![]() I also accept that as a lay person I do not have the authority to officially define the pope as a heretic. Whom you know as “Saint Nickolas”, a fat north-European-looking cartoon character, was actually a (modern-day) Turkish Catholic Cardinal who punched a heretical pope in the mouth. We have had heretical popes and anti-popes in the past. ![]() He seems to me to be a heretic, someone who spreads or allows anti-Christian teachings. Some like Ann Barnhardt, call Pope Francis an “anti-pope” or false Pope. Two of my favorite blogs are Father John Zuhlsdorf and Ann Barnhardt both excellent Catholic thinkers who got a lot right, but I believe they missed several key points, which I will try to address. When this happened, I immediately went to various Catholic blogs to understand what it all meant. “Pope” Francis’ motu proprio was titled Traditionis Custodes Latin for Guardians of Tradition. Motu proprio is Latin for “on one’s own initiative.” I.e., a letter where the Pope wants to change the current law of the Catholic Church. (The only point in their favour is that they don’t stage grisly ‘folk Masses’ I nearly apostatised after attending one on Sunday.“Pope” Francis published a motu proprio on 16JUL2021. I prefer my incense without a whiff of Vichy. Personally I would rather they were out than in, especially the French lot. In practice, the SSPX enjoy not being full members of the post-Vatican II Church – which is why every time a big concession is made, such as the restoration of the old Latin liturgy, they move the goalposts. In theory, the ‘full communion’ to which Francis refers shouldn’t be beyond reach: Rome recognises the orders of SSPX clergy, which it doesn’t in the case of Anglicans. I seriously doubt whether many Lefebvrists recognise him as the real Pope. Many ordinary Catholics are worried by Francis’s apparent willingness to countenance a softening of the Church’s line on divorce and homosexuality. The traddie blogger Father Z has published a useful post on the subject here. He speculates that, just as it took the veteran anti-communist Richard Nixon to do a deal with China, so the liberal Francis could bring the SSPX back into the main body of the Church. If I go into any more detail I’ll just invite the usual bellyaching from commenters below asking why Spectator readers should be interested in ‘Roman Catholics’. It isn’t officially schismatic, but on the other hand Catholics aren’t supposed to attend its Masses or enter its confession boxes. This is very surprising news, though difficult to interpret because the precise status of the SSPX is not clear. In the meantime, motivated by the need to respond to the good of these faithful, through my own disposition, I establish that those who during the Holy Year of Mercy approach these priests of the Fraternity of St Pius X to celebrate the Sacrament of Reconciliation shall validly and licitly receive the absolution of their sins. ![]() ![]() I trust that in the near future solutions may be found to recover full communion with the priests and superiors of the Fraternity. From various quarters, several Brother Bishops have told me of their good faith and sacramental practice, combined however with an uneasy situation from the pastoral standpoint. This Jubilee Year of Mercy excludes no one. A final consideration concerns those faithful who for various reasons choose to attend churches officiated by priests of the Fraternity of St Pius X.
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