EPISTLES

According to Fr. Gerald Murray, the Vatican’s warning to the SSPX is serious because it publicly establishes that consecrating bishops without papal approval would be treated as a schismatic act carrying automatic excommunication. He explains that the SSPX justifies the move as necessary to preserve its priestly work and maintain bishops for future ordinations, while the Holy See views it as an offense against Church unity. Fr. Murray argues that the Vatican is acting prudently by clarifying its position before any consecrations occur. He also notes that this situation differs from clandestine ordinations under communist persecution, where Rome could not be contacted.

Fr. Murray further argues that immoral or confusing teachings coming from church authorities do not justify consecrating bishops against the pope’s will. While he acknowledges concerns about problematic Vatican documents, he says unauthorized episcopal ordinations would not solve those issues but instead address the SSPX’s practical need for future bishops. He maintains that the SSPX could continue promoting the traditional Latin Mass and theological discussions on tradition while remaining obedient to the pope, similar to the approach of the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter.

Here is my written transcription of his statement from the 15 May 2026 episode of the Prayerful Posse:

On the Vatican’s warning that consecrating SSPX bishops without papal mandate would constitute schism

It is serious because it establishes the public fact that the Society of Pius X has been warned that the Vatican considers the ordination of new bishops without papal mandate to be an act of schism, and schism carries an automatic penalty of excommunication.

Now, of course, the Society says that it’s not a schismatic act because they’re doing it to defend the unity of the Church as they see it. They need bishops to ordain priests so that they can continue the work of the Society, but the Holy See sees it differently.

The Holy See has offered to negotiate with them if they withdraw the announcement — the threat to ordain new bishops this coming July. So, really, this is a power move on both sides, in the sense that they’re trying to clarify their intentions before it happens, and the Holy See, in my opinion, is acting judiciously and wisely, because ordaining bishops without papal mandate is an offense against the unity of the Church, when the pope makes i t clear that he doesn’t want this to happen.

This is not the same as the case, for instance, in communist-dominated Czechoslovakia, when bishops were ordained in secret and the Holy See could not be contacted. This happened before — John Paul II did that. He ordained bishops clandestinely in Eastern Europe. Now, we have the problem that the Chinese Communist Party goes ahead and has bishops ordained, and they don’t get excommunicated. The inconsistent approach to this is a problem.

On whether consecrating SSPX bishops would actually address the deeper problem of the synodal agenda normalizing sexual sins

Well, the unity of the Church is destroyed in a real sense when the Vatican issues a document in which immoral behavior is treated as though it were a gift from God, because the testimonies that were published treated the so-called marriage of these two men to other men as somehow a gift from God. That’s offensive — offensive to God and to His people.

Now, the question is: Is ordaining bishops without papal permission and against papal will a remedy to that problem? No. It’s a remedy to the problem that the Society has: their existing bishops are getting older and could pass away, and then they’d have to find some bishop to ordain their priests, because they ordain priests every year from their seminary.

So the issue is not, in the immediate order of things, stopping bad documents from coming out of the Holy See. An ordination certainly does not stop that. It is, however, a counter-witness when you have priests who preach against it, and that is all to the good. But again, the Society could do what the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter does, which is to have the old Mass and engage in theological discussions on tradition while remaining submissive to the pope.