FAQ 4
SHOULD I HAVE ANY ASSOCIATION WITH THE SOCIETY OF ST. PIUS X (SSPX)?       

                           TRADITIO Traditional Roman Catholic Internet Site
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                                                     Last Updated:  08/21/11

        Marcel Lefebvre, the courageous traditional archbishop who stood up 
to the Newchurch of the New Order and called it "not Catholic" died in 1991.  
In 1994 one of the bishops consecrated by the Archbishop, Bernie Fellay, was 
elected Superior General of the SSPX.  Over the intervening years, 
particularly after 2000, Fellay hatched a plan, known as the "Hindenburg 
Plan," to turn the Archbishop's SSPX into a Neo-SSPX, which would sell out to 
the Novus Ordo that was condemned by the Archbishop, in order to gain a seat 
at the Novus Ordo table in Newchurch.

        Although the Archbishop had grave reservations about the "Mass of 
1962," engineered by the same Freemason presbyter, Hannibal Bugnini, who 
fabricated the invalid Novus Ordo service of 1969 with his Committee of Six 
Protestant Ministers, Fellay openly embraced this corrupted version of the 
Mass, particularly after Benedict-Ratzinger's Great "Motu" Mess Hoax of 2007, 
which attempted to replace the Traditional Latin Mass with this corrupted 
"Mass of 1962+" in the minds of traditional Catholics.

        Fellay also took other steps to sell out to the Novus Ordo.  Around 
the world he replaced at various SSPX sites traditional Catholic priests with 
Novus Ordo presbyters merely "installed" under Bugnini's invalid New Ordinal 
of 1968, not ordained in the traditional rite of Holy Orders with power to 
say the Mass.

        Fellay has also announced that he is essentially willing to accept 
all the unCatholic teachings of Vatican II (1962-1965), which were 
specifically condemned as being unCatholic by Archbishop Lefebvre.  The Neo-
SSPX under Fellay is clearly moving toward joining the Novus Ordo and can no 
longer be recommended as a traditional organization.

        The TRADITIO Network has never had any connection with the SSPX.  In 
fact, our correspondents indicate that some (but not all) elements of the 
SSPX are inimical toward traditional Catholics outside its own organization 
and outside of its control.  These elements of the SSPX leadership do not 
display the same good Catholic sense that the SSPX's founder, Abp. Lefebvre, 
demonstrated.

        The SSPX is very much a two-edged sword.  The following summary of 
the situation with respect to the SSPX was written by a member of an 
independent chapel that was taken over by the SSPX and essentially destroyed 
through calumny against the priest who founded it:

	"I think that the basic problems with the SSPX are that they
	implicitly view themselves as the Church and the sole possessors of
	Tradition, and are very Jansenistic [militaristic, Calvinistic] in 
	their attitudes and outlook.  They are very negative and combative, 
	always preaching and focusing on the negative aspects of our Faith and 
	attacking those who do not wholeheartedly kowtow to and agree with 
	them....

	"The real problem is with their leadership.  It is weak and political 
	from the top down.  There are many excellent priests within the 
	SSPX, and I am friends with many of them, and they are fed up with the 
	goings-on.  They are not at fault, but their superiors are.  Many of 
	them will leave the SSPX if things continue as they are...."

        Thus, at some SSPX chapels, you may encounter a hostile or negative 
attitude and defamatory remarks about non-SSPX traditional Catholics, 
particularly those who are new to the traditional movement from the Novus 
Ordo sect.  That having been said, many of the local SSPX people and priests 
do not share that viewpoint and, in some cases, have been courageous enough 
to speak out against them at their own peril. 

        If an SSPX Mass is the only convenient one to attend in a given area, 
surely the Mass there is better than an invalid Novus Ordo service (NEVER an 
option for a traditional Catholic) or no Mass at all.  One must be careful, 
however, to remain attached to the Traditional Latin Mass, Sacraments, and 
Faith and not to the SSPX (or any other organization, for that matter).

        The best situation would be to find a Mass site that is independent 
of organizational entanglements.  Find a traditional Catholic priest who is 
satisfied to celebrate the Traditional Latin Mass, administer the Traditional 
Latin Sacraments, and preach the traditional Roman Catholic Faith, without 
all the organizational politics.