Müller Calls SSPX's 4 Planned Bishop Consecrations Schismatic as July 1 Rite Nears
Updated
Updated · ewtnnews.com · Jun 27
Müller Calls SSPX's 4 Planned Bishop Consecrations Schismatic as July 1 Rite Nears
3 articles · Updated · ewtnnews.com · Jun 27
Summary
July 1 consecrations of four SSPX priests in Écône, Switzerland, would be a schismatic act, Cardinal Gerhard Müller said, warning bishops ordained without papal mandate are "not Catholic or anti-Catholic."
Four new bishops would be validly but illicitly consecrated, he said, triggering automatic excommunication because episcopal ordinations without the pope are "absolutely impossible" under Church authority.
Müller drew a sharp line between liturgy and obedience, saying the Traditional Latin Mass remains valid and bishops who ban it can be authoritarian, but Catholics should not attend Masses led by schismatic clergy.
May 13 brought a similar warning from doctrine chief Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, while SSPX has rejected the schism charge and argues a "state of necessity" because only two aging bishops remain to ordain its priests.