I hesitate to even post this, because the world really doesn’t need another uneducated layperson’s opinion, on matters of Church politics or anything else. There are too many stupid opinions out there, all day every day, and everyone seems to think that theirs matters. I’ve seen so many garbage opinions on this topic spouted all over social media lately, which is what prompted me to word-vomit this out in the first place. As a response. I should probably just keep my mouth shut. No one needs Mith to defend their cause, and I’m probably just an embarrassment to those I’m trying to defend: a fat little unkempt shih tzu trying to bark and growl like it thinks it’s a big fierce guard dog. And you just look at it like “is that even a dog?”
I hesitate also because of how incredibly unqualified I am to talk about such subjects. I’m not an expert by any means. I’m sure some of you actually-smart Catholic readers will see this and just laugh and go “yeah, you should’ve hesitated more.”
But, maybe it’ll reach someone who likes it.
When I was discerning all of this back in 2024, I scoured the internet for concise, dumbed-down answers to philosophical questions that I had, that made the answers digestible. I wasn’t looking for a million citations from lengthy, lofty Vatican documents that I didn’t particularly want to read. But, I also didn’t need another oversimplified “just obey Rome”-type message. I needed to actually understand the philosophy in a way that made sense, in a way that I could verbalize myself. I needed personalized answers for a simple but curious person.
So, the following shall be my response to the haters, and shall attempt to be the sort of post that I was looking for in 2024.
And maybe just maybe there are other people out there looking for similar content, now that the recent news has put the SSPX back in the spotlight and gotten everyone talking about them again.
And besides, this is my stupid little blog, and what else is it for if not for sharing my random unnecessary opinions.
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The news of the upcoming SSPX episcopal consecrations: everyone on Catholic Internet has been talking about it, so I guess I’ll go ahead and throw my opinion out there too.
Which, I must emphasize, will be just that: an opinion. Mith is not qualified to speak knowledgeably about things like canon law, Church politics, or the liturgy wars. I am not a commentator. I’m just a silly little layperson who’s not even a very good Catholic, not very well-read, and has only been attending the TLM for sixteen months. This post will simply contain my reaction, my little musings, my own little personal experience/ opinion/ feelings about the matter. If you’re looking for useful, objective information, please seek elsewhere.
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For me, it’s been funny and sad to see Catholic Internet all aboil with hatred toward the SSPX. All these voices suddenly crying out “schism! schism!!” and saying the most hateful, ignorant things, when they clearly haven’t done their research, nor paused to consider the issue from a logical angle, nor had a single second’s actual experience with the real-life SSPX.
If this had happened two to three years ago, I’d surely be all upset about it like all these other Catholics online. “How dare they!” “Disobedient!” “They think they’re more Catholic than the Pope!” Yes, I have been in their position before, making these same weak accusations – refusing to understand, refusing to think, because I’d been told I wasn’t allowed to.
Which is why I just kind of roll my eyes and sigh at such nonsense now.
In retrospect it’s truly embarrassing how much time I wasted waffling and fence-sitting. I wanted to go to the SSPX Mass, wanted to live a Traditional Catholic life, but I was afraid to, because of the way the modern Church treats Tradition. Like some sort of taboo. Don’t even mention it in polite company. Did you know they’ll ban you from r/Catholic if you dare to utter a single non-negative word about the Society?
“Any average Protestant on the street has a better shot at getting into Heaven than a Bishop of the SSPX,” someone Tweeted.
“They’re not Catholic,” someone told me, interrupting me mid-sentence when I dared to casually mention the nearby SSPX chapel in conversation.
And, when I broke the news to an acquaintance from my former, NO parish that I was defecting for the SSPX, she was horrified – literally aghast. “Do not trust them,” she urged me.
Normally I’m super impressionable – a real doormat. So you’d think that that interaction would have swayed me. But luckily, I’d already done my research, prayed about it relentlessly, and at last made up my mind, by that point.
Catholics are fed so much BS about the SSPX. And told not to question it. Shhh — don’t even talk about them! The mainstream Church literally treats Protestants and Orthodox as their “brothers in Christ” – but the SSPX? Who are fully Catholic, have apostolic succession, teach the fullness of the faith, and btw have the “official” faculties of confessions and marriages (which, how can you do those if you’re not a Catholic priest?!)? Oh no. We don’t talk about them.
It’s really a tragedy.
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Back when I was debating whether or not to go the SSPX way, I found that all my painstaking research and persistent prayer left me at an impasse. I could understand the argument from both sides; both presented compelling cases. It became clear that I wasn’t going to be able to logic my way out of this one. I needed some real-world experience.
So I went out on a very scary limb, figuring that, if it were a mistake, God would have mercy on me because the sense of being called there would not relent, and I was earnestly trying to discern His will – and visited.
I wish more people would do that. I wish more of these NOrmie Catholics would just take some time to talk to a SSPX Priest and ask him questions. To see what it’s actually like.
But, to be fair, they’re taught not to.
They think we’re all crazy, Pope-hating sedevacantists, over here at the SSPX chapels. They think we think we’re the only real Catholics. None of that is true. Actually, I’ve never heard a single word of hostility or vitriol or blame or even dislike from any of the Society priests about the NO world. On the contrary, they speak of the modern Church with genuine compassion and sorrow. With fatherly concern for a flock led astray. I can’t say the same for the Novus Ordites.
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I’m not going to go into all the reasons here why the SSPX is right about what they are doing. If you’re interested, you can do the research. But I’d advise reading about it from more than one angle. Don’t just read what the “popesplainers” (as they are humorously called) have to say. Listen to SSPX sermons, listen to their podcast. Think about it. You have to be able to think with your brain and not your emotions.
People are so angry. They make such assumptions about the mindset/thought process of those who support the Society.
But I think what’s really angering these haters, what’s really getting under their skin, is that they actually love Tradition. (How could you not?) They love what the SSPX is doing, and would love to go to their Masses and support them – but they just don’t feel like they can, because that’s what the NO world tells you – and so they get bitter. And it angers them when they see other people doing what they themselves wish they could do but are afraid to. So they start screaming “no! You’re not allowed to do that!”
It’s the exact same phenomenon as the one I pointed out in a recent post on a different topic: there’s a certain sect of working moms who love to hate on those stay-at-home moms who’ve chosen to sacrifice financial comfort in order to stay home with their kids. “Must be nice! To have the luxury!”, they snipe and gripe. “Stop telling the rest of us it’s okay to quit our jobs and stay home, because I simply can’t do it! I’d be too poor!” When in fact they could do it but simply don’t want to be a little uncomfortable, and so they’re mad at those women who prove that it can be done. It’s easier to get mad and tell yourself it’s impossible, than to do the hard thing.
Which is why these sacrificing stay-home moms live rent-free in these bitter working moms’ heads. The same way the SSPX lives rent-free in the heads of so many of these “blind obedience” NO Catholics. They’d love a return to Tradition – who wouldn’t! Most devout Catholics, no matter where they attend Mass, long to see the Church return to her former beauty and glory, and love the rigor of Tradition, and long for exactly what the SSPX offers. But they are deluded and believe they can’t go. And so they’re mad.
Which is why they’re out here spewing all this hateful content online right now. .
I’ll tell you a bit about my thought process, in case you’re interested. Keeping in mind that I’m not a historian, or an expert, or even that well-read, but just a slow little layperson who needs concepts dumbed down in very plain terms: these are some dumbed-down versions of the arguments that swayed me in favor of the SSPX.
Obedience is the big question here. What is meant by obedience? “As Catholics we must be obedient to Rome. That’s what unites us.” True.
But blind obedience is not the way. Yes, we must be obedient to Rome. But, just hypothetically now, what do you do if Rome becomes corrupted?
This was one of the things that finally swayed me, when I thought about it. How bad would it have to get? How much more modern and permissive would the modern Church have to get before I would say “okay, this isn’t right”?
Looking at the history, I saw the progression; I thought ahead to the future, centuries from now, when history books will probably tell of how, in the late 1900s-early 2000s, the Church endured a tragic crisis (foreseen by multiple saints), and it was only thanks to one brave Archbishop that the fullness of her teachings and liturgy were preserved. Which side of history would I want to be on? The side that just went along with it, or the minority that saw what was happening and did something about it, sooner rather than later? We all like to think we’d be the “good ones” in history: we’d be the abolitionists, the Underground Railroad custodians; we’d have sheltered Anne Frank. I decided to do something brave and trust my intuition – to try and land on what I believe is the right side of history. I saw all these other nice, normal families doing it, and that encouraged me. You can do it too. More and more of us are doing it.
“But Mith, roma locuta, causa finita est and all that!” I haven’t read all of the Archbishop’s writings, but I do know that he differentiated between physical, actual Rome and Eternal Rome. Which might strike you as absurd at first, as it did me, but think about it: you have to acknowledge the difference. Because if “Rome” simply equals “whoever’s currently in power,” then what kind of religion do we have? The people who are in power are there because they represent something eternal, something greater than them. It’s silly to think that we answer to the Pope because of who he is as an individual. No. We answer to him because he represents the eternal Catholic Faith.
So yes. Roma locuta, causa indeed finita est. Is my take.
“But Mith, ‘where Peter is, there is the Church!’” – The Society is not not where Peter is. They’re not in schism. “But they were excommunicated” – one: the excommunication was lifted years ago, and two: even if they’re excommunicated, if the source of the excommunication is corrupted, then maybe the “excommunication” should be taken with a grain of salt. And three: what even is an excommunication? It’s a severing of a connection, isn’t it? The SSPX does not see themselves as severed from Rome. They pray for the Pope and acknowledge his authority and supremacy. They cooperate with diocesan priests whenever necessary. They are still members of the family. Just members who dare to dissent.
If an American citizen complains about corruption in the government and tries to do something about it, do they stop being an American citizen?
Or, think of a nuclear family – a father, mother, and kids – and imagine the parents become mentally ill. They start telling the kids to do crazy things, and stop enforcing rules to protect the kids’ safety. If one of the older brothers takes the younger siblings under his wing and takes it upon himself to enforce rules and teach proper discipline the way he grew up with it before his parents fell ill – isn’t that very noble of him? Wouldn’t that be wise and loving of him, even if some of his other siblings accuse him of being disobedient to their father? The son in this case is not abandoning his family. He’s not denying that his mom and dad are his parents. He’s not even moving out of the house. He’s just trying to help his family, and to preserve the actual family values, lest they be forgotten – because if those values are forgotten, then what even is the family anymore? Just a group of people.
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The news of the consecrations is encouraging and exciting, because new Bishops are needed — but also troubling. So far, there haven’t been any conclusive results or decisions from the Superior General’s correspondence with the Vatican officials. But, take note: the SSPX is seeking permission to do these consecrations. Because they are Roman Catholic, they are part of the Church, and answer to the Pope.
“But that’s meaningless, because they’re just going to go through with it anyway even if Rome says no!” – true, because if that happened, it would constitute a state of emergency, and canon law permits such consecrations in a state of emergency. It is troubling because no one wants it to come to that. No one wants to disobey the Pope. No one wants this to lead to an excommunication.
It’s like calling 911 when there’s a masked guy with a gun at your door trying to break in. You beg them to send the cops. “No, we can’t do that right now.” Or maybe they’re dawdling and don’t arrive fast enough. Do you just lay down and die, then, or do you defend your home, even if it means doing something technically illegal? State of emergency.
No one wants to get excommunicated. But the Society exists to preserve the Faith. The eternal Faith must come first, before obedience to mortal, physical structure. Objective morality exists, and these structures (Church, the law) are in place to represent that. But if they fail to represent it, then, well, a certain kind of “disobedience” is not only permissible, but required.
“Oh, so now Mith knows the Catholic Faith better than the Pope?!” Lol please. If the Pope told you the sky was green, would you believe it to be so? Because that’s not how this is supposed to work. I’m just using my little God-given senses and faculties of reason to determine that something’s not being done quite right in the modern Church, and my family’s salvation (which is my priority here) is better attended to by the SSPX.
“But bearing with the things we don’t like in the modern Church is the cross we have to bear for obedience! Jesus Himself taught us that sometimes obedience doesn’t feel good, but we still have to obey!” Is the state of the NO world something that we should tolerate? What if the Church told you to murder someone? Even if you didn’t want to do it, would that be your cross to bear for the sake of obedience? Doesn’t feel quite right, does it. That’s because the Church can’t tell us to do something that’s morally wrong. And attending an irreverent, disrespectful liturgy is morally problematic. As is raising our kids in a church that doesn’t offer them the fullness of the faith. That’s harming our kids.
We, the faithful, are actually entitled to good teaching and reverent liturgy. Just as a mother owes her child nourishment and instruction because of the nature of their relationship, our Holy Mother Church owes us good formation and undiluted sacraments.
“Obedience” is not what they’re making it out to be. “Obedience” doesn’t mean blind obedience to whoever’s in power. You don’t have to “know more than the Pope” to see that some things have gone wrong. It’s really very simple, if you think about it. It’s really just common sense, imo.
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So yes. There’s a chance the consecrations will result in a formal or de facto excommunication. Even I can see that. Will that change things for me, if it happens?
It’d be sad, but no. It’d be sad because it would show just how far gone the modern Church is. But in a way, it’d be nice to finally have some clarity. All this murky “canonically irregular, “partial communion” (made-up term btw) business, is really confusing and off-putting. If an excommunication happens, at least we’ll all be able to see what’s really going on, in black and white. If the mainstream Church excommunicates the SSPX, I’ll be very sad, but I’ll still be sticking with the latter.
And I don’t imagine that much would really change, in practice. The Pope would still be the Pope. And I would still love him as my Holy Father. It’s not like the Society would elect a new Pope, because they literally don’t have that power (and they are obedient to Eternal Rome, so they follow such rules). There’s only one Pope. And they would continue to pray for him and see him as their Supreme Pontiff and Holy Father. They’d just have to wait and keep surviving as they’ve been doing, until Rome heals and embraces them fully again. Which will happen one day.
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So that’s just my little thoughts. I don’t reply to tweets or IG/FB comments, nor really post on social media at all, so I just needed a chance to respond to all these ignorant commenters, to scream into the void a bit, after reading so much hatred online lately. I am praying for the consecrations and everyone involved, and for the healing of the Church. I hope you are too.
