Bishops of Panama: Catholics Should Not Attend Lefebvrist Services

The bishops of the Panamanian Episcopal Conference (CEP) have issued a statement highlighting that Catholic faithful should avoid participating in the services of the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Pius X (FSSPX), also known as the Lefebvrists.

In this statement, published on September 14 by the Archdiocese of Panama on the social media platform X (formerly Twitter), the bishops specified:

"We wish to inform the People of God that the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Pius X (FSSPX), founded in 1970 by Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, is not in full communion with the Catholic Church, which means that Catholic faithful must refrain from attending their celebrations."

They also emphasized that regarding the sacraments administered during their ceremonies, it is important to remind the faithful that the administration of these sacraments requires the approval of the bishop or competent ecclesiastical authority, and in the absence of this approval, these sacraments are considered illicit.

It should be noted that Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre was excommunicated in 1991 for ordaining four bishops without the approval of Pope Saint John Paul II. He had founded the FSSPX in response to what he perceived as errors introduced into the Catholic Church after the Second Vatican Council.

Regarding the dialogue between the Vatican and the Lefebvrists, Pope Benedict XVI lifted the excommunication of the four bishops ordained by Lefebvre in 1988—namely Bernard Fellay, Bernard Tissier de Mallerais, Richard Williamson, and Alfonso de Galarreta—in 2009. However, despite dialogue efforts on the part of the Holy See, and due to their refusal to recognize certain ecclesiastical documents, particularly those of the Second Vatican Council, the Lefebvrists do not enjoy an officially recognized status within the Catholic Church.

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Furthermore, in their statement, the bishops also mentioned that the celebration of the Mass in Latin is not prohibited within the Catholic Church, but it must be authorized by bishops in accordance with Traditionis Custodes, Article 2. Additionally, the use of the Vetus Ordo (the Latin Mass celebrated before the Second Vatican Council) can only be authorized by the Holy See.

It should be noted that the Vatican published Pope Francis's motu proprio Traditionis Custodes on July 16, 2021, significantly restricting the celebration of the traditional Latin Mass (Extraordinary Form) or according to the Tridentine Rite, as stated in the 1962 Missal. These measures altered the provisions previously made by Pope Benedict XVI in his 2007 motu proprio Summorum Pontificum, which had relaxed the rules concerning the traditional Latin Mass.

Finally, it is noteworthy that in his memoirs, Archbishop Georg Gänswein, the personal secretary of the late Pope Benedict XVI since 2003, described Traditionis Custodes as an "error" in the eyes of the Pope Emeritus, adding that the latter read the text "with profound pain in his heart."

This article was originally published by ACI Prensa (Article Link).