SSPX: for the priesthood
Two new image galleries depicting the recent priestly ordinations at the Econe and Zaitzkofen seminaries have just been published. Also some words on the SSPX and how its mission to form priests has affected its reaction to the post-conciliar crisis.
We have just published 2 more photo galleries of recent priestly ordinations for the Society of St. Pius X:
- St. Pius X Seminary in Econe, Switzerland; Friday, June 27
- Sacred Heart of Jesus Seminary in Zaitzkofen, Germany; Saturday, June 28
The posting of these new image collages also gives us the opportunity to say a few words about the Society of St. Pius X and its mission for the Catholic Church.
In the midst of the post-conciliar crisis, many often forget that the SSPX was founded by Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre in 1970 as a "pious union" of priests, whose object was the priesthood and all that pertains to it: most especially the formation of priests. The archbishop began this work founded by the Church with its first seminary at Econe, located in the Swiss canton of Valais.
From the start, the Society absorbed itself in the formation of the young candidates sent to its fledgling seminary by various diocesan bishops of the world. Shortly after confirming and praising the Society's work, the Holy See further allowed the priestly society to incardinate priests or religious who wished to detach themselves from their dioceses or religious congregations in order to join the SSPX (one of the first was an American in fact, Fr. Urban Synder, from the famed Trappist Gethsemane Abbey in Kentucky).
As the post-conciliar crisis snowballed—with the implementation of the ecumenical Novus Ordo Missae, the introduction of Modernism in parochial life, the severe degradation of Catholic education, the rampant propagation of liberal ideas by churchmen, and much more—leading to an unprecedented state of necessity in the Church, Archbishop Lefebvre and his priests reacted proportionally. The principle that guided their reactions was always from the heart of the priesthood's mission: the salvation of souls, not—as some have erroneously contended—as a "only we can save the Church" stance.
To get a sense of Archbishop Lefebvre's pastoral concern in this matter—which he faithfully transmitted to his own priests as affirmed in this interview of Bishop Fellay—one only needs to read his classic apologetical work, Open Letter to Confused Catholics. A more detailed examination of the archbishop's defense of the Faith for the salvation of souls can be found in the 3-volume set of Michael Davies, Apologia pro Lefebvre.
The priests of the Society of St. Pius X continue to carry out their ministry for the sanctification of souls in obedience to the One True Faith of Our Lord Jesus Christ as transmitted throughout the ages by Catholic Tradition, and thus the Mass of All Time which enshrines the holy doctrines of the Church.
