SSPX consecrations a schismatic act, but Latin Mass remains valid

Key Points:

• Cardinal Gerhard Müller condemned the Society of St. Pius X’s (SSPX) planned consecration of four bishops without papal mandate as a schismatic act, emphasizing that such ordinations are impossible without the pope's approval and mark those involved as anti-Catholic.
• The SSPX intends to consecrate four priests, including Father Michael Goldade, on July 1 in Switzerland, a move that would be valid but illicit and incur automatic excommunication due to the lack of papal authorization.
• Müller distinguished between devotion to the Traditional Latin Mass (TLM), which he affirmed as valid, and rejection of papal authority, criticizing bishops who forbid the TLM as authoritarian but stressing that the dispute centers on authority, not liturgical preference.
• He likened the SSPX to the Donatists, an early schismatic group, and urged the faithful not to attend Masses led by schismatic priests or bishops if a formal schism occurs.
• The SSPX rejects the schism charge, citing a “state of necessity” due to a shortage of bishops to ordain priests; meanwhile, Vatican officials, including Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, have warned that the consecrations represent schismatic acts.