Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin said the episcopal ordinations carried out yesterday without papal mandate by the Society of St Pius X constitute a schismatic act. Source: EWTN News.
“I don’t think there is much to say about this episode,” Cardinal Parolin said yesterday.
“First of all, I want to express great sorrow. I want to express great sorrow because, speaking of the unity of the Church, an act like this deeply wounds the unity of the Church.”
In a defiant move and despite repeated warnings from Rome, the Society of St Pius X (SSPX) went ahead with the consecration of four new bishops without a pontifical mandate – an act of open disobedience to the authority of the Pope that, under canon law, carries automatic excommunication for the six bishops involved.
The illicit ceremony took place in a meadow in Écône, Switzerland, home to the SSPX international seminary — the same place where Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre caused a rupture with Rome exactly 38 years ago by consecrating four bishops without the required pontifical mandate.
The ceremony was carried out by the two surviving bishops from the illicit 1988 consecrations. Spanish Bishop Alfonso de Galarreta presided as principal consecrator, assisted by Swiss Bishop Bernard Fellay as co-consecrator.
The new bishops — Swiss Father Pascal Schreiber; American Father Michael Goldade; and French Fathers Michel Poinsinet de Sivry and Marc Hanappier — were designated as auxiliaries of the society with the stated aim of serving the Church, though in practice the act marks a decisive step toward rupture.
“Evidently this is in itself a schismatic act, because we know that episcopal ordinations without pontifical mandate break the unity of the Church and are also subject to very precise sanctions, which are fundamentally excommunication,” Cardinal Parolin said.
The cardinal said he did not know “the timing and the manner” in which the excommunication would be formally addressed.
“My hope is that, despite what happened today, dialogue can resume and that a solution can truly be found here as well,” he said. “The fundamental point is the council – that is, whether or not to accept the Second Vatican Council.”
FULL STORY
Parolin: SSPX ordinations are ‘schismatic’ (By Victoria Cardiel, EWTN News)
SSPX consecrates bishops in defiance of Rome’s schism warning (By Victoria Cardiel, EWTN News)
