Cardinal calls for Vatican commission for SSPX defectors

Key Points:

• Cardinal Gerhard Müller has called for the re-establishment of a Vatican commission, similar to the former Ecclesia Dei, to assist disillusioned members of the Society of St. Pius X (SSPX) in returning to full communion with the pope amid upcoming unauthorized episcopal consecrations.
• The SSPX plans to consecrate four new bishops on July 1 without papal mandate, an act condemned by Vatican officials as schismatic and subject to automatic excommunication, with the Vatican warning that formal association with this act could also lead to penalties.
• The original Ecclesia Dei Commission, created in 1988 to reconcile SSPX members after unauthorized consecrations, was suppressed by Pope Francis in 2019, with its duties transferred to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, but Müller argues pastoral and liturgical needs warrant reviving a dedicated commission.
• The SSPX rejected Vatican requests to delay the consecrations and engage in theological dialogue, emphasizing their view of a "grave necessity," while the Vatican considers various canonical responses, including local diocesan actions and clarifying excommunication consequences.
• Following the 1988 consecrations, some SSPX priests left to form the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter, which remains in full communion with Rome, suggesting a potential path for reconciliation for those wishing to leave the SSPX after the upcoming consecrations.