Validity and licity: a discussion of the Society of Saint Pius X’s celebration of the Sacrament of Penance following the regulations issued during the Extraordinary Jubilee of the Year of Mercy 2015/2016

Abstract

The analyzes contained in this article concern the Society of Saint Pius X (SSPX), with an emphasis on the community’s celebration of the Sacrament of Penance. The study uses the dogmatic-legal method, which consists in the analyzes of existing legal regulations. The conducted research covers the period from 2015 until now, beginning with Pope Francis’s granting of the faculty to validly and licitly hear confessions to the Society’s priests on the occasion of the Extraordinary Jubilee of the Year of Mercy. This faculty is still in force. The aim of the study is to characterize the papal regulations, indicate their relationship to the rules contained in the current Code of Canon Law, and indicate the attitude of the community towards the granted faculty. The analyzes show that the regulations concern the SSPX’s places of worship and were issued in order to facilitate the community’s attainment of full ecclesial unity. It was also intended to establish certainty regarding the validity and legitimacy of the SSPX’s celebration of this sacrament. In addition, the faculty was given habitually to canonically irregular priests who were not incardinated and suspended. It should be understood as a relaxation of the SSPX’s canonical censure. The Apostolic See did not impose any additional requirements on these clergy members. After issuance the faculty, the Society upheld the thesis that this sacrament was and still is valid due to the extraordinary jurisdiction caused by the state of the Church’s crisis.