1. After Bp. Marcello Semeraro, of Albano, Italy, Secretary of the Papal Council of Reform (Council of Nine Cardinals) solemnly declared "out of communion with the Catholic Church" all faithful who go to Masses and receive sacraments from priests of the Society of Saint Pius X (FSSPX / SSPX), also threatening their children with a "special penitential path", the local district of that society made the following statement, which we post here for the record of ongoing events:
ALBANO, ITALY – 10-31-2013 (Press release)
In a notification dated October 14 of this year, Bishop Marcello Semeraro, Ordinary of the Diocese of Albano Laziale (Italy), made particularly odious statements about the Society of St. Pius X, for the purpose of keeping the faithful away from Masses celebrated by our Society and from the religious instruction given to young people, declaring that the Society was not “an institution of the Catholic Church”.
Bishop Semeraro cannot be unaware of the fact that the Society of St. Pius X was erected with the approval of the Bishop of Fribourg (Switzerland) on November 1, 1970, and that this establishment was ratified by Rome with a decree issued by Cardinal Wright, Prefect of the Congregation for the Clergy on February 18, 1971.
The house itself of the Society in Albano, with its semi-public oratory for the administration of the sacraments, was canonically erected by the decree of Bishop Semeraro’s predecessor, Bishop Raffaele Macario on February 22, 1974 (Protocol n. 140/74).
Despite the problems with the ecclesiastical authorities that developed following the deviations in the Faith and the liturgy brought about by the Second Vatican Council, and notwithstanding the illegitimate attempts to suppress our Society because of its fidelity to the Tradition of the Church, the Holy See itself, through the Roman Ecclesia Dei Commission, affirmed that one can perform one’s Sunday duty “by attending a Mass celebrated by a priest of the Society of St. Pius X” (January 18, 2003) and, as everyone knows, it no longer considers the bishops of that same Society to be not in communion with the Catholic Church.
It is very odd that Bishop Semeraro should intervene in this way when he has made himself the champion of ecumenism in his diocese. In 2009 he granted the Church of San Francesco in Genzano, which was built with the labors and sacrifices of our ancestors for Catholic worship, to schismatics and heretics. On January 28 of this year he organized an ecumenical vigil in the cathedral to pray with persons who are certainly not “in communion with the Catholic Church”, such as an Evangelical Lutheran pastor and an Orthodox bishop.
In the month of November alone, three [ecumenical] meetings are scheduled in the diocese, and the bishop will preside at one of them, thus supporting religions that deny truths of the Faith that have been defined by the Church and spreading the false doctrine of indifferentism, which says that every religion is helpful for salvation. He does not seem to care that this openly contradicts the teaching of the perennial Magisterium of the Church, in particular of Pope Pius XI in his encyclical, Mortalium animos.
Moreover from March 26 to 28 of this year the house of the Somaschi Fathers in Albano hosted the First Forum of Christian Homosexuals, at which the practice of sodomy was defended in principle as an act of true love!
All this is possible in the diocese... but not attending the Masses or classes of those who hand down the Church’s Tradition in doctrine and the liturgy!
This blatant inconsistency is an obvious symptom of the terrible crisis that is affecting the whole Church and that was manifested again recently in the last Synod, in which, under the pretext of mercy, there was discussion of the possibility of changing the Sixth Commandment of God and of abandoning the indissolubility of Christian marriage!
The Society of St. Pius X, following the example of its founder, will continue to transmit in its entirety the deposit of the Catholic Faith and morals, openly taking sides against all the errors that try to distort it, without fear of threats or of unjust canonical sanctions, because neither Bishop Semeraro nor any other member of the ecclesiastical hierarchy will ever be able to change this deposit. As St. Peter said, “It is better to obey God rather than men.”
All who wish to receive the sacraments as the Church has always administered them, or to receive authentic catechetical instruction for their children, adult formation, spiritual direction and comfort for the sick will always be welcome in our chapels.
Society of St. Pius X, District of Italy [Translation by SSPX.org]
***
2. Also for the record of ongoing events, a translation of the Superior of the SSPX, Bp. Bernard Fellay, granted to the French District webpage and posted yesterday:
La Porte Latine – Hello, Your Excellency. Thank you for answering La Porte Latine’s questions for the faithful of France who were not able to assist at this magnificent pilgrimage. How would you sum up this pilgrimage?Bishop Fellay – Indeed, “magnificent” is the right word. A very, very, very beautiful pilgrimage, with a perfect convergence: the help from the central organization of the pilgrimage1, who put everything we needed at our disposal, the Good God who made sure we had absolutely beautiful weather, beautiful late autumn days that made the ceremonies as serene as could be… I think that is the word I would use: serenity. It was very calm and beautiful. I think that souls were able to raise themselves up to God, unite themselves to God, thank the Blessed Virgin, and beg her for all the graces they need, that we need. Truly a beautiful pilgrimage of thanksgiving.LPL – We have had several consecrations during this pilgrimage. Can you speak about them, since they also include all the faithful of the Society?Bishop Fellay – In fact, they were renewals. I do not think that there were any direct consecrations, except maybe today’s which was really more of a petition to St. Pius X. But of course, he is our patron, and everything is already in his hands. The renewal of the consecration of the Society and of the District of France to the Immaculate Heart of Mary is the same as Fatima. Since Lourdes is a site of Our Lady’s apparitions, and the messages are really the same: they insist upon a very deep and very intimate devotion to the Blessed Virgin, to the Immaculate Heart. Here, it is the Immaculate Heart; in Fatima, it is the Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart; but it is the same Blessed Virgin. So it is an important consecration for us, since it is clearly Heaven’s way of showing us the means to find protection and help in the difficult times we are living through; the Immaculate Heart is truly the means pointed out by God, by Heaven. There was also a consecration to the Sacred Heart, and to Christ the King. It is very dear to us, and very important.This reminds me of something very enlightening that Archbishop Lefebvre said about the combat and the present problems in the Church; he made a connection with Christ the King, saying: “It is because prelates, our prelates, the heads of the Church, no longer have any care or concern for the kingdom and reign of Our Lord Jesus Christ that things are going badly”, and he even went so far as to say that we cannot follow them. And it is true that it is a language that is no longer understood today at all. I think that is one of the greatest misfortunes; it is a way of making the kingship of Our Lord Jesus Christ a sort of theory that we no longer wish to put into practice--possibly for individuals, but for societies, recognizing that societies, countries, nations, belong to Our Lord--it is simply considered today as an idea from Mars, even in the Church. It is a profound tragedy because the same Lord of Nations is our Savior; He is at the head of all nations and of the Church, and He is at the same time the Savior, the only one who can save us. To take away a part – the part that includes human life, that is, the world; we have a soul and a body – is very serious, in fact, it is what the enemies of the Church wanted: to take away Our Lord’s scepter. This combat has been abandoned, and in the Archbishop’s footsteps, we have always seen this as something very, very serious, and we are convinced we are right. So renewing this consecration, requested by Pius XI, is very important; it is a protest sent up to Heaven, saying: many have turned their backs on you, but not us! We wish to be with you....LPL – The media is talking a lot about the Catholic Church’s Synod. What should we think about it? What should we expect?Bishop Fellay – There is nothing to expect. There is no need to wait. The direction has been given, and it is clear. We must simply say: it is clear. It is obvious that they wish to trivialize the situation of those who live in adultery, truly in a state of sin. They wish to trivialize it, and that is very, very, very serious. When we play with morality, we are playing with God’s commandments. To have dared, for two weeks, to leave up to opinion questions that leave no room for opinion! It is God’s word. All we have to say is “Amen.” We must, of course, think about how to help these people; we must always think about that. But we certainly do not help them by telling them there is an open door when there is none. The door that is being opened is a door to hell! These prelates who have received the power of the keys, that is, of opening the gates of Heaven, are closing them, and opening the gates of hell. It is unbelievable! It is crazy! Absolutely crazy! And as I said, the direction has been laid out. It is true that this synod was not supposed to make a decision; it was supposed to be a first step, but the first steps have been taken, the direction has been laid out, and it is not hard to guess what the following synod will do. Unless there is a much stronger reaction than the one we see today, and unfortunately, I doubt that there will be. Alas, there will not be!LPL – What should we think of the beatification of Paul VI?Bishop Fellay – It simply isn’t serious. The conclusion is that anyone can be a saint, especially if they are pro-Vatican II! Anything to do with Vatican II is now holy, beatified, canonized. Yet again, it is a way of trivializing holiness. It is no longer serious, it just isn’t serious! It hurts, it hurts us deeply. Religion is being ridiculed. A saint must shine by his virtues, his heroic virtues; he must be an example to be followed. And it is sad to say, but what they are doing here is not serious.LPL –We will end with what the press got out of your sermon yesterday: “Fear not!” For the faithful who were not at this Mass, can you tell them what they should get out of it?Bishop Fellay – What I said must be understood in the right way. I did not just say “fear not,” just like that. I said that humanly speaking, there are very serious reasons on all sides to be afraid, but that we must answer this human fear with a supernatural viewpoint, by listening to Our Lord who knew that the Apostles were afraid: this fear is nothing new.This fear has been around ever since the Apostles. It is one of the most powerful weapons of the Church’s enemies’, especially the devil, for paralyzing the apostolic action of the Church. He tries to frighten, to terrify. We must conquer this fear, but not by seeking human means. Men are tempted either to let themselves be frightened by the reality before them, or to try to fix the problems themselves. To both, the true answer is the one given by Our Lord when He said “Fear not,” for we must seek help in Him. “Adjutorium nostrum in Nomine Domini,” our help is in the Name of the Lord. We must look at God. And in a crisis as terrible as this one, it is all that we have left. As far as men are concerned, it is over, it is hopeless. The situation of the Church is a nameless catastrophe. So there really is reason to be frightened. But we do not have the right to let ourselves be paralyzed, we must go forward, we must reconquer, and that can only be done in the Name of the Lord. Looking at God and seeking the help promised by God.When God asked the apostles to go out into the whole world, He must have said to them “Fear not,” but He also said, “Count on Me. I will always be with you.” That is the true message, it is not “Fear not.”
[La Porte Latine - Jean-Paul et Jacques Buffet, October 27, 2014 - in French; English translation source.]
