Last September, Rorate Caeli first published the rumors of a Consecration of new bishops for the traditional Catholic Society of Saint Pius X (SSPX). The SSPX last consecrated bishops in June 1988, and currently has three of those then consecrated still performing duties for the Society. As is to be expected, those three bishops are now much older, and considerably overstretched.
As is well remembered, those 1988 consecrations were deeply controversial, unleashing forces throughout the Church -- including the regularization and foundation of several religious institutes (including the FSSP and Le Barroux), and leading to the second major document on the "liberalization" of the Traditional Mass, the motu proprio "Ecclesia Dei".
Now, the Superior of the Society for France (the second largest, after the US, and still most influential District of the SSPX), Father Benoît de Jorna, is the first leader of the SSPX to publicly acknowledge the reality that consecrations will be needed soon, if only for realistic reasons of human affairs. [Our translation.]
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Letter to friends and benefactors n. 95: let us be strong!
Father Benoît de Jorna
June 19, 2024
The virtue of strength will be sorely needed on a crucial occasion: the announcement of new consecrations to continue the "operation-survival" of Catholic Tradition.
Dear friends and benefactors,
Thirty-six years ago, on June 30, 1988, Archbishop Lefebvre performed "operation-survival" on Catholic Tradition by consecrating four auxiliary bishops for the Society of St. Pius X.
