Leaving SSPX
Dear TIA,
Your articles on the SSPX are very interesting. I thought you might be interested in the perspective of a lay person who left his SSPX parish this summer, after being there almost 8 years.
Here, in no particular prioritized order, are my reasons for leaving:- The SSPX model does not work. Their priests are spread too thin among multiple parish assignments and they have no training in the management of a parish. Consequently, parish life is one-dimensional, half-baked, without coherent channels of communication, and in a constant state of chaos and confusion.
2. Both faithful and clergy of the SSPX have developed a compound schismatic mentality. First, they consistently attract a variety of bad Catholics and heretics such as Feeneyites, sedevacantists, “Benevacantists” and “Resistance” sympathizers. Second, they have succuмbed to the conceit that they are the be-all and end-all of tradition, and that other traditional groups are to be shunned as inferior (or worse) – especially diocesan parishes who are attempting to preserve tradition. The attitude behind this conceit, I’m afraid, is that the SSPX is now the true Church, and that everyone else (i.e. Rome) is tainted and Modernist. A very curious mentality, given that the SSPX can’t keep its own house in order and cultivates a dangerous and unhealthy spiritual environment.
3. The SSPX is completely in-bred, resulting in a xenophobia that exacerbates point #2.
4. Instead of spiritual nourishment, which was meager at best and superficial lip service at worst, my former parish is constantly preoccupied with fund-raisers. This results in a coarse, almost materialistic spirit. It seems that in this they are following the U.S. District, though, since the District Superior’s newsletters are almost always requests for money.
5. In addition to attracting laity with various defects of faith, which it does nothing to correct, the SSPX attracts well above its share of infantile, dysfunctional, abrasive personalities, some of whom, unfortunately, are placed in positions of authority, though they are not qualified to hold those positions, and who consequently make life miserable for others on a regular basis.
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When I informed our parish priest and two other SSPX priests of my decision to leave, I was greeted with the most embarrassing arguments imaginable – arguments which, in fact, confirmed that I was doing the right thing.
In conclusion, if any of your readers are contemplating attending an SSPX parish, I would advise them against it, except as a last resort. And then, beware.
God bless your work!
J.I.[/font][/size]