Validity of Duarte-Costa and Thuc Bishops QUESTION from Mike Meyer on July 22, 2002 A friend of mine contends that the Church considers the episcopal lines of Thuc and Duarte-Costa to be invalid. I contend the Church sees them as valid but not licit. Who is correct?
ANSWER by John-Paul Ignatius, OLSM on July 27, 2002 Dear Mr. Meyer:
It thoroughly disgusts me to say this, but from what I understand Bishops Thuc and Duarte-Costa were both validly ordained Roman Catholic priests and bishops who went into schism.
That being the case, anyone they ordained to Holy Orders by them will be validly a priest, and any valid priest consecrated as bishops by them would be a validly bishop. But they would not be LICIT.
Thus as long as the line of succession remains intact stemming from Bishops Thuc and Duarte-Costa, the subsequent priests and bishops HAVE VALID ORDERS and are VALID BISHOPS, but their ordinations to Holy Orders and the consecrations to Bishops are ILLICIT.
This is a scandal, an evil, and a sorrowful pain to the Body of Christ, but it is a reality.
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