May I attend an SSPX wedding?

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They only have faculties to witness weddings if granted by the local bishop.

That’s actually true of any priest who isn’t a parish pastor. Only parish pastors may witness weddings without special permission.
 
twf said:
They only have faculties to witness weddings if granted by the local bishop.

That’s actually true of any priest who isn’t a parish pastor. Only parish pastors may witness weddings without special permission.
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Yeah, I’m assuming they do. I don’t feel that the OP or anyone else for that matter, needs to investigate whether the priest has faculties in order to attend.

I don’t investigate whether the priest has faculties to attend a wedding a Dominican staffed parish or a Jesuit staffed parish.

Unless the Bishop has made an announcement that all priests (or X priest) at the local SSPX has been excommunicated* - I don’t think it’s something we should stress over just to attend a wedding.
  • And yes, bishops do sometimes excommunicate individual SSPX priests. I remember reading a letter when Archbishop Chaput excommunicated an SSPX priest in the Diocese of Harrisburg. It’s a pretty big deal when that happens.
 
phil19034 said:
Unless the Bishop has made an announcement that all priests (or X priest) at the local SSPX has been excommunicated* - I don’t think it’s something we should stress over just to attend a wedding.
  • And yes, bishops do sometimes excommunicate individual SSPX priests. I remember reading a letter when Archbishop Chaput excommunicated an SSPX priest in the Diocese of Harrisburg. It’s a pretty big deal when that happens.
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I believe that in the Diocese of Lincoln, membership in the SSPX, along with various Masonic organizations and Call to Action, are excommunicable offenses. This goes back to Bishop Bruskewitz in 1996 and is still “on the books”.
 
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phil19034 said:
Yeah, I’m assuming they do.
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From what I’ve heard when I was talking to a canon lawyer about it, they aren’t, or at the very least, weren’t. They were dealing with a bunch of marriage cases where the SSPX had not requested faculties.
phil19034 said:
I don’t investigate whether the priest has faculties to attend a wedding a Dominican staffed parish or a Jesuit staffed parish.
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I wouldn’t compare the Dominicans nor the Jesuits to the SSPX.
 
Fauken said:
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phil19034:
Yeah, I’m assuming they do.
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From what I’ve heard when I was talking to a canon lawyer about it, they aren’t, or at the very least, weren’t. They were dealing with a bunch of marriage cases where the SSPX had not requested faculties.
phil19034 said:
I don’t investigate whether the priest has faculties to attend a wedding a Dominican staffed parish or a Jesuit staffed parish.
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I wouldn’t compare the Dominicans nor the Jesuits to the SSPX.
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First and foremost: I am NOT suggesting that one should attend a SSPX chapel on a regular basis or get married there. I’m simply saying it’s ok to attend a wedding there.

Second: I’m not referring to the past. I’m referring to the present. Pope Francis has a relatively good working relationship with the SSPX, which goes back to his time in Argentina.

Third: I’m not comparing the Dominicans nor Jesuits to the SSPX. I’m saying that we don’t think to investigate all religious order priests for faculties before attending weddings.

Finally, I’m not defending the SSPX. I would be the first to tell someone to avoid the SSPX until they come into full communion - which I pray is sooner than later/never.
 
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phil19034 said:
Second: I’m not referring to the past. I’m referring to the present. Pope Francis has a relatively good working relationship with the SSPX, which goes back to his time in Argentina.
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I had this conversation about two years ago. I’d say it’s pretty close to the present.
phil19034 said:
Third: I’m not comparing the Dominicans nor Jesuits to the SSPX. I’m saying that we don’t think to investigate all religious order priests for faculties before attending weddings.
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Because religious orders don’t get themselves into the predicament the SSPX are in. Religious orders answer to both their superiors and the local bishop. The SSPX have their own bishops that they seem to answer to, and from what I gathered during that conversation in question, have not been doing so with the local ordinary.
 
Fauken said:
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phil19034:
Second: I’m not referring to the past. I’m referring to the present. Pope Francis has a relatively good working relationship with the SSPX, which goes back to his time in Argentina.
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I had this conversation about two years ago. I’d say it’s pretty close to the present.
phil19034 said:
Third: I’m not comparing the Dominicans nor Jesuits to the SSPX. I’m saying that we don’t think to investigate all religious order priests for faculties before attending weddings.
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Because religious orders don’t get themselves into the predicament the SSPX are in. Religious orders answer to both their superiors and the local bishop. The SSPX have their own bishops that they seem to answer to, and from what I gathered during that conversation in question, have not been doing so with the local ordinary.
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OK, forget it. I don’t want to argue with you. My point is the OP should feel ok to attend his/her brother’s wedding.
 
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Yes. I would also be interested if there was ever a case where a marriage conducted by the SSPX was declared null and void because the priest did not have the proper faculties or authority to conduct the marriage?
 
Aquinas11 said:
Yes, if the SSPX keep on this self-destructive path, soon they might even be endorsing Paganism.
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I find it somewhat surprising that under certain circumstances, the SSPX might be endorsing Paganism. Could you tell us a little more about this and what is your support for your statement? I thought that the SSPX was very much against Paganism even to the extent that it disagrees with many of the attempts by the Vatican to seek some sort of peaceful coexistence with various non-Catholic groups.
 
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AlNg said:
Yes, if the SSPX keep on this self-destructive path, soon they might even be endorsing Paganism.
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I really think the comment was meant as a joke, a kind of benign sarcasm, if you will.

It reminds me of people speculating recently on why Vice President Pence was abruptly recalled from a trip to New Hampshire. Someone said “Mother found out they have women in New Hampshire and wouldn’t let him go”. That is very funny!

(VP Pence refers to his wife as “Mother”, which I find kind of disturbing, but there’s no accounting for taste. Pence is a lapsed Catholic and married outside the Church. He avoids potentially compromising situations with women, which is not entirely imprudent but doesn’t play well in today’s PC atmosphere.)
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Come on. Many are getting outraged whether someone will attend a wedding at TLM parish, meanwhile not outraged at Pagan rituals being embraced in Vatican? The irony is nuclear.
 
Aquinas11 said:
Come on. Many are getting outraged whether someone will attend a wedding at TLM parish, meanwhile not outraged at Pagan rituals being embraced in Vatican? The irony is nuclear.
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You’re assuming people aren’t angry at both. They’re not mutually exclusive. It’s also not just “a TLM parish”. It’s a chapel run by a group who may very well not have the faculties to perform said Sacrament by the bishop.

Disobedience is disobedience.
 
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Aquinas11 said:
Well if I misread your post (“May very well”) in way mine was (“many”) but I won’t do that
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Exactly. You don’t know. With any given SSPX parish, you don’t know. That’s why tribunals are dealing with so many marriage cases done in SSPX chapels. Because they didn’t.
 
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