Pope john Paul II has met with voodoo priests (snake worship is one of their tenets) and was even blessed by one such minister in order to promote his ecumenical agenda. Pope JP2 even had words of praise for the voodoo religion and moreover never encouraged them to convert to Catholicism. In light of this, I highly doubt that a catholic should be excommunicated for converting to voodoism! Remember, the Holy Spirit can be found in all faiths!
Most, if not all, of Christian faiths anyway.
You bring up a good point. I don’t know for a fact that Argentine sources are worse or better than American sources, for example. It’s always good to get information from multiple sources if not multiple languages. That’s why we’re here, of course.
Well, not totally moot yet. I can think of people who regard their membership in the Catholic Church as an important part of their personal identity. An excommunication is a formal notice to them that their own actions or beliefs have brought them outside the Catholic Faith, and thus, the Church. Some people manage to section off their liturgical life, from their political life, from their moral life, from their theology, so that their lives no longer relate to each other. An excommunication may force them to reconsider things.
You bring up a good point. I don’t know for a fact that Argentine sources are worse or better than American sources, for example. It’s always good to get information from multiple sources if not multiple languages. That’s why we’re here, of course.
It was a point of a much larger issue. The Church is focusing on the non threat rather than dealing with the systemic issues that are attempting to destroy the Church from the inside. SSPX is just not where the focus should be.
— perhaps the comments were scrubbed by the cyberpolice! 
– hope I did that right …I think you are saying the greatest focus should be on those groups and movements that reject Catholic tradition and totally reject the living Magisterium. The Church should give highest priority to pulling them back to obedience and sanctity, and those that fail to return should be excommunicated (or rather, they should be informed that they have excommunicated themselves). I think the Church, especially when Pope Benedict was in charge of the CDF, and as Pope, did make a partial response. Progress is being made, though slower than you or I would like.
FWIW, I haven’t seen the statistics but I’ll bet something like 98% of those who attend the Latin Mass voted Republican.
I agree with you to a point. I’m not associated with the SSPX folks but have researched a little. They are a part of the Church, despite their irregular status. They do accept and teach the full Magistarium. They reject the errors of the Bishops/Cardinals that gutted the Church in the “spirit” of VII. From my perspective, they could of presented their position more tactfully and patiently. On the other hand, Pope Pius VI and his successors could have shown more respect for all things liturgical prior to 1970. These are human failings but no where have I read, nor heard heretical preaching or teaching.
I assume in your second paragraph you refer to the EF at diocesan approved Masses. If so, you are correct. Those Latin Mass communities often are “robust”, but keep in mind they benefit from being part of the larger Body. They benefit from the ministry of the bishop and other clergy in their diocese. Their “zeal” may come partly from the EF, but mostly from being called to conversion, and good works, by their local and global Church. They directly interact with and cooperate in diocesan and national ministries, especially prolife and religious liberty, in ways that isolated SSPX chapels do not. They contribute to and influence those diocesan ministries, which the SSPX does not.
I suspect it is the ownership of these chapels where there is hesitation to join Rome. The many benefactors see what is happening with parish closings and such that they would feel that the same would happen to them once they turn over their chapels to the local bishops. But I could be wrong and maybe doctrines are really behind the inability for the sides to join.
The existing Personal Prelature, Opus Dei, always had been fully in union with the Holy See, it already was respected by most dioceses, and still is; fully unified internally, and consistent over the last several decades. It fully accepts V2, and the current pope. It has lots of bishops, priests, and lay adherents with church appointed ministries. It does none of its apostolate in defiance of any local bishop - before, and after becoming a personal prelature. If they can’t work in conjunction with the local bishop, they go somewhere else. They have mostly cooperative relationships with diocesan priests and most (not all) religious orders.
Its traditionalist vs “modernist” in essence. Th SSPX were teed of that the vatican threw latin into the garbage bin, got rid of almost all dietary laws, proclaimed lenient ecumenism in their view to the point of being religiously pluralistic and indifferent, and changed the mass structure (priest facing people not alter, no gregorian chants). Now those things might seem minor to you because your so used to them but back in the 60s a lot of people were shocked by these changes. The SSPX formed from that sentiment.I have never in my nearly thirty years of being a convert to Catholicism understood the nature of this conflict between the SSPX and the Vatican.
catholictruthblog.com/2014/05/11/pope-francis-meets-bishop-fellay/
Doesn’t really imply tea, but then were I meeting anyone I don’t serve tea either.
One should also remember this:catholictruthblog.com/2014/05/11/pope-francis-meets-bishop-fellay/
Doesn’t really imply tea, but then were I meeting anyone I don’t serve tea either.
But then again I am a barbaric Yankee.