I am writing you concerning a circular letter of yours dated December 14, 1998 and addressed to your priests, deacons and diocesan staff. It is my duty to correct the errors which are unfortunately contained in this letter. It concerns the newly opened St. Michael's Catholic Church in Mandan.

You falsely affirm that Archbishop Lefebvre was excommunicated by the Office of the Congregation for Bishops in July 1988. It is certainly true that on July 1, 1988 Cardinal Gantin, prefect of the aforesaid Congregation, issued a decree stating that Archbishop Lefebvre and the bishops he consecrated "have incurred ipso facto excommunication latae sententiae". However, this is not a judgment. It is simply a declaration that he thought that Canon 1382 applied to this case. However, numerous studies since then have shown that this is not the case, and that the automatic excommunication was not incurred. I refer you to one of them, The Case of Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, by Charles P. Nemeth, Esq.

Canon 1324, in fact, states that the penalty (of excommunication) is not incurred by one who acts out of fear, necessity or serious difficulty (&5), and likewise that it is not incurred by one who even erroneously and by his own fault thinks that he acts out of fear, necessity or serious difficulty (&8). Now we all know that Archbishop Lefebvre consecrated bishops for the good of the Church, and to provide for the continuation of the traditional Mass, on account of his fear of the modernists in charge since Vatican II, out of the necessity of providing for the future formation and ordination of good traditional priests, and because of the impossibility of overcoming the difficulty of making the Roman Curia acknowledge the gravity of the crisis in the Church and the reality that the traditional Mass and priesthood is the only answer. Consequently, even if he were wrong in these things (which he most assuredly was not), he did not incur any canonical punishment. Your accusation that he was excommunicated is consequently false.

You further state that Archbishop Lefebvre's consecration of bishops was of schismatic nature. You know perfectly well Canon Law's definition of schism as "the refusal of submission to the Roman Pontiff or of communion with the members of the Church subject to him" (Canon 751). Archbishop Lefebvre, and the priests of the Society have always expressed their submission to John Paul II as the Vicar of Christ and the unity in Faith with all those Catholics who hold fast to the entirety of the defined dogmas of the Roman Catholic Church. We will not follow the errors of Vatican II, such as religious liberty or ecumenism or collegiality, nor do we accept the liberal personal ideas of the Pope, which have caused great confusion in the Church, such as the ecumenical meeting planned for the year 2000.

This does not make us schismatics, who refuse submission. For these are not defined dogmas, and we have a right to question them, especially since they are directly opposed to the dogmas of Catholic Faith which were defined by John Paul II's predecessors, such as St. Pius X (against modernism), Pope Pius IX (against ecumenism and for the Social Kingship of Christ), Pope Pius IX (against indifferentism in his Syllabus) and Pope Leo XIII (against liberalism). In fact it is our fidelity to the Roman Pontiff which characterizes us and separates us from so many of the American Catholics and priests who no longer believe in a male priesthood, in the Real Presence, in the Mass as a true renewal of the sacrifice of Calvary, etc.

I think you see that the accusation of schism is also false. There is nothing at all for the faithful to "adhere" to. We are simply Roman Catholics. Faithful Catholics, consequently, who assist at the traditional Mass at St. Michael's Catholic Church in Mandan neither adhere to any schism nor incur any canonical penalty at all. They are consequently in full communion with the Roman Catholic Church, even if for some reason you consider St. Michael's church building as out of communion with the Church because you did not approve it. I challenge you to give it full canonical authorization to function as a semi-private oratory for those who refuse to go along with the modernist changes in the Church. By so doing you would really prove that you are a traditionalist, or friend of the people, as St. Pius X put it so aptly in his letter Our Apostolic Authority of 1910.

I cannot believe that you state that "no sacraments given there enjoy validity". How many priests there are in your own diocese who do not believe in the Real Presence or in the sacrificial nature of the Mass, and whose intention is highly questionable, and you have the gall to accuse us of giving invalid sacraments. I refer you in this to the Ecclesia Dei Commission. Although they dispute the licitness of our Masses, they always state that they are valid. Our priests are certainly validly ordained, and certainly use always and without fail correct matter, form and intention. I wish that you could say as much for the priests of the diocese. It is, in fact, precisely because the faithful desire to have certitude concerning the sacraments that we have the duty of providing them with the traditional rites. Equally preposterous is your accusation that our Masses do not satisfy the Sunday obligation. Whereas most of your modern Catholics do not care less, our traditional Catholic supporters will drive hours to satisfy this obligation. According to the New Code of Canon Law, "The obligation of assisting at Mass is satisfied wherever Mass is celebrated in a Catholic rite either on the day of obligation itself or in the evening...' (Canon 1248 &1)". Who can dispute that the traditional Mass, which was celebrated all over the world for more than 1600 years, is a Catholic rite.

Your Excellency, I would appreciate it if you could rectify the errors contained in your notification of December 14. If you would be willing to discuss these matters and the future of St. Michael's Roman Catholic Church in Mandan, I would certainly be very willing to meet with you for that purpose. In the meantime, please be assured of our prayers every time we celebrate Mass there, and of those of the faithful who support us, that you might put all your authority behind the work of Catholic Tradition.

Yours faithfully in Christ Our Lord, Sovereign High Priest,

SIGNED
Father Peter R. Scott

Reverend Peter R. Scott
District Superior
Society of Saint Pius X
2918 Tracy Avenue
Kansas City, MO 64109

Dear Father Scott,

I wish to acknowledge the receipt of your letter dated January 8, 1999.

As you are well aware, discord exists between the Society of Saint Pius X and the Vatican. I have granted no permission to a priest from the Society of Saint Pius X to offer Mass in the Diocese of Bismarck. The establishment of St. Michael's Church in Mandan and the presence of a priest from the Society of Saint Pius X is being done without my permission. It is my duty to so inform Catholics in this diocese so that they are aware of the situation.

I have granted permission for Mass to be celebrated in accord with the Tridentine Rite by a priest, who is a member of The Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter, at the Shrine in Powers Lake, North Dakota.

Given the discord that exists between your Society and the Vatican, it would seem there is no need for us to meet.

Sincerely in Christ
SIGNED
Most Rev. Paul A. Zipfel
Bishop of Bismark

Fr. Peter Scott Replies to Bishop Zipfel

Society of Saint Pius X
District of the United States of America
REGINA COELI HOUSE

Father Peter R. Scott
District Superior

2918 Tracy Avenue
Kansas City, MO 64109
(816) 753 0073
FAX (816) 753 3560

Most Reverend Paul A. Zipfel
Bishop of Bismarck
The Chancery
420 Raymond Street
P.O. Box 1575
Bismarck, ND 58502-1575

J.M.J
January 22, 1999

Your Excellency,

I thank you for kindly answering my letter of January 8, in your letter of January 19. I appreciate your hesitation in entering into discussions, given your awareness of the disagreements that exist between the Society of Saint Pius X and the Vatican.

However, I do not believe that it is possible for you to opt out of this discussion. You are the pastor of the Catholic flock in your diocese. You surely agree that you have the "power of ordinary and immediate jurisdiction, by which the bishops, who, 'placed by the Holy Spirit', have succeeded to the places of the apostles, as true shepherds individually feed and rule the individual flocks assigned to them" (Vatican I, Pastor Aeternus, Dz 1828).

It is consequently your personal duty to feed and nourish the Catholics of your diocese, who are deeply concerned and profoundly divided concerning the state of the Church since Vatican II. It must be of great concern to your that so many Catholics of your diocese have asked the priests of the Society of Saint Pius X to provide them with the Mass and the sacraments, to teach catechism and give spiritual direction, to instruct and advise them concerning the terrible crisis in the Catholic Church. In writing to you I am expressing their convictions. I am their voice.

I would like to list some of the very serious ways in which their Catholic Faith obliges them to stand up against the new ecclesiology of the post-conciliar church. These modernist errors have also caused great damage to the Faith of the Catholics in North Dakota. As Catholics, the faithful who attend St. Michael's Church in Mandan and Guardian Angels Chapel in Dickinson, are looking to you, their bishop, to stand up against the French Revolution in the Church, as Cardinal Ratzinger called the Second Vatican Council.

In particular they ask you to:

1) Halt the celebration of the New Mass of Paul VI, a de-sacralized liturgy based upon a protestant theology, a Mass which has become an open door to never-ending abuses and sacrileges (such as Communion in the Hand) perpetrated against the Blessed Eucharist; and make the traditional Mass obligatory.

2) Halt the false ecumenism, or joint prayers with non-Catholics, which expresses the liberal notion that all religions are equal, that all men are going to Heaven, that the sacraments are not necessary for salvation, and that the doctrine Extra Ecclesiam nulla salus is no longer relevant.

3) Stop collegiality, whether at a diocesan or at a parish level, that your priests and yourself might be able to take effective, authoritarian action to stop heresies and abuses.

4) Reinstate the Baltimore Catechism for the instruction of the Faith, in question and answer style to children, that they might learn by heart eternal truths to guide their lives; and also for the instruction of adults, that the R.C.I.A. program might be abolished.

5) Reinstate the traditional Social Teachings of the Church, which is to fight for the supernatural order of the Social Kingship of Christ, as against the modern day humanism, which sees the rights of man as an end in themselves.

6) Oblige all the moral teachings of the Church, and refuse the sacraments to the public sinners who practice abortion, concubinage before marriage, artificial contraception.

7) Oblige the anti-modernist oath for all priests and those in teaching positions, as was the case in the universal Church until 1967.

The priests of the Society of Saint Pius X have no desire to undermine or supplant your authority. We simply lead faithful Catholics in their complete adherence to the Church's infallible Magisterium, to the doctrinal teachings of the Popes, to Catholic Tradition as it hands down to us "what has always been believed, by all Catholics, everywhere", to use the fifth century formula of St. Vincent of Lerins. In this, you will find nobody more docile. We legitimately expect and hope for your support and encouragement. Here lies your duty, so as to lead your flock to heaven. We long for you to accomplish your "duty to so inform Catholics in this diocese so that they are ware of the situation,", to use your own words, that it might be the first in the U.S. to turn the tide against modernism.

Please be assured that, priests and laity, we will all be praying for your fidelity to this difficult mission.

Your faithfully in the Sacred Heart of Jesus,

SIGNED
Father Peter R. Scott
District Superior

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Taken with permission from:
The Angelus, March 1999
2918 Tracy Avenue
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