Leo has done it again. Just to make sure we all understand he is not the sharpest knife in the drawer he instituted a come back to the Leo church policy in anticipation of the massive hoards of Priests, religious, and laity from the SSPX that would be pushing and shoving to take advantage of the deal. So far a whopping two priests, count em, two have decided to sell their souls to the Leo. That is a staggering 0.027%. Nice work Tucho, if you were the who threw this together.
Here it is a nut shell courtesy of Ai; To return to the Catholic Church from the Society of St. Pius X (SSPX), individuals must accept the teachings of the Second Vatican Council, recognize the validity of the Mass and sacraments as promulgated after the council, and submit a signed “Profession of Faith” and “Formula of Adherence” to their local bishop. This process applies to both priests and lay faithful, with specific steps outlined by the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith.
Essentially it sounds like something the North Koreans would of cooked up during the war. Fr. Z blog goes into details of what has to be signed, whats required, etc. The only problem with this is it seems just as many priests or more are going from the Novus Ordo to the Society. My friend Mary Ann Kreitzer wrote a good piece on this. The two Priests that made the headlines affiliating with the SSPX from the local Novus Ordo diocese were Fr Philip Conklin and Fr David Fulton. You can read the contrast between the 2 priests here. Poland which has always held to the true faith finds 10 diocesan priests wishing to affiliate with the SSPX. Hmmm 6 to 1 ratio, I can live with that. Personally I know a priest here in the midwest who spent 3 years in a diocesan seminary on the west coast and realized he could not subscribe to the twisting of the true faith in the post Vatican II church so he contacted Archbishop Vigano and after a year with the Archbishop was ordained a traditional priest.
In all honesty the number of Novus Ordo priests who want to leave should be higher. Here in my diocese there are some good priests who want to do their job saving souls but unfortunately the last two popes stripped them of all their tools. Its almost biblical, more bricks but no straw.
I really expect to see the next wave of migration to the sspx to come from the ecclesia dei groups. I know priests in the ICKSP that from the pulpit said they will never give up the Latin mass and will read it in peoples living rooms if they have too. That time might be sooner than they think. Make no mistake Leo will be tightening the screws and very soon. Here in the Chicago diocese of the Cupich the canons of St John Cantius have already been told the new priests entering their order will not be trained in the Tridentine mass. I wonder how many of their currently ordained priests might be considering leaving to join the SSPX because they see the writing on the wall.
The difference between the SSPX and the ecclesia dei groups is simple. The SSPX saw the problem in the faith and took steps to deal with the. The ecclesia dei groups see a problem but prefer to hide their heads in the sand just as long as they can read the Latin mass. The time is coming to choose when Leo starts putting the screws on them. It could start as simple as forbidding the Novus Ordo bishops from ordaining new priests. That would kill the roots of any new potential priests. After all according to a Sheboygan priest, availability of the TLM is only temporary. According to lifesite Fr Paul Fliss of the Milwaukee diocese said:
“Father Paul Fliss, pastor of Sheboygan Ss. Cyril and Methodius, which hosts Latin Masses offered by the Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest, published a “pastoral message” in Sunday’s bulletin in which he claimed that the TLM is inferior to the Novus Ordo and discouraged its attendees from inviting others to the TLM.” “Having the opportunity to celebrate this Latin Mass is an accommodation, meaning it is allowed for those who have not grown deep enough in faith to accept the Mass approved after the Second Vatican Council,” Fliss wrote in a message posted to X by “TLM Ryan.”
Besides the Fact Fr. Fliss does not get it this might be the wake up call the institute needs to make them take a stand similar to the SSPX. I am sure that would get Cardinal Burkes bowels in an uproar.
As far as the laity returning from the SSPX I think there is less of a chance of that than the priests. I joined an SSPX chapel two weeks after the consecrations. After 2 months I see no one leaving, in fact I see more people at mass on Sundays.