Just received e-mail below from Msgr Byrnes.

Msgr Byrnes was ordained on November 15, 1986, by Cardinal O'Connor at Saint Patrick's Cathedral in New York City and has been in Ridgefield, CT, for approximately two years. Msgr. Byrnes has not been conditionally ordained since the SSPX has stated that Msgr's ordination was valid. I was personally told by two priests in Ridgefield that there is nothing to question as the SSPX's own investigation into the ordination confirmed that the matter, form, and intent were all valid and that I should not question this.

Why would the SSPX allow a Novus Order trained and ordained priest to be a principal?


Dear Parents,

Last Thursday I received a call from our District Superior Fr. Wegner, informing me that I am to be the principal of St. Padre Pio Academy beginning with the new school year.

Fr. Sulzen has kept me in the loop about the desire for all of you to have a meeting with the principal regarding some concerns you have about the high school program for next year, and I know that there has been some difficulty in getting a meeting date because of vacation schedules and that the date currently set for the meeting is in July, a date later than most would prefer.

Given everyone’s desire to meet as soon as possible, I am proposing having our meeting this Tuesday evening (9 June) at 7:30 PM in Jogues Hall. Please let me know as soon as possible if this will work for you. If the majority cannot make this day, we will stick with the date in July. I realize that this is rather short notice, but I hope this date will work for everyone, or at least most.
I look forward to working with all of you during the coming school year.

God bless,

Msgr. Byrnes

John Joseph Cardinal O’Connor was consecrated as a bishop in the New Rite of Episcopal Consecration in 1979.

I'm have no doubt that Msgr. Byrnes's ordination followed the requirements of matter and form.  I also have no doubt that Cardinal O'Connor even had the proper intention.

The only problem is that he was not a validly consecrated bishop when he ordained Byrnes who remains a layman.  Does anyone really believe there is not already an agreement between the SSPX and the Conciliar church that just hasn't yet been publicized?

This should not be presented as some new policy that shows evidence of a deal.

We have plenty of priests who were allowed to offer Mass in SSPX chapels and ordained in the new rite. Fr. Hesse, Fr. Gruner, and Fr. Kramer are a few examples. The policy of investigating a pries's ordination and making a determination one way or another has been the SSPX's policy for decades.

Does the SSPX even do conditional ordinations anymore?  I'm not aware of any.  What if a N.O. priest requested it, would he receive it?  

Matt:

On the other hand, what is going on in Ridgefield IS revolutionary. There are real problems in Ridgefield, and the recent exodus from that chapel is proof of that. About 300 parishioners have left. Many teachers and students have quit the school. This priory was in such disarray that Bishop Fellay himself had to fly in and try to hold things together.

But here's the interesting part -- they're not all leaving for the Resistance. About 1/3 of them went to the Indult -- another 1/3 went to the local Sedevacantist chapel. And 1/3 went to the Resistance, currently served by Fr. Zendejas.

Personally, I had no idea this was going on in Ridgefield.  But I don't think it is "revolutionary " in the classic definition of the word.  A revolution, in short, is defined as a "forcible overthrow of a government or social order in favor of a new system."  What's going on there seems more like 'anarchy,' than revolution.  Yes, they have thrown off the religious order of the sspx, but have not agreed in any way about what should replace it.  It is more like every man to his own tent.

But here's the interesting part -- they're not all leaving for the Resistance. About 1/3 of them went to the Indult -- another 1/3 went to the local Sedevacantist chapel. And 1/3 went to the Resistance, currently served by Fr. Zendejas.

Of course, the SSPX firmly blames Fr. Zendejas, even though the problem is with Ridgefield.

Regarding the defectors to the Indult, I can understand their logic. "So you want me to drive all the way to Ridgefield where I'll be hearing the Tridentine Mass of a Novus Ordo-ordained priest? I have an Indult (said by a Novus Ordo-trained and ordained priest) closer to me; I'll go to that one instead, but thank you kindly for your offer."

Are you sure the Diocesan priest is NO-ordained?  There are still a lot of pre-NO priests around.  They are getting old but they are still here.  That might explain the people going to the Diocese.  But of course given that the SSPX accepts the theoretical validity of the Conciliar sacraments that would certainly work against any claim on the loyality of their followers as you have just pointed out.

CM:

I don't know who that guy is but I know he is not my Shepherd. And to be frank (ha!), he was not the shepherd of anyone at the SSPX chapel either. They "recognized" him but they didn't follow him. Thanks be to Our Lord and Our Lady!

This is the problem,of course.  CM is just one voice from among maybe 10s of thousands of traditional Catholics who say in essence:   'This guy is not my Shepherd.  We are told to "recognize" him, but he is not my shepherd.'
The good bishop publishes numbers of ECs trying to prop up the "recognition" thesis, but sales are going down.  Then the 'I-told-you-so' sedes move in parroting their annoying shibboleths.  Folks get irritated and tell them to move off.  It is never ending.
At least historically, so we are told, the popes of the Arian period were orthodox Catholics.  It was just most of the bishops and priests whom you had to avoid.  Now we have popes, bishops and priest alike who have gone off the reservation.  They're all rotten.

This should not be presented as some new policy that shows evidence of a deal.

We have plenty of priests who were allowed to offer Mass in SSPX chapels and ordained in the new rite. Fr. Hesse, Fr. Gruner, and Fr. Kramer are a few examples. The policy of investigating a pries's ordination and making a determination one way or another has been the SSPX's policy for decades.

I remember when Father Voigt was up in Syracuse for many years. He was known to everyone in the northeast as the "bad Novus Ordo priest" and everyone went out of their way to never go to any of his Masses. When we asked the SSPX why he hasn't been conditionally ordained, their answer was that they looked into it and his ordination was valid and that we shouldn't worry about it but that never stopped parishioners and others from avoiding him.

Once Father Voigt left the SSPX for the resistance, I heard that the first thing he did was get conditionally ordained and I heard that he had wanted to be conditionally ordained while he was being persecuted as a Novus Ordo priest who was with the Society but that they wouldn't approve it.