Bishop Schneider suggests Vatican excommunication of SSPX would not be valid
In comments released exclusively to this correspondent, Bp. Schneider added further analysis on the upcoming SSPX episcopal consecrations.
(Pelican+) — Bishop Athanasius Schneider, the Holy See’s former Apostolic Visitor to the Society of Saint Pius X, has opined that any excommunication which the Society may be handed following the upcoming episcopal consecrations would be invalid.
“There is no intention from the leadership of the SSPX to separate themselves from Rome,” said Bp. Schneider, during a recent private meeting of the Confraternity of Our Lady of Fatima, obtained exclusively by this correspondent with the permission of His Excellency. {The Confraternity is an apostolate that works closely with Bp. Schneider “to hasten the Reign of Mary through the Consecration of St. Louis de Montfort”}.
The auxiliary bishop of Astana has a particular expertise regarding the Society, given that he served as the Holy See’s official visitor to the SSPX under Pope Francis. Schneider, one of the most vocal bishops in the Church today, has also issued a public appeal to Pope Leo XIV, asking the Pope to approve the SSPX’s planned episcopal consecrations, and in so doing build bridges for the Church.
So far, the Holy See – via Cardinal Victor Manuel Fernández – has warned the Society that should they proceed with the July 1 consecrations without papal mandate, then that would “imply a decisive rupture of ecclesial communion (schism) with grave consequences for the Fraternity as a whole.”
Following the SSPX’s 1988 episcopal consecrations, Pope John Paul II declared that the consecrating bishops, and those receiving the order of bishop, “have incurred the grave penalty of excommunication envisaged by ecclesiastical law.” Arguments for the validity of such an automatic excommunication have been hotly rejected by the SSPX throughout the decades, and as equally passionately made against the Society by its critics – including recently with the upcoming July 1 consecrations.
But for Bishop Schneider a key element is missing in the SSPX’s proposed actions – one which would thus not qualify them for any declaration of excommunication. He stated:
“Therefore, I think that, if the excommunication would be applied, it would be in some way not valid because there is no intention to do a schismatic act on the side of the Society of Pius X, and you cannot be punished when you have not the intention to do it, according to the canon law.”
As he has done repeatedly in recent years, Schneider noted that the Society’s Masses are a viable option for Catholics to attend, especially given that “during the Mass they pray for the Pope. If they would not pray for the Pope then it should not be attended, but they always pray for the Pope, and even for the local bishop where the Mass is celebrated.”
While prominent cardinals have condemned the Society’s decision to proceed with the episcopal consecrations, Schneider has taken a more nuanced stance, urging the Pope to approve the ceremony and thus allowing the SSPX to contribute more fully to the life of the Church and the necessary theological debate about doctrinal crises of recent years,
Yet the bishop fears that Leo XIV is at risk of being influenced by individuals keen to attack the Society.
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