The Society Of St. Pius V

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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.  For instance, they endorsed the following blatantly heretical question and answer in their publication:

The Society of St. Pius V, The Roman Catholic, Winter, 2005, p. 54: “Q. Do Catholics believe that non-Catholics cannot be saved.  A.  No.”

The SSPV adheres 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 (exposed already in this document).  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.”[2]

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.”[2]

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).”[3]

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:

• In response to our warning about them, the SSPV asserts on the introductory page that they have been misrepresented and that no one is “disputing the necessity of Church membership for salvation,” while in the very same issue of their magazine they run an article which proceeds to explicitly assert no less than 3 times that people can be saved who are not members of the Catholic Church.
  
  
• The SSPV, according to page 5 of the Fenton Article in their publication, holds that non-Catholics can be saved.
  
  
• They find it “inconceivable” and “refuse to believe” that all who die as non-Catholics go to Hell (p. 7), which is exactly what the Catholic Church has infallibly defined.
  
  
• They “take issue” with the “strict, literal” interpretation of this dogma (p. 7), which is to say, they reject the dogma as holy Mother Church has declared it (Vatican I).

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.”[4]

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 for 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 produce 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.”[5]

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.)”[6]

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.”[7]

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.”[8]

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).

Endnotes:

[1] Denzinger 861.

[2] Denzinger 696.

[3] The Papal Encyclicals, Vol. 1 (1740-1878), pp. 237-238.

[4] Denzinger 1800.

[5] Denzinger 714.

[6] Dr. Ludwig Ott, Fundamentals of Catholic Dogma, p. 354.

[7] Denzinger 861.

[8] Denzinger 696.