You knocked down the SSPV, SSPX ,Independent priests etc. I think you'll find all kinds in every organization, but my personal experience of the SSPX has been that they are a conformity based, insular cult, which environmentally promotes black and white, all or nothing thinking which, in practice, is everything but dull, beauracratic checkbox marking.According to you folks at Most Holy Family Monastery there are hardly any Traditional Priests that we can trust. Thanks to that, his parish is pretty normal, outside of the random absolutists, who'd probably do better in the SSPX anyways. However, he's a mild, kind and compassionate man with a habit of nipping uncharitable and conspiratorial type thinking in the bud. Had he turned out to be like the SSPX priests I was raised under, it likely would have turned out very bad for me. I've never been a parishioner there but I went through a severe, life-threatening identity crisis and went to the pastor for guidance. In contrast, my experience with the local FSSP has been good. (A weird obsession with prepping for the 3 days of darkness comes to mind). This was especially apparent in Saint Mary's, where I was raised, in the widespread adherence to monarchist political views and overt misogyny, along with an unhealthy dose of conspiracy theory thinking. The SSPX priests formed by Williamson tended to go to the way of crackpot lunacy that defined their mentor. Much of that depends on the formation of the priests as individuals. It's certainly the opposite of what one would expect given that the FSSP have Vatican approval and the SSPX are on the ecclesiastical fringe, but I think that now the TLM is available within the mainstream Church the nutcases tend to ignore the SSPX and go straight to the FSSP now leaving SSPX with mostly cradle Catholics who aren't as prone to conspiracy theories or extremism. Coffee hour at the SSPX parish near me is WAY more tolerable than at the FSSP parish because, for the most part, the SSPX parishioners are just regular people who have grown up within a conservative faith and not nutcases making a reactionary choice to leave the mainstream. While they're still conservative they certainly seem to be less obsessed with conspiracy theories or constantly talking about the 'enemies of the Church'.

As such, they aren't reacting against the Novus Ordo or liberalism in the world/Church, they're just practicing Catholicism in the same way they've been brought up. This is certainly true of their priests and also a good number of their faithful. The majority of people I've met in the SSPX on the other hand were raised in that environment from childhood (this wouldn't have been the case 30 years ago, but it is now). Church Militant, Lifesite, Taylor Marshall) all of whom skew towards FSSP/diocesan have also played a huge role in helping more fringe type people transition over to the traditional movement. As such, there's a real reactionary element to their faith and an excessive focus on ecclesiastical and secular politics, fighting liberalism, etc. The great majority of laypeople and many priests in diocesan TLM circles have sought out the Traditional movement after being unsatisfied with mainstream Catholicism. I have experience in both SSPX circles and diocesan/FSSP circles and have long thought the same. Everything else is merely bureaucratic fact-checking against pre-Conciliar documents

A former Fraternity priest whose name rhymes with “Flip Burger” comes immediately to mind.īy contrast, the SSPX clergy seem to me to be products of a very dull, rational Thomistic formation - a kind of “paint by numbers” spirituality whose penny catechism strictness doesn’t make room for mystical excesses (or much else) - a sturdy devotion to Fatima being the possible exception.

I say this because, anecdotally, a lot of the enthusiasm for prophecy, private revelation, doubtful devotions, and innovations like “generational spirits” seem to be promoted by “canonically regular” Trad clergy. However, a pet theory of mine is that SSPX priests are less insane than their FSSP/Institute/diocesan counterparts, who elected to be Trad in an often hostile system. I recognize this sub deals disproportionately with ex-Sede/SSPV/CMRI folks, and this might not concern them.

Sspv vs sspx