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Ought Priests of the Conciliar Church to Be “Re-Ordained” When They Come to Tradition? More and more priests ordained in the new rite are I) The three sacraments that confer a character cannot be repeated. This principle was already established with respect to turning to the traditional the sacrament of baptism in the letter of Pope St. Stephen I to St. Cyprian condemning the latter’s practice of re- Mass. However, since it is baptizing heretics when receiving them into the Church. now nearly 40 years since the This was also defined by the Council of Trent, which declared an anathema against those who maintained new rite of ordination was that the three sacraments that imprint an indelible mark, namely, Baptism, Confirmation, and Holy Orders, can be introduced, some traditional repeated (Session VII, Canon 9, Dz. 852). Catholics question the validity of their ordination and hesitate to receive the 2) When it concerns the validity of the sacraments, we are obliged to follow a “tutiorist” position, or safest possible course of action. We cannot choose a less certain option, called by the sacraments from them. Each moral theologians a simply probable manner of acting, case is different in practice, it that could place in doubt the validity of the sacraments, as we are sometimes obliged to do in other moral questions. is true, and is to be decided If we were able to follow a less certain way of acting, we would run the risk of grave sacrilege and uncertainty by the superiors. concerning the sacraments, which would place the eternal salvation of souls in great jeopardy. Even the lax “probabilist” theologians admitted this principle with However, the following respect to baptism and holy orders, since the contrary opinion was condemned by Pope Innocent XI in 1679. explanation of the principles Innocent XI condemned the position that it is permissible that form the basis of these in conferring sacraments to follow a probable opinion regarding the value of the sacrament, the safer opinion being abandoned…. decisions can be of help in Therefore, one should not make use of probable opinions only in conferring baptism, sacerdotal or episcopal orders. (Proposition understanding them. 1 condemned and prohibited by Innocent XI, Dz. 1151) www.angeluspress.org THE ANGELUS • September 2007 28
Consequently, it is forbidden to accept a likely or probably valid ordination for the subsequent conferring of sacraments. One must have the greatest possible 5) The matter and the form of the Latin rite of priestly ordination introduced by Pope Paul VI in 1968 are not subject to positive doubt. moral certitude, as in other things necessary for eternal salvation. They are, in effect, practically identical to those The faithful themselves understand this principle, defined by Pope Pius XII in 1947 in Sacramentum and it really is a part of the “sensus Ecclesiae,” the spirit Ordinis. (In this, priestly ordination differs from the of the Church. They do not want to share modernist, sacrament of Confirmation, which in the new rite uses liberal rites, and have an aversion to receiving the an entirely different and variable form, and one whose sacraments from priests ordained in such rites, for validity has been questioned.) they cannot tolerate a doubt in such matters. It is for However, this moral certitude may not necessarily this reason that they turn to the superiors to guarantee exist with vernacular translations of the form, which validity. would have to be reviewed to exclude all positive doubt. One such change was the provisional ICEL
translation of the form itself, substituting “GiveA negative doubt the dignity of the presbyterate” for the traditional is to be despised. expression “Confer the dignity of the priesthood.” This axiom is accepted by all moral theologians. Michael Davies comments: “In English speaking A negative doubt is a doubt that is not based upon any countries the priesthood has never been referred to reason. It is the question “what if” that we frequently as the presbyterate” (The Order of Melchisedech, 1st ed., ask for no reason at all. Such a doubt cannot weaken p.88). It is not always easy to determine what English moral certitude and is not reasonable. (Cf. Prummer, translation was used, and whether or not it induces a Manuale Theologiae Moralis, I, §328.) Consequently we positive doubt. cannot question the validity of a sacrament such as Not infrequently, Archbishop Lefebvre is quoted Holy Orders without having a positive reason for doing as stating that the New Mass is a bastard Mass, and so, namely, a reason to believe that there might be that the same can be said of the new rites for the some defect of one of the three elements necessary for sacraments, such as Holy Orders. How could such a validity: matter, form, and intention. Mass and sacraments be valid? In fact, the expression is a poor translation of the French “messe bâtarde,”
When a doubt arises in the administration of a sacrament that cannot be repeated, it is possible and even obligatory to reiterate the sacrament “sub which is correctly translated as “illegitimate Mass,” or “illegitimate rites” being the fruit of an adulterous union between the Church and the Revolution, the French expression not having the pejorative force of the
conditione,” that is under the condition that it was English counterpart. Such an expression points out the invalid the first time. illicit nature of such a compromise, but does not have a Thus it is that both moral certitude as to the direct bearing on the validity of the rites. He explained administration of the sacrament is acquired and the this during the sermon he gave in Lille in 1976: sacrilege of simulating a sacrament that has already The New Mass is a sort of hybrid Mass, which is no longer been administered is avoided. This is frequently spoken hierarchical; it is democratic, where the assembly takes the of in the rubrics of the Roman Rituale, for example in place of the priest, and so it is no longer a veritable Mass the case of adult converts from heresy in whom there that affirms the royalty of Our Lord. (A Bishop Speaks, p.271. is a positive doubt as to the validity of baptism, or even Available from Angelus Press; price: $20.00.) foundlings who “should be baptized conditionally, It is for this reason that he called the traditional Mass unless there is a certainty from due investigation that the “true” Mass, not meaning thereby to question the they have already been baptized.” The condition is validity of Masses celebrated in the new rite. thus expressed: “if you are not baptized....” In fact, The new rites of ordination are similarly the custom before Vatican II was to baptize all adult illegitimate, for they do not adequately express the converts from Protestantism, it being impossible to Catholic Faith in the priesthood. By writing very guarantee with moral certitude the form, or intention, strongly against them, Archbishop Lefebvre did not or simultaneity of matter and form necessary for intend to declare their invalidity. He stated very clearly, certain validity. Likewise, it is the custom to administer in Open Letter to Confused Catholics, quoting parts of the conditionally the sacrament of Confirmation to those ceremony that are certainly not a part of the form of the confirmed in the new rite, in the frequent case that a sacrament and consequently not necessary for validity, valid form and intention cannot be established with that such a ceremony destroys the priesthood: certitude. Everything is bound up together. By attacking the base of Under similar circumstances, there is no sacrilege the building it is destroyed entirely. No more Mass, no more in reiterating conditionally a priestly ordination, as priests. The ritual, before it was altered, had the bishop say Archbishop Lefebvre himself did many times. “Receive the power to offer to God the Holy Sacrifice and to celebrate Holy Mass both for the living and for the dead, in the name of the Lord.” He had previously blessed the hands of the ordinand by pronouncing these words: “So that all THE ANGELUS • September 2007 www.angeluspress.org 29 that they bless may be blessed and all that they consecrate otherwise his truly Catholic intention of doing what the may be consecrated and sanctified.” The power conferred Church does. is expressed without ambiguity: “That for the salvation of However, the difficulty lies in the fact that the Thy people and by their holy blessing, they may effect the accompanying ceremonies in the new rite of ordination Transubstantiation of the bread and the wine into the Body and Blood of Thy Divine Son.” Nowadays the bishop says: do not adequately express either the Catholic “Receive the offering of the holy people to present it to conception of the priesthood or the intention, as do God.” He makes the new priest an intermediary rather than the ceremonies in the old rite. The following texts the holder of the ministerial priesthood and the offerer of a from the Archbishop, taken from spiritual conferences sacrifice. The conception is wholly different. (p.54) to seminarians, refer to the intention of the priest Despite such firm words, the Archbishop has this to celebrating Mass. However, the same principles can be say: “The ‘matter’ of the sacrament has been preserved applied to the bishop ordaining a priest: in the laying on of hands which takes place next, and In the old rite, the intention was clearly determined by all likewise the ‘form,’ namely, the words of ordination” the prayers that were said before and after the consecration. (ibid., p.51). The destruction he is speaking about is of There was a collection of ceremonies all along the sacrifice the Mass as it ought to be and of the priesthood as it of the Mass that determined clearly the priest’s intention. It is by the Offertory that the priest expresses clearly his intention. ought to be. His intention is, consequently, to point out However, this does not exist in the new Ordo. The new Mass that it is the Catholic notion of the priesthood that is can be either valid or invalid depending upon the intention of destroyed, not necessarily the validity of the sacrament the celebrant, whereas in the traditional Mass, it is impossible of holy orders. for anyone who has the Faith to not have the precise intention of offering a sacrifice and accomplishing it according to the
- There can be reasons to doubt the intention of the ends foreseen by Holy Church.…These young priests will not have the intention of doing that which the Church does, for ordaining bishop in the conciliar Church. they will not have been taught that the Mass is a true sacrifice. The minister of the sacrament does not have to They will not have the intention of offering a sacrifice. They intend what the Church intends, which is why a heretic will have the intention of celebrating a Eucharist, a sharing, a can administer a valid sacrament. He must, however, communion, a memorial, all of which has nothing to do with intend to do what the Church does. The positive faith in the sacrifice of the Mass. Hence from this moment, doubt that can exist in this regard is well described by inasmuch as these deformed priests no longer have the intention of doing what the Church does, their Masses will
Michael Davies: obviously be more and more invalid. (Quoted in Archbishop Every prayer in the traditional rite which stated specifically Marcel Lefebvre, La messe de toujours, pp.373-374, available the essential role of a priest as a man ordained to offer in English translation, The Mass of All Time in October 2007 propitiatory sacrifice for the living and dead has been from Angleus Press–Ed.) removed. In most cases these were the precise prayers removed by the Protestant Reformers, [e.g., “Receive the There can be no doubt that Archbishop Lefebvre power to offer sacrifice to God and to celebrate Mass, both entertained serious doubts as to the intention of some for the living and the dead, in the name of the Lord”] or if not conciliar bishops when they ordain priests. In Open precisely the same there are clear parallels….Their omission Letter to Confused Catholics (p.50), he points out that the by the Protestant Reformers was taken by Pope Leo XIII doubt that overhangs the other sacraments also applies as an indication of an intention not to consecrate sacrificing to the ordination of priests and gives examples, asking priests. (Ibid., pp.82, 86) the question: “Are they true priests at all? Put it another This is the text of Apostolicae Curae (Leo XIII, 1896), way, are their ordinations valid?” He goes on to explain §33: the reason why he considers that a doubt exists over With this inherent defect of form is joined the defect of the ordaining bishop’s intention, for it is frequently intention which is equally essential to the sacrament….If the no longer the intention of ordaining a priest to offer rite be changed, with the manifest intention of introducing sacrifice: another rite not approved by the Church and of rejecting We are obliged to point out that the intention is far from what the Church does, and what, by the institution of Christ, clear. Has the priest been ordained…to establish justice, belongs to the nature of the Sacrament, then it is clear that fellowship and peace at a level which appears to be limited not only is the necessary intention wanting to the Sacrament, to the natural order only?…The definition of the priesthood but that the intention is adverse to and destructive of the given by St. Paul and by the Council of Trent has been Sacrament. radically altered. The priest is no longer one who goes up If it cannot be said, as with Anglican orders, that to the altar and offers up to God a sacrifice of praise, for the the Novus Ordo rite was changed with the manifest remission of sins.” (Ibid., pp.51-52) intention of rejecting a sacrificing priesthood, Hence the Archbishop’s affirmation that the whole nevertheless the deliberate exclusion of the notion conception of the priesthood has changed and that the of propitiation, in order to please Protestants, could priest is no longer regarded as one having the power easily be considered as casting a doubt on the intention to do things that the faithful cannot do (ibid., p.54), but of doing what the Church does, namely of offering a rather as one who presides over the assembly. This true and propitiatory sacrifice. Of course, this doubt modernist conception certainly casts a grave shadow of would not exist if the ordaining bishop had indicated doubt over the intention of the ordaining bishop.
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- The question of episcopal consecration in the 1968 You well know, my dear brethren, that there can be no priests without bishops. When God calls me–this will certainly rite promulgated by Paul VI is even more delicate. not be long–from whom would these seminarians receive the The difficulty lies in the complete change of the Sacrament of Orders? From conciliar bishops, who, due to wording of the form of episcopal consecration. The very their doubtful intentions, confer doubtful sacraments? This erudite article of Fr. Pierre-Marie, O.P., published in The is not possible. Angelus (December 2005 & January 2006), establishes He continued, explaining that he could not leave that the form is in itself valid. Although radically the faithful orphans, nor abandon the seminarians who different from the traditional Latin form, and although entrusted themselves to him, for “they came to our only similar, but not identical, to the forms used in the seminaries, despite all the difficulties that they have Eastern rites, it is in itself valid, the meaning designating encountered, in order to receive a true ordination to the sufficiently clearly the Catholic episcopacy. For the Priesthood…” (Fr. François Laisney, Archbishop Lefebvre form of Holy Orders is variable and changeable, this and the Vatican, p.120. Available from Angelus Press; being one of the sacraments established only in general price: $15.00). He considered it his duty to guarantee terms. The substance is consequently retained for as the certitude of the sacrament of Holy Orders by the long as the words have essentially the same meaning. consecration of bishops in the traditional rite, who However, this does not mean that this new rite of would then ordain only in the traditional rite. episcopal ordination is valid in every concrete case, for We must observe the same balance as Archbishop this could depend upon the translation, modifications Lefebvre. On the one hand, it is our duty to avoid the (now that the principle of change has been accepted), excess of sedevacantism, which unreasonably denies the and eventual defect of intention. For the danger of the very validity and existence of the post-conciliar Church creeping in of a defective intention, as with the rite of and its priesthood. On the other hand, however, we priestly ordination, cannot be excluded. This is what Fr. must likewise reject the laxist and liberal approach that Nicolas Portail of the Society of Saint Pius X wrote in does not take seriously the real doubts that can arise the January 2007 issue of Le Chardonnet: concerning the validity of priestly ordinations in the The authors correctly observe that this rite is the vehicle of post-conciliar Church, failing to consider the enormous a conception of the episcopacy according to Vatican II. It importance and necessity of a certainly valid priesthood also shows that the functions that are special to the episcopal for the good of the Church, for the eternal salvation of order (ordaining priests, consecrating churches, administering souls, and for the tranquillity of the consciences of the confirmation…) are not mentioned in the consecratory preface, in opposition to other prefaces in the Eastern rites. faithful. Given the gravity of these issues, it is not even a slight doubt that is acceptable. Hence the duty of
In addition, the specific error of collegiality is explicitly examining in each particular case the vernacular form mentioned in the consecrator’s allocution. It cannot be of priestly ordination, the intention of the ordaining denied that this rite is, from a traditional perspective, bishop, the rite of consecration of the ordaining bishop, weak, ambiguous, imperfect, defective, and manifestly and the intention of the consecrators. illicit. Just as the superiors take seriously their duty of Yet, even the bishops who ordain priests in the guaranteeing the moral certitude of the Holy Orders traditional rite were all consecrated bishops according of their priests, whether by means of conditional to this new rite. It can easily be imagined how a defect ordination or careful investigation (when possible), so of intention could creep into the episcopal succession, also must priests who join the Society accept conditional even in the case of “traditional” priests who depend ordination in case of even slight positive doubt, and upon conciliar bishops for their ordinations. Fr. Portail so also must the faithful recognize that each case is quotes a remark by some young priests of the Fraternity different and accept the decision of those who alone are of St. Peter who had just been ordained by Archbishop in a position to perform the necessary investigations. Decourtray to some priests of the Society of St. Pius For regardless of the technical question of the validity X: “You are more certain of your ordination than we of a priest’s Holy Orders, we all recognize the Catholic are of ours” (ibid.). It would, indeed, be tragic if all sense that tells us that there can be no mixing of the traditional priests did not have moral certitude as to illegitimate new rites with the traditional Catholic their ordination, and if there existed two different rites, a principle so simply elucidated by Archbishop grades of priests, a higher grade ordained in Tradition, Lefebvre on June 29, 1976: and a lower grade. It is for this reason that the superiors We are not of this religion. We do not accept this new have the right to insist on conditional re-ordination religion. We are of the religion of all time, of the Catholic for any priest turning towards Tradition, and will only religion. We are not of that universal religion, as they call it accept ordinations in the conciliar Church after having today. It is no longer the Catholic religion. We are not of that investigated both priestly and episcopal ordinations and liberal, modernist religion that has its worship, its priests, its established moral certitude. faith, its catechisms, its Bible…. Archbishop Lefebvre clearly recognized his obligation of providing priests concerning whose Fr. Peter Scott was ordained by Archbishop Lefebvre in 1988. After assignments ordination there was no doubt. It was one of the reasons as seminary professor and the US District Superior, he is currently the rector of for the episcopal consecrations of 1988, as he declared Holy Cross Seminary in Goulburn, Australia. in the sermon for the occasion: THE ANGELUS • September 2007 www.angeluspress.org