These quotes and texts are used in
conjunction with the
SSPX FAQs
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"Moreover, in order that we may perform satisfactorily the duty of embracing
the true faith and of continuously persevering in it, God, through His
only-begotten Son, has instituted the Church and provided it with clear
signs of His institution, so that it can be recognized by all as the guardian
and teacher of the revealed word." (Vatican I, Dz 1793).
2.
THE CATHOLIC CHURCH IS THE UNIQUE ARK OF SALVATION
"The Catholic Church firmly believes, professes, and proclaims that those
not living within Her, not only pagans, but also Jews, heretics, and schismatics,
cannot become participants in eternal life but will depart 'into everlasting
fire which was prepared for the devil and his angels' (Mt. 25:41),
unless before the end of life the same have been added to the flock..." (Council
of Florence, Dz 714).
3.
THE CATHOLIC CHURCH IS VISIBLE AND INDEFECTIBLE
"Moreover, what the Chief of pastors and the Great Pastor of sheep, the
Lord Jesus, established in the blessed Apostle Peter for the perpetual
salvation and perennial good of the Church, this by the same Author must
endure always in the Church which was founded upon a rock and will endure
firm until the end of the ages." (Vatican I, Dz 1824 [cf., Dz 1793
above]). "The one Church of Christ is visible to all and will remain, according to
the Will of its Author, exactly the same as He instituted it." (Pius XI,
Mortalium
Animos, �15).
4.�
THE CHURCH IS FOUNDED UPON PETER AND HIS SUCCESSORS FOREVER
"If anyone then says that it is not from the institution of Christ the Lord
Himself or by divine right that the blessed Peter has perpetual successors
in the primacy over the universal Church...let him be anathema...." ����
"If anyone
thus speaks, that the Roman Pontiff has only the office of inspection or
direction but not the full and supreme power of jurisdiction over the universal
Church, not only in things which pertain to faith and morals, but also
in those which pertain to the discipline and government of the Church spread
over the whole world...let him be anathema." (Vatican I, Dz 1825,
1831). ����
"But it is opposed to the truth and in evident contra-diction with the divine
constitution of the Church to hold that, while each bishop is individually
bound to obey the authority of the Roman Pontiffs, taken collectively the
bishops are not so bound." (Leo XIII, Satis Cognitum).
5.
THE POPE HAS POWER ONLY "UNTO EDIFICATION AND NOT UNTO DESTRUCTION" (II
Cor 13:10) OF CHRIST'S CHURCH
"For, the Holy Spirit
was not promised to the successors of Peter that by His revelation they
might disclose new doctrine, but that by His help they might guard sacredly
the revelation transmitted through the apostles and the deposit of faith,
and might faithfully set it forth." (Vatican I, Dz 1836).
"And for these sacraments instituted by Christ the Lord, in the course of
the ages the Church has not and could not substitute other sacraments,
since, as the Council of Trent teaches, the seven sacraments of the New
Law have all been instituted by Jesus Christ our Lord and the Church has
no power over the �substance of the sacraments,� that is, over those
things which, with the sources of divine revelation as witnesses, Christ
the Lord Himself decreed to be preserved in a sacramental sign..." (Pius
XII, Sacramentum Ordinis, Dz 2301). "It is well known unto all men...with what great care and pastoral vigilance
our predecessors the Roman Pontiffs have discharged the office entrusted
by Christ Our Lord to them in the person of the most blessed Peter, Prince
of the Apostles, have unremittingly discharged the duty of feeding the
lambs and the sheep, and have diligently nourished the Lord�s entire flock
with the words of faith, imbued it with salutary doctrine, and guarded
it from poisoned pastures. And those our predecessors, who were the assertors
and champions of the august Catholic religion, of truth and justice, being
as they were chiefly solicitous for the salvation of souls, held nothing
to be of so great importance as the duty of exposing and condemning, in
their most wise Letters and Constitutions, all heresies and errors which
are hostile to moral honesty and to the eternal salvation of mankind..."
(Pius
IX, Quanta Cura �1).
6.
CHURCH TEACHING CANNOT CHANGE
Revelation, constituting the object of Catholic faith, was not completed
with the apostles (Condemned by Saint Pius X, Lamentabili, Dz 2021).
"Further, by divine and Catholic faith, all those things must be believed
which are contained in the written word of God and in Tradition, and which
are proposed by the Church, either in a solemn pronouncement or in her
ordinary and universal teaching power, to be believed as divinely
revealed..."
"Hence, also, that understanding of its sacred dogmas must be perpetually
retained, which Holy Mother Church has once declared; and there must never
be recession from that meaning under the specious name of a deeper
understanding... definitions
of the Roman Pontiff from himself, but not from the consensus of the Church,
are unalterable" (Vatican I, Dz 1792; 1800; 1839).
7.
PROTESTANTS AND OTHER NON-CATHOLICS DO NOT HAVE THE FAITH
"Now it is manifest that he who adheres to the teaching of the Church, as
to an infallible rule, assents to whatever the Church teaches; otherwise,
if, of the things taught by the Church, he holds what he chooses to hold,
and rejects what he chooses to reject, he no longer adheres to the teaching
of the Church as to an infallible rule, but to his own will... Therefore
it is clear that such a heretic with regard to one article has no faith
in the other articles, but only a kind of opinion in accordance with his
own will" (Saint Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica, II II, Q.5, A.3).
8.
HUMAN LAW IS ORDAINED TO DIVINE LAW
"Likewise the liberty of those who are in authority does not consist in
the power to lay unreasonable and capricious commands upon their subjects... but
the binding force of human laws is in this, that they are to be regarded
as applications of the eternal law, and incapable of sanctioning anything
which is not contained in the eternal law, as in the principle of all law"
(Leo XIII, Libertas �10).
9.
BAD LAWS ARE NOT LAWS
"If, then, by any one in authority, something be sanctioned out of conformity
with the principles of right reason, and consequently hurtful to the commonwealth,
such an enactment can have no binding force of law, as being no rule of
justice, but certain to lead men away from that good which is the very
end of civil society.... But where the power to command is wanting, or where
a law is enacted contrary to reason, or to the eternal law, or to some
ordinance of God, obedience is unlawful, lest, while obeying man, we become
disobedient to God" (Leo XIII, Libertas ��10, 13).
10.
IN CERTAIN CIRCUMSTANCES ECCLESIASTICAL LAWS DO NOT OBLIGE
a)
WHEN DOUBTFUL:� �When
there is a doubt of law, laws do not bind even if they be nullifying and
disqualifying ones...� (1917 Code of Canon Law, canon 15; 1983
Code of Canon Law, canon 14).
b) WHEN RETROACTIVE:�
�A
law comes into existence when it is promulgated.� (1917 Code of Canon
Law, canon 8, �1 [cf., canon 17, �2]; 1983 Code of Canon
Law, canon 7, [cf., canon 16, �2]).
c)
WHEN THEY CANNOT BE OBSERVED
(physically or morally) :�
�No
positive law obliges where there is grave inconvenience�
is a principle of moral theology (cf., 1917 Code of Canon Law, canon
2205, �2; 1983 Code of Canon Law, canon 1323, 40). There certainly is
such a grave inconvenience when observance would be detrimental to souls, for �the salvation of souls must always be the supreme law of the Church�
(1983 Code of Canon Law, canon 1752).
11.
THE MASS IS NOT ESSENTIALLY A MEAL
"If anyone says that in the Mass a true and real sacrifice is not offered
to God, or that the act of offering is nothing else than Christ being given
to us to eat, let him be anathema." (Council of Trent, Dz 948.).
12.
THE MASS IS THE RE-ENACTMENT OF CALVARY (and not just a narrative of the
Last Supper, which was itself but a pre-enactment of Calvary)
"He, therefore, our God and Lord, though He was about to offer Himself once
to God the Father upon the altar of the Cross...nevertheless, that His
sacerdotal office might not come to an end with His death, at the Last
Supper, on the night He was betrayed, so that He might leave to His beloved
spouse the Church a visible sacrifice (as the nature of man demands), whereby
that bloody sacrifice once to be completed on the Cross might be represented,
and the memory of it remain even to the end of the world... offered to God
the Father His own body and blood under the species of bread and wine...."
(Council
of Trent, Dz 950).
13.
THE MASS IS NOT A COMMUNITY GATHERING
"If anyone says that Masses in which the priest alone communicates sacramentally,
are illicit and are therefore to be abrogated, let him be anathema." (Council
of Trent, Dz 955, cf.,
Principle 14).
14.
THE PRAYERS OF THE MASS ARE NOT DIRECTED TO THE PEOPLE BUT TO GOD
��� "If anyone says that the rite of the Roman Church, according to which a
part of the canon and the words of consecration are pronounced in a low
tone, is to be condemned..., let him be anathema" (Council of Trent, Dz
956).
15.
HOLY COMMUNION UNDER BOTH SPECIES IS NOT NECESSARY FOR THE LAITY
"If anyone denies that the whole Christ is contained in the venerable sacrament
of the Eucharist under each species and under every part of each species,
when the separation has been made, let him be anathema." (Council of Trent,
Dz
885). ����
"If anyone says that the holy Catholic Church has not been influenced by
just causes and reasons to give communion under the form of bread only
to laymen and even to clerics when not consecrating, or that she has erred
in this, let him be anathema." (Council of Trent, Dz 935).
16.
THE BLESSED SACRAMENT IS OUR LORD AND MUST BE WORSHIPPED
"If anyone says that in the holy sacrament of the Eucharist the only-begotten
Son of God is not to be adored even outwardly with the worship of latria... let
him be anathema." (Council of Trent, Dz 888).
17.
THE BLESSED SACRAMENT CONTAINS THE WHOLE CHRIST UNDER THE SPECIES OF BREAD AND WINE
"If anyone denies that in the sacrament of the most holy Eucharist there are
truly, really, and substantially contained the body and blood together with the
soul and divinity of our Lord Jesus Christ, and therefore the whole Christ, but
shall say that He is in it as by a sign or figure, or force, let him be
anathema." (Council of Trent, Dz 883).
18.
THE CATHOLIC PRIESTHOOD IS OF DIVINE ORIGIN
"If anyone says that by these words:
�Do this for a commemoration of
me,� (Lk. 22:19; I Cor. 11:24), Christ did not make the Apostles priests,
or did not ordain that they and other priests might offer His own body
and blood: let him be anathema." (Council of Trent, Dz 949).
19.
THE TRADITIONAL LATIN MASS IS STILL IN FORCE IN VIRTUE OF QUO PRIMUM: "By these present (ordinances) and by virtue of Our Apostolic Authority,
We give and grant in perpetuity that for the singing or reading of Mass
in any church whatsoever this Missal may be followed absolutely, without
any scruple of conscience or fear of incurring any penalty, judgment or
censure, and may be freely and lawfully used....We likewise order and declare
that no one whosoever shall be forced or coerced into altering this Missal;
and that this present Constitution can never be revoked or modified, but
shall forever remain valid and have the force of law..." (Saint Pius V,
Quo
Primum).
-
AS IMMEMORIAL
CUSTOM:� �...unless it makes express
mention of centenary or immemorial customs, a law does not revoke them...�
(1917 Code of Canon Law, canon 30; 1983 Code of Canon Law, canon
28).
-
AND BECAUSE
THE NOVUS ORDO MISSAE IS NOT TO BE REGARDED AS AN OPTION OPEN TO FAITHFUL
CATHOLICS:
"1. The accompanying
Critical Study is the work of a select group
of bishops, theologians, liturgists and pastors of souls. Despite its brevity,
the study shows quite clearly that the Novus Ordo Missae �considering the
new elements susceptible to widely different interpretations which are
implied or taken for granted �represents, both as a whole and in its details,
a striking departure from the Catholic theology of the Mass as it was formulated
in Session 22 of the Council of Trent. The �canons� of the rite definitively
fixed at that time erected an insurmountable barrier against any heresy
which might attack the integrity of the Mystery." (Cardinals Ottaviani
and Bacci,
Short Critical Study of the New Order of Mass, p.27.)
"To abandon a liturgical tradition which for four centuries stood as
a sign and pledge of unity in worship, and to replace it with another liturgy
which, due to the countless liberties it implicitly authorizes, cannot
but be a sign of division �a liturgy which teems with insinuations or manifest
errors against the integrity of the Catholic Faith �is, we feel bound in
conscience to proclaim, an incalculable error." (Cardinals Ottaviani
and Bacci,
Short Critical Study of the New Order of Mass, p.55.)
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