Copied from Rorate Caeli—Press title for full interview, money byte below:
Cardinal Koch, Prefect of Christian Unity, on the SSPX Consecrations: "We need to rethink Traditionis custodes, especially for those faithful who feel drawn to this liturgy without sharing the ideology of the SSPX."
The Illicit Episcopal Ordinations of the Society of St. Pius X
Interview with Cardinal Koch, Prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity
Yesterday we saw that the SSPX strikingly staged the aesthetic glow of the old rites. At the same time, we can see, especially in the USA and also in France, a growing interest among the younger generation in these traditionalist forms of Christianity. A perhaps somewhat delicate question: isn't this also an impetus for the Catholic Church, as it currently stands, to review its books—perhaps to appreciate the particular truth contained within traditionalism and use it as an occasion for self-critical reflection?
Yes, I think it could lean toward self-righteousness if we simply condemn the Society and say they are on the wrong track, without asking whether there are fundamental deficits in the Church today that are being recalled by the Society.
First, I think of the unresolved question of the relationship between the two forms of the one Roman Rite, as Pope Benedict called it. Pope Benedict showed a path there; Pope Francis curbed it somewhat radically. I think we need to rethink this, especially for those faithful who feel drawn to this form of liturgy without sharing the entire ideological superstructure of the Society. For these faithful, I think we must look for new ways.
A second problem is the ecclesiological pluralism we have today in ecumenism, where basically all churches and ecclesial communities are treated as equivalent, so that it is essentially a matter of indifference which church you belong to; there, the uniqueness of the Catholic Church, as pointed out clearly by the Second Vatican Council, is forgotten.
And thirdly, religious pluralism—the idea that all religions are equally ways to God. These theses are widely held today, and it would be good to use the confrontation with the Society as an opportunity for self-examination, to consider what needs to be changed here. Because only in this way can we credibly represent to the Society that these evils they name are not contained in the Council, but are tendencies that appeared after the Council.
13 comments:
Of course. Sorry to say, but the TLM has a better future than the Novus Ordo unless some serious changes to it are accomplished.
There's a "Captain Obvious" component to that statement despite it getting some traction.
Heal thyself, Roman hierarchy!
The fruit of Vatican II and the Novus Ordo is growing in the shallow soil of synodality. When a large tree is dying it sends up shoots from the deep roots that had kept it alive for so long with the objective of remaining alive. In the case of the FSSPX we can see that those shoots may not be as smart as they should be, and their vision clouded by hubris and vanity. It is ironic that they would follow and retain the thoughtfully and prayerfully developed worship methods of the Church fathers while forgetting or ignoring the example of the faithful correction that Saint Paul showed Saint Peter.
Unlike some nasties in the US, the Bishop of Oslo gets it!
(10) As for the future: You wish to be able to take part in the liturgical celebration according to the 1962 Missal. Many of you also look to a spiritual expression and a spirituality shaped by the pre-conciliar liturgy. I understand this. Masses according to the 1962 Missal are celebrated every Sunday at St. Joseph Church in Oslo. This will continue. If there is a need for it, and if it would be for the good of the Church and of souls, I will also expand this form of Mass celebration in our local Church.
It is time, past time, to address the intolerance of the reform that created the SSPX in the first place. Rome, remove the beam from your own eye so that you can see clearly to remove the mote in your brother's eye.
Maybe the Vatican, with our failed liturgical revolution, might want to see why the SSPX has people lined out the doors to attend their Masses, and multiples ones at that, on Sunday. But of course, that takes humility. The Big Bully can't admit they're wrong, can they?
https://wdtprs.com/2026/07/sspx-out-the-door-literally-on-sunday-at-their-chapels/
Leo is getting a lot of wise council on how to reconcile this situation. As Benedict found, there is common ground here where the two forms of the Mass can exist harmoniously and without the absurd, draconian roadblocks imposed by TC. We don't really know who he is listening to. It could and should be ALL; both sides of the argument. That said, this boil has been festering too long now and at some point, and I contend it is now, Leo needs to come down with a decision. As a leader one needs to take council but sooner or later, that leader must decide. The SSPX schism is another matter entirely and I would not mix the two here at all. To my way of thinking this is really not an "adjacent issue". In other words, Leo does not have to solve for both with one decision. The best path, in the present moment, is to decide on TC and find a harmonious way forward for right practicing Catholics who desire the traditional rite. The SSPX issue can wait.
Well said!
Out the door.....
If they are not PhotoShop or AI produced images....
One pic is from Sao Paulo which has a population of 11.4 million. The lineup includes 0.000000000000001% of the population.
One is from Barcelona with a population of 1.75 million. The pic represents MAYBE 0.00000000001% of the population.
The pic from "north Idaho" is of Immaculate Conception "parish" with 600 families. Maybe that's 0.008% of Idaho's Catholic population.
IT'S A TIDAL WAVE ! ! ! Said Fr. Z and his devotees...
It makes sense to me. The people in Idaho are probably also losing fewer Catholics as a percentage.
Father Kavanaugh said..."IT'S A TIDAL WAVE ! ! ! Said Fr. Z and his devotees..."
Father Zuhlsdorf yesterday said..."In the wake of the SSPX consecrations and the Holy See’s sloppy draconian reaction, I thought it might be interesting to see what the result has been at SSPX chapels."
He has pushed the anti-Pope Leo XIV angle ..."Pope Leo XIV thought that he had crushed the SSPX...but he has only succeeded in having increased attendance at SSPX chapels."
Father Zuhlsdorf retweeted of the recent video of the priest who danced at the altar. The caption had read: "The Pope just excommunicated the SSPX And this dancing prancing goofball of a priest is in good standing with the Pope. Tell me there is no crisis in the Church>
Father Zuhlsdorf also retweeted the comment that accompanied the photo of Pope Leo XIV at Lampedusa as His Holiness had looked upon the Mediterranean Sea. The caption:
"Leo waves goodbye to his Block of Ice which has now melted and returned to the sea of heartbreak."
That recalled the claim that His Holiness had blessed an "ice cube" during a supposed "pagan" climate-change, tree-hugging ceremony.
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We need to stand with Pope Leo XIV as he has been branded a draconian monster...a bully...a cruel Pope...for having attempted to reason with the SSPX.
Pax.
Mark Thomas
If the Faithful have responded to Pope Leo XIV response to the SSPX by having flooded SSPX chapels then...oh, well. So be it should Catholics wish to stand with the SSPX, rather than His Holiness.
I am not sure that the SSPX will experience an attendance boom at their chapels. How much that may have been exaggerated yesterday is beyond me.
But I do not doubt that Pope Leo XIV has taken a big hit among trads who prior to last Wednesday had at least played the "Zip It" game — let us go somewhat easy upon Pope Leo XIV to trick him into the belief that the TLM Movement is not extremist.
Pax.
Mark Thomas
Father Davide Pagliarani, SSPX The Superior General, had sent a letter to Pope Leo XIV:
To His Holiness
Pope Leo XIV
Ecône, 3 July 2026
"Among yourselves, if a father is asked by his son for bread, will he give him a stone? Or for a fish, will he give him a snake instead of a fish? Or if he is asked for an egg, will he give him a scorpion?"
"We had asked for bread...unfortunately, we received a stone."
"We had asked for a fish...unfortunately, we received a serpent."
"We had asked for an egg...unfortunately, we received a scorpion."
Later, during that letter, we read:
"But above all, the Society of Saint Pius X promises You today that it will not receive these new sanctions — objectively unjust and invalid — with bitterness or revolt."
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The SSPX just portrayed Pope Leo XIV as a spiritual Father who had given to his spiritual children, the SSPX, a stone, serpent, and scorpion.
The SSPX would also have us believe that Pope Leo XIV has inflicted upon the Society sanctions that re "objectively unjust and invalid."
Pope Leo XIV, welcome to the shocking, anti-Catholic treatment that Pope Francis had received regularly from various folks, including the SSPX, from
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