Padre Pio and the mass QUESTION from Darrin French on January 2, 2003 REF: info / confirmation
To whom it may concern:
My brother-in-law is a Pius X member who has a great devotion to Padre Pio. My wife and I are non-Pius members who also have a devotion to Padre Pio. It is my understanding Padre Pio said the Novus Order mass under the obedience of the church in his last four years of life.
My question is, Is this true? If so, this may be the beginning of hope for my brother-in-law. Because he admires Padre Pio he may accept the Novus Order mass too. Please provide proof or documentation to support your findings. You may be responsible to greatly help some lost Catholics such as my brother-in-law.
A concerned Catholic
Darrin
ANSWER by John-Paul Ignatius, OLSM on January 3, 2003 Dear Mr. French:
The essential problem with SSPX people is that they lack faith and because of that lack of faith have essentially left the Church.
Despite recent talks between SSPX and the Vatican, the SSPX remain in schism.
Your brother-in-law needs to submit himself to the Church instead of thinking he knows more about the Church than the Church does. He needs to regain his faith. In effect people like this are calling God a liar because they believe that the Church can OFFICIALLY be led into error -- a notion that Jesus says can NEVER happen. SSPX has the arrogance to think they are the real Church.
Well, the FACTS are this about th SSPX, quoting an excerpt of a letter from the Vatican:

Father Peter R. Scott, District Superior of the Society in the United States, has publicaly stated that he deplores the liberalism of those who refuse to condemn the New Mass as absolutely offensive to God, or the religious liberty and ecumenism of the postconcilliar church. With such an attitude the society of St. Pius X is effectively tending to establish its own canons of orthodoxy and hence to separate itself from the magisterium of the Supreme Pontiff. According to canon 751 such refusal of submission to the Roman Pontiff or the communion of the members of the Church subject to him constitute schism.

In other words it does not matter what Padre Pio did or did not do. We owe obedience to the Pope and Magisterium and if we refuse that obedience we are sinning at best and sinning in schism at worse.
As far as Padre Pio, he never said the Roman Missal of 1970 (there is no such Mass entitled, Novue Ordo) since Padre Pio died in 1969.
I have found many propaganda sites from schismatic people siting such things as Padre Pio was FORCED to say the Novus Ordo or that he condemned the Vatican II council. These are lies.
The best statement I can find off hand is from EWTN at: http://www.ewtn.com/padrepio/priest/Mass.htm which explains:

Owing to the era in which he lived the Mass which Padre Pio offered was according to the Missal as it existed before the Second Vatican Council (the so-called Tridentine Mass, named after the Council of Trent). When the new Rites began to appear in the mid 1960s (finalized in 1969 after his death) Padre Pio continued to celebrate the old. It has been alleged by some that this was due to his dissatisfaction with the liturgical changes. However, this was not the case. Already over 80 years of age and going blind the only practical way for Padre Pio to offer the Mass was to pray the one he had been celebrating for 50 years. This same privilege was granted by law to all elderly priests. Later on, Padre Pio would also be given permission to sit during the entirety of the Mass, being unable to stand for long periods. The true character of Padre Pio's impeccable submission to the Church and his acceptance of all papal and Vatican II teaching and discipline can be seen in the letter he wrote to Pope Paul VI in September 1968.
We will pray for your brother-in-law. These SSPX people are a hard nut to crack and in many instances, no disrespect intended, I think that many of them need professional counseling. But at the very least these people are suffering from 1) scruples, 2) fear, 3) lack of faith, 4) inability to discern the distinction between form and substance, 5) pride that says I will not serve what they call the Novus Ordo Church..... we must remember that the cry of Lucifer was, I will not serve.
We all need to humble ourselves and stop backseat driving the Holy Spirit working in the Church.
God Bless.
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