Why I Don't Attend SSPX 

I bought a house one block from a SSPX chapel I’M 72 and getting ready to depart this world I love the Holy Mass I can walk to mass everyday My retirement plan I was in Novus Ordo (closed durning Covid) then Fraturnity - SSPX better fit for me I just want to go to HOLY MASS GOD BLESS-YOU ALL HE WILL SHOW YOU WHERE TO GO

Christ is King

SSPX service I recently attended was the most beautiful service I've ever been to. And then I got angry. Why did my parents rob me of this? Of this beautiful service? In case you didn't notice, the church is dying - it's a sea of grey in every congregation I've ever been in (and I've worshipped in many large parishes across America). The average age in the LM is 14. The congregation is either a young child raised in a Catholic family, or filled with young men and women. The Latin Mass is what the youth is hungry for - our traditions before we changed to be more similar to protestants in how we worship. I know where I'm going to in the future. It's time to return to tradition.

What amazes me with FSSPX, they send their Priests to other cities, sometimes serving only one family. Didn’t know them until God sent one to our small city Christmas 2020. Had my first Christmas Mass in TLM in my friend’s basement, just the 5 of us. Now we have monthly Mass and have to rent a building. Archbishop Lefebvre actually introduced me to TLM through Return to Tradtion reading his book: Open Letter to Confused Catholic, I felt deceived by NO when I was listening to it. After that I search for TLM. When you ask, God answers. Thank you Lord for all Your graces🙏

I am 73,able to attend FSSP....I go for the Mass, nothing else and if every Latin Mass parish is shut down, I will go to nearest SSPX.....worship alone is my goal. It says nothing about my thoughts of papal authority or the chair of Peter. If that is the only traditional Mass to attend, I figure if it’s schismatic or not, is on someone else. I just want to worship in a right and just manner. And Novus Ordo does not do that despite all of the very good priests. But thank you for this discussion, and I have no idea what kind of Mass Brian attends. God bless all.

My own experience with SSPX and FSSP has been that those who attend it are in line with church teaching and often defend Pope Francis when the media tries to push some falsehood about him, but simply find a closer spiritual connection in the traditional mass. I pray for the unity of the church and for the wellness of the SSPX

I would never fault someone for attending an SSPX church if their other local parishes are forcing drag Queen story hour and tik tok dancing at the altar

The Pope gave the SSPX jurisdiction to give confessions and more ! It’s been practicing the one true catholic faith , truth , Sacrificial Mass since before the Council of Trent , their carrying on the faith since and from the beginning . Nothings changed I’ve been attending a SSPX church for 15 years because I treasure the Latin Rite and I’ve been very challenged to grow in the true faith ; conversion ; aligned as I came from the novus ordo and never received the full catechism. There’s so much I was ignorant about the one true faith , my soul guided me here and I honor that voice of God as it’s good for me . I’m very grateful

I can only contribute that the sspx has a presence in many more countries than all the others do not even consider. Like mine. For mass in Latin there are only sspx, 2 or 3 diocesan priests in the whole country, and some sedevacantes (that don't count for me) My country is huge Argentina. And the sspx communities are growing. But here there is no interest from other congregations (which are usually in North America and Europe) But the sspx evangelizes in all continents. My children are happy at their Mass. the quiet mass and "where is Jesus" as they told me. And you know, we pray for everyone

I think you hit the nail in the head. As a life long Protestant I have slowly and slowly been convinced more and more of the catholic faith and I think looking back one of the hardest roadblocks is getting over my pride and realizing I was wrong in the past. It’s taken 10 years of being married to a catholic and probably 5 years of reading about these issues to chip away at my resistance

Hi Mr. Holdsworth! Thank you for giving your thoughts and fair criticism. Though I land on the other side of this issue, I greatly admire the way that you have approached this issue. When you convey your thought process behind how you try and make decisions, it reminds me greatly of my own personal experience. I regularly attend both a Diocesan TLM for Sunday's and SSPX chapel for weekday mass, and therefore I have been pushed to sharpen my own understanding of this debate. Perhaps only one area that I would push back on what you said (in charity) is that I don't see where the SSPX denies something that has been stated by the Pope in an extraordinary matter (if what you mean by that is the pronouncements of the Extraordinary Magisterium). All of the pronouncements of the Extraordinary Magisterium (The Pope declaring Dogma alone, or an ecumenical council declaring one with him) the SSPX hold to. Is this what you meant by Extraordinary or Solemn? Forgive me if I am misunderstanding you. To my knowledge also, the SSPX does not deny any dogma from the Ordinary and Universal Magisterium (what has been taught in all places and in everytime by all bishops). Where the SSPX does not except is the issues of Ecumenism, religious liberty and Collegiality from Vatican 2. They would assert that these statements are part of the non-infallible authentic magisterium since you are hard-pressed to find their teaching in sacred tradition or scripture. They would also assert that this is not part of the universal and ordinary magisterium, since you cannot find these concepts in the tradition. While we should have a submission of intellect and will to the authentic magisterium, it is not a submission of Faith, since it is not infallible. They would assert that if these teaching are new doctrines (as the answers of the dubia on religious liberty from Pope John Paul II said) that they hold no weight since according to pastor aeternus of Vatican I, the Pope cannot create a new doctrine. On a practical level I think many would at least agree that Ecumenism especially has been a scandalous disaster (Assisi, Abrahamic family temple, etc.). Regarding the New Mass, I find their assertion correct that the Missal has been protestantized by men who did not have the tradition in mind. These are just some of my thoughts. Know I respect you greatly and consider you a brother in Christ! Have a fruitful lent!

I go to an SSPX chapel because there is no other option for true orthodoxy and reverence where I am. Either the liturgy is lax and casual or the music is trying to be a praise and worship Big Box Prot service. I am always challeneged to go deeper by the homilies. And always informed that it is not us and them but us as carholics and that if you beleive we have a true treasure of the traditional mass then it is our responsibility to live a deeper spiritual faithful and charitable life. Thats the reason I go to the SSPX.

As an Edmonton SSPX member..... I go to the SSPX not because the FSSP isn't good. It's very good there. I will attend both. But there is a quality at the SSPX that the FSSP stops short of. The FSSP are limited in what they are permitted to say and do. They are vulnerable to being cancelled right now by Traditionis Custodes. I have personally heard errors preached from the pulpit by previous FSSP priests here. The spiritual direction in confession is different However, I have always said that every person who comes to SSPX needs to do their own reading and make their own prudential judgement.

Remember, though, during covid the only Catholic Church that held Mass, in some areas, was an sspx chapel. And in some cities without a nearby ICKSP Church or an FSSP Church, if an sspx chapel is available, that would be the church to attend. Especially if you want to be spiritually fed. And to attend the true Mass. 🌞

My local Catholic parish has turned from a community to a war zone in the past two years, beginning with the sacking of an excellent priest. However, the divisions were bubbling away below the surface for years.

ABP MARCELLE LEFEBVRE and Holy Priests of the SSPX thru the grace of God, saved Holy Mother The Church and her Traditions, Teachings and Liturgy.

I am newly reformed to the Catholic faith... what brought me to the true faith was a longing for roots, and for tradition. I was baptized in a very beautiful 1890's church with a wonderful young priest. Father Brian intermingled the N.O along with the TLM... he had reverence for both, but unfortunately he was called away to a different parish location and the next priest we had was not reverent at all to the Holy Eucharist, he treated it as if he was handing out Girl Scout cookies. How we treat the Eucharist matters. That's why it did not take me long to find and be drawn to a consistent Traditional Latin Mass at a reverent SSPX... I THANK GOD FOR THE SSPX

I'm at home with the SSPX but, Our Lord gave us 4 marks to identify his church. One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic. Where these 4 marks are, there is the Church. It really is that simple.

Mr. Holdsworth, to be consistent with your position, you would have to follow the errors of Pope Francis in his fight against sacred Tradtition. You would have to think that the elimination of the Latin Mass is good, that communion in the hand is good, that allowing the Synodal process in Germany is good, that choosing heretical and scandalous men for episocpal sees is good, etc.. One has to distinguish between the human element in the papacy and that which is conformity with that which has been passed down to us from the Apostles.

I commend your primary reasoning for not attending the SSPX, which is satisfaction with your current TLM community. That is great! I’ve been in Tradition, attending the SSPX for about 20 years, so before it was “a thing”. The SSPX responds to the needs of the faithful worldwide. They don’t go through bishop approval and they own their churches separate from the diocese. In the synodal church of Pope Francis who knows what will be allowed and not allowed in various dioceses. Just as before 2007 with Benedict’s liberation of the old mass, the SSPX might be traditionalist only option.

I converted to the Catholic faith twenty four years ago. I went to the Novus Ordo fourteen years, and sensed something was terribly wrong; my faith was vanishing. I found a good spiritual director and he directed me to the TLM. It saved my life. My Latin Mass priest retired back East and, and so I came to rely on the SSPX. I love the Mass, and I’m not going back to the NO for Sunday Mass, no way, no how. I will attend an NO for weekday Mass.

I live in Germany, and went from mass to mass jumping from one place to the next because of the open support to their heretical sinod, and because the mass speech sounds like social political activism. Of course if in your case you have found a traditional comunity to live your faith, then you don't feel compelled to assist to a sspx mass. I'm seriously considering attending to it, and as far as I know, it is allowed by the Church. For some people, going to the sspx has nothing to do with disobedience to the Church, but rather about finding a place where toxic ideologies are left out.

Amen. As a child and young adult in the Church, I don't recall clergy posturing alongside social ideologies and identities, or even speaking to politics. Mass was a place of serenity to reflect, meditate, and renew my conviction. I cannot attend Mass today without recoiling. Much of it appears (or feels) like virtual signaling by clergy...perhaps out of shame of the many Church scandals?

The truth is that if it weren’t for the SSPX the Latin Mass would have completely disappeared after V2. There would be no FSSP or other societies “fully in union” celebrating the TLM. I’m ambivalent about the SSPX but we do attend it once a month or so. Other Sundays we go to TLM at a parish church. Problem is the only option for TLM may be SSPX soon. Then folks will have to make even more hard choices. Does the pope have the authority to cancel the TLM everywhere? No, even the pope doesn’t have the authority to do this because the Mass of the Ages is eternal as stated by Pope Benedict XVI.

It's your choice/your problem. I made the choice to attend a sspx chapel years ago, and it's the best choice I've ever done. God bless the sspx!

08:00 This is where the conversation keeps getting lost. I would love to ask Brian, what is the Roman pontiff judging, determining, enforcing or speaking that the SSPX denies or rejects? This is where I think it keeps getting murky is that Brian is overly emphasizing this unknown command of the Roman Pontiff, which is unclear and never specified and then juxtaposes and compares that with the SSPX rejecting that same unknown vague command. Also, I think its really important to know that the SSPX does not make one say a creed, a pledge or some oath upon walking into a chapel. You can go as a lay person and leave and never come back which is a big deal in terms of the commitment or marriage between people and the Society. The SSPX is the priests and not the laypeople that support them. I am not advocating people go to the SSPX I am simply saying it is very gray. With that said I really don’t know what the SSPX is somehow disobeying that has been clearly demonstrated by Rome. Much of the situation is unclear but what is clear is this: In 2015, the Archdiocese of Buenos Aires, at the request of Cardinal Poli, with the consent and approval of Rome, formally incardinated the SSPX under Argentinian law with the following legal declaration submitted and registered with the Argentinian Ministry of Religion: " that said fraternity finds its character as a public legal person accredited WITHIN THE ROMAN APOSTOLIC CATHOLIC CHURCH, in accordance with the norms of the Code of Canon Law", the emphasis is theirs, not mine. The CDF also appointed Bishop Fellay as a canonical judge in a Vatican trial of an SSPX priest which imposed penalties on said priest through the structures of the SSPX** Meaning that the Vatican recognizes the SSPX as being subject to its canonical adjudication and capable of administering canonical penalties on behalf of the Holy See. His Holiness Pope Francis in 2016 has granted faculties to the SSPX to hear confessions and conduct marriages, and ordain priests licitly, meaning that they have an approved public ministry of the Church, at least in part. In 2009 Pope Benedict XVI lifted the excommunications of the four Bishops. If one is not out of communion I am unsure how they are not in communion. In deploying the law of the excluded middle this becomes explicitly obvious. Before someone screams and cries, yes it is true the PCED does have mixed letters going back and forth in responses with lay people and with different angles being engaged, no doubt these get confusing but we know for a fact a letter from the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei in 2003 says point blank that, "1. In the strict sense you may fulfill your Sunday obligation by attending a Mass celebrated by a priest of the Society of St. Pius X.” His second question was “Is it a sin for me to attend a Pius X Mass” and we responded stating: “2. We have already told you that we cannot recommend your attendance at such a Mass and have explained the reason why. If your primary reason for attending were to manifest your desire to separate yourself from communion with the Roman Pontiff and those in communion with him, it would be a sin. If your intention is simply to participate in a Mass according to the 1962 Missal for the sake of devotion, this would not be a sin.” His third question was: “Is it a sin for me to contribute to the Sunday collection at a Pius X Mass,” to which we responded: “3. It would seem that a modest contribution to the collection at Mass could be justified.” Pope Francis accepted the resignation of Mons. Vitus Huonder, 77, from his position as bishop of Chur, Switzerland, on May 20, 2019. He appointed Bishop Pierre Bürcher, 73, as apostolic administrator of the diocese, waiting for the appointment of a successor. Bishop Huonder retired to the Sancta Maria Institute of Wangs, belonging to the Society of Priests of St. Pius X to live out his retirement alongside these priests. This next quote is related to the actual relationship with how Rome understands the SSPX. "As far as your question is concerned, I would like to point out immediately that the Dicastery for ecumenism is not concerned with the Society of St Pius X. The situation of the members of that Society is an internal affair of the Catholic Church. The Society of St Pius X is not another Church or Ecclesial Community in the sense that this Dicastery uses those terms. Certainly, the Mass and the sacraments administered by the priests of the Society of St Pius X are valid." - Cardinal Edward Cassidy, President of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity Lastly, the SSPX has never denied the authority of the Pope or the Hierarchy and vigorously resists sedevacantism and mentions the Pope and local Bishop in the Canon of the Mass. This action is noted as an objective criteria to knowing if one is in communion by author John Monaco in a recent article titled “What does it mean to be in communion today?” He states, “Remaining with the previous example, let’s ask again: is there any objective criteria that determines if one is in communion with the Catholic Church? Certainly, recognition of papal power and authority is a major aspect of it. For example, this is what primarily separates a Ukrainian Orthodox bishop from a Ukrainian Greek Catholic one-they share the same liturgies, the same feasts, many of the same saints; and yet, the mere acknowledgement of Catholic teaching on the papacy is enough to transition the former into the latter. When the Ukrainian Orthodox Archbishop Ihor Isichenko recently entered into full communion with the Catholic Church, he did not need to be re-ordained, have to re-do his seminary training, or even change the majority of his ritual worship. Those who received him into the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church presumably did not ask his thoughts on the Filioque or on divorce and remarriage, both additional issues that are said to separate Orthodox from Catholics.” I don't encourage people to go to the SSPX but I can say if everyday Catholics can extend immense and insane levels of charity in seeing the other side of our actual separated brethren, please don't throw stones at those who the Church herself calls faithful, "I had also granted that those *faithful* who, for various reasons, attend churches officiated by the priests of the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Pius X, can validly and licitly receive the sacramental absolution of their sins." - Pope Francis

Man, can I relate to your conversion journey! I started out actually HATING the Catholic Church my entire life. But as with you, there attained a point where I became convinced that the theological truths were undeniable. The moment I stopped hating the Church, YES, I immediately started admiring it, and the rest is history. I did not spend a lifetime coming around to the Catholic Church and to fellowship with Rome, just to cast it off casually for something novel like the SSPX. I DO absolutely think that the Pope's anti-TLM mentality is wrong and bad for the Church. But I'm not jumping ship over it. My attitude is: Jesus cares passionately for his Church, and if something is harming it, even from within, he will deal with it. And I pray towards that end.

Thank you for addressing this in such an open-hearted manner. I feel better informed.

I’m so happy you became catholic, and I’m very grateful I get to hear your talks.

Nice for you, as you have a FSSP church to go to. For those many of us who don't, your reasoning leaves us in the dust. Most Catholics have only the choice of NO or maybe SSPX.

The TLM is where I finally fell in love with Jesus. It was not the "bells and whistles ". Quite the opposite. I was not used to that type of Mass. However, again, I finally have that unity with Christ. I can be at a TLM where I know on one, but I feel a unity with them that I never felt with those that I knew at the NO. True unity is in Christ - a unity that surpasses that of just having a community.

For simply the matter of faithful Catholics attending a SSPX Mass, Fr. Zuhlsdorf has a very brief and very helpful article on the matter.

I think it is funny because I also tell people that I didn’t want to become catholic but that I had to when I came to the conclusion of the Catholic Church being true. My wife’s also a convert and says the same thing. Again you’ve done well. I may not agree but your charity makes it where I go ah yes we don’t agree but we’re brothers. I have a lot of respect for your approach, your content, your faith, and you as a man. Keep up the good fight.

Excellent explanation and I agree. I attend the SSPX and could never go back but I completely understand that for you it wouldn't make sense right now to leave your lovely community for something you're not 100% sure about.

No 'church friends' or 'awesome community' could ever be enough for me to attend the Novus Ordo again. To me, that's a very Protestant way of thinking.

I wondered why such effort was made to make saints of so many recent popes in so short a time. I have come to realize that Vatican II was a failure because it tried to do too many things all at once. Vatican II tried to modernize the church, make the church more accessible to the people, simplify and demystify the Mass and clarify church teachings. As a result of all these efforts the church leaders made the real presence of the Lord in the Mass a side show. I am distressed and dismayed that the leadership of the church is so intent on destroying what 1% of the church is doing in the form of the SSPX and Fraternal Order of Saint Peter. Meanwhile the Church has all but abandoned the Church in China, allowed the German bishops to create a new schematic church and left the rest of us bewildered and sad for the future.

Main reason I go to the SSPX chapel and also my kids attend their academy is because of my kids. There is no way I’m letting my kids into a NO mass so they can lose the faith. Plus I have grown to love the Church more than ever!

I’m with you Brian. I stayed with our diocesan Latin mass for the past decades, because I too believe in the authority of the Pope and cannot agree with their separation from the jurisdiction of the Church. We now have a diocesan Latin mass community after many years of prayers. Miracles happen when you trust God. 🙏🏻

I studied Catholic theology under a very modernist professor who I still respect to some degree. But my education left me confused for over a decade after graduation. The professor regularly badmouthed Archbishop Levebre and the SSPX. After having found an FSSP adjacent Latin Mass Community three years ago, I finally found myself at rest and home. I have visited an SSPX chapel a couple of times, I appreciated the service but did not feel compelled to get fully involved in the community. Don't know why, but it seemed a bit off, though obviously way more orthodox than the NO parish just around my block that is too friendly with the synodal path (in Germany). I also read Levebre's Letter to confused Catholics. I found him to be a truly Holy Priest, who deeply cared for the salvation of souls. Essentialy I had to unlearn most of what I had learned at university (same goes for my other subject English Literature with a HEAVY emphasis on feminist, post-colonial and marxist critique).

I live in a small town where a Protestantized Novus Ordo Mass is two minutes away. An SSPX Traditional Latin Mass is 45 minutes away. And an FSSP TLM is 90 minutes away. I attend the SSPX Chapel.

It's important to understand that you may be giving the pope the status of infalibility in areas in which he is not infalible. He is infalible as a doctor and in respect to morals, he is not infalible in his judgement, or in his personal advices. Plus it seems that something that you are not understanding is that the pope didn't excommunicate anybody, if anything the good bishops and archbishop excommunicated himself if what is said of him is true. But if is not true then there was no excommunication, and there was no true schism. It's ok if you are not persuaded, you don't have to be, there is no salvation outside of the Church, meaning that you can be outside of the sspx as long as you are inside the Church, and if you are inside of the sspx you are still inside of the Church so no problem with either position, I got married in the SSPX with the aproval of the local Archbishop, so we are clearly inside the church and thus I am fine with being in the SSPX, Plus in Chile you don't have other options, you don't have other traditional parishes, so in a sense you are not in the sspx also because you have other options that some (like me and my family) don't have.

Bergoglio already denied he was the Vicar of Christ. He rejected that title in 2020.

Hey Brain, for you who began saying we need to develop the art of persuasión but failed to give a very weak reason for declining to join sspx is lamentable. You gave two main reason: a) bcos you don't want to, b) bcos of sense of community you have. To be honest, those reasons comes down to good feeling and voluntism without strong reason. In short, we expected stronger reason bcos one way or another the future of the Catholic Church belongs to that Unchanging Truth where the Living Tradition is its custody.

I mean I live in germany. The Synodal Way made many churches (basically all in my vicinity) in germany basically heretical (or at least schismatic). So I am kinda forced to attend at the local SSPX chapel. Why do I have to convert in this time? XD I am very satisfied with how the whole worship of the SSPX is centered around Jesus. In the other churches in my vicinity this is only to a far lesser extend. Many people criticising the SSPX have the luxury of an already conservative/traditional church which most attendants of the SSPX just don't have.

Just a question: if you are a TLM only Catholic, and, God Forbid, your local diocesan TLM and/or FSSP priests have been ejected from your Diocese, leaving ONLY the chapels of the local SSPX, would you go back to your local Novus Ordo... or would you attend the Masses of the SSPX?

I must say I agree with the vast majority of what you said. I don't attend an SSPX chapel (luckily there's an excellent Diocesan TLM close by) but I am incredibly sympathetic to their position. I look at their faith and reverence and contrast that with some parishes I've been to and just cannot believe these people are doing something wrong. Something irregular perhaps, but not wrong, not evil. From my reading of it, the argument for or against the SSPX is legalistic and they are being held to a standard of absolute perfection. Those who argue against them never give them or Archbishop Lefebvre the benefit of the doubt. Maybe he and his seminarians were being treated unfairly by Rome. Maybe at least some of his and other traditionalists' criticisms of the New Mass are valid. And there are people who hold the SSPX to this standard who are willing to give the benefit of the doubt to Orthodox, Protestants, and sometimes even Muslims. Yet, their Catholic brethren, who believe the old way of worship shows God more of the respect he is due, are thrown under the bus.

Thank you for your honest answer. This is so true. In my family, myself and some sibling go to SSPX chapels and some only go to fraternity or diocesan LMT and we all find common ground and spiritual fruit in your answer.

Fantastic video brother. God bless.

I go to an SSPX Church in Toronto because in Canada we don't exactly have the abundant of traditional Latin mass that the US or France has and the closest FSSP Parish to me is 4 hours away in Ottawa?

Good discussion and defense of your position - very well articulated!

Brian, excellent discussion and I completely agree with your position. Some months ago you had Father Longnecker on your show. My wife and I, both converts 40 years ago, are members of his parish and attend his church, Our Lady of the Rosary, in Greenville, South Carolina. One of the reasons we moved out of the Pacific Northwest was because of the difficulty in finding a good church. We are blessed in Greenville to have a great faith community. We have several very traditional churches here, one of which still offers the TLM, and three others that do the NO very well. The best of these is at Our Lady of the Rosary with Father Longnecker. While it is true that I prefer the TLM to most celebrations of the NO, if it is possible for you or some of your followers please attend the high mass at Our Lady of the Rosary at 10:30 AM on Sundays and see whether you believe then that it is possible that if the Novus Ordo Mass is done correctly it can be amazing. Despite my differences with our current Pope, he is the pope. In holding on to tradition by going to an SSPX church do we not then drop another tradition of following the pope of Rome? The Pope and councils do have the authority to adjust liturgy. The fact is that the TLM as is celebrated today is not exactly the way it was celebrated 500 years ago and that is not exactly as it was celebrated 1000 years ago. If you read the description of the mass by Saint Justin Martyr From the second century, you will see the TLM and the Novus Ordo both would satisfy the requirements. The tradition we sometimes want to hang on to is the tradition we are used to. But we were not around 1000 years ago and we were not around 1900 years ago. There were many variations. But one thing that was around was the bishop of Rome. Mass is not about feeling good. The holy mysteries are meant to bring us to the Eucharist and to life in Christ. While I completely agree that many churches employ forms of the mass that are unholy and even sacrilegious, the Novus Ordo can be done properly. Our church is one such place. We are not the authority, and any time we begin to believe that we are we fall further from tradition than we think.

This is an amazing video. I just wanted to put that out there 😊

Just because you agree with the SSPX position it doesn’t mean you then have to start attending a SSPX mass. I believe the SSPX are valid but I’m happy with my Dominican rite Latin Mass ☺️. If I were travelling and stumbled upon an SSPX church I would then attend

If one has the luxury of living in a populated area so you can go "New Order parish- shopping", praise God. I live in a rural place. If I told you here what I've heard and seen here, you wouldn't believe it. I'd go to SSPX in a second. Even Orthodox over this. As it is, I have connected w four Trads here and we drive 103 miles to the nearest FSSP mass. Have mercy and get outside yourself...

These are horribly confusing times and I deeply appreciate honest and respectful forays such as this into these most perplexing of issues.

Our diocese canceled our TLM twice so we had no choice but to attend SSPX. The SSPX is a place for traditional Catholic refugees.

A good article written a while back by Padre Peregrino titled "The SSPX is Not Schismatic" points out that in traditional papal encyclicals, a "schismatic community" is a Christian community adhering to valid sacraments but without recognizing the primacy of place of Rome or the importance of the papacy." The SSPX has always recognized the papacy and the primacy of Rome. And in 2009, Pope Benedict XVI lifted the excommunication of the SSPX which was imposed in 1988.

If you are attending a novus ordo Mass, and you do not believe that you are being spiritually fed, that it might be jeopardizing your soul, you might be endangering the state of your soul, especially if you are aware that the TLM is more beneficial for your soul

I agree for myself also. I’m happy with my tlm at my diocesan church. But I’m open to it for the future with the sspx when they take away our diocesan tlm. It might very well happen.

I'm an sspx partisan. I don't agree with you that the pope isn't also ultimately accountable to Tradition with a capital T. That being said, it's hard to be mad at you. God bless you Bryan

Brian. You bossed this ten thousand percent. Well done sir, you are a Christian and a Saint on The Way. Amen. May He Keep You In His Peace. Amen.

Appreciate talking to Kennedy! You mention following the pope when he gives an order. I am curious what your thoughts are if the order contradicts previous orders? I think that is the angle SSPX has but I am not sure either. Even Cardinal Roche says the church has changed. It either has or has not, and by definition it cannot... such a confusing time lol

*standing ovation* Seriously. As a once-reluctant Protestant, you hit multiple nails on the head. Bravo, brother. So well-put. Bravo.

I lived closer to the FSSP parish. But if I lived closer to the SSPX chapel, I would attend there. *We would not have the FSSP without the SSPX.*

I've noticed a lot of former-protestant converts to the Catholic Church love the NO Mass. Why is that? My guess is because the NO Mass copies the Anglican service in a lot of the verbiage. Every protestant family member I have who's been to a NO Mass agrees that the NO is very protestant in feel. I was raised a Catholic and am looking for a deeper relationship with the Lord and a much more reverent way to worship Him. The closest TLM to me is over an hour away. The closest SSPX is 20 minutes. I attend the SSPX.

8:25 I have a hard time reconciling that very fact about the Church and what people are allowed to do to the Holy Mass at my local church, which to be honest, just looks like a Lutheran mass with valid consecration. There is something to the SSPX if the Pope and others persecute it so much, especially now with Pope Francis putting numerous restrictions and denying the concept of Collegiality to tightly control the access to the Holy Mass according to the 1962 Missale Romanum. He, however, don't persecute that much the Bishops despite what's happening in there.

I am French living in Paris. If I have to travel to Germany, I will look to SSPX churches. I'd rather go to SSPX mass than stop going to church.

We stayed in the Church not because we are simply amazed by the form of the liturgy or because we like the priests. Just imagine how was the Church in the middle ages when there were 3 popes at same time competing each other or a pope having children and mistresses. We stayed in the Church because of the Truth, the essence of her teaching, because of Christ. Reform should be done inside, not outside.

You know why I don't attend a SSPX Chapel? Because the closest SSPX is 6 hours away from me or else I probably would attend one, instead my diocese offers irreverent hokey NO Masses and the TLM which my family was attending Sundays at 330pm was canceled and my son was an altar server there, which is very upsetting but oh the NO is just as good right? I'm sorry but most NO Masses are embarrassing.

"...to refuse to submit to the Supreme Pontiff?" I refuse to submit to idol worship! Permit me to say that does not make me schismatic, regardless of what the Holy Father wants! It is a misunderstanding of the nature of the Catholic Church and of the Papacy to say that any disobedience of the Pontiff makes one schismatic.

Are we not allowed to attend SSPX Masses and Confessions or not ? I was under the impression we could do both . Am I wrong ?

Well said Brian! Thank you!

Come April, Brian may find that the FSSP will be suppressed and shut down. Brian may find himself with 2 option. Go to novus order modernist sect or stay with the Catholic Church in the SSPX

I'm a Catholic Brian and I have reservations about the SSPX too but I have even bigger reservations about the present Pontiff. I don't believe he's doctrinally sound and he has an inclination to make statements that he has no authority to make,for example declaring that Catholics were morally obliged to get vaccinated against Covid,which is utter nonsense and not within his remit anyway. Furthermore he tends to bash the trads but says little or nothing about the carry on in Germany

This is my whole position, I agree with everything you said. 💯💯

Given the definition of schism, do you think the Canadian Catholic Bishops are in schism based on the Winnipeg Statement and their rejection of Humanae Vitae?

I have an unhealthy obsession with TLM. Never been, but I love it.

Thank you for how you handled this topic. I agree with almost everything you're saying. I just wanted to give a little comment on that schismatic part because I see myself in a critical situation. Furthermore, I'm in my late twenties, haven't been baptized yet but am extremely certain that I will join the Catholic Church. All the Priest and Bishops in my State are part of the modernistic movement, ”The Synodal Path “. Every time I visit the Church, I hear them teaching heretics and preaching that we need to change the traditional catholic thinking immediately. Even Christian fundamental thinking. That the church visitors even put an Amen behind that, makes me even more confused. In some ways, I think this is more Schismatic than a community, that tries to reform the Church back to its roots in a sincere manner. The only choice I got is SSPX.

If I could attend a diocesan TLM I would, but where I live SSPX (God bless them) are the only game in town. Lex orandi, lex credendi.

SSPX showed me and made me to love the church

I was born a cradle Catholic in 1973. I remembered seeing missionary Priests from European countries coming to my country to evangelize to our pagan people. Mass in those days means, Priest and faithful faced the Altar - not the other way round. Modernism came late to our country. Responses and hymns were in Latin back then - and English was not our 1st language ! Then, in the 1980s , slowly, we saw the changes - tabernacles moved to the side of the Church then, now it is located at a separate building at the back of the church! Ancestor plaques were placed in front of the center altar with 2 red candles lit, and 5 mandarin oranges in a plate in front of the lit red candles - this is during the Chinese New Year Mass for the chinese congregation! There is even Lion Dances too ! What the heck??!! Muslims and Taoists were having joyful time laughing at Catholics here every year during Chinese New Year. Novus Ordo Priests dressed in Red Vestments and lifted lit joss sticks to mimick ancenstor veneration! Now, this is Novus Ordo Mass. Thanks God, my family and I discovered Traditional Latin Mass Chapels in my country - and Mass were celebrated by Priests from the Society of Saint Pius X. Our family and friends have since left the Novus Ordo Churches and never look back. Sad to say many Catholic youths from Novus Ordo parishes have either joined Protestant churches , became agnostics and many have left the faith to convert to Islam. While in our TLM community here, the attendances have been bursting to the seams! Thank God for SSPX ❤. If their works are not from God; it would have quickly lost it's virtue years ago and disbanded; when it was started by the late His Excellency Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre. Look how TLM have flourished all over the world now! Reading Church history and the persecutions, numerous heresies and schisms faced by Church Fathers have opened my eyes! Also, if you have never attended not even one TLM celebrated by SSPS priest, you don't have any idea what is going on during Mass! I am not hating those who goes to Novus Ordo Churches. I just sympathise them because they do not realise the Mass they attend is the same Mass the Protestants i.e. Anglicans and Lutherans were having. Look up the Missals. I am not making this up. Despite what your opinion is, you are certainly entitled to it. I have mine and i am happy that i am discovering back what i have been robbed off since 1980s. The Novus Ordo Mass is not helping the Catholic to feel reverent about attending Mass - the proof that many dozed off during Mass, people browsing through facebook or Tiktok videos, wearing short pants etc. If we (TLM faithfuls) are wrong; then, the Saints were definitely wrong because we worshipped the same way they did 😊. Peace.

The positions of Pope Benedict and Pope Francis on the TLM are largely opposite. It would seem that one was largely correct and the other largely wrong.....so in such matters a Pope can be wrong. I believe Pope Benedict was on the right side of tradition and doctrine.

I agree with you 100%. Where I live though, there seems to be no reverent novus ordo. I keep hoping to find one. I went to the sspx for a few months and the liturgy was amazing. I don't want to be in chism though, so I stopped attending. I haven't been going to church for months now. Still praying, and asking for guidance. I really don't know if there is a suitable option for me here. And still I want to convert to Catholicism. This is all so sad.

Brian, If you don't attend the SSPX what do you attend? (You've already told us why.)

If the people in authority aren't inclined to be martyrs for the Faith, they shouldn't be there. They likely represent something else.

Is the SSPX in communion with Rome?

I went to my first SSPX Mass last Sunday as I found my local parish slipping more into protestant style worship....they literally get the kids up into the steps to the altar, back to the tabernacle to SING the Our Father as if we were round the campfire. So I went looking for the TLM and found an SSPX chapel nearby. Within 10mins of arriving early one of the congregation introduced himself and asked what brought be there and within 10 minutes of this first interaction red flags were screaming from this guy.....talking about international Jewish conspiracy, being openly right wing.....not conservative catholic.....but outright right wing....citing groups such as British Resistance, National Front, holocaust denial, within 30 mins I'd had enough as he claimed Hitler was trying to save Europe....the guy who ordered the mass murder of catholic priests. What got me was how open and freely he shared these views with me, a total stranger. And that other members of the congregation were walking by greeting him by name. The mass itself was truly wonderful, but this guy.....and the fact people there must know his politics and accept it.....makes me worry about what is being taught or who makes up the congregation

Great stance, Brian, as always.

I usually love your videos but your argument about obedience is unfortunately flawed. Obedience is conditional upon the Pope being in agreement with the magisterium and not abusing his authority. I am.not an SSPX member I am merely an academic in comparative religions.

Have you heard His Holy Excellency Bishop Schneider on SSPX; most helpful. I say God unite the clans! It will happen with a TLM HOLY Pope!I I can understand you like your TLM community absolutely! Have you heard Fr Myrr with Robert Monyhan? Pax!

I was an atheist and converted due to the FSSPX, my personal path and reasons led me to them, im going to marry now in the Fsspx, however there are some things to clarify, the priest warns us that the marriage is not going to be Canonically licit with the Church, but i believe it will be licit before God, the fraternity also never speaks badly of the Pope or the Novis Ordus, i never heard the FSSPX say anything against the Church, never, the homilies are always about the Bible and the catolic tradition, i stay with the Fsspx for the same reasons you dont join them, i feel at home here, God brougth me here. Some days ago i went to Fatima santuary for confession, there were waiting lines and electronic devices indicating to wich room to confess you can go, theres noting wrong with this but the church feels more and more worldly and less transcendent, its not just the mass, its everything, i dont have that feeling with the Fsspx.

"Jesus said therefore unto the twelve, Would ye also go away?" (John 6:67)

Hello Brian. While I appreciate and understand your point of view, it may be strongly influenced by the fact you have discovered a congregation of great people. A little background. I'm an old (72) fallen Catholic living the journey back. Altar boy from age 6 to 16 then a lay epistle reader. Family always had close friends in the clergy. After being "spiritual" most of her life my fiance is now a truth seeking non denominational Christian. In efforts of introduction, I have taken her to several Catholic services during our travels around Alberta. Sadly, the things I saw of Vatican II trying to "popularize" faith and unite the Christian churches has come to full fruition. Each service we went to was unique which frankly I find disturbing. With the exception of the Corpus on the Crucifix, the services could have been any protestant hootenanny gathering. The reverence for the sanctity of the Eucharist was absent with laity handing out Hosts being received by too many who seemed to treat it with the same respect as a potato chip handed out at a party. The lack of respect and consideration of fellow worshiper following communion with some wanna be opera star belting out a tune at 90 db with the loudest "praising" words being 'eat me" ringing most prominent. Her response to the experience was less than impressive The response to my concerns in the confessional were less than stellar also, with the priests seemingly unconcerned about my questions of faith. Now jump ahead about 10 Masses when I finally found an SSPX service in Edmonton. My fiance's response was magnificent. She saw a reverence, a unity of the congregation, and a spiritual experience that was truly uplifting. Now the problem is, the Pope. Unlike yourself, I'm greatly questioning his theology. The whole gay/pedo priest issue is one thing. His recent blessings of pagan idols, support for the agenda of the WEF, toying with birth control and abortion issues, being used by the elites to push a strong overall left wing agenda is highly worrisome. Now I understand there might even be a ban coming against SSPX services. Personally I think, given the number of corrupt Popes mother church has suffered through the centuries, we may be on the way to another survival challenge. Too many people will throw the cherished Baby Jesus out with the now muddied Catholic bathwater. That is an opinion based on the ever diminishing numbers attending even at the hootenanny services. Keep in mind, Satan will be working hardest in the places where people come to seek God. Look what's happened in Catholic schools. Being kicked out and arrested for trespassing for the sinful act of claiming there are only two genders. We're in serious trouble and prayer is the only answer. I pray the sins of the father will not result in the end of the family of believers. Humble opinion offered with respect for yours.

You're right Brian. I'm going back to my normal Catholic Church. Back to the wonderful sermons, the extraordinary ministers of the Eucharist, the Masses full to bursting point, everybody sharing in the bread and those cute little altar servers ...

What is the name of the painting at 4:44?

Do you (Brian)attend a Latin Mass or a Novus Ordo Mass ?

It's not that difficult to understand. Faith, Hope and Charity are more important than obedience. Archbishop Levebvre had the grace to see what would happen to the Church when the changes to the liturgy were made. Because he saw it before so many others doesn't make his actions wrong back then. He was correct when he said the masterstroke of Satan would be to sow disobedience through obedience. Thank God for Archbishop Levebvre whose only crime was to pass on what he received.

If you are happy where you are and perhaps feel more connected to the Church with the FSSP community then fine. But should the Pope demand that the various TLM fraternities should stop celebrating the Latin Mass, then what would you do?....This is the situation currently being faced by so many that attend diocesan parish TLM's.

Thank you

"If I'm being totally honest just don't think that it is at the heart of the sspx controversy for me is something I just can't get over because you can't say in one breath that someone is the Supreme judge in all matters of morality and religion and governance and then in the very next breath dispute some specific judgment that he makes by disputing or disobeying some judgment that he does make in reality you are conceding that he isn't or can't be that Supreme judge even if you say otherwise your actions speak way louder than any creedal confession does at that point." Well said, Brian!