is SSPX confession valid?

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pennypen

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I heard on some radio broadcast that SSPX confession wasn’t valid! Is it now since Pope Benedict has been working with them? All the time I was in SSPX the SSPX priests claimed their confession was valid in the mainstream church as well as SSPX.
So any clues as to the official teaching on this?
 
pennypen said:
I heard on some radio broadcast that SSPX confession wasn’t valid! Is it now since Pope Benedict has been working with them? All the time I was in SSPX the SSPX priests claimed their confession was valid in the mainstream church as well as SSPX.
So any clues as to the official teaching on this?
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The Sacraments of Confession and Matrimony need the permission of the local ordinary (the Bishop) to be valid. So in most cases, SSPX ones aren’t valid.

The Vatican has been “working with” the SSPX for decades. The only thing that has changed recently is that the excommunication of four Bishops was lifted. Nothing else has changed.

IF (and this is a big if) the SSPX is brought back in communion with the Church, this issue will probably be addressed. I understand that when the Brazil group came back, the Vatican did not require marriages and Confessions to be redone. That makes sense because it is a matter of permission and the Church could give retroactive permission. But for now, no, they aren’t valid.
 
The Council of Trent says concerning the validity of the Sacrament of Confession:

“because the nature and character of a judgment requires that sentence be pronounced only on those who are subjects (of the judge) the Church of God has always held, and this Council affirms it to be most true, that the absolution which a priest pronounces upon one over whom he has not either ordinary or delegated jurisdiction, is of no effect” (Council of Trent, Sess. XIV, c. 7).

The priests of the SSPX have neither ordinary nor delegated jurisdiction. This has not changed with the lifting of the excommunications. Hence, IMO, one would rightly conclude that their confessions are invalid.

Yes, I know that the SSPX counters with detailed arguments about “supplied jurisdiction”. In the end, these argument seem a little forced to me and ultimately one must ask if he is willing to bet his immortal soul on the validity of such arguments. I’m not.
 
Well, a very simplified view from myself is this:

I could entrust my soul to the large percentage of New Order priests, who DO downplay the seriousness of sin. They DO downplay the very real possibility of ordinary people going to hell. I don’t have documentation on this - I have got this perception from stories from other people who go to confession, and also from the pulpit at New Order Mass’, and from personal interaction with such priests.

On the other hand, I can entrust that God would indeed grant a valid confession if you were to go to an SSPX priest, in good faith. At least I know for a fact, that I will never, ever hear heresy within the confessional from an SSPX priest, and I know I will always get good sound orthodox, Catholic, advice.
 
603304529 said:
Well, a very simplified view from myself is this:

I could entrust my soul to the large percentage of New Order priests, who DO downplay the seriousness of sin. They DO downplay the very real possibility of ordinary people going to hell. I don’t have documentation on this - I have got this perception from stories from other people who go to confession, and also from the pulpit at New Order Mass’, and from personal interaction with such priests.

On the other hand, I can entrust that God would indeed grant a valid confession if you were to go to an SSPX priest, in good faith. At least I know for a fact, that I will never, ever hear heresy within the confessional from an SSPX priest, and I know I will always get good sound orthodox, Catholic, advice.
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You could give the same argument as a justification for going to an Eastern Orthodox priest, or a Traditional Anglican priest. Where do you stop?

If someone lives in a small, isolated town, and their choice is between a liberal “New Order” Catholic Church and a conservative Baptist Church, why shouldn’t they go to the Baptist church, for the same reasons you’ve given above?
 
theistgal said:
You could give the same argument as a justification for going to an Eastern Orthodox priest, or a Traditional Anglican priest. Where do you stop?

If someone lives in a small, isolated town, and their choice is between a liberal “New Order” Catholic Church and a conservative Baptist Church, why shouldn’t they go to the Baptist church, for the same reasons you’ve given above?
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Well, the difference is that the Eastern Orthodox priest isn’t going to give you the whole Catholic truth either (let alone the Anglican, Lutheran, or Baptist who can’t give you any absolution at all.) However, just as with the SSPX, in the case of a genuine emergency the Eastern Orthodox priest could indeed give you valid absolution through supplied jurisdiction. If I was sent to the Gulag and needed to confess I would receive absolution from a Russian Orthodox priest in a heartbeat and not give another thought about its validity. Same with an SSPX priest if I truly had no other access to a priest with valid jurisdiction.

However, I think it’s not quite so simple here in the U.S. I grant that there are many diocesan priests who are not trustworthy confessors. But I think that in most places, it is still possible to find priests who are faithful to the teachings of the Church and who, therefore, will give both a valid absolution and sound (or at last not unsound) direction. You may have to go to some out of the way place where he’s been banished, but these priests usually exist even in the most liberal dioceses. And if there is an FSSP or ICRSS priest anywhere in the vicinity, that makes it all the easier. In these cases, I do not see how someone is justified in confessing to an SSPX priest.

As the saying goes, Ecclesia Suplet, the Church supplies. This is often pressed into service to justify going to an SSPX priest for confession. But I think that it can more readily be used to point out that, while it may be highly inconvenient, it is usually still possible at least in the United States to find a suitable confessor who will at least give you an undoubtedly valid absolution. I would be willing to endure the inconvenience rather than risk my soul on arguments about “supplied jurisdiction”.

This isn’t meant to judge any individual situation. But I do think that those who support the SSPX sometimes downplay the very real dangers of their irregular situation.
 
603304529 said:
Well, a very simplified view from myself is this:

I could entrust my soul to the large percentage of New Order priests, who DO downplay the seriousness of sin. They DO downplay the very real possibility of ordinary people going to hell. I don’t have documentation on this - I have got this perception from stories from other people who go to confession, and also from the pulpit at New Order Mass’, and from personal interaction with such priests.

On the other hand, I can entrust that God would indeed grant a valid confession if you were to go to an SSPX priest, in good faith. At least I know for a fact, that I will never, ever hear heresy within the confessional from an SSPX priest, and I know I will always get good sound orthodox, Catholic, advice.
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If you are looking for “sound orthodox, Catholic, advice”, knock yourself out and go talk to an SSPX priest. If you are looking for a valid Sacrament of Confession with absolution for your sins and you are not on death’s door, you are taking a big risk. God has given us shepherds. Why chose to ignore them?
 
DavidPalm said:
Well, the difference is that the Eastern Orthodox priest isn’t going to give you the whole Catholic truth either (let alone the Anglican, Lutheran, or Baptist who can’t give you any absolution at all.)
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I’m not sure the SSPX priest would give me the whole Catholic truth either, which is why I put them in that category. 👍
 
Icarus210 said:
They better be :eek:
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Rome has stated that they ordinarily are not valid - but with the exception of those who are ignorant of this fact in which case the Church Supplies (supplied jurisdiction) - so the fact that you were ignorant of this means that the Church supplied and your confessions were valid since you confessed to a validly ordained priest. The other exceptions would be in case of danger or death in which case the Church supplies jurisdiction since the salvation of souls overrides the letter of the law. So, now that you are no longer ignorant of the issue you’ll have to examine the issue and decide whether you want to continue confessing to the SSPX Priests.

I think there is certainly a case for the SSPX’s supplied jurisdiction claim as there are a number of canons which touch on this subject and the Campos event mentioned earlier would tend to lend credence to their validity. Although I personally believe they’re PROBABLY valid I am among those who would not stake my eternal salvation it and while I do attend SSPX sometimes I refrain from confession for this very doubt.
 
603304529 said:
On the other hand, I can entrust that God would indeed grant a valid confession if you were to go to an SSPX priest, in good faith. At least I know for a fact, that I will never, ever hear heresy within the confessional from an SSPX priest, and I know I will always get good sound orthodox, Catholic, advice.
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So you are recommending going against the Magisterial authority of the Church, believing that God would "indeed grant a valid confession if you were to go to an SSPX priest in good faith" even though the authorities of His Church have stated that sspx priests lack the proper charisma to employ the authority granted by Christ?

Yep, that sounds like sspx thinking to me.:rolleyes:
 
jboz said:
What is SSPX confession ???😦
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SSPX stands for St. Pius the 10th and is a Catholic ‘cult’ that more or less views the Pope as a heretic as well as Mother Theresa. They have a traditional agenda and offer only the
Tridentine, Latin Mass and require that women cover their heads for Mass. Communion is at the rail, in the mouth and the priests wear the collar all the time, in public. They teach cathechism the old-fashioned way. Regardless they are considered dissident because they undermine the authority of the Pope. They have a hard time with validly ordaining their priests because they consider newer priests and bishops to not have a valid ordination so they have their own set of ‘valid’ bishops who do the ordaining. They were started by Arhbishop LeFevre who believed that the new rules of the Vatican II Council were subversive.
 
Corki said:
If you are looking for “sound orthodox, Catholic, advice”, knock yourself out and go talk to an SSPX priest. If you are looking for a valid Sacrament of Confession with absolution for your sins and you are not on death’s door, you are taking a big risk. God has given us shepherds. Why chose to ignore them?
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I realize now what a conflict I got myself into! But at the time when I was in SSPX (and CMRI before that) I seriously believed the Pope was a heretic. This happened from my exposure to some subversive priests in the mainstream church. They seemed to enjoy messing with people it was so bad. I felt lucky to find those 2 traditional groups, but something about them never sat well with me. The priests certainly were dignified, that was for sure! But it was too cultish and you’d go to hell type for undulging in mainstream.
But it is true that there are still good priests out there in the mainstream. The only problem with mainstream is how crazy it can get if you have subversives in the Archdoicese channeling funds under-that-table into Planned Parenthood and supporting gays out right! That’s were you begin to wonder!
 
pennypen said:
SSPX stands for St. Pius the 10th and is a Catholic ‘cult’ that more or less views the Pope as a heretic as well as Mother Theresa. They have a traditional agenda and offer only the
Tridentine, Latin Mass and require that women cover their heads for Mass. Communion is at the rail, in the mouth and the priests wear the collar all the time, in public. They teach cathechism the old-fashioned way. Regardless they are considered dissident because they undermine the authority of the Pope. They have a hard time with validly ordaining their priests because they consider newer priests and bishops to not have a valid ordination so they have their own set of ‘valid’ bishops who do the ordaining. They were started by Arhbishop LeFevre who believed that the new rules of the Vatican II Council were subversive.
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And please don’t listen to this person because she is completely ignorant.
 
pennypen said:
I heard on some radio broadcast that SSPX confession wasn’t valid! Is it now since Pope Benedict has been working with them? All the time I was in SSPX the SSPX priests claimed their confession was valid in the mainstream church as well as SSPX. So any clues as to the official teaching on this?
Click to expand...
If they told you that then they simply lied to you 😦 . I’m sorry.
 
DavidPalm said:
And please don’t listen to this person because she is completely ignorant.
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Hey, don’t worry! I’m no longer in SSPX and am only relating what I confronted. I got sick of their negativity! It is a dangerous cult cuz they use scare tactics big time. The mainstream never does that! In the mainstream I discovered The Divine Mercy Chaplet and can’t recommend it enough! Truly, the mainstream endorses mercy in a way you will not find elsewhere!
 
RUINATION_IPA said:
Rome has stated that they ordinarily are not valid - but with the exception of those who are ignorant of this fact in which case the Church Supplies (supplied jurisdiction) - so the fact that you were ignorant of this means that the Church supplied and your confessions were valid since you confessed to a validly ordained priest. The other exceptions would be in case of danger or death in which case the Church supplies jurisdiction since the salvation of souls overrides the letter of the law. So, now that you are no longer ignorant of the issue you’ll have to examine the issue and decide whether you want to continue confessing to the SSPX Priests.

I think there is certainly a case for the SSPX’s supplied jurisdiction claim as there are a number of canons which touch on this subject and the Campos event mentioned earlier would tend to lend credence to their validity. Although I personally believe they’re PROBABLY valid I am among those who would not stake my eternal salvation it and while I do attend SSPX sometimes I refrain from confession for this very doubt.
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Can you give a citation for when/how Rome said this? I would love to believe it but everything I have ever read/heard (except from SSPX docs) says that supplied juristiction does not apply to SSPX confessions.
 
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