The Heretical Society of St. Pius V
By Most Holy Family Monastery
In our
previous magazines we have pointed out the unfortunate fact that the priests of the Society of St. Pius V
hold to the heresy that non-Catholics can be saved without the Catholic Faith
(as proven below). They adhere to
the same heresy as expressed by Archbishop Lefebvre and the books of the SSPX,
as well as the heresy articulated in the 1949 Protocol 122/49 against Fr.
Leonard Feeney (see the section on Protocol 122/49 in our book Outside the
Catholic Church There is Absolutely No Salvation). The SSPV’s priests are also vigorous
defenders of the false doctrine of baptism of desire. They consider baptism of desire to be a
defined dogma. Fr. Baumberger of the
Society of St. Pius V (SSPV) stated in the presence of the superior of our
Monastery that Buddhists can be united to the Catholic Church. This is what their priests obstinately hold
and believe; it is unfortunate, yet undeniably true. And because of this, we have pointed out that
no Catholic aware of this can financially contribute to them under pain of
mortal sin.
It had been our position in the past (a position rooted in the principle
of Epieikeia and St. Thomas, among other things) that, despite the grave
problems with the SSPV, a Catholic could avail himself of the sacraments of the
SSPV if the Catholic did not agree with them (of course) or support them in
any way (of course). However,
this is no longer an option. The SSPV
Masses should no longer be attended even when one doesn't give them any support
because beginning some time in 2003 the priests of the SSPV consistently began
making announcements before their traditional Masses (and it seems to be
occurring at all of their chapels almost every week!) that no one who holds to
the "errors of Fr. Feeney" should receive Holy Communion. They
are referring to Fr. Feeney's belief, which is the infallible teaching of the
Roman Catholic Church, that no one can be saved without the Sacrament of
Baptism.
Pope Paul III, The
Council of Trent, canons on the Sacrament of Baptism, canon 5, ex
cathedra: “If anyone says that
baptism [the Sacrament] is optional, that is, not necessary for salvation (cf.
Jn. 3:5): let him be anathema.”
Pope Eugene IV, The
Council of Florence, “Exultate Deo,” Nov. 22, 1439, ex cathedra: “Holy baptism, which is the gateway to the
spiritual life, holds the first place among all the sacraments; through it we
are made members of Christ and of the body of the Church. And
since death entered the universe through the first man, ‘unless we are born
again of water and the Spirit, we cannot,’ as the Truth says, ‘enter into the
kingdom of heaven’ [John 3:5]. The
matter of this sacrament is real and natural water.”
The SSPV is
therefore publicly and notoriously announcing to everyone that if they
believe in the above infallible dogma of the Catholic Faith that they are not
Catholic and cannot receive Holy Communion. When priests make public
announcements that are heretical, which impose the heretical belief upon the
people attending the Mass, then a Catholic must not attend the Mass or
receive Holy Communion from such a priest. To do so would be a denial of
the Catholic Faith. By receiving Communion from an SSPV priest who has
made such an announcement, one would be tacitly (silently) indicating that he
or she agrees with the priest's heretical position.
This is not necessarily the case
with other heretical independent “traditionalist” priests who have not made
announcements such as this and hold to their heretical positions more
privately; and in fact, many of the heretical independent “traditionalist”
priests are not notorious about their heresies, so that receiving Communion
from them (as long as one does not support them or agree with them) is
not a denial or a compromise of the Faith. But the SSPV has placed itself
in another category – the category of notorious heretics who impose their
heresy upon the people attending their Masses – which puts their Masses and
their sacraments off limits. We posted
this warning about the SSPV in the Summer of 2003 and they responded in the
Fall 2003 issue of their magazine. Their
response was very revealing and confirmed exactly what we said about them.
THE SSPV RESPONDS
The SSPV responded to us in the Fall, 2003 edition
of their publication. Referring
to Brother Michael Dimond and myself as “Brothers Grim” on the introductory
page of their issue, Fr. Jenkins of the SSPV writes:
The SSPV, The Roman Catholic, Fall, 2003,
introductory page: “The controversy surrounds the Church’s teaching regarding
‘Baptism of Desire.’ The Brothers Grim try to make it look as
though traditional Catholic priests are denying the Catholic doctrine that
outside of the Church there is no salvation, but no traditional Catholic
priest is disputing the necessity of membership in the Church for salvation.”
Oh really? Remember that claim (“no traditional Catholic priest is disputing the necessity of membership
in the Church for salvation”) dear reader.
And remember how I have pointed out that the thing which most
characterizes the denial of Outside the
Church There is No Salvation is dishonesty.
Remember how we have seen that the heretics on this issue speak out of
both sides of their mouth with a satanic double-tongue: one minute they tell
you that the Church is necessary and the next they deny it; one minute they
tell you that there is no salvation outside the Church and the next they
explain it away. So now watch the
heretics at work. Watch how the heretics
of the SSPV teach on page 1 of their Fall, 2003 issue the exact thing they
deny on the introductory page. On
pages 1-8 of this same issue, the SSPV carries an article by Francis
Fenton explaining what they consider the real meaning of Outside the Church There is No Salvation.
The SSPV, The Roman Catholic, Fenton Article, Fall, 2003, p. 1: “It is a
doctrine of our faith that ‘outside the Church there is no salvation.’ This
does not mean, however, either that an individual is assured eternal
salvation simply because he is a member of the Roman Catholic Church or that he cannot be saved because he is
not an actual member of the body of the Church.”
Did you get that? Outside
the Church There is No Salvation “does
not mean… that he cannot be saved because he is not an actual member of the
body of the Church.” But on the
introductory page of this issue, Fr. Jenkins told us on behalf of the
SSPV that no traditional priest “is disputing the necessity of membership in
the Church for salvation”! They
assert here the exact heresy – word for word – which they claimed to reject on
the introductory page! The statement
here on page 1 of their publication (that persons who are not members of the
Church can be saved) thus proves that their statement on the introductory
page (that no one is disputing the
necessity of membership in the Church for salvation) was a complete lie! It confirms what we have been saying all along
about these dishonest heretics. The
heretical Society of St. Pius V priests are so blinded by their denial of this
truth that they cannot see that they are word for word contradicting
themselves, in a matter of a few pages and in the very issue in which they
purport to clarify their belief as in accord with Catholic teaching.
Thus, as I have said, it is a
fact that the SSPV rejects the dogma Outside the Catholic Church There is No
Salvation and they lie every time they say they uphold Catholic teaching on the
necessity of Church membership for salvation.
They indeed believe and obstinately hold that Buddhists, Jews, Hindus, etc.
can be saved without the Catholic Faith.
In fact, the same article in their Fall, 2003 issue proceeds to deny the
dogma in bold fashion over and over again.
The SSPV, The Roman Catholic, Fenton Article, Fall 2003, p. 5: “A non-Catholic, then, who, through no grave
fault of his own, is not a formal member of the Church at the moment of death,
is certainly not going to lose his soul on that score.”
The SSPV, The Roman Catholic, Fenton Article, Fall 2003, p. 6: “So, is it true and an article of faith that
‘outside the Church there is no salvation’?
Yes, it is. Does this mean
that a person, no matter how praiseworthy a life he may have led, will
be eternally lost who, through no grave fault of his own, is not an
actual member of the Church at the moment of death? No, it does not.”
Here again they assert word
for word the heresy they claimed to reject on the introductory page. It is most appropriate here, in view of this
horribly heretical statement, to quote the teaching of Pope Gregory XVI in Mirari Vos to condemn this awful and
widespread heresy.
Pope Gregory XVI, Mirari Vos (# 13), Aug. 15,
1832: “Now we consider another abundant
source of the evils with which the Church is afflicted at present:
indifferentism. This perverse opinion
is spread on all sides by the fraud of the wicked who claim that it is possible
to obtain the eternal salvation of the soul by the profession of any kind of
religion, as long as morality is maintained. Surely, in so clear a matter, you will drive
this deadly error far from the people committed to your care. With the admonition of the apostle, that
‘there is one God, one faith, one baptism’ (Eph. 4:5), may those fear who
contrive the notion that the safe harbor of salvation is open to persons of any
religion whatever. They should consider
the testimony of Christ Himself that ‘those who are not with Christ are against
Him,’ (Lk. 11:23) and that they disperse unhappily who do not gather
with Him. Therefore, ‘without
a doubt, they will perish forever, unless they hold the Catholic faith
whole and inviolate (Athanasian Creed).”
But the SSPV’s Fall, 2003 issue is not yet finished denying this
dogma.
The SSPV, The Roman Catholic, Fenton Article, Fall 2003, p. 7: “With the
strict, literal interpretation of this doctrine, however, I must take issue,
for if I read and understand the strict interpreters correctly, nowhere is allowance
made for invincible ignorance, conscience, or good faith on the part of those
who are not actual or formal members of the Church at the moment of death. It
is inconceivable to me that, of all the billions of non-Catholics who have died
in the past nineteen and one-half centuries, none of them were in good faith in
this matter and, if they were, I simply refuse to believe that hell is their
eternal destiny.”
This is brazen heresy against
the dogma Outside the Church There is No Salvation.
Allow me to briefly summarize, therefore, their Fall 2003 issue on this
point:
Pope Pius IX, First Vatican Council, Sess. 3, Chap.
2 on Revelation, 1870, ex cathedra: “Hence, also, that understanding of its
sacred dogmas must be perpetually retained, which Holy Mother Church has once
declared; and there must never be a recession from that meaning under the
specious name of a deeper understanding.”
For these reasons only, we
are glad that the SSPV attempted to respond to our charges of heresy against
them; for in doing so they proved that our charges are 100% accurate and
condemned themselves out of their own mouth.
Pope Eugene
IV, Council of Florence, “Cantate Domino,” 1441, ex cathedra:
“The Holy Roman Church
firmly believes, professes and preaches that all those who are outside the
Catholic Church, not only pagans but also Jews or heretics and schismatics,
cannot share in eternal life and will go into the everlasting fire which was
prepared for the devil and his angels, unless they are joined to the Church
before the end of their lives; that the unity of this ecclesiastical
body is of such importance that only those who abide in it do the Church’s
sacraments contribute to salvation and do fasts, almsgiving and other works of
piety and practices of the Christian militia productive of eternal rewards; and
that nobody can be saved, no matter how much he has given away in alms and
even if he has shed blood in the name of Christ, unless he has persevered in
the bosom and unity of the Catholic Church.”
Bishop Kelly (the leader
of the SSPV), who also holds that members of non-Catholic religions
(Protestants, Buddhists, Jews, etc.) can be saved without the Catholic Faith,
is so heretical, in fact, that he wrote the following to someone we know on
Sept. 25, 2003.
Bishop Clarence Kelly of the SSPV, Letter
to Tim Whalen, Sept. 25, 2003: “Contrary to what many think, the
controversy stirred up by Fr. Feeney and now by the Diamonds (sic) is really
not about the dogma that outside the Church there is no salvation. That is the cover for what they are really
teaching which is their own dogma that outside Baptism of Water there is
no Salvation.”
Bishop Kelly calls the dogma
that one must be baptized with water for salvation our own dogma!
John 3:5,7 – “[Jesus
saith] Amen, amen I say to thee, unless a
man be born again of water and the Holy Ghost, he cannot enter into the
kingdom of God… wonder not, that I
said to thee, you must be born again.”
Bishop Kelly is such a heretic
that he is refuted even by Dr. Ludwig Ott, as quoted already.
Dr. Ludwig Ott, Fundamentals
of Catholic Dogma, p. 354: “1. Necessity of Baptism for Salvation- Baptism by water (Baptismus Fluminis)
is, since the promulgation of the Gospel, necessary for all men without
exception, for salvation. (de fide.)”
Bishop Kelly is an
abomination.
Pope Paul III, The
Council of Trent, canons on the Sacrament of Baptism, canon 5, ex
cathedra: “If anyone says that
baptism is optional, that is, not necessary for salvation (cf. Jn. 3:5): let
him be anathema.”
Pope Eugene IV, The
Council of Florence, “Exultate Deo,” Nov. 22, 1439, ex cathedra: “Holy baptism, which is the gateway to the spiritual
life, holds the first place among all the sacraments; through it we are made
members of Christ and of the body of the Church. And
since death entered the universe through the first man, ‘unless we are born of
water and the Spirit, we cannot,’ as the Truth says, ‘enter into the kingdom of
heaven’ [John 3:5]. The matter of
this sacrament is real and natural water.”
Since the SSPV priests notoriously preach and impose their heresy
by way of announcements at their chapels, no Catholic should receive any
sacraments from them or attend their Masses at all (and of course no one can
support them in any way under pain of grave sin). Please
spread this message to all who may attend the SSPV Masses.
Most Holy Family Monastery
(800)275-1126;(585)567-4433
www.mostholyfamilymonastery.com