SSPX

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barbfromtucson

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Hi,

I’m a new member to C.A.F. and have been looking around at the different forums. I’ve seen different postings regarding the SSPX and I think I’m confused.

Can anyone explain to me what SSPX is in a somewhat simplified explanation? Are they considered to be conservative/traditional or liberal/contemporary?

I don’t think there’s any SSPX church here, although there is a parish here in Tucson called St. Pius X, and they have a reputation of being extremely liberal. I’ve been to Mass there a few times, and I’ve never experienced Mass anywhere like at this parish. They even make the Newman Center on the U of A campus seem “conservative” by comparison.

Thanks!!!

Barbara
 
The SSPX is a traditional society retaining the Traditional Latin Mass along with other traditions. Their founder, Archbishop Lefbfvre was excommunicated for ordaining four bishops without the permission of the pope.

I think the above is factual. Everything else you may read seems to be an opinion of the poster. To put the best face on the position of the Society, I would say they have an irregular relationship with the Vatican.

The St. Pius X parish in Tucson obviously has no connection to the SSPX.
 
I’m going to answer your question, but believe me, this thread is going to go south quickly.
SSPX is a priestly fraternity founded by Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre. The goal of the fraternity was to keep the traditional rite of the Church alive at any cost. Lefebvre paid a very high price, he was excommunicated for consecrating four bishops without the Pope’s consent (actually that is putting it mildly, really against the direct orders of JPII). All of the SSPX Bishops have been excommunicated, and the priests suspended. They operate outside of the Church. There are lots of threads on this board about the validity of their confessions and marriages, the licitness of their sacraments and sacramentals, and whether or not one should attend their masses. Just do a search, most of the threads are locked, but they still make good reading.
It doesn’t sound like the St. Pius X parish near you is SSPX, though it is ironic.

Yours in Christ,
Thursday
 
devotus said:
Few truer words have been said…

SSPX is always a HOT topic filled with opinions…
Click to expand...
Or we could just stick to the facts. To really know about the SSPX you need to know about Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre. A good place to learn about him is the Wilipedia page about him (which is the most documented entry I think I’ve seen on Wikipedia). Or if you prefer the “nutshell” version, read what has been referred to as the “SSPX Manifesto.”

If you’ve never heard of the SSPX before and you really want to know what’s what, then I would suggest the following:
  1. Read what they say about themselves (their website is a good place to start).
  2. Read what the Church teaches.
  3. Compare to see if they are in line with what the Church teaches or not.
The common accusations are that the SSPX are excommunicated and schismatic. The excommunication accusation stems from the muto proprio Ecclesia Dei Afflicta of 1988 which named Archbishop Lefebvre (as well as the four bishops he consecrated and the bishop from Brazil who co-consecrated with him) as being excommunicated. The SSPX will cite reasons to justify that such an excommunication is null and void. The charge of schism is less clearly defined and somewhat undermined by figures like Cardinal Castrillón who have recently said that the SSPX is “not in schism but is in a canonically irregular situation” (sorry – I don’t have a citation handy). Naturally, the SSPX deny the charge of schism.

Discussions about the SSPX *tend *to become heated and charged, but as long as you research the question with an open mind and charity, there is no reason why inquiries should degenerate into flame wars or mud slinging contests.
 
barbfromtucson said:
Hi,

I’m a new member to C.A.F. and have been looking around at the different forums. I’ve seen different postings regarding the SSPX and I think I’m confused.

Can anyone explain to me what SSPX is in a somewhat simplified explanation? Are they considered to be conservative/traditional or liberal/contemporary?

I don’t think there’s any SSPX church here, although there is a parish here in Tucson called St. Pius X, and they have a reputation of being extremely liberal. I’ve been to Mass there a few times, and I’ve never experienced Mass anywhere like at this parish. They even make the Newman Center on the U of A campus seem “conservative” by comparison.

Thanks!!!

Barbara
Click to expand...
The Saint Pius X church you refer to is definitely not SSPX, and yup, they seem like a church to avoid, though for the opposite reasons you would want to avoid the SSPX
 
barbfromtucson said:
Hi,

I’m a new member to C.A.F. and have been looking around at the different forums. I’ve seen different postings regarding the SSPX and I think I’m confused.

Can anyone explain to me what SSPX is in a somewhat simplified explanation? Are they considered to be conservative/traditional or liberal/contemporary?

I don’t think there’s any SSPX church here, although there is a parish here in Tucson called St. Pius X, and they have a reputation of being extremely liberal. I’ve been to Mass there a few times, and I’ve never experienced Mass anywhere like at this parish. They even make the Newman Center on the U of A campus seem “conservative” by comparison.

Thanks!!!

Barbara
Click to expand...
That is the sweetest post I have ever seen with regards to the SSPX’s!

If you were not joking, that is!!

I would have loved to have seen te faces of some of the more rigorously SSPX types, God Bless their hearts, when they read the question askig if they are perhaps more liberl than the really liberal mass you know.

Thanks for a chuckle.

God Bless Bishop Levebre’s soul, I pray for him every night. I also pray for the return of our bothers and sisters from the SSPX to the bosom of the Church. I confident it will happen soon.
 
🙂 I guess this is not going south!!!

Yay!!!

👍 👍

What nice people we have here at CAF!!!
 
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