We could reply many things to Mgr Semeraro, starting from his point of view.
We could ask him if he knows that the Society was erected with the approbation of the Bishop of Fribourg in 1970, that the Holy See conferred upon it the decree of approbation in February 1971; if he knows that the very house of the Society at Albano , with its semi-public oratory for the administration of the Sacraments, was canonically erected by his predecessor Mgr. Raffaele Macario on the 22nd February 1974 (prot. 140/74).
We could also ask him how he reconciles his interdictions with the official declarations of the Holy See, which, with the response of the Ecclesia Dei Commission of 18th January 2003, said that it is possible to satisfy the precept of hearing Sunday Mass by assisting at a Mass celebrated by a priest of the Society of Saint Pius X; or how he thinks that you can “break communion with the Church” by going to the Mass of the SSPX when the Holy See itself no longer considers the bishops of the same Society as being out of communion; or if he thinks that the alleged canonical irregularities amount to a rupture of communion.
We could also ask him why he, a bishop, can organise an ecumenical vigil in his cathedral (18th January, 2014) to pray there with people who certainly are not “in communion with the Catholic Church”, such as a female Evangelical “pastor” and an Orthodox bishop (the Orthodox, to whom he granted the church of San Francesco de Genzano, built by our forefathers for Catholic worship) while his own faithful cannot pray with other Catholics at the Mass of the Society.
We could also ask him why the openness of spirit of his diocese is so broad as to include “the First Forum of Christian Homosexuals”, held in the house of the Somaschi Fathers from the 26th - 28th March last, but not those who remain attached to the Tradition of the Catholic Church.
We do not expect a reply on these points which demonstrate in a clear manner the contradictions of Mgr Semeraro.
The Society founds its ministry towards all the faithful on the necessity of combating the errors against the Roman Catholic Faith which are spread in the Church by the bishops themselves: from the ecumenical indifference by which credit can be given to all religions as if they were paths of salvation, discarding the First Commandment of God, to the adoption of a liturgy which distances itself from the expression of the dogmas of the Roman Church to become semi-Protestant and irreverent. Errors which are spreading more and more, as was seen at the recent Synod, where, under an appearance of mercy the possibility of modifying the 6th Commandment and abandoning in practice the indissolubility of Christian marriage was discussed.
The general state of grave necessity, due to the diffusion by capillary action of errors against the Faith on the part of the ecclesiastical hierarchy, canonically founds the right and the duty for every faithful priest to give the Sacraments and an authentic Catholic instruction to whoever requests it.
The Society of Saint Pius X, following the example of its founder, will continue to transmit integrally the Deposit of the Roman Catholic Faith and Morality, rising up openly against all the errors which want to deform them, without fear of threats or unjust canonical sanctions since this Deposit neither Mgr Semeraro, nor any other member of the hierarchy will ever be able to change. As Saint Peter says: “we must obey God rather than men”.
All those who wish to receive the Sacraments as the Church has always administered them, to receive Catechism for their children, formation for adults, spiritual direction and consolation for the sick, will always be welcome.
…The Italian District of the Society of Saint Pius X
Tuesday, November 4, 2014
Response of the SSPX Italian District to Bishop Semeraro
By: Michael J. Matt | Editor
Bishop Semeraro
From a Correspondent in Ireland...
Dear Mr. Matt:
Please find below a translation of the Italian SSPX District's response to Bishop Semeraro. This is not the same document published by sspx.org and Rorate Caeli a few days ago, but a translation of what the SSPX Italy website says here. This statement gives additional details than were contained in the statement posted by the other two websites.
Yours sincerely,
Peadar Walsh
In a notification from the 14th October last, Monsignor Marcello Semeraro, who administers the Suburbican Diocese of Albano, thought himself able to declare that the SSPX is not “an institution of the Catholic Church” and that the faithful should not frequent it in order not to break communion with the Church.
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