Does SSPX sponsor its own Respect Life ministry?

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I was thinking about this the other day and I wanted to ask the question, but did not know how to do so without offending anyone. My question is pretty straightforward. I have read a great deal about the SSPX and posts by those who are not members of the SSPX, but who subscribe to their point of view on the liturgy.

I have to admit that I do not know the SSPX from personal experience. I have met two priests who belong to the Society, but that was on an airplane. I asked them the same question, but I’m not sure that I really got an answer. So here it goes again.

Is the SSPX formally involved in the Church’s Respect Life ministry or have one of its own? My question comes from my observation, which can be wrong, that I see more discussion about the liturgy, ecumenism and the Vatican II documents on most Traditionalist sites and threads. I have never seen a strong Respect Life statement from the Society or those who are friendly toward it.

Again, I ask the question without any intent to be rude or pick on the Society. My feelings toward the SSPX have been described by His Holiness. I can’t find better words to say the same thing. My feelings toward the Extraordinary Form of the Latin Rite mass are very positive, though I have not been to one in many many years. Our religious community celebrates a very simple and reverent Ordinary Form of the Latin Rite mass.

This question stems from my own commitment to Respect Life ministry, because I belong to a religious community that has made Respect Life its primary ministry and am always looking to promote Respect Life ministry among Catholics and people of good will.

Thank you in advance for your responses. May God bless you always.

Fraternally,

Br. JR, OSF 🙂
 
While I am somewhat sympathetic to the SSPX, I do not know this. However, this is something I always wonder about. I know that traditional Catholics are very concerned with the liturgy, spirit of Vatican II, and things like this. However, it seems that sometimes they are less concerned with the option for the poor, respect for life, and bringing a society of peace.

I think that most traditional Catholics *are *concerned with these things, but they do not discuss them here because it doesn’t really have anything to do with traditional Catholicism or the EF in particular, but the entire mission of Jesus Christ and the Church.

Pax tecum.
 
My interest is in getting every Catholic involved in this fundamental moral issue. In the end, the form of the liturgy becomes a blind spot, if we are not one people in defense of the Gospel of Life. There are sins of commission and sins of ommission.

We can’t just struggle for liturgical reform without the struggle for the right to be born. The liturgy is Christ’s gift to the living. The struggle for life is fundamental to the celebration of the Eucharist.

It would seem that every Catholic movement should be visibly vocal on this issue. We need this, if we are to be truly Catholic. The sacrifice of Calvary convicts us to give our life for our unborn brothers and sisters too. I would like to see a “Traditionalist” statement and movement in partnership with Respect Life.

Fraternally,

Br. JR, OSF 🙂
 
I agree. What I am saying is that the SSPX members are probably just as concerned about being pro-life as any other Catholic. But it is not something that is just peculiar to their society, as say the traditional liturgy. Pro-life concerns are just as prevalent in any other parish. So you don’t hear about it as much when things come up relating to them.
 
I find the lack of response to this thread to be of great spiritual concern. A spiritual movement such as the SSPX must have its own Respect Life Ministry or promote the local Church’s Respect Life Ministry and participation in other Respect Life concerns and activities. No one has responded that they do.

To stand with Peter stands for something very profound. To stand with Peter means to stand for love of God and neighbor, especially the most vulnerable members of society, the unborn. The most profound of all mysteries is human life, which Christ gives up on the cross and recovers at the resurrection every time we celebrate the Eucharist. We cannot celebrate the Eucharist without an attachment to Respect Life Ministry. Such a celebration of the Eucharist is lacking something, not on the part of Christ, who gave his life that others would have eternal life, but on the part of the Catholic who does not unite his voice to the voice of Christ to proclaim the Gospel of Life.

Someone out there must know the answer to the question of OP. Please share. Thank you.

Fraternally,

Br. JR, OSF 🙂
 
This is sad.

You tell me. Have either one of you been spat upon or knocked to the ground while praying outside an abortion clinic ? I haven’t.

But if anyone who happens to read this thread wants to ask an SSPX priest who has, I’ll provide you a contact # so you can reach him and ask him what it feels like. :mad:

JR, I know you mean well, but really.
 
I_Believe said:
This is sad.

You tell me. Have either one of you been spat upon or knocked to the ground while praying outside an abortion clinic ? I haven’t.

But if anyone who happens to read this thread wants to ask an SSPX priest who has, I’ll provide you a contact # so you can reach him and ask him what it feels like. :mad:

JR, I know you mean well, but really.
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If you’re asking me the question. My answer comes back in the form of a question. Does being arrested twice count?

Thank you for recognizing the I mean well, because I do. Respect Life is the primary ministry of the Franciscans Brothers of Life. And I am very concerned about Respect Life Ministry. Our love for Christ in the Eucharist and in the universal Church is proven by our love for the most fundamental right of man, the right to be born and worship God on earth.

It’s good to see someone respond. I still have not gotten a response as to the Society having a ministry of its own or working with the ministry in the local dioceses where they find themselves. I’m hoping that the answer is affirmative.

Fraternally,

Br. JR, OSF 🙂
 
The SSPX does not, as a society of priests and religious, have an official Respect Life ministry. In all SSPX chapels that I have attended, there have been regular activities involving praying the rosary in front of abortion clinics and sponsoring a Mass of the Holy Innocents in D.C., especially around the anniversary of Roe vs Wade.

When you speak of the ‘SSPX’ sponsoring a ‘ministry’, you have to understand that the Society is an organization of Missionary Priests to whom the issue of abortion and/or the termination of human life is fundamental to the Roman Catholic faith and the Kingship of Christ. They do organize and participate in demonstrations (mostly prayer demonstrations) against all outrages and sins against the laws of Christ and those aimed at Him and His Blessed Mother, the termination of innocent human life being among the most heinous.

Most of the participation in the kind of activities associated with Respect Life are effected by the laity who assist at SSPX chapels via traditional chapel organizations like the Holy Name Society and the Legion of Mary. But the SSPX is not a parallel church with formal ministries dedicated to social and moral issues. Again, participation in these works are supported by the laity in traditional parish organizations. That said, folks who assist at an SSPX chapel will frequently join in with many diocesan activities such as Respect Life.
 
giuseppeTO said:
The SSPX does not, as a society of priests and religious, have an official Respect Life ministry. In all SSPX chapels that I have attended, there have been regular activities involving praying the rosary in front of abortion clinics and sponsoring a Mass of the Holy Innocents in D.C., especially around the anniversary of Roe vs Wade.

When you speak of the ‘SSPX’ sponsoring a ‘ministry’, you have to understand that the Society is an organization of Missionary Priests to whom the issue of abortion and/or the termination of human life is fundamental to the Roman Catholic faith and the Kingship of Christ. They do organize and participate in demonstrations (mostly prayer demonstrations) against all outrages and sins against the laws of Christ and those aimed at Him and His Blessed Mother, the termination of innocent human life being among the most heinous.

Most of the participation in the kind of activities associated with Respect Life are effected by the laity who assist at SSPX chapels via traditional chapel organizations like the Holy Name Society and the Legion of Mary. But the SSPX is not a parallel church with formal ministries dedicated to social and moral issues. Again, participation in these works are supported by the laity in traditional parish organizations. That said, folks who assist at an SSPX chapel will frequently join in with many diocesan activities such as Respect Life.
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Thanks for your response. That’s clearer. Now I have another question. In the SSPX chapels, are there Respect Life organizations as one would find in a parish or does the individual have to go back to his parish for that?

Thanks.

Br. JR, OSF 🙂
 
I would say that the majority of those that attend our SSPX chapel assist at Mass exclusively here as opposed to belonging to another parish in the diocese.

There are those that alternate between the single diocesan EF Mass on Sunday evening and the two SSPX Masses offered on Sunday morning, depending on the relative convenience/inconvenience of the Mass times and their particular situations. If they are looking for the EF on weekdays and/or Holy days, the only local option is the SSPX chapel with two Masses on weekdays and three choices on Holy Days.

That said, for Respect Life, the Holy Name Society (Men’s Group), Sodality (Women’s Group) or the Legion of Mary (Mixed Men, Women, and high schoolers) will arrange on a monthly or twice monthly basis to organize a rosary in front of an abortion clinic and hand out literature. If the diocese is having such an activity, they will choose to support that event in addition to others they are planning.

I guess the difference in many Traditional Chapels is that each parish organization considers Pro-Life activities to be part of their obligation to Christ and His Blessed Mother and you are less-likely to find an organization within the chapel specifically dedicated to Respect Life.
 
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