I left Mass today very confused and disturbed. My husband left with the same impression, only he is prone to hot-headedness, so he was a bit angry as well.
Our priest today publicly chastised those of us who visit internet forums and criticize the superiors of the Society. He gave a sermon on Obedience as taught by St. Ignatius. He even went so far as to say "if you superiors tell you black is white then you must believe it." He said, also, that he has been to these forums and read some of the comments criticizing Bishop Fellay and Fr. Rostand, and that those who are doing this are no true Catholics, but Catholics without charity.
Worse, he compared those critical of the Society to Protestants, inferring that this is what Martin Luther did. He said we are wrong to think we can "form our own opinions" about what is happening within the Society.
This is not Catholicism. It is Stalinism. A priest without jurisdiction can not command you to do anything. And criticizing the SSPX only makes you a Protestant if the SSPX has decided to formalize the arrogance that I have always thought was just below the surface within it and formally declare that it IS the Church.
Well said, Sigismund!
So.......................
Criticizing the SSPX only makes you a Protestant if the SSPX has decided to
formalize the arrogance ... and formally declare that it IS the Church, in which
case you "protested" against the Church...
Hmmm... something doesn't quite add up here. For one, "
to decide to formalize
and formally declare" literally does not mean that the declaration took place. To
decide to do something is not the same thing as doing it, in this case. It's not like
having lust in your heart and thereby committing mortal sin, for example. All
it literally means is that the INTENTION to declare is there. That's not the same
thing as a formal declaration, by ANY STRETCH OF THE IMAGINATION..........................
It took me a while to "unpack" this message....
Criticizing the SSPX would only appear to
make you a Protestant if you were to believe that
the SSPX had formally declared that it IS the Church,
in which case you would have
"protested" against what would seem to be
the Church.
How would the SSPX formalize its arrogance in
this matter? For example, if it were to proclaim that
"outside the SSPX there is no salvation," or, that
"membership in the SSPX is necessary for anyone
to be truly Catholic." There. Message unpacked............................ :reporter: