More than 20 professors at the Franciscan University of Steubenville are calling on the Society of Saint Pius X (SSPX) to not proceed with its planned consecration of bishops on July 1. We write not as adversaries, but as fellow Christians who love the Church, which is built on Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition, and who, like you, long for the salvation of souls,” the professors wrote in an open letter to the SSPX, noting that if the group moves forward with the illicit consecrations, “it would cement and deepen the already existing separation between the Society and the See of Peter.
Whatever legitimate questions or grievances may exist, they are no excuse to create a schism,” the letter’s signatories assert. The letter is signed by 26 faculty and staff, with university professors of theology constituting the majority of the signatories. The treasures of Catholic Tradition do not belong outside communion with Peter; they belong at the heart of the Church,” the letter continues. “A new episcopal ordination outside the ecclesial hierarchy without the Apostolic mandate would create a new wound in the Body of Christ and place the gifts that God has entrusted to the Society, which belong to the Church and are ordered towards unity with her (Lumen gentium 8) outside of her maternal embrace. Please don’t do this,” the letter said. “Please don’t create this wound! Please, re-enter into dialogue with the Holy See and into full communion with the Church.
