Why Catholics may leave spiritually harmful parishes, whether traditional or reformed, without accepting that attendance at the Novus Ordo is necessarily sinful — and how the Old Roman Apostolate offers an ancillary approach to pastoral provision.
Bishop Robert Mutsaerts has advised Catholics to leave spiritually harmful parishes rather than exhaust themselves attempting to reform them. The same principle applies to dysfunctional traditionalist communities, as repeatedly observed on Old Romans Unscripted. But the discussion raises a more consequential question: Catholics may defend the inherited Roman liturgy and prudently avoid the Novus Ordo without accepting that attendance at the reformed Mass is necessarily sinful. It also illuminates the distinctive pastoral purpose of the Old Roman Apostolate, whose ministry is ancillary rather than a replacement for the Church’s parochial structures. Its mission is to respond to Catholics seeking traditional sacramental and spiritual assistance, an approach informed by established canonical principles concerning the rights and spiritual needs of the faithful.
Bishop Robert Mutsaerts, Auxiliary Bishop of ’s-Hertogenbosch in the Netherlands, has evidently lost patience with the expectation that faithful Catholics should spend their lives attempting to improve parishes whose priests have little interest in being improved. Interviewed by LifeSiteNews at the Catholic Identity Conference in Pittsburgh on 3 October, he advised those suffering from irreverent liturgy and poor pastoral leadership to seek a church where their faith, and that of their children, would actually be nourished. Having previously encouraged Catholics to remain loyal to their local parishes and attempt to improve them, his experience has led him to adopt a different position. Significantly, Mutsaerts, who himself celebrates the reformed liturgy, identified both the Vetus Ordo and the Novus Ordo as possible places of genuine spiritual nourishment, provided that worship is sacred and properly conducted.1
An objection has circulated in response. Surely the same principle applies to the Traditional Latin Mass? There are traditional priests who are poor pastors, traditional chapels suffering from unhealthy internal politics, and congregations where attachment to liturgical correctness has not always been accompanied by corresponding progress in charity, humility or sound spiritual judgement. If Catholics are encouraged to leave a dysfunctional Novus Ordo parish rather than spend years attempting to change its priest, there is no obvious reason why they should remain indefinitely in a similarly dysfunctional traditionalist community.
The objection is entirely reasonable, but it scarcely contradicts the traditionalist position. This has been a recurring observation on Old Romans Unscripted, where the distinction between the integrity of the traditional liturgy and the personal or pastoral deficiencies of individual traditionalist priests has frequently been emphasised. The liturgy is not a substitute for priestly virtue. A man may recite every prayer accurately, observe every rubric scrupulously, and nevertheless be an unsatisfactory spiritual father. Nor does attendance at a traditional chapel guarantee that its congregation will be immune from factionalism, personal vanity, spiritual immaturity or the temptation to confuse loyalty to a particular priest with fidelity to the Catholic Faith. Where the faithful are genuinely being harmed, they have good reason to seek sounder pastoral provision elsewhere. The celebration of the Traditional Latin Mass does not confer upon a priest a permanent claim upon their allegiance.
Yet the observation, valid as it is, does not dispose of the liturgical controversy. There is a difference between a problematic priest celebrating a sound liturgy and a liturgical reform whose theological expression and historical development are themselves disputed. Traditional Catholic criticism of the Novus Ordo has never been adequately answered by pointing to a reverent celebrant, beautiful vestments, Gregorian chant or a congregation kneeling at the altar rail. These things are commendable, and their presence may considerably improve the circumstances of worship. They do not, however, restore prayers omitted from the revised Missal, reinstate ceremonies deliberately removed, or resolve questions concerning the principles upon which the reform was undertaken.
The traditionalist case concerns the integrity of the Roman liturgical inheritance. The replacement of the ancient Offertory prayers, the reduction of prescribed genuflections and signs of the Cross, the alteration of numerous prayers and ceremonial actions, and the extensive reconstruction of the calendar and lectionary were not merely adjustments to accommodate contemporary circumstances. They represented a substantial departure from the received arrangement of Roman worship. The implications were already being challenged in 1969, when Cardinals Alfredo Ottaviani and Antonio Bacci presented Paul VI with the Short Critical Study of the New Order of Mass, questioning whether the reform adequately preserved the theological expression of the Mass established through centuries of Catholic worship and solemnly defended at Trent.2 These objections remain serious, and they cannot be dismissed as nostalgia or aesthetic preference.
The principle involved is older than the controversy itself. Pius XII, in Mediator Dei, recognised both the authority of the Church over her liturgy and the value of its historical development. He specifically cautioned against exaggerated antiquarianism, which presumes that an earlier practice must necessarily be superior to subsequent developments. The accumulation of prayers and ceremonies through centuries of Catholic devotion was not, simply by virtue of being later, an obstacle to liturgical purity.3 A reform which removes ancient or organically developed expressions of doctrine therefore requires theological and historical justification; simplification cannot automatically be presumed to constitute improvement. This consideration has particular importance for the Old Roman tradition, which retains the inherited Roman liturgy, including the rites preceding the reforms of the 1950s.
Intellectual honesty nevertheless requires an acknowledgement often neglected in liturgical polemics. The official texts of the reformed Missal do not simply deny the Catholic doctrine of the Eucharistic sacrifice. Its General Instruction expressly affirms the sacrificial and propitiatory character of the Mass, refers to the teaching of Trent, and presents the Eucharistic offering as the sacramental making-present of Christ’s sacrifice upon Calvary.4 The Roman Canon itself was retained, although alongside newly composed or adapted Eucharistic Prayers. It remains possible to argue that the reform diminished the clarity, prominence and ceremonial expression of doctrines which the Church continues formally to profess. The changes may be judged imprudent, historically discontinuous and pastorally damaging. But the assertion that the reformed rite formally teaches a Protestant doctrine of the Eucharist cannot be established merely by demonstrating that it expresses Catholic doctrine less comprehensively than its predecessor.
This distinction bears directly upon the question of attendance. To conclude that one liturgical rite is inferior to another, even gravely inferior in certain respects, is not necessarily to conclude that attending it constitutes an offence against God. Nor does the admission that a valid Mass can be celebrated according to a defective liturgical arrangement automatically settle whether every such celebration should be attended. Validity, liceity, theological expression, prudence, scandal and personal culpability are related but distinct considerations. They require separate examination rather than being collapsed into a single judgement.
Here the position advanced by the Society of Saint Pius X deserves particular attention. In an article published by its American district in May 2021, Father Paul Robinson SSPX explained that Society priests advise Catholics not to attend the Novus Ordo even where no traditional Mass is available. His reasoning was not confined to particular abuses or heterodox celebrants. He argued that the reformed liturgy, as such, obscures the sacrificial nature of the Mass and therefore fails to render God the honour properly due to Him. On that basis, he defended the Society’s categorical advice against attendance.5
Father Robinson’s article expressly disclaims the status of an official doctrinal statement of the SSPX. Nevertheless, it describes the pastoral advice commonly given by its priests, and the general position is corroborated by other material which the Society has published. A 2007 exchange in SiSiNoNo, reproduced on the SSPX website, explicitly argues that a Catholic who knowingly exposes himself to what the author considers the spiritual danger of the Novus Ordo commits a sin against faith.6 An earlier article by Father Marc Van Es, also published by the Society, similarly maintains that Catholics should abstain from the reformed Mass, although it allows passive attendance at occasions such as a relative’s wedding or funeral where serious reasons justify it and where scandal or danger to faith can be avoided.7
The SSPX position therefore goes considerably further than advising Catholics to avoid irreverent celebrations or priests who undermine Catholic doctrine. It presents a general theological objection to attending the reformed rite itself, and in some formulations attributes sinfulness to attendance undertaken with knowledge of the alleged danger. This is a substantially stronger proposition than Bishop Mutsaerts’ pastoral advice.
Precision, however, remains essential. Father Robinson acknowledges that many Catholics attending the Novus Ordo are unaware of what he regards as its grave deficiencies and are therefore not gravely culpable. The Society’s published guidance cannot consequently be reduced to the assertion that every Catholic attending the reformed Mass commits mortal sin. Nor does the cited material establish a universal SSPX rule requiring every instance of such attendance to be confessed. It establishes a general prohibition founded upon a disputed theological assessment of the rite, together with the judgement that knowing attendance may constitute sin against faith. That position is sufficiently consequential to warrant critical examination without exaggeration.
The difficulty is not that spiritual danger can never excuse a Catholic from a religious obligation, or that knowingly placing oneself in a proximate occasion of grave sin is morally indifferent. Traditional moral theology teaches precisely the contrary. There are circumstances in which a person must avoid particular associations, environments or activities because of the danger they present to his soul. The difficulty concerns the movement from that established principle to the assertion that the reformed Roman liturgy necessarily constitutes such an occasion for the Catholic faithful generally. The former is a principle of moral theology. The latter is a theological judgement requiring demonstration. Repetition does not transform it into a universal precept.
Saint Thomas Aquinas is instructive here. In the Summa Theologiae, he explains that ignorance, knowledge, voluntariness and the circumstances of an action are essential to determining moral culpability. Ignorance may excuse entirely, diminish culpability, or itself be culpable when a person neglects to acquire knowledge he is obliged to possess.8 This does not make conscience sovereign over objective truth. An erroneous conscience does not alter the moral nature of an action. But neither may a confessor or moral theologian proceed as though the existence of a disputed proposition automatically establishes both the objective sinfulness of an action and the culpability of everyone who performs it. Awareness that the SSPX considers the reformed rite dangerous is not the same thing as knowingly consenting to an established moral evil. Knowledge of an argument does not itself establish its correctness.
The distinction becomes especially important when sacramental confession is invoked. The Council of Trent taught the obligation to confess mortal sins of which a penitent is conscious after diligent examination.9 That obligation presupposes an actual mortal sin, not merely conduct which a particular priest or organisation discourages. If a Catholic knowingly participates in sacrilege, deliberately rejects Catholic doctrine, or acts against a certain conscience in a grave matter, serious questions of culpability arise. But the bare fact of having attended a Novus Ordo Mass does not by itself demonstrate any of those things. It remains necessary to establish the moral character of the action and the knowledge and consent of the person concerned. To make attendance itself an automatic item for confession would go beyond what the evidence establishes.
There is also the question of ecclesiastical law. The 1917 Code of Canon Law, in Canon 1249, recognised fulfilment of the Mass obligation through attendance at a Mass celebrated according to any Catholic rite, subject to the conditions concerning the place of celebration then prescribed. The 1983 Code, in Canon 1248 §1, similarly states that the obligation is satisfied by attendance at Mass celebrated anywhere in a Catholic rite, either on the day itself or on the preceding evening.10 The 1917 legislation cannot be invoked as a retrospective approval of a reform which had not yet occurred. Equally, the existence of the 1983 provision does not answer every possible moral objection concerning attendance at a particular celebration. Grave spiritual danger may provide a legitimate reason for avoiding circumstances in which participation would otherwise ordinarily be expected. But neither code supplies a general rule by which private theological criticism of a rite promulgated by the Roman Pontiff automatically removes its standing as a Catholic liturgical celebration.
The assertion that the Novus Ordo is less perfect than the inherited Roman rite does not itself establish that attending it is the moral equivalent of participating in non-Catholic worship. Nor does the recognition of the reformed rite’s canonical status settle every pastoral question concerning attendance. The obligation to sanctify Sunday and the ecclesiastical precept concerning attendance at Mass must be distinguished. Where attendance is genuinely impossible or a sufficiently grave reason excuses the obligation, the faithful should sanctify the day through prayer and other appropriate religious exercises. What remains disputed is the proposition that every Catholic must avoid the reformed rite, regardless of the circumstances in which worship takes place.
The practical consequences are considerable. A Catholic family may attend a reverently celebrated Novus Ordo because there is no accessible traditional Mass. The priest may teach the defined doctrines of the Church, hear confessions, preach against sin, encourage devotion to Our Lady and administer the sacraments with evident seriousness. The family might reasonably be encouraged to discover the inherited Roman rite, to study the theological deficiencies of the reform and to seek traditional liturgical provision where it is available. But a judgement that its existing attendance constitutes an offence against God requires more than the assertion that the older rite is superior. It requires a defensible moral argument identifying the wrongful character of the action, not merely an unfavourable comparison between liturgical forms.
Conversely, a family attending a traditional chapel may encounter a priest who celebrates the liturgy with exactitude while habitually intimidating penitents, imposing personal opinions as obligations of conscience, disparaging other Catholic clergy without just cause, or encouraging an atmosphere of suspicion and factional hostility. Such circumstances may constitute a genuine spiritual danger. The proper response may be to seek pastoral assistance elsewhere. The inherited Roman liturgy remains worthy of defence, but its celebration cannot excuse defective pastoral conduct. Moral discernment cannot be insisted upon in the first case and abandoned in the second merely because the priest celebrates according to the ancient Missal.
This is particularly relevant to the present condition of traditional Catholicism. The faithful encounter communities associated with dioceses, institutes of pontifical right, the SSPX, sedevacantist bodies and other traditional apostolates. Their ecclesiological positions differ, sometimes considerably. The fact that all may celebrate a recognisably traditional form of the Roman Mass does not make their teaching, pastoral practice or understanding of ecclesiastical authority equally sound. The SSPX itself recognises this distinction when advising Catholics about attending traditional celebrations outside its own chapels. Father Robinson’s discussion acknowledges that questions concerning the priest, his formation and his doctrinal position may require careful individual assessment. The same principles of discernment remain relevant when considering Catholics attending the reformed rite.
The Old Roman position does not require abandoning the traditionalist criticism of the liturgical reform. The Apostolate’s attachment to the inherited Roman liturgy rests upon doctrinal conviction, historical continuity and the judgement that the organic development of worship should not be casually discarded in pursuit of contemporary pastoral theories. The Old Romans recognise the authority of the Roman Pontiff while maintaining the necessity of resisting departures from received Catholic doctrine and practice. They reject sedevacantism and the notion that papal legislation or administrative authority renders every prudential decision immune from theological examination. Recognition of legitimate authority and critical resistance to particular exercises of that authority are not inherently contradictory positions.
The same distinction, however, imposes a responsibility not to elevate disputed theological and pastoral conclusions into obligations beyond what can be established. A position which resists exaggerated claims for papal authority should be particularly cautious about allowing the judgement of a traditionalist organisation to acquire the practical force of universal moral legislation. The SSPX has rendered substantial service in preserving the traditional liturgy, priestly formation and sacramental life through decades of ecclesiastical upheaval. Its faithful should not be presumed collectively excommunicated or schismatic merely because they attend its Masses, and the Society’s irregular canonical circumstances require proper juridical distinction. Recognition of those considerations does not entail acceptance of every disciplinary or moral conclusion advanced by its clergy.
A principle of equity should therefore apply in both directions. If Catholics attending an SSPX chapel cannot simply be presumed schismatic because of the Society’s irregular canonical circumstances, Catholics attending a Novus Ordo celebration should not automatically be presumed knowingly to participate in doctrinal error. In each case the actual disposition of the faithful, the nature of their participation, the surrounding circumstances and the relevant principles of Catholic doctrine require consideration. Generalisations rightly rejected when directed against traditional Catholics should not be reproduced when assessing those who worship according to the reformed rite.
There is, however, a further distinction of particular relevance to the Old Roman Apostolate, concerning not simply its judgement about attendance at Mass but the character of its pastoral mission. The Old Romans who constitute the Apostolate do not conceive of their work as the establishment of an alternative parochial system, still less as an attempt to create a parallel ecclesiastical jurisdiction competing with the ordinary structures of the Catholic Church. Their ministry is principally ancillary, intended to make traditional Catholic worship, catechesis, spiritual direction and sacramental provision available to Catholics whose spiritual needs are not adequately met, or who seek access to the inherited Roman rites beyond what their ordinary circumstances permit. It is not necessarily a question of providing another parish to which a Catholic must transfer allegiance. Frequently, no such transfer is contemplated at all.
This point is fundamental to understanding the distinction between the Old Romans who provide the ministry and the Catholics who receive it. The Old Roman Apostolate does not present itself as a separate denomination into which the faithful are invited to convert, nor does attendance at an Old Roman mission, chapel or oratory confer a new ecclesial identity. A Catholic attending Mass celebrated by an Old Roman priest remains simply a Catholic. A family requesting traditional catechesis remains a Catholic family. Those gathering for prayer, devotions or sacramental preparation do not become members of a newly constituted religious body by virtue of their participation. There is no requirement for the faithful to become Old Romans in order to receive the pastoral assistance offered by the Apostolate. The distinction expresses the conviction that the Catholic Faith and sacramental tradition are being served, not appropriated as the exclusive possession of a particular organisation.
The distinction is practical as well as ecclesiological. The Apostolate may provide a mission centre or an oratory where Mass is offered regularly, but it may equally respond to a request from a small group of faithful who have arranged somewhere suitable for the traditional liturgy to be celebrated. It may assist families seeking traditional catechesis for their children, facilitate sacramental preparation, or support small local cells gathering for prayer, instruction and mutual encouragement in the Faith. In some circumstances, the celebration of Mass may be occasional rather than weekly. A priest may travel to a group which has taken the initiative to request his ministry, rather than the Apostolate establishing a permanent institution and seeking to gather a congregation around it. The faithful may therefore be the instigators of the pastoral provision they require.
This arrangement is not simply a practical accommodation devised in response to the difficulties of contemporary ecclesiastical life. There is a substantial canonical argument underlying the right of the faithful to request sacramental assistance in circumstances where the minister’s canonical position is irregular. That argument was examined in the Selsey study Old Roman Canonical Liceity, published in February 2025, which considered the relationship between the 1917 Code of Canon Law, observed by the Old Romans, and the provisions of the 1983 Code governing the contemporary Roman ecclesiastical system. The study addressed questions frequently raised by Catholics approaching Old Roman clergy: whether attendance at Mass may fulfil the Sunday obligation, whether sacraments may licitly be requested, and what jurisdiction or faculties may be required for their valid administration.11
Of particular importance is Canon 2261 §2 of the 1917 Code. This provision permitted the faithful, for any just cause and subject to the restrictions applying to certain declared or specially condemned excommunicates, to request sacraments and sacramentals from an excommunicated cleric. It expressly mentioned circumstances in which other ministers were lacking, but did so as a particular example rather than making their absence the indispensable condition of every lawful petition. The provision reflected an established distinction between the ecclesiastical consequences of a cleric’s censure and the spiritual interests of the faithful seeking his ministry. The Church’s legislation thus recognised that the protection of ecclesiastical discipline and the provision of sacramental assistance were not always mutually exclusive considerations.
The corresponding principle survives in Canon 1335 §2 of the 1983 Code, as revised in 2021. Where a censure prohibits the celebration of sacraments or sacramentals or certain acts of ecclesiastical governance, the prohibition is suspended when ministry is necessary for the faithful in danger of death. Where an automatic, or latae sententiae, censure has not been declared, the prohibition is also suspended when one of the faithful requests a sacrament, sacramental or act of governance; the law expressly permits such a request for any just cause.12 The distinction is consequential. The faithful are not necessarily required to establish that no other priest exists before their petition can constitute a just cause. The law recognises circumstances beyond imminent death or absolute sacramental deprivation in which a request may lawfully be made, provided that the precise conditions of the canon are fulfilled.
The meaning of any just cause is particularly relevant to traditional Catholic pastoral provision. It need not signify an emergency, an impossibility of approaching another priest, or a situation in which sacramental assistance would otherwise be wholly unavailable. Canonical commentators have acknowledged reasons concerning devotion, spiritual advancement, the avoidance of temptation and other reasonable pastoral circumstances. Francis Edward Hyland, in his 1928 study Excommunication: Its Nature, Historical Development and Effects, discussed the earlier legislation and identified such considerations as capable of justifying a petition. He also explained that the request need not invariably be made in explicit terms: an implicit or reasonably presumed petition could suffice under the interpretation he examined.13
This has a direct application to the manner in which Old Roman pastoral assistance may be sought. Catholics might desire the traditional Roman Mass in their locality, organise a suitable place for its celebration, and invite an Old Roman priest to provide it. Families might request catechetical instruction, sacramental preparation or spiritual direction because they judge the provision otherwise available to them inadequate. A small group might seek regular celebration of Mass and opportunities for confession as part of its common spiritual life. Such requests need not be understood as acts of repudiation towards a territorial parish or expressions of hostility to ecclesiastical authority. They can arise from the desire to deepen Catholic devotion and secure access to the sacramental and liturgical tradition valued by the faithful.
There is, however, an important distinction between recognising a just cause for a petition and establishing every condition necessary for the lawful and valid exercise of ministry in response. Canon 1335 §2 is a provision concerning the effects of specified censures. It does not declare that every cleric in an irregular canonical situation is necessarily subject to precisely such a censure, nor does it suspend prohibitions arising from every possible source. Its applicability depends upon the actual canonical circumstances, including the nature and status of any penalty. Neither does the suspension of a prohibition automatically confer an office, ordinary jurisdiction or a faculty which the minister does not otherwise possess. The Old Roman canonical argument must therefore be considered in its entirety rather than reduced to the proposition that any request authorises any sacramental act.
This brings into consideration the separate principle of supplied jurisdiction, expressed in Canon 209 of the 1917 Code and Canon 144 of the 1983 Code. The latter provides that, in circumstances of common error, whether factual or legal, or positive and probable doubt concerning law or fact, the Church supplies executive power of governance for both the internal and external forum. The same principle is expressly extended to certain faculties, including those relevant to sacramental absolution and assistance at marriage.14 The Selsey study examines the established canonical literature on common error, probable doubt and ecclesia supplet, including interpretations developed by earlier canonists and moral theologians.
These provisions should neither be dismissed nor stretched beyond their proper meaning. A priest’s sacramental ordination and his possession of the faculty required for a particular juridical act are distinct matters. Valid absolution ordinarily requires more than valid priestly orders, and assistance at marriage involves its own canonical requirements. Supplied jurisdiction exists because the Church recognises circumstances in which the ordinary requirements governing such acts require exceptional provision for the good of souls. But common error or positive and probable doubt must be grounded in circumstances capable of satisfying the law; they cannot be manufactured simply by asserting that a minister ought to possess jurisdiction. The Selsey study advances an application of these principles to Old Roman ministry; the canonical soundness of any particular application necessarily depends upon the facts and the law governing the circumstances.
The broader canonical context reinforces the significance of the faithful’s spiritual needs. Canon 212 §2 recognises their freedom to make those needs and wishes known to their pastors, while Canon 213 affirms their right to receive assistance from the Church’s spiritual goods, particularly the word of God and the sacraments. Canon 214 protects the legitimate exercise of liturgical and spiritual life, subject to the Church’s law and doctrine.15 None of these provisions independently authorises a priest to exercise faculties which he lacks, nor does their existence resolve every question concerning ministry outside ordinary diocesan arrangements. They nevertheless establish that the spiritual interests of the faithful are not a matter of indifference to canonical legislation. The Church’s law concerns the provision of grace as well as the regulation of ecclesiastical administration.
This is the context in which the Old Roman Apostolate understands its ancillary model. The initiative of Catholics seeking traditional sacramental assistance is not treated as an act of institutional recruitment. Their petition is received as an expression of spiritual need, to which the Apostolate seeks to respond according to Catholic sacramental doctrine and the canonical principles considered applicable to the circumstances. Where Mass may appropriately be offered, arrangements can be made. Where catechesis or devotional instruction is sought, provision may be organised. Where the administration of a sacrament requires particular jurisdiction or faculties, those requirements must be considered rather than presumed away. The governing principle is one of pastoral service exercised with canonical seriousness, not an assertion of unrestricted sacramental autonomy.
A group of Catholics, for example, might approach an Old Roman priest to arrange a monthly celebration of the traditional Roman Mass and regular catechetical instruction. Having organised a suitable meeting place and the necessary practical arrangements, the group might seek the Apostolate’s assistance. There would be no intrinsic reason for such provision to require the establishment of a new parish, exclusive ecclesiastical allegiance, or acceptance of a general condemnation of every liturgy celebrated elsewhere. The Apostolate could consider the request, encourage the group’s continued spiritual formation and make further sacramental provision as circumstances and proper discipline permit. The relationship would exist because of an identifiable pastoral need, rather than an institutional ambition to establish an alternative ecclesiastical structure.
Nor would attendance or involvement amount to incorporation into the Apostolate itself. The participants would remain Catholics requesting Catholic pastoral ministry from Old Romans. The celebration of Mass for a group does not establish a priest’s ownership of the faithful, and the organisation facilitating that celebration does not thereby acquire a claim upon their continuing institutional loyalty. The obligations arising from the sacraments and the Catholic Faith are not obligations of organisational membership. Access to appropriate pastoral assistance should not require the assumption of an unnecessary or misleading ecclesiastical identity.
This ancillary character also distinguishes the ORA’s approach from the more extensive institutional network developed by the Society of Saint Pius X. The SSPX maintains districts, priories, chapels, schools, seminaries and other established apostolates, administered through the Society’s own internal structure.16 That network reflects the particular history, resources and pastoral objectives of the Society. It would be inaccurate to suggest that the SSPX thereby claims to constitute a replacement hierarchy of territorial diocesan bishops. The distinction concerns the character and expectations of pastoral provision. Whereas the Society has developed a substantial institutional framework through which many faithful receive their regular sacramental and religious formation, the ORA does not seek to reproduce that model or to make exclusive dependence upon its own ministries the ordinary expectation of those it serves.
This is not a criticism of stable traditional chapels, seminaries or schools simply because they are stable. Such institutions may be of considerable benefit to the faithful, and some localities plainly require regular and sustained traditional pastoral provision. Nor does the ORA exclude the possibility of developing permanent missions where circumstances warrant them. The question is whether the institution serves the pastoral need or whether the pastoral need becomes an argument for perpetuating and enlarging the institution. The Apostolate’s intention is to respond proportionately, making available the ministry required without presuming that every group of traditional Catholics needs to be gathered into a separate and comprehensive ecclesiastical system.
Neither should this approach be mistaken for indifference towards ecclesiastical discipline. The ORA recognises Catholic canon law as an essential expression of the Church’s visible order, and its principles inform the regulation of clerical responsibilities, sacramental practice, ecclesiastical discipline and the organisation of pastoral work. This does not mean that every Old Roman pastoral arrangement claims the juridical status of a parish, quasi-parish or canonically erected oratory under the legislation presently governing the Roman diocesan system. Canon 515 of the 1983 Code reserves the erection, suppression and alteration of parishes to the diocesan bishop. Canon 1223 defines an oratory in the juridical sense as a place designated for divine worship with the permission of the competent Ordinary.17 A mission centre or oratory described pastorally by the ORA must not therefore be confused, without the relevant canonical authorisation, with one possessing that particular juridical status.
The distinction is important because applying canonical principles does not itself confer canonical offices, territorial jurisdiction or faculties which the law reserves to competent authority. The ORA’s internal arrangements reflect the conviction that Catholic clergy remain bound by the doctrinal, sacramental and disciplinary principles of the Church even when their external canonical circumstances are irregular. The practical exercise of ministry in such circumstances involves questions of necessity, equity, jurisdiction and sacramental discipline which require consideration according to their proper principles and cannot be resolved simply by asserting an institutional title. Neither can those principles be ignored merely because ordinary administrative arrangements are unavailable. The objective is to preserve Catholic ecclesiastical order in the conduct of the Apostolate, not to invent an alternative conception of that order.
This understanding is inseparable from the Old Roman rejection of sedevacantism and of any theory which would make permanent ecclesiastical separation a positive good. The ORA does not regard the present irregularities of traditional Catholic life as constituting a new and desirable model of the Church. The Old Romans recognise the Roman Pontiff and the proper hierarchical constitution of the Church, while maintaining that fidelity to the received Faith and sacramental tradition can require resistance to particular ecclesiastical innovations and provision for the faithful in circumstances where ordinary arrangements have become gravely deficient. Such provision is not intended to become an end in itself. Its justification remains the spiritual welfare of Catholics and the preservation of what has been entrusted to the Church, not the perpetuation of an organisation for its own sake.
There is an additional theological consistency here which deserves recognition. The same canonical tradition that protects the faithful from the unnecessary consequences of certain undeclared censures also establishes that ecclesiastical penalties are not ends in themselves. The law is ordered towards justice, the correction of wrongdoing, the protection of the Church and the salvation of souls. Canon 1752 of the 1983 Code concludes with the principle that the salvation of souls must always be the supreme law of the Church.18 That principle does not abolish canonical requirements or confer unrestricted powers upon clergy acting from sincere motives. Rather, it identifies the purpose for which ecclesiastical discipline exists and the spirit in which its lawful provisions must be interpreted and applied.
This understanding also explains why participation in the ORA’s ministry does not require the faithful to make the Novus Ordo a universal object of moral prohibition. The Old Roman rejection of the liturgical reform as a departure from the inherited Roman tradition is substantive and deliberate. That judgement remains distinct from an assessment of the culpability of a particular Catholic attending a reformed celebration. There is no corresponding requirement for exclusive attendance at Old Roman services, no presumption that occasional participation constitutes institutional recruitment, and no general expectation that those receiving pastoral assistance must sever every connection with their existing Catholic communities. The faithful may seek the traditional sacraments and catechesis precisely because they recognise something lacking in their ordinary provision. That recognition does not, by itself, settle every other question concerning their parish life.
The canonical argument developed in the Selsey study is consequently relevant beyond the immediate question of whether a particular sacrament may be requested from an irregularly situated priest. It helps explain the underlying conception of pastoral responsibility. The Church’s canonical tradition does not regard the spiritual interests of the faithful as entirely subordinate to the administrative convenience of ecclesiastical structures. Nor does it treat every canonical irregularity as necessarily rendering all pastoral recourse impossible. Under specified conditions, the law itself makes provision for the faithful to obtain assistance even where a cleric is subject to restrictions. This does not independently establish every Old Roman canonical claim, but it supplies an important foundation for the Apostolate’s account of its mission.
The distinction is especially relevant when Catholics already experience considerable confusion concerning authority, jurisdiction and ecclesiastical allegiance. The temptation to replace one unquestioned clerical authority with another may be pronounced among people who have suffered through poor pastoral leadership and doctrinal uncertainty. A priest who restores the traditional liturgy may understandably earn the gratitude and confidence of those he serves. But that confidence should remain directed towards the Faith and the sacraments rather than become an unquestioning personal dependency. The more irregular the circumstances in which pastoral ministry is exercised, the more carefully its clergy must distinguish what belongs to Catholic doctrine, what belongs to ecclesiastical law, and what remains a matter of prudential judgement.
This distinction deserves greater consideration throughout the traditionalist movement. Communities formed to preserve the ancient Mass may acquire a strong institutional identity over time. Their schools, chapels, publications and social networks may become central to the lives of the faithful. None of this is necessarily objectionable. The difficulty arises if institutional loyalty becomes a measure of Catholic fidelity, or if advice originally intended to protect the faithful from spiritual harm acquires the force of an obligation extending beyond its demonstrable theological and moral foundations. The preservation of the traditional liturgy does not require the development of new and unnecessary tests of ecclesiastical allegiance.
Bishop Mutsaerts’ remarks are therefore significant beyond their immediate context. They identify a pastoral truth which applies across differing liturgical and ecclesiastical circumstances: the purpose of parish life is not the preservation of an institution for its own sake. A parish ought to sustain the Faith, nourish the spiritual life, administer the sacraments worthily and assist its people towards holiness. When it consistently fails in those responsibilities, the faithful may reasonably seek better provision. Sometimes charitable remonstrance, perseverance and practical assistance will improve matters. Sometimes they will not. There is no universal obligation to remain indefinitely in an unhealthy spiritual environment simply to demonstrate loyalty to a particular priest.
That judgement applies to the traditionalist world as readily as to the diocesan parish. A priest’s fidelity to the ancient liturgy is an important consideration, but it cannot excuse misconduct, defective theology or an inability to exercise sound pastoral judgement. Equally, a priest’s personal virtue does not eliminate legitimate theological objections to the liturgical reform he celebrates. Both propositions can be maintained without reducing every question to a choice between competing clerical allegiances.
The greater pastoral danger arises when people who have already endured the confusion of the postconciliar period discover that communities offering refuge from that confusion may sometimes impose fresh burdens upon conscience. There is a profound difference between a priest explaining why he believes a particular practice dangerous and treating disagreement with his assessment as evidence of personal infidelity. The former may be a conscientious exercise of pastoral responsibility. The latter requires an authority and a degree of moral certainty which cannot simply be presumed. Catholic tradition provides ample instruction concerning the dangers of laxity; it also warns against scrupulosity and the improper multiplication of obligations.
Two errors therefore require resistance. The first is the assumption that every liturgical reform authorised by ecclesiastical superiors is necessarily wise, organically continuous and pastorally beneficial. History provides no warrant for such complacency, and the consequences of the postconciliar reforms deserve searching examination. The second is the assumption that every serious theological criticism of a reform automatically generates a universal prohibition upon the faithful. That conclusion demands arguments which cannot be supplied merely by reiterating the criticism.
The Old Roman Apostolate’s ancillary model provides a practical expression of these distinctions. The Old Romans seek to preserve the inherited Roman rite without attempting to replace the territorial parish system. They respond to petitions for traditional catechesis, sacramental ministry and spiritual assistance without requiring the Catholics receiving those provisions to assume a different ecclesial identity or exclusive institutional attachment. Their canonical argument invokes established principles governing just petitions, the effects of undeclared censures, supplied jurisdiction and the spiritual rights of the faithful, without treating those provisions as a general exemption from ecclesiastical law. Their criticism of the Novus Ordo does not require the presumption that every Catholic attending it is morally culpable.
The Church’s liturgy is not a private possession, and neither is the Catholic conscience. The ancient Roman Mass belongs to the Church’s sacred inheritance, not to whichever organisation happens to celebrate it. The faithful are not the property of a parish, a priest, an institute or a traditionalist movement. Their ultimate obligation is fidelity to Christ and His Church, informed by the doctrine and moral principles which the Church has received and transmitted.
Bishop Mutsaerts is right to remind Catholics that they need not remain where their spiritual welfare is being endangered. The same principle applies to those attached to the traditional liturgy. But the solution to spiritual danger is not to replace one form of clerical presumption with another. Defending Tradition requires discrimination between what the Church teaches, what sound theology establishes, what prudence recommends and what individual clerics happen to prefer.
The purpose of the Old Roman Apostolate is not to manufacture another authority over Catholic consciences, nor to detach Catholics from the Church’s proper ecclesiastical order by creating a separate ecclesial identity. Those attending its missions, chapels and oratories remain simply Catholics, receiving pastoral and sacramental assistance from Old Romans who seek to preserve and transmit the inherited Catholic tradition. The Church’s canonical legislation itself recognises that the faithful may, for just cause and under specified conditions, request ministry even from clergy whose canonical circumstances are irregular. Such provisions exist for the good of souls, not for the institutional advantage of those supplying them. The theological deficiencies of the Novus Ordo may be identified and criticised, the superiority of the inherited Roman liturgy defended, and Catholics encouraged to seek its celebration wherever reasonably possible. None of this establishes a universal judgement of sin against those attending the reformed rite. Fidelity to Tradition demands fidelity also to sound moral theology, canonical justice and the proper constitution of the Church. None of these principles may legitimately be sacrificed in the name of preserving the others.
1. LifeSiteNews, Bishop Mutsaerts: Go to Latin Mass Instead of Trying to Fix Your Own Parish, 6 October 2026. Report of the interview conducted at the Catholic Identity Conference, Pittsburgh, on 3 October 2026.
2. Cardinals Alfredo Ottaviani and Antonio Bacci, Letter to Pope Paul VI Concerning the New Order of Mass, 25 September 1969, accompanying the Short Critical Study of the New Order of Mass.
3. Pope Pius XII, Mediator Dei, 20 November 1947, particularly §§48–64, concerning liturgical authority, historical development and exaggerated antiquarianism.
4. General Instruction of the Roman Missal, Preamble §§1–3, concerning the Eucharistic sacrifice and the teaching of Trent; Paul VI, Missale Romanum, 3 April 1969, concerning the promulgation of the reformed Missal.
5. Fr Paul Robinson SSPX, Father, Should I Attend That Mass? Advice on Attending Non-SSPX Latin Masses, SSPX District of the USA, 15 May 2021. Robinson explains the general advice against attendance at the Novus Ordo and distinguishes the objective assessment of the rite from the subjective culpability of those attending.
6. Must Catholics Attend the New Mass?, SSPX District of the USA, reproducing an exchange from SiSiNoNo, May 2007, concerning the alleged danger to faith and the moral judgement regarding knowing attendance at the reformed liturgy.
7. Fr Marc Van Es, Attendance at Today’s Sunday Masses, The Angelus, June 1994, subsequently republished by the SSPX District of the USA.
8. St Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologiae, I–II, Question 76, Articles 1–4, concerning ignorance, voluntariness and moral culpability.
9. Council of Trent, Session XIV, Chapter V, On Confession, 25 November 1551, concerning the confession of mortal sins after diligent examination of conscience.
10. 1917 Code of Canon Law, Canon 1249, concerning fulfilment of the Mass obligation; 1983 Code of Canon Law, Canons 1247–1248, concerning the Sunday obligation and attendance at Mass celebrated in a Catholic rite.
11. ✠Jerome Seleisi, Old Roman Canonical Liceity, 26 February 2025. Particularly the discussions of the Sunday obligation, just cause, common error, positive and probable doubt, and ecclesia supplet.
12. Holy See, New Book VI of the Code of Canon Law, Canon 1335 §2, promulgated 2021, governing the suspension of specified prohibitions arising from censures when the faithful request ministry for a just cause; Old Roman Validity, discussing Canon 2261 §2 of the 1917 Code.
13. Francis Edward Hyland, Excommunication: Its Nature, Historical Development and Effects, Catholic University of America Canon Law Studies, No. 49, 1928, pp. 91–93; also examined in Old Roman Canonical Liceity. Hyland discusses just causes for requesting sacramental ministry and the interpretation of implicit petitions.
14. 1983 Code of Canon Law, Canon 144, concerning supplied executive power of governance in common error or positive and probable doubt, including the faculties specified in §2; Old Roman Canonical Liceity, discussion of ecclesia supplet.
15. 1983 Code of Canon Law, Canons 212–214, concerning the spiritual needs, rights and legitimate devotional life of the faithful; Canon 843, concerning the administration of the sacraments to those appropriately disposed and not prohibited by law.
16. Society of Saint Pius X, General House, Districts, describing the Society’s organisation into districts and its network of priories, schools, retreat houses and other apostolates.
17. 1983 Code of Canon Law, Canons 515–516, concerning the canonical constitution of parishes and quasi-parishes; Canons 1223–1229, concerning the juridical definition and regulation of oratories and private chapels.
18. 1983 Code of Canon Law, Canon 1752, concluding with the principle salus animarum suprema lex, that the salvation of souls must always be the supreme law in the Church.
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