I love traditional Catholicism, and that’s why I financially support it locally (by putting money where my mouth is), as I promote it online. I am also a convert to the Catholic Church from Evangelicalism. So I know, firsthand, what real sacrifice is when it comes to communion with the Holy See of Rome.
I had a comfortable life laid out ahead of me as an Evangelical pastor. Everything was lined up. I was offered a congregation and a nice building to go with it. I would have had a comfortable salary, health plan, gym membership, and a guaranteed retirement. Everyone seemed to love me and respect me. I was on top of the world. All I had to do was stay the course. I didn’t. I turned it all down, just to become Catholic. I lost everything. Even my friends who used to love talking religion with me, no longer took what I said seriously. I struggled with my family who didn’t understand, and it took years for some of them to accept it. I understand, firsthand and intimately, what communion with the Bishop of Rome means. I had to completely rebuild my life, almost from scratch. Did it hurt? Hell yeah! It hurt — for years! But that is the cost, and I don’t regret it.
This is why I have little sympathy for the SSPX bishops. What they were asked to do from 2009 to 2026 (17 years) was show a little respect for the Bishop of Rome and work toward full regularization. They didn’t, and that’s obvious now, repeating the exact same act in 2026 that got them excommunicated the first time in 1988. They learned nothing, and it appears they may have never intended full regularization to begin with. I’m sorry if this offends, but I can’t respect that after what I went through.
When I converted to the Catholic Church, I knew the Church was imperfect. I knew it had problems. I knew there were even some doctrinal matters that needed to be hammered out. Yet I also knew it was the Church that Jesus Christ founded, and I could not be apart from it in any way, shape, or form. I desired full and complete communion with this imperfect mess that is called the Catholic Church, because it is Christ’s Church, and I gave up nearly EVERYTHING to get it. From my perspective, having experienced what I did, what Rome was asking of the SSPX was small compared to what I endured. If they can’t even do that, what is a guy like me supposed to think? Let them go. It’s what they seemed to want all along.
The excommunication of the entire SSPX (bishops, priests, and laity formally attached) was extreme in my opinion, a little too much, but it is a done deal now. It is complete, it is legitimate, and it likely won’t be undone any time soon (if ever). The SSPX has rejected the excommunication as invalid. So that’s a done deal as well. We now have a formal schism in the West, just as we had in the East for a thousand years. Like the schism in the East, which was primarily juridical, relating to the authority of the Bishop of Rome, the Western schism (SSPX joined by Sedevacantists, Sedeprivationists, Palmarians, and company) will cite doctrine as the “real reason,” but we all know it’s about papal authority, and it’s silly to kid ourselves about it. The matter is closed now, moving on….
Pope Leo XIV now has a bigger problem on his hands. Following the excommunication of the SSPX, the liberal faction in the Catholic Church will feel emboldened. Leo has to stand up to them, or they will bully him for the rest of his pontificate. Leo needs to show balance now. Just as he won’t tolerate the disobedient acts of the schismatic SSPX, he cannot tolerate the disobedient rhetoric and games of the heretical liberals within the hierarchy. He’s going to have to deal with them, using a very firm hand, or else they will seek to manipulate and control him. That is 100% inevitable, and you can take that to the bank.
The pope could begin by loosening the restrictions of Traditionis Custodes (2021) and return to something more akin to Summorum Pontificum (2007), allowing for more generous usage of the Vetus Ordo (1962 Missal), more commonly called the Traditional Latin Mass (TLM). The only people who would benefit from that are the unsung heroes of the traditional Catholic movement, meaning those who have always strived to remain in full communion and good standing with Rome. Shouldn’t they be rewarded for this? Shouldn’t they be given more latitude? And of course, by doing this, the pope would open the door for more faithful Catholics to leave the schismatic SSPX and rejoin the Catholic Church. This seems like a good counterbalance to the tragedy of excommunication.
Another thing Pope Leo could do is address the primary concerns of misunderstandings surrounding the Second Vatican Council. Both popes Paul VI and Benedict XVI taught us that it was a pastoral council, promulgating no new doctrines in the Catholic Church. Leo XIV could elaborate for us what that means exactly, and put down some of the more gross examples of misunderstandings: “all religions lead to God” and “no need to evangelize” for example. There are also ontological issues which must be addressed, particularly the push from those who want to normalize homosexuality, transgenderism, and female ordination. Again, this would be a good counterbalance to the tragedy of excommunication.
I have long since predicted a three-way schism in the Catholic Church. Years ago, I suggested the SSPX would eventually break with Rome again. I later apologized to them because some people convinced me I was wrong. I wish I had been. Now it turns out I was right (sadly). I’ve never wished to be so wrong in all my life. So now, my next prediction is this, and nobody will sway me from it this time. The German bishops will go into schism as well. It won’t be all of them, just a faction, and it won’t be over liturgy or Vatican II. Rather, it will be over the ontological issues like those described above, but the bottom line will be the authority of the Bishop of Rome. If Leo stands up to them, as he should and he must for the sake of his own papacy, they will try to undermine him with their little rhetorical and canonical games. (This is what they always do.) Leo will need to be firm with them, and back his words with action, or they will continue to undermine him and the papacy itself.
If Leo has the courage to back his words with action, most of the liberal bishops in Germany (and elsewhere) will cave in. A faction will go into schism, and that will be that. Leo has the opportunity to keep the second schism of his papacy (the liberal schism) small if he is strong and backs his words with action. If he is weak, however, then the liberals in the Church will hijack his papacy and postpone the schism to the next pope. It will eventually happen, but the longer the pope waits to show words backed with action, the bigger the German schism will become.
Lastly, I want to add this. The problems we are seeing in the Church right now are left over from the Francis pontificate. It was his coddling of liberal priests and bishops that led to all of this. And by that I mean both the emboldening of liberal clergy and the resentment of traditional laity, leading to the excommunication of the SSPX for failing to respect the pope’s authority yet again. Francis laid the bombs, and lit the fuses. Now they are exploding under this successor. Pray for Pope Leo XIV. He has a very difficult job.
Shane Schaetzel is an author of Catholic books and he is an Evangelical convert to the Catholic Church. His articles have been featured on LifeSiteNews, The Remnant Newspaper, Forward in Christ, and Catholic Online. You can read Shane’s books at ShaneSchaetzel.Com
