Is There a State of Necessity Within the Church Today? - Episode 12 - SSPX FAQ Series. sspx.org/ - Whenever there is an urgent and immediate danger for the Faith, it creates a state of necessity. It …More
Is There a State of Necessity Within the Church Today? - Episode 12 - SSPX FAQ Series.
sspx.org/ - Whenever there is an urgent and immediate danger for the Faith, it creates a state of necessity. It seems that since Vatican II, a Catholic is constantly compelled, by necessity, to have to choose between Truth and “apparent obedience”, between being called a heretic or a schismatic. This extraordinary situation, in which any Catholic finds himself today, is an effect of the terrible crisis shaking the Church from top to bottom. It is a state of affairs that is neither ordinary nor regular; it creates a state of necessity.
The Faith is seriously and gravely threatened: by the new catechisms, by the sermons, by the Catholic media and notably by the so-called “Catholic Press”, by the ecumenical initiatives, which spread religious indifferentism, by the new liturgy, particularly the new rite of the Mass, etc. the danger for the Faith engenders a state of necessity.
Souls have the right to receive from the clergy the necessary aids for salvation, especially doctrine and the sacraments. The fact that it is made difficult if not impossible today causes within the Catholic Church a state of necessity.
The principle of a state of necessity appears several times in Holy Scripture. Compelled by need, the Machabees decided to use their swords on the Sabbath day rather than allow them to be killed without fighting back (I Mac. 2:23-41). The Lord also invokes this principle against the princes of the priests seeking to catch him in a fault; he even cites it as self-evident (Lk. 14:5; Mac. 2:24-27): “Which of you shall have an ass or an ox fall into a pit and will not immediately draw him out, on the Sabbath day?”. The principle of case of necessity is notably set forth by St. Thomas Aquinas, who cites the traditional adage: “Necessity has no law.”
This “extraordinary” situation in the Church imposes, over and above, extraordinary duties on all. Lay people have to resist the “novelties” imposed, encouraged or allowed from above - as Saint Thomas writes: “if there were a danger for the Faith, subordinates would be bound to reprove their prelates, even publicly” and Cajetan adds: “One must resist a (?) pope who openly destroys the Church.”
Priests and Bishops have even more extraordinary duties to fulfill. They have a duty to resist and denounce the “novelties” but also to defend and protect the flock from them. They have a duty to preach sound Catholic doctrine and provide sacraments properly administered.
To extraordinary situations come extraordinary duties and therefore extraordinary means: the Church may, for instance, suspend the application of a positive law, like some aspect of Canon law. It is unfortunately the situation Catholics find themselves in today.
For further understanding and insight on this question, we recommend watching the DVD: Archbishop Lefebvre – A Documentary, which can be found at Angeluspress.org
Another great source we recommend is to read “Is Tradition Excommunicated?” also available at Angeluspress.org
To learn more, go to sspx.org and subscribe to our email list.
- Recommended Resources in Video -
angeluspress.org/lefebvre-documentary
angeluspress.org/Tradition-Excommunicated
Produced by Visual Contrast Media in association with SSPX District USA © 2015
sspx.org/ - Whenever there is an urgent and immediate danger for the Faith, it creates a state of necessity. It seems that since Vatican II, a Catholic is constantly compelled, by necessity, to have to choose between Truth and “apparent obedience”, between being called a heretic or a schismatic. This extraordinary situation, in which any Catholic finds himself today, is an effect of the terrible crisis shaking the Church from top to bottom. It is a state of affairs that is neither ordinary nor regular; it creates a state of necessity.
The Faith is seriously and gravely threatened: by the new catechisms, by the sermons, by the Catholic media and notably by the so-called “Catholic Press”, by the ecumenical initiatives, which spread religious indifferentism, by the new liturgy, particularly the new rite of the Mass, etc. the danger for the Faith engenders a state of necessity.
Souls have the right to receive from the clergy the necessary aids for salvation, especially doctrine and the sacraments. The fact that it is made difficult if not impossible today causes within the Catholic Church a state of necessity.
The principle of a state of necessity appears several times in Holy Scripture. Compelled by need, the Machabees decided to use their swords on the Sabbath day rather than allow them to be killed without fighting back (I Mac. 2:23-41). The Lord also invokes this principle against the princes of the priests seeking to catch him in a fault; he even cites it as self-evident (Lk. 14:5; Mac. 2:24-27): “Which of you shall have an ass or an ox fall into a pit and will not immediately draw him out, on the Sabbath day?”. The principle of case of necessity is notably set forth by St. Thomas Aquinas, who cites the traditional adage: “Necessity has no law.”
This “extraordinary” situation in the Church imposes, over and above, extraordinary duties on all. Lay people have to resist the “novelties” imposed, encouraged or allowed from above - as Saint Thomas writes: “if there were a danger for the Faith, subordinates would be bound to reprove their prelates, even publicly” and Cajetan adds: “One must resist a (?) pope who openly destroys the Church.”
Priests and Bishops have even more extraordinary duties to fulfill. They have a duty to resist and denounce the “novelties” but also to defend and protect the flock from them. They have a duty to preach sound Catholic doctrine and provide sacraments properly administered.
To extraordinary situations come extraordinary duties and therefore extraordinary means: the Church may, for instance, suspend the application of a positive law, like some aspect of Canon law. It is unfortunately the situation Catholics find themselves in today.
For further understanding and insight on this question, we recommend watching the DVD: Archbishop Lefebvre – A Documentary, which can be found at Angeluspress.org
Another great source we recommend is to read “Is Tradition Excommunicated?” also available at Angeluspress.org
To learn more, go to sspx.org and subscribe to our email list.
- Recommended Resources in Video -
angeluspress.org/lefebvre-documentary
angeluspress.org/Tradition-Excommunicated
Produced by Visual Contrast Media in association with SSPX District USA © 2015