate after the nuptial mass legitimately.

It would be absurd if the Pope would say that these people are all participating in a schismatic wedding mass. We have to pay attention to all of these aspects. This is a special situation; I think we have to be more comprehensible and understanding of the reality of the Society of Pius X and to help them be more integrated, not to use a language that is offensive by labeling them as schismatics. Therefore, I would suggest that all good people in the Church should start to collaborate more with the Society of Pius X, which Pope Francis has already granted two faculties, and be together to defend the faith and the liturgy at all times.