What the SSPX gets wrong about Catholic ‘tradition’

A Reflection for Tuesday of the Fourteenth Week in Ordinary Time

Find today’s readings here.

Much has been said in recent weeks about the ordination of four bishops by the traditionalist Society of St. Pius X and their subsequently incurred excommunication by Pope Leo XIV. It’s worth noting how much interest the news has generated in Catholic media. Drama gets clicks, and excommunication is certainly dramatic. But I would like to suggest that the broad interest in the story goes deeper because the crisis of the SSPX centers on a fundamental and perennial question facing the Catholic communion, along with most other religious communities: what is the balance between faithfulness to the tradition and authentic development?

In today’s Gospel reading from St. Matthew Jesus heals a sick person. Miraculous as this healing is, it’s not the main point of the story. As is so often the case in the gospels, the evangelist is capturing what Jesus’ ministry provokes in those who encounter it. For literary purposes, Matthew tells us of two distinct reactions within the Jewish community of his Gospel: acceptance, among those who believe Jesus is doing something new and authentically from God; and opposition, among those who dismiss Jesus’ healing power as demonic work. We don’t know the motivations for the resistance of this particular group of Pharisees. Pharisees, as a group, were not rigid legalists opposed to anything new, as many uninformed interpreters have understood them throughout the centuries. But Matthew juxtaposes their dismissal with the response of the crowds, which is one of surprise and acceptance. Neither is Matthew critiquing representative Judaism in general, but rather identifying a persistent tension within the believing community that requires reflection and discussion. How does the community respond when God does something new in their midst?

For Matthew, this is a defining question for his faith community. Elsewhere, after recounting several of Jesus’ parables, Matthew explains that, “every scribe who has been trained for the kingdom of heaven is like the master of a household who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old.” (Matt 13:51-52) For Catholics, or any person grappling with questions about God, faith and belonging, Matthew seems to suggest that God is present in a community’s adherence to tradition as well as its recognition of authentic development. God transcends simplistic, ideological categorization.

In its insistence on a particular interpretation of tradition, the SSPX has rejected key points of the Second Vatican Council, which they accuse of abandoning tradition rather than authentically developing it. It’s a position that would seem to conflict with Matthew’s theological and pastoral understanding of “both old and new.” One of the extraordinary things about this historic moment of schism is the degree to which Catholics across the ideological spectrum, who often disagree on fine points of theology and pastoral practice, have similarly commented on the flawed logic of the SSPX’s adherence to tradition. Among the great lessons of Matthew’s gospel is the Judeo-Christian insight of “both-and”: the recognition that God works both through fidelity to tradition and through the development of that tradition. It’s an important spiritual insight to pray with today, both for ourselves and for our brothers and sisters in the SSPX.