Pope Francis Grants Jurisdiction to Celebrate Marriages to the Priests of the Society of Saint Pius X

Thus allaying any concerns on the part of the faithful.

April 4, 2017. Cardinal Müller, Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and President of the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei, together with the secretary Bishop Guido Pozzo, issued a letter today addressed to the bishops and cardinals, in which it is informed the decision of Pope Francis to grant to the Society of Saint Pius X, founded by Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, the necessary faculties to celebrate marriages with canonical regularity, which until now were celebrated under the right of necessity.

The document begins by recalling that the priests of the SSPX already have ordinary jurisdiction, granted by Pope Francis, to listen to confessions, and it continues to make known the new disposition of the Roman Pontiff that "following a proposal by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei, has decided to authorize Local Ordinaries the possibility to grant faculties for the celebration of marriages of faithful who follow the pastoral activity of the Society, according to the following provisions." These establish that "insofar as possible, the Local Ordinary is to grant the delegation to assist at the marriage to a priest of the Diocese (or in any event, to a fully regular priest), such that the priest may receive the consent of the parties during the marriage rite, followed, in keeping with the liturgy of the Vetus ordo, by the celebration of Mass, which may be celebrated by a priest of the Society." Adding that "Where the above is not possible, or if there are no priests in the Diocese able to receive the consent of the parties, the Ordinary may grant the necessary faculties to the priest of the Society who is also to celebrate the Holy Mass, reminding him of the duty to forward the relevant documents to the Diocesan Curia as soon as possible.”

Next, the document is addressed to the Prelates of the Episcopal Conferences, stating that “This Dicastery relies on your cooperation so that any uneasiness of conscience on the part of the faithful who adhere to the Society of St. Pius X as well as any uncertainty regarding the validity of the sacrament of marriage may be alleviated, and at the same time that the process towards full institutional regularization may be facilitated.”

The document ends by declaring that "The Sovereign Pontiff Francis, at the Audience granted to the undersigned Cardinal President of the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei on 24 March 2017, confirmed his approval of the present letter and ordered its publication.

It is important to consider that the Catholic Church only grants ordinary jurisdiction (to give Confession or celebrate marriages) to those who belong to the body of the Church. If this ordinary jurisdiction is granted, it is necessarily recognized that these priests are Catholic and are not in schism. An excommunicated or schismatic priest could acquit a sinner only in case someone was in danger of death. It would be a case in which the Church, by the state of necessity of the faithful, grants a jurisdiction that would not be ordinary, but this would not be the case of the priests of the Society of Saint Pius X who can already perform these sacraments with an ordinary jurisdiction without having to recourse to the right of necessity.

The official document was published today on the Vatican website: http://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/es/bollettino/pubblico/2017/04/04/ecc.html

Sources: Vatican.va and Adelante la Fe

March and Mass of Reparation in Response to a Black “Mass” in Oklahoma City

Last August 15, the Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary was celebrated throughout the world. But in Oklahoma City a Black Mass took place that same day, organized by a well-known Satanist group, which picked that specific date as provocation.

Despite the protests of hundreds of citizens, the City of Oklahoma allowed this blasphemous act to take place in a public place, claiming that it had met all the necessary requirements for its approval.

However, even though the Satanists got their way and regrettably were able to perform the black mass, the attendance was not as good as they expected, although they did desecrate an image of the Virgin Mary, wich is very serious. In fact, it was a relative failure because only very few people attended. The organizer of the event, Adam Daniels, who is a convicted sex offender, attributed this to the response of the believers of the city.

One of the most moving moments took place when a police sergeant, who was on duty, joined to the march. Afterwards, he prayed for police officers and members of the army, which caused the ovation of the people present.

The Society of St. Pius X and its Oklahoma City chapel, St. Michael’s, organized a public Mass of Reparation at noon on August 15, the Assumption of Mary, in response to a black mass that was performed in the Oklahoma City Civic Center Music Hall later that night with the permission of the city officials. This blasphemous mockery of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass was reportedly accompanied by another blasphemous ritual that desecrated, in a most vile way, an image of Our Lady. The Mass was offered on the grounds of the Civic Center Music Hall in which the blasphemy would occur later that day. Father Patrick McBride, who was the celebrant of the Mass, explained in a press release the reason for offering the Mass on the grounds outside the Civic Center:

“In 2014, we offered in a nearby downtown hotel a public Mass of Reparation in atonement for the first publicly performed black mass. This time we wanted to bring the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass to the very ground on which these blasphemies will occur. We will raise up to heaven Our Lord’s Most Precious Blood in reparation for the insults that He and His Blessed Mother will receive from these people who regrettably respond to His loving embrace with insults and outrage. We particularly implore the protection of the Blessed Mother as we make reparation to Her Divine Son."

Father McBride explained in his sermon that we brought Calvary to the Civic Center in reparation. He provided a moving meditation on the last sermon of Our Lord preached from the Cross and explained how His words spoke across time to this act of Reparation. Whereas the Satanists' acts were filled with hatred, Father’s sermon spoke of the love and mercy of God which remains available to anyone who repents like the good thief. Like his Master, Father McBride, who acted in the Person of Christ, met their hatred with the prayer, “Father forgive them for they know not what they do.” In the end he exhorted the Faithful to the spiritual peace attained by taking their sacrifices of the day and all those they would make throughout the recently launched Rosary Crusade and offer them to the Eternal Father: “Into Thy Hands O Lord, I commend my Spirit.”

In addition to raising the Precious Blood of Christ over this public place which hosted blasphemy, all those gathered offered our Blessed Mother a bouquet of her holy rosary and recited the Act of Reparation to the Sacred Heart before the Blessed Sacrament resting on the altar.

The precious image of Our Lady of Fatima was transported to the Mass from Canada by volunteers of the Fatima Center who spent four days driving there and back. Our Lady was thus carried into the sanctuary in a shower of roses and escorted by her devoted sons who served to give greater honor to their Mother.

Different Catholic groups joined to this act. Among these groups, there was the TFP Student Action, who made the following video:

Sources: Actuall.com, SSPX.org, Adelante la Fe