Feeding Souls with the Doctrine of Truth

By Rev. Fr. Benedict Hughes, CMRI

Over the past few months, the affairs of the Society of St. Pius X (SSPX) have been much in the news. Will they reunite with Rome or not? There is great speculation and interest. And why is this? Because the SSPX for many is the face of the traditional movement. They have many priests, churches, schools, and parishioners in various countries throughout the world.

While the size and spread of the SSPX portrays a picture of vitality, not all is well within, particularly in the area of theology. Sadly, the exterior visage hides a confusion resulting from an incoherent and self-contradictory theological position. While I do not intend in this brief article to enumerate all of the erroneous theological teachings current in the SSPX, the following are a few of the more notable:

• that the ordinary universal magisterium of the Church is not safeguarded by infallibility;
• that the supreme authority of the Church can promulgate laws that are injurious to souls;
• that the supreme authority of the Church can err in canonizations;
• that the faithful must disobey the authority of the Church when they are convinced that it is in their best interests spiritually;
• that the faithful must determine when they can obey and when they cannot obey the Church’s authority;
• that it is up to the faithful to instruct and reform the authority of the Church, when it has gone astray;
• that it is permissible to set up an authority different from and opposed to the Church’s authority for the guidance of the faithful (namely, the superiors of the SSPX);
• and so forth.

This is not in any sense intended to be a complete listing, but rather a simple demonstration of the veracity of my contention, that theological errors are rampant in the SSPX. Many others have commented on these various errors, which could easily be shown to contradict past authoritative decisions of the Popes and Councils, and to be contrary to the unanimous teaching of the theologians of the Church. Further, these teachings are not limited to a few of the priests of the SSPX, but are widespread, as anyone familiar with the Society knows. They have been spread consistently by priests and superiors in the SSPX.

But what is the source of all these errors, and why cannot the SSPX see clearly to reject these errors, which have been frequently pointed out, along with citations of sources of reference to authentic Catholic teaching? The reason, I believe, is because of a fundamental error, which lies at the root of all the other errors of the SSPX. Yes, there is a basic error which perpetuates all the others, despite efforts of various priests and bishops to alert the members of the SSPX to these errors.

And what is this fundamental error? It is the belief, the conviction, that Archbishop Lefebvre, the founder of the SSPX, was saintly and was thus gifted by God with a unique ability to see clearly what path a faithful Catholic should take today. Certainly, it is understandable that the members of the SSPX would like to believe that their founder was saintly. Indeed, he may well have been a holy man. The point, however, is that he was wrong in his ultimate conclusions as to the nature of the problem we face.

One example as evidence of this way of thinking is contained in a letter recently written by a priest of the SSPX who stated: “Archbishop Lefebvre was the greatest missionary of the 20th century and... a great future saint of the Catholic Church.” Their founder has often been called by the members of the SSPX the “Athanasius of our times.” But even holy men have been wrong in the course of Church history. It also must be borne in mind that Archbishop Lefebvre, having grown up in the structure of the Church before Vatican II, found it difficult — despite what his instincts were telling him concerning the apostasy of the majority of the priests and bishops — to finally recognize that this structure, infested with modernists, was no longer Catholic, and hence that he must separate himself and his organization from it entirely.

If the priests and bishops of the Society of St. Pius X wish to truly honor their founder, they can do so by being thoroughly Catholic. They must recognize the full extent of the problems facing us today and respond by adhering to what Popes, Councils and theologians have taught down through the centuries. They must abandon this tailored theology, which is a departure from what the Church has taught in the past.

This reminds me of an interview which was given by one of the SSPX bishops several years ago. The interviewer from a conservative publication kept asking the bishop how he could justify ignoring and disobeying what he considered to be true Catholic authority. After dancing around the issue the bishop finally answered that Archbishop Lefebvre followed that line and he believed the archbishop was raised up by God to guide us in these times! In other words, he could not draw upon any theologian or Church teaching to explain his position.

Philosophers call this type of reasoning (namely, the theological rationale for rejecting that which the SSPX considers to be true Catholic authority, on the sole basis that that is the course pursued by Archbishop Lefebvre) the fallacy ad verecundiam. We hope that the members of the SSPX will reconsider their theological position and honor their founder by pursuing truly Catholic theology. Let them remember that many of the faithful look to them for guidance. They must, as good shepherds, feed these faithful with the doctrine of truth.

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