(6) SSPX Jurisdiction – Faculties for Confession

Certain powers of the priesthood, although conferred by the Sacrament of Holy Orders, cannot be "activated" without express direction of the bishop. In Catholic theology, the bishop is the "overseer" of his diocese. The priests are there as his assistants. The bishop may use his discretion in 'activating' the powers to be given to individual priests. In the past, for example, not every priest was authorised to hear Confessions, as this requires certain human qualities of judgment over and above the primary power of the priesthood. Likewise, every Catholic priest is given the power of exorcism at ordination, but only exceptional individual priests have the required resilience, and only a very few are given this jurisdiction by the bishop.

A common question about the SSPX is whether they have jurisdiction within the Church. Here are some answers from Bp. Fellay, Superior General of the SSPX.

Extracted from

http://www.remnantnewspaper.com/Archives/2010-1031-mccall-fellay.htm

At the heart of the recent Angelus Press conference to celebrate the 40^th Anniversary of the Founding of the Society of St. Pius X (October 15-17), His Excellency Bishop Bernard Fellay delivered an inspiring and comprehensive assessment of the Society’s situation, both past and future. His two-hour address, combined with his sermon at the Pontifical High Mass, synthesized the themes and recollections of the event as a whole.

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His Excellency set the context by describing the Vatican’s policy as a process of “contradictions.” He characterized the recent history of the relations as a process of saying one thing publicly but having to speak and act differently in practical application. He seemed to be preparing his listeners to expect this dynamic of contradiction to continue, at least for the foreseeable future.

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With specific references to the Society, Bishop Fellay explained that the Holy See has been pursuing a two-pronged policy – an official de jure policy contradicted by de facto actions. He noted how the official line is embodied in the document released by the Secretary of State after the 2009 decree nullifying the excommunication of the Society’s bishops. According to this unsigned document, the Society does not exist legally and enjoys “no legal standing in the Church”, with the SSPX priests exercising their ministry “illicitly.” Yet, the Holy Father speaks and takes concrete actions that run contrary to this, oftentimes even recognizing the legal and valid existence and ministry of the Society priests.

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For the non-lawyers among Remnant readers, our mothers and fathers applied this perennial truth through the principle “actions speak louder than words.” Now there has been no legal situation more hotly debated in recent decades than that of the legal standing in the Church of the Society priests and bishops. A quick internet search reveals that the technical legal position is debated by Catholics on virtually all sides of this issue. In such a case, the actions of the Supreme Legislator (the Pope) must be examined in order to guide a sound understanding of the current legal confusion surrounding the issue.

Bishop Fellay demonstrated the application of this “principle of action” in the case of the Society through several examples, most of which have never been previously publicized. First, he mentioned the issue of SSPX confessions. As most Catholics know, there are certain grave sins, the remittance of which is reserved to the Holy See alone. Under Church law if a priest hears the confession of a person who has committed one of these reserved sins, he is obligated to report the matter to the Holy See within thirty days to receive permission to absolve as well as guidance for the imposition of an appropriate penance. His Excellency indicated that from time to time Society priests have heard such confessions, and that, in every case, the required notification was sent to the Holy See. In each of these cases, the response received from the Vatican was that “all was good and licit” and that the permission for the SSPX priest to absolve was granted.

What inference are we to draw from this? Obviously, the Society priests can validly hear confessions. If the Society priests lacked any form of jurisdiction to hear confessions, the Holy See would have replied that the penitent needed to confess to a priest with legal jurisdiction to hear confessions. By definition, we are here dealing with grave matter and hence mortal sin (assuming all other conditions are present). Yet even still, the Holy See replied to the SSPX that “all is good and licit.” The Holy See is thus making a de facto recognition of SSPX jurisdiction to hear confessions, a position that the Society and a number of canonical experts have maintained for years in the face of what is obviously a difficult legal situation.