It appears that the current pastor of the SSPX chapel in St. Paul, MN will continue the tradcuмenical and conciliar integration process in Minnesota of his last three predecessors:
This morning at the Low Mass, it was announced from the pulpit that there would be a musical performance given by SSPX faithful...at the FSSP chapel in Minneapolis. The bulletin made no mention of this, but one can find a reference to it on the FSSP website, though it makes no mention of the SSPX (
https://fsspminneapolis.org/uncategorized/holy-week-2021/).
It is heartbreaking to know that such an announcement could be given without the least fear of backlash. The old-timers apparently have no problem with this, and the young are oblivious to the fact that +Lefebvre had warned against such collaboration with compromised trads thusly:
"And we must not waver for one moment either in not being with those who are in the process of betraying us. Some people are always admiring the grass in the neighbor's field. Instead of looking to their friends, to the Church's defenders, to those fighting on the battlefield, they look to our enemies on the other side. "After all, we must be charitable, we must be kind, we must not be divisive, after all, they are celebrating the Tridentine Mass, they are not as bad as everyone says"—but they are betraying us—betraying us! They are shaking hands with the Church's destroyers. They are shaking hands with people holding modernist and liberal ideas condemned by the Church. So they are doing the devil's work.
Thus those who were with us and were working with us for the rights of Our Lord, for the salvation of souls, are now saying, "So long as they grant us the old Mass, we can shake hands with Rome, no problem." But we are seeing how it works out. They are in an impossible situation. Impossible. One cannot both shake hands with modernists and keep following Tradition. Not possible. Not possible.
Now, stay in touch with them to bring them back, to convert them to Tradition, yes, if you like, that's the right kind of ecuмenism! But give the impression that after all one almost regrets any break, that one likes talking to them? No way! These are people who call us corpse-like traditionalists, they are saying that we are as rigid as corpses, ours is not a living Tradition, we are glum-faced, ours is a glum Tradition! Unbelievable! Unimaginable! What kind of relations can you have with people like that?"
http://sspx.org/en/two-years-after-consecrations The problem here, of course, is not a mere departure from the position of Archbishop Lefebvre, which would be wrong for its own sake. The problem is in the implications and impact of such collaboration:
From the vantage point of the FSSP, such collaboration inculcates within the minds of their faithful that they are really traditional: "Look, even the SSPX does not object to collaborating with us!" Of course, prior to the SSPX ralliement, FSSP pastors never would have allowed an Archbishop Lefebvre, Bishop de Mallerais, or the local SSPX pastor to set foot in their chapels. It is only because of all the compromises and concessions of the SSPX over the last 10+ years that makes such collaboration possible. Moreover, any local SSPX pastor would have scoffed at the mere idea of bringing his faithful to a musical performance at an FSSP chapel.
From the vantage point of the SSPX, these conciliar outreach initiatives prepare the terrain (and minds) for the slow-motion trainwreck of Tradition entering the conciliar church, by eliminating psychological obstacles and barriers to conciliar integration: If the various SSPX and indult chapels have been collaborating for years by visiting each others' chapels, using diocesan retreat houses, and even in some districts, having conciliar priests give sacraments and perform rites for SSPX faithful (e.g., African District), etc., then a legal recognition presents no difficulties at the practical level, and the division between conciliar and traditional clergy and faithful is really, in a certain sense, almost academic.
Perhaps this is why the local chapel in St. Paul can announce in its website in the FAQ's section that: "We are a Catholic chapel in union with Rome that maintains the traditions proper to the Roman Rite of the Church."
https://fsspx.today/chapel/mn-st-paul/fsspx-faqs/ When Bishop Fellay suppressed Fr. Pivert's book ("Our Relations with Rome"), he gave as one of his reasons that the position of Archbishop Lefebvre and his stern opposition to the PCED groups was "counterproductive." Bishop Fellay was departing from the position of his founder, and he did not want the faithful to read the words of +Lefebvre on this point. But what did +Lefebvre say about such initiatives and collaborations?"This is what causes us a problem with certain
layfolk, who are very nice, very good people, all for the Society, who accepted the Consecrations, but who have a kind of deep-down regret that they are no longer with the people they used to be with, people who did not accept the Consecrations and who are now against us. “It’s a pity we are divided”, they say,
“why not meet up with them? Let’s go and have a drink together, reach out a hand to them” – that’s a betrayal! Those saying this give the impression that at the drop of a hat they would cross over and join those who left us. They must make up their minds."
http://sspx.org/en/two-years-after-consecrations What is different today, is that this mindset which +Lefebvre called a betrayal not only pertains to the
layfolk, but to
the SSPX clergy and leadership itself (i.e., It is THEY who are arranging these "betrayals").
No doubt, I would be told that after all, attending a musical performance with the FSSP faithful at their chapel is not as bad as attending their Masses. But I would simply reply that the SSPX clergy themselves attend FSSP/indult Masses (Contrary to several articles still up on their websites), and even invite them to dispense sacraments to their faithful.
But beside that, we have this additional objection from +Lefebvre (speaking of frequenting other venues offering the traditional Mass):
"Yes, there is the Mass. That’s fine,
but there is also the sermon; there is the atmosphere, the conversations, contacts before and after, which make you little by little change your ideas. It is therefore a danger and that’s why in general, I think it constitutes part of a whole. One does not merely go to Mass,
one frequents a milieu.There are obviously some people who are attracted by the beautiful ceremonies, who also go to Fontgombault, where they have taken up the old mass again. They are in a climate of ambiguity which to my mind is dangerous. Once one finds oneself in this atmosphere, submitted to the Vatican, subject ultimately to the Council, one ends up by becoming ecuмenical."
http://www.drbo.org/lefebvre.htm In other words, it doesn't matter that the SSPX "faithful" will not be attending the indult Mass (a practice no longer opposed by the neo-SSPX anyway). They are by this collaboration made to frequent a compromised milieu, designed to further integrate them into conciliar liberalism.
Topic: SSPX: Kicking Off Holy Week with Tradcuмenism (Read 36038 times)