The Importance of Consecrating New Bishops
Summary of Headings
Introduction
I'm sure everybody has already heard the news. The superior of the SSPX has announced that we're going to consecrate new bishops on July 1st. He chose the 40th anniversary of when Archbishop Lefebvre made that same announcement back in 1986 to do so. It is a remarkable and momentous situation. But one that's going to create a new world. And it's going to create an awful lot of turbulence. And so it's important for us to kind of put things into perspective and to try to understand exactly what is going on. And what it is that we are doing and why. So the first thing is when we consecrate a bishop, the normal process is that Rome would grant a mandate. For such and such a person to be consecrated bishop for such and such an apostolate. It comes from the Holy Father directly. Because the episcopacy is protected and guarded by the Pope. Unfortunately, in the circumstances we live in, we're not entirely guaranteed of, shall we say, his good intentions as regards the traditional covenant of bishops. We cannot guarantee that he would want what we do to continue. On the contrary, we have good reason to believe he would rather we died out. Just disappeared off the face of the earth. He's made it very clear that the traditional mass is not something he appreciates much. He has not defended it when bishops have attacked it. He has not defended the faithful when they have protested against the illicit orders of the bishops. He has nominated and selected and consecrated bishops who are... who are... well, to call them liberal is being very charitable. Very inappropriate for that selection. And so, considering this, the question now comes up, what do we do if we cannot receive the mandate? As I'm sure everyone has heard, on February 12th, this week, Father Pagliarani, our superior, has been called to Rome to speak to Cardinal Fernandez about this situation. Now, let's not make the... let's not have the idea that this is the first time Cardinal Fernandez is hearing about this. And so he decided, oh, well, let's negotiate before we get to this point. He was given multiple opportunities in the past and the negotiations have been ongoing and completely one -sided. So, shall we say, Father Pagliarani is going, but hope of a... any sort of an arrangement where a mandate can be granted from Rome, to be realistic, pretty much nil. And that's okay. Because there's sufficient precedence, especially in recent years, especially in the recent history of the Church, of the consecration of bishops without a mandate from Rome. Not willy -nilly, not just whenever we want, but in very specific circumstances. In China, during the... since the revolution of Mao Zedong, there has been a... constant persecution against the Church. There has been a so -called parallel communist Catholic Church that has been set up by the Chinese communists. And the Church has been actively persecuted. The Roman Catholic Church has been actively persecuted. And obviously, in the police state that they exist, they can't exactly have an open dialogue with Rome to be able to have candidates for bishops vetted, processed, nominated, etc. So rather, many times they would consecrate, a candidate as bishop, and then ask for forgiveness from Rome later on. And Rome has never had a problem with that situation. During the time of the Iron Curtain, also there were the consecration of bishops when there was no real contact with the Western world, without a mandate from Rome. Throughout the history of the Church, when there has been tremendous separation between the Church, shall we say, it would take three months to cross the Atlantic Ocean to be able to ask for forgiveness, and then ask Rome for permission to consecrate a bishop. And sometimes it was more urgent. It would be possible in that circumstance. It was recognized as possible to consecrate in those circumstances, and the like. Going back all the way to the Arian crisis. We don't have record that St. Athanasius himself consecrated a bishop, but there were others who were faithful to Catholicism and not heretics of the Arian persuasion, who did consecrate bishops. And of course, the most important and most obvious example that we have is in our own past. 1988, Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre consecrated four bishops against the command of John Paul II. When he first announced it in 1986, when he first announced that he was going to consecrate bishops, immediately Rome went into a panic, and the head of the congregation, the doctrine of the faith at that time, who was at the time Cardinal Ratzinger, reached out to him and set up a series of negotiations. It took longer than two years, and Archbishop Lefebvre realized they were just waiting for him to die. He was in his 80s. He was already ill. He had had one bout of stomach cancer. They were just waiting for him to die. This time, Rome doesn't have that possibility. We're too strong. We have two bishops. They're still fairly comparatively young. Seventy and sixty -eight is not young. But they're young enough. They're fulfilling their job. But it is too much. Back when Archbishop Lefebvre was asking for permission, he had stopped traveling the world. He was containing himself almost entirely to just Europe. He couldn't travel. He didn't travel to the U .S. or Argentina or Australia or Africa since 1986. And so he was very much restricted in what he was able to do by his age, by his health. And the rest of the world was, was without a bishop. Also in that aspect, we only had about 200 priests at the time. Now to put that in perspective, we're in a lot more countries. We're a lot bigger. We have more than 700 priests now. We have ten times the faithful easily. So the need for more bishops is very evident. Just as an example, the fact that Florida was able to divide into two sets of confirmations speaks a lot about the size of our apostolates. They had 76 confirmations up there. We had 51 down here. It's a lot. And that's just one bishop in two days. They travel constantly. They have four seminaries that they need to give ordinations to. They have a lot to do. But on top of that, Father Pagliarani pointed out that this isn't just simply a question of need, our need. We need more bishops for our ordinations, for our confirmations. There is also a need for why do we need bishops? Because the church needs bishops. The faithful need bishops. The bishops are supposed to be the ones who govern the church. Now our bishops do not hold any particular jurisdiction. They do not hold any certain governance, power of governance over the church. But they are supposed to be the ones who govern the church. They are needed to be a representative of Christ, especially in his voice and in his doctrine. The world has been steeped, full of the errors against the church of Christ. And so now we need bishops who are going to be able to fight against those errors. They are the ones who by special charism are given to speak with the full voice of Christ, more so than even a priest could. They are given a much broader jurisdiction over the souls, to be able to touch people more directly with the Holy Ghost than even a priest could. We need more of that influence. Our faithful need bishops. And more than our faithful, all the lost souls out there in the world need these bishops. When people argue against this move with canon law and with everything else, the last canon in the Code of Canon Law is Salus animarum lex suprema. The salvation of souls is the supreme law of the church. If it is for the salvation of souls, if we can prove clearly, and obviously we can, that this is for the salvation of souls, then it doesn't matter what the other laws say so much. It's not that we can ignore them or put them to one side for any reason. And we try to do things normally, which is why we've written to Rome and asked permission. But the fact of the matter is, if Rome says no, then because this is for the salvation of souls, we are absolutely in the clear as far as our conscience goes, as far as the law of the church goes, and as far as every other qualification goes. Period. Now, just like with 1988, this is going to create quite the firestorm. Indeed, it already has. Many attacks against traditionalism, against the Society of St. Pius X, against the Mass, against everybody and everything. Very recently, I read an article by a Jesuit who, in light of this announcement by Father Pagliarani, he explained, he broke down that there are only three reasons why people would still attend the Mass, the first one is nostalgia. You know, we miss the smells and bells. It was so much more beautiful. You know, remember the good old days. That kind of nostalgia. The second one is just out of pure rebelliousness. To go against the stream. The rest of the church is doing one thing, but by gum I want to be different, so I'm going to do something else. And the third is because of theological ignorance. That's how he broke down the reasons why somebody would attend this Mass. Now, first and foremost, that's horrendously insulting, but also very, very stupid. Because he completely misunderstands what the very purpose of this Mass is. And he did the usual explanation. I used to be an altar boy in the old Mass. I remember. He doesn't understand, and the vast majority of Catholics will not understand what it is that we are doing. It isn't just about the Mass. As Archbishop Lefebvre famously said, six -sevenths of an iceberg is under the ocean. That one bit that's above the ocean, that's the Mass. Everything else is underneath. Doctrine, morals, principles, everything else is down there. And that's the real core of everything. The Mass is the expression. It is the voice box. It is the perfect expression of all that is the doctrine, of the doctrine of the Church. Which is one of the reasons it's so important that we rally around it. The Mass is the public point of the rally cry. But it is not the only thing. We have to look beyond it. And by the way, that's the other announcement that I forgot. On February 28th, starting February 28th, Saturday of the month, I'm going to be holding classes on modernism, how we got to this place, the context of the crisis of the Church, Vatican II, New Mass versus Old Mass, all that stuff. So that's every fourth Saturday of the month, just so everybody knows, right after the Mass. Now that I got that out of my system, you can go back. Everybody's going to get this wrong because they do not understand what this means. And the problem is, and this is what I wrote in this article, is the Old Mass worth division in the Church? And the problem is, it has two answers because he doesn't understand the question he's asking. If he means what I think he means, or what he obviously means, then yes, it is worth that. It is worth fighting against everybody in the Church. Because it is the most perfect expression of the sacrifice of Christ. Unambiguously, completely. And if he's talking about that kind of material disunity, then yes. But, the fact of the matter is, because he doesn't understand the question and he doesn't understand the principle, it's actually the principle of unity itself. If we want real unity in the Church, this is it. This doctrine, this Mass, this altar. That is where true unity is going to come. This sacrifice. It is not going to come from anywhere else. And that is what we have to fight for. One of the things that was really wonderful to see about the Father Superior's letter, when he announced the and interview, when he announced the consecrations, was that explicitly he called out these pontificates. Because it is in reaction to the pontificates of the modern popes. And that is why, now of course, Archbishop Lefebvre fought against John XXIII, he fought against Paul VI, he fought against John Paul II. We've had to deal with Benedict XVI, because if anyone has any questions about why I call him out as part of this, you can talk to me afterwards. Actually, not afterwards. Next week with questions and answers. But also, he was not the friend of tradition that so many people seem to think he was. Also, of course, the disastrous pontificates, of Pope Francis and his very natural successor, Pope Leo. They're already calling us nasty names. Schismatics, heretics, rebels, whatever you want. Then the other side, the people who are already calling us hypocrites and all sorts of other names too. But that's the beauty of where Archbishop Lefebvre planted the flag. Is that it is in the middle. It is not an either extreme of refusing everything or accepting everything. It is not trying to make compromises with anything or anyone. It is simply trying to be Catholic in a chaotic, crisis -ridden world. But that means having to make very difficult choices. Each and every one of us are going to hear horrible things. So, as a result, what I'm going to ask of you is first and foremost to ask you don't invite more of that into your homes. Online, all the voices, all the rabble, just screaming about stuff like this Jesuit. I read it for professional reasons, no other reason, honestly. But if you can mute a lot of those voices that are going into this rage about this decision. It will do nothing good for you and you can do nothing good for them because they are not listening. They are not willing to listen. They are starting from entirely the wrong position and there is very little we can do to help them until they realize that point. Even family members are going to be scandalized and are going to walk away or are going to cause problems or are going to start fights. That you do have to put up with. But you also don't have to let them fight you. You can fight back. You can defend. You can ignore. You can tell them to back off. Whatever you need to do. But do not lose your peace of soul over this. This is a good thing. It's a great thing. It's one of the most important moments in the history of the world quite literally. But it also means that because it is that important that there is going to be a lot of fighting and a lot of battle and a lot of division. Just like the death of Peter. Just like the reformation, the counter reformation. With every good thing there is going to be division and problems and fights. The devil is not going to go down quietly. Not when he has such tremendous influence in the very heart of the church itself. It's necessary that this happen. But that means that we need to be fairly round. I've said it often before. This mass is not, and this doctrine and the Society of St. Pius X in general we do not exist simply to conquer Rome and restore everything back to where it needs to be. That's not our role. We are not the Pope. That is his role. Our role, when the ranks are breaking in a battle when the battle line is lost we take the standard we plant it and we stand our ground. That is all we do. We are not the salvation of the world or the church, but we are showing people where it is. That is all we can do. And we have to continue that fight. But in order to do so, people have to get ready to fight back. It is a battle. It is to fight. And let's not mistake this for a second. It is our very souls and the souls of everyone on this earth that are in the fray. We have to be willing to fight back. We need soldiers of Christ. Hence we need bishops for confirmation. We need priests to lead, to guide, to inspire, to encourage. We need the support of the faithful. That comes from having that courage to make the decision to stand wholly and entirely behind us regardless of what the world, the flesh, and the devil say. It is not an easy battle to fight, but it is a fight that must be waged. Each and every one of us must be willing to take up arms in defense of this mass. Each and every one of us must be ready to die for any article of the creed. Each and every one of us must be willing to give our lives wholly and entirely to the life of the church because she needs us and because she is our mother. As uncomfortable as that might be, as unpopular as that might be, as alienating as that might be, we must make sure that this is how we perceive it and how much we are willing to give for it. But it demands sacrifice. And so, if we want to learn about sacrifice, no better place to go than to the mass. Because by fighting this battle for the rights of God and of Christ, then we are also going to be willing to fight for whatever it takes to save our souls and we can enjoy eternal happiness in heaven. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.
Summary
The superior of the SSPX has announced that new bishops will be consecrated on July 1st, marking the 40th anniversary of Archbishop Lefebvre's similar announcement in 1986. This decision is significant and expected to create turbulence, necessitating a deeper understanding of the situation. Historically, there have been precedents for consecrating bishops without a mandate from Rome, especially in times of persecution or separation from the Vatican, such as in China and during the Iron Curtain era. These actions were often followed by seeking forgiveness from Rome. The need for more bishops is evident due to the growth of the SSPX and the increasing number of faithful. This move is seen as essential for the salvation of souls, aligning with the Church's supreme law, 'Salus animarum lex suprema.'