In all of this mess of the past 50+ years, one thing that troubles me and won't go away, is whether the orders of priest and bishop in the Novus Ordo are valid, whether in the Latin editio typica, or in the vernacular. Needless to say, this matters. No bishops, no priests, no sacraments, no Mass. And I still don't get why one word --- "ut" --- got omitted from the rite of priestly ordination. It's almost as though someone was trying to make the sacrament doubtfully valid.
I am probably being lazy at this point, by not doing the research myself, but what does Bishop Williamson have to say about this matter?
I don't know exactly what +Williamson has to say, but I do know that in the past, both he and +Lefebvre said the NO ordination of at least one priest, Fr. Hesse, was valid.
In one of his talks posted on YouTube, Fr. Hesse is quoted as saying:
"...I have been ordained, unfortunately in the New Rite of Ordination, but thank God in Latin, everything strictly by the book and +ABL said that would be valid, +Fellay said it's valid and Fr. Franz Schmidberger who is my present superior in Austria says it's valid and +Williamson said there's no need for conditional ordination...."In previous discussion on the matter, I called the SSPX and posted what the man told me
here.
Read Chapter 15 in
Who Shall Ascend? (also attached below) where Fr. Wathen touches on the subject, here is a snip....
"...It is not our purpose in these pages to decide whether the new ordination rite is invalid, though, as we shall see, the argument is substantial enough that we are bound to allow for this possibility. Furthermore, we must see the issue in the context of the total redefinition and reconstitution of the Church, such as was set in motion at the Council. In view of the fact that, since the Council, the priest's role has been in the process of being modified, as we said, to that of a Protestant presbyter, there is every reason to deduce that the new ordination rite sabotages the Sacrament of Holy Orders according to
the explicit program and purposes of those now in power. (
The reader is reminded that the very doubt which this change creates serves the malevolent purposes of the conspirators as well as does the certitude of invalidity, because from the doubt flows controversy, disagreements, factions, confusion, and disquietude among the clergy and the faithful.)..."