The Catholic schism
Well, this week the Vatican declared the entire Society of St Pius X, a traditionalist bastion, to be in schism because it has consecrated several bishops without the pope's authorization. All the SSPX's clergy have been excommunicated, and the Vatican is warning that even ordinary Catholics who "adhere to" the SSPX could be excommunicated too. So the battle seems to have been joined.
It will take time to tell how serious this breach actually is, but already some traditionalists are fighting back. One of the new SSPX bishops gave a speech dismissing the modernist Church as "a new religion", "a desert" that "kills everything that it touches". Lifesite News, a traditionalist site, is arguing that pope Leo, being a heretic, cannot validly excommunicate anyone. I'm no expert on Catholic theology, but calling the pope a heretic seems like pretty strong language to me. Popcorn on standby.
posted by Infidel753 at 12:36 AM
5 Comments:
I’ll watch with interest.
Very interesting! I remember when John Paul II ascended to pope, they was some fraction that began, I believe it was from the African bishops over his... "evolution" of thought towards LGBT Catholics. As the church numbers were beginning to fall, he thought that would help bring more into the congregations. Then again, further cracking under Francis when he took the thoughts further. Now Leo.
Don't know where this will go, but it will be interesting to watch. Not that I have any real, vested interest in it.
Well that's interesting. I had no idea that was even going on.
I have to say I don't take much interest in religion and its various schisms and purgings, which seem of little benefit to wider society. But I do appreciate the enormous amount of charity work the church undertakes.
Anvil: So will I.
Rade: How significant this current schism is will largely depend on what happens in Latin America and Africa. The Church can afford to lose the SSPX, but it can't afford a serious split with the vast mass of Catholics that live in those areas and who are much more conservative. Attitudes about (for example) homosexuality in Latin America are evolving, but Sub-Saharan Africa still makes the Deep South in the 1950s look enlightened by comparison.
Mary: I doubt most Americans do. The MSM have mostly ignored it.
Nick: It's only important because it potentially affects the direction of the Catholic Church, a very powerful institution even today.
As for charity, the same people who are doing those things would probably be doing it with or without religion. And don't forget the power of PR. Only religion could bamboozle the world into believing a sadistic monster like Mother Teresa was some great humanitarian, for example.
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