In a previous post I referred to the SSPX as heading towards a position of being Protestant. How is this possible since they believe themselves to be more Catholic than the Pope? In this analysis I will look at the five constitutive elements of traditional Protestant theology which underpin their ecclesiology. In reality these pillars presume a Catholic context and were intended as a means of reform but ended up becoming effectively a separate religion. I do not believe this to necessarily be the case in practice today. This is reflected in the theology of Communion from Vaytican II to which SSPX objects so vigorously. A lot of water has flown under the bridge since 1517! Nevertheless, if we look at what has happened to the Old Catholics, who separated from the Pope in 1870, they end up drifting into full communion with the Anglican church and other ecclesial communities which adhere to a fundamentally Protestant position.
1. The Corruption of the Papacy
According to this pillar the papacy is a fraud. The true church is a fellowship of true believers who were suppressed by the papacy in its lust for money and power. SSPX, in their Profession of Faith, accuse all the popes subsequent to Pius XII of being guilty of heresy. The penalty for heresy is latae sententiae excommunication and the loss of office. If SSPX are correct the Papal See is now vacant since the papacy is both a personal charism and an office. This was illustrated when Pope Benedict XVI resigned but retired as Pope Emeritus.
Being sede vacantist not only means repudiating the present pope. It includes impugning the College of Cardinals and of Bishops. It means that the Holy Spirit has not guided the Church in electing true Successors of Peter to be the rock of unity and to strengthen his brothers. In sum, since the Petrine Office is constitutive of Church, properly speaking, the Catholic Church is considered as being effectively anti-Church and the present Poper as an anti-Pope or even an anti-Christ.
2. The Priesthood of the Baptized
Once apostolic continuity has been broken, since the College of Bishops no longer legitimately transmits apostolic power through legitimate ordination by the laying on of hands, where does priestly ministry finds its validity. It must do so through sacramental means. If ordination in communion with Rome is not possible the foundation for priestly ministry can only be located in baptism. Having lost the ontological connection to apostolic ministry, through the rupture with the Successor of Peter, ministry becomes functional. At the SSPX ordination of their bishops they replaced the pontifical mandate with a construction of their own and justified the action by the pastoral needs of the Society. This means that the role is a functional one. Protestant ministers do not differ from their flock on account of ontology or an essential difference (see LG 10) rather they serve in a different capacity ultimately based in baptism. They have a job not a ministry.
3. Sola Scriptura (by Scripture alone)
If connection with Apostolic authority has gone and the priesthood is a function founded in baptism from where can authority be obtained? It cannot be from Rome and the mandate given St Peter by the Lord. Authority must be derived from Sacred Scripture, the interpretation of which is handed down by leaders of SSPX. It is they who as self-appointed verifiers of Biblical data and tradition decide what is truly "Catholic" in the absence of the Petrine Office and the College of Bishops gathered around him. The Anglican Church, which is really an ecclesial community, speaks of a three-legged stool of Sacraments, Scripture and Reason. This approach has led them to ordain women to the priesthood and to accept same-sex marriage! Additionally, having repudiated the Second Vatican Council, which of the Ecumenical Councils is accepted? Again, the authority to determine this will be sheeted back to how these Councils truly reflect the scriptural data. The decision lies with the doctrinal watchdogs of the SSPX hierarchy who fulfil a function arising from the pastoral need of their community. This sounds a lot like the "reason" leg of the Anglican stool.
4. Sola Fide (by faith alone)
In the Catholic Church, unlike the Protestant ecclesial communities, faith is not merely that of the individual. We pray in the baptismal liturgy, after the baptismal promises: "This is the faith of the Church. We are proud to profess it in Christ the Lord." This is the collective faith handed down over the centuries by the popes. It belongs to everyone. It cannot be subject to arbitrary choice. SSPX have decided that faith is something that they get to choose and define and that we are saved by adhering to it. We are no longer saved through the sacraments of the Catholic Church since these are tainted by the heresy alleged of the popes since 1962. In short, if salvation does not come through the Catholic faith maintained by the Pope and College of Bishops it must be brought about through faith alone. This is faith primarily in our Lord Jesus Christ however, since in the Nicene Creed, we pray: "I believe in one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church" one is led to believe that the SSPX belief in their own probity as guardians of Catholic tradition this is constitutive of their faith as individuals who choose to protest the legitimacy of the Roamn Catholic Church. Instead of having one Pope the individual and personal assent of faith means that each believer becomes his or her own pope!
5. Sola Gratia (by grace alone)
Since individual faith, manifested in obedience to the programme and theology of SSPX, mediates salvation it follows that we are saved by grace alone. We do not cooperate with grace since our reasoning, represented by the development of doctrine at Vatican II, avails us naught. The antiquarianism of the Society determines that history has come to an end. The doctrine of the Church is preserved in amber, beautiful but inert. The sacraments of the Catholic Church no longer objectively mediate salvation. The society founded on the act of faith of Peter and his Successors is illegitimate, if not pernicious and sinful. The believer is therefore saved by grace since the sacraments serve merely a pastoral function when they are divorced from the authority of the Holy See. Those priests ordained by the Catholic Church are all suspect and thus the validity of the sacraments they confect. The Church they serve is not an extension of the Incarnation but a human construct subject to all the weaknesses that attend that condition. The infallibility of the Pope, ex cathedra, only holds with their permission. The infallibility of Ecumenical Councils on matters of defined doctrine likewise requires their imprimatur and nihil obstat. The sensus fidelium of the millions of Catholics who are obedient to the See of Peter and their bishops means nothing. Without the institution the means for justification can only be that of grace alone.
Conclusion
All of this points to the constitutive nature of the Petrine office as the essential guarantor of Catholic faith and sacraments - ubi Petrus, ibi Ecclesia (Where Peter, there the Church) The Marian Fiat and the Petrine Tu es Christus form the foundations of the Church as a society of divine origin which is in the world but not of the world. It cannot be treated as a museum piece immune to change. After all, Pope Pius XI allowed for the liturgy in the vernacular in the Syro-Malabar rite, and Pope Pius XII reformed the liturgy for Holy Week in 1955. The Hypostatic Union of the Saviour, Second Person of the Holy Trinity, also holds for the Church, human and divine. SSPX cannot usurp this reality no matter how sincere they are in their beliefs. There is no salvation in disobedience and protest.
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