From H.S. de Romer.

My wife and I want to sincerely congratulate you and your columnists for the choice of topics and their first-rate treatment.

Your articles on Catholic matters in the world are particularly appreciated. Therefore, I am wondering why is the disgrace in Fatima, where an interfaith shrine is being built, not mentioned in your magazine. I am sure you are aware that non-Christian services are being held in the chapel where the Virgin Mary appeared in 1917, with Hindu and Buddhist worshippers attending, and this with the support and approval of the Shrine director and the local bishop. After all, you report from all over the world, Africa, Indonesia, even from Portugal. I would be very glad if your magazine would write an article on what is happening in Fatima.

I would also appreciate receiving information on whether the St. Plus X Society Fraternity is schismatic or not. And whether the faithful are allowed to hear their Mass, receive Holy Communion, and go to Confession. I know there is the argument of validity and not licit, and that various cardinals, including Cardinal Ratzinger, have given their opinion on this subject, but is there a clear pronouncement on this particular question by the Pope?

Sherbrooke, QC

Editor replies:

Since receiving these letters we have published "The controversy at Fatima" (September 2004, pp. 16-18). As you will have noticed, part of the controversy is about the one Hindu ceremony held there on May 5, 2004. Catholic Insight has written Archbishop Michael Fitzgerald requesting his comments. With respect to your inquiry about the Society of St. Pius X (SSPX), the following:

In his 1988 apostolic letter Ecclesia Dei, Pope John Paul II appealed "to all those who until now have been linked in various ways to the movement of Archbishop Lefebvre [i.e., the SSPX], that they may fulfill the grave duty of remaining united to the Vicar of Christ in the unity of the Catholic Church, and of ceasing their support in any way for that movement." He said that "everyone should be aware that formal adherence to the schism is a grave offence against God and carries the penalty of excommunication decreed by the Church's law."

In a 2003 letter, Msgr. Camille Perl, secretary of the Ecclesia Dei Commission, said that SSPX priests are validly ordained, but "are suspended from exercising their priestly functions. To the extent that they adhere to the schism of the late Archbishop Lefebvre, they are also excommunicated. Concretely, this means that the Masses offered by these priests are valid but illicit; i.e., contrary to the law of the Church."

Regarding attendance at SSPX Masses, the Monsignor said that "in the strict sense you may fulfill your Sunday obligation by attending a Mass celebrated by a priest of the Society of St. Pius X, but we cannot recommend your attendance at such a Mass." He said that "if your primary reason for attending was to manifest your desire to separate yourself from communion with the Roman Pontiff and those in communion with him, it would be a sin. If your intention is simply to participate in a Mass according to the 1962 Missal for the sake of devotion, this would not be a sin."

In an earlier statement, issued on October 27, 1998, the Ecclesia Dei Commission explained why it does not recommend attendance at SSPX Masses. It said:

"While it is true that participation in the Mass of the chapels of the Society of St. Pius X does not itself constitute 'formal adherence to the schism,' such adherence can come about over a period of time as one slowly imbibes a schismatic mentality which separates itself from the teaching of the Supreme Pontiff and the entire Catholic Church."

There are people who believe that Archbishop Lefebvre and the four priests he ordained as bishops are not excommunicated because of alleged exceptions under Canon 1382. They are wrong: they are excommunicated, and there are no exceptions. Here is what Canon 1382 says:

"A bishop who consecrates someone a bishop and the person who receives such a consecration from the bishop without a pontifical mandate incur an automatic (latae sententiae) excommunication reserved to the Holy See."

Bernard Cardinal Gantin, then-prefect of the Congregation for Bishops, cited this canon on July 1, 1988, when he decreed the excommunication of Archbishop Lefebvre for performing "a schismatical act by the episcopal consecration of four priests, without pontifical mandate and contrary to the will of the Supreme Pontiff."

I borrowed the following question and answer from the Catholic Replies column by James J. Drummey in The Wanderer, March 25, 2004 to whom I am also beholden for the above information.

Q. A member of my family attends a Latin (Tridentine) Mass at a traditionalist Roman Catholic church. He says that the Mass of Pope St. Pius V is a doctrine of the faith that can never be changed, that the Novus Ordo [Mass] of Pope Paul VI is illicit, and that the bread and wine offered do not become the Body and Blood of Christ. I have read the material he gave me and find it vague and confusing. Can you answer some questions for me?--E.F.M, Florida

A. We can try.

How was it possible for Paul VI to approve a Mass that is illicit? It was not possible for Paul VI to approve an illicit rite of the Mass. He had the same authority to make changes in the Mass as his predecessor Pius V had four centuries earlier.

Is the Novus Ordo [Mass] illicit?

No, the Ordo approved by Paul VI is a lawful rite of the Catholic Church.

Is my relative wrong? Yes, he is wrong if he thinks that Jesus does not become truly present during the consecration at a Novus Ordo Mass. Is it possible that the traditional Latin Mass and the Novus Ordo are both licit?

Yes, they are both licit rites of the Church, but the permission of the diocesan bishop must be obtained in order to celebrate licitly the Mass of Pius V.

Finally, see also the article on the suspension of Father Stephen Somerville in this edition, pages 12-20.

One other point. Catholics should distinguish between the schismatic Society of St. Pius X (SSPX) and the entirely legitimate Fraternity of St. Peter. This Fraternity has been authorized by the Church to celebrate the Latin Tridentine (1962) Mass. The Fraternity has four Canadian parishes, namely in Ottawa, Vancouver, Calgary, and St. Catharines, ON.