Here's another big problem with the new-sspx's management under +Fellay...they have become authoritarian...especially in regards to +W.
The sspx was formed as a group of priests, a collective, that would work together. There are no vows. It is not a formal religious order. There's no stock or legal rights. Add in the 4 bishops and you have 2 different religious hierarchies (priest vs bishop) and it's a hodge-podge of a group of people, trying to bring order in the midst of a crisis. Not easy.
The sspx leadership has 3 main functions.
a. Financial Mgmt - Collect donations and pay the bills (so that the lights stay on and the water stays running). Buy/build new chapels. Buy stuff for churches.
b. Organization Mgmt - Add new priests to the rotation/move priests where needed. Organize the sacraments and chapels. Organize system for travel, expenses, etc.
c. Member Mgmt - Settle disputes among priests. Help priests who are burned out or sick. Seminary mgmt. Etc.
In my opinion, the sspx does great at the above 3. Where they overstepped their bounds and where they have gone overboard, is in telling priests/bishops how to act, what they can/can't talk about, etc. The new-sspx (under +Fellay) went cultish and control-freak.
(And let's not forget, that Bishops have a DUTY to preach and teach, much more so than priests. Bishops such as +W should be preaching on DIFFERENT topics than priests. They have different vocations, duties, and obligations. A bishop in a diocese is "the man". The only person he answers to is the pope (and only on rare occasions). Otherwise, his calling is to lead, make decisions and be independent. The whole idea of +Fellay telling another bishop what to do is backwards. The idea that a PRIEST could tell a bishop what to do is insidious and anti-catholic.)
They went from +ABL's 'servant-leadership' to +Fellay's 'dictatorship' of controlling every aspect of the sspx. They homogenized chapels, the laity and the priests. They tried to homogenize +W and he said 'no thanks'. So they kicked him out.
They went from +ABL's simple goal of "let's save souls" to the +Fellay's dream of "let's build a community". The goals couldn't be more different, both in focus and scope.
To use a business analogy,
+ABL built a Mom-n-Pop store where everyone felt comfortable and who offered affordable prices to help the town.
+Fellay has built a "brand", a global, homogenized, corporation, where everyone must "stay in line" or else.
There are pros-cons to both approaches. I think most people though, prefer the former over the latter.
Topic: Fr. Schmidberger on the death of Msgr Williamson (Read 57492 times)