A group of 26 professors, theologians, and academic leaders from Franciscan University of Steubenville have made public an open letter addressed to the Superior General of the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Pius X (FSSPX), Father Davide Pagliarani, and to its General Council.
Among the signatories are some of the best-known figures in American Catholic theology, such as Scott Hahn, John Bergsma, Mark Miravalle, Michael Waldstein, Regis Martin, and Petroc Willey, as well as the university president, Father Dave Pivonka, TOR.
In the letter, the signatories expressly acknowledge the FSSPX’s love for the traditional liturgy, its reverence in worship, and its desire to serve Christ, but they ask the Fraternity to reconsider its decision to consecrate new bishops without a pontifical mandate. In their view, that step “would consolidate and deepen the existing separation” between the Fraternity and the See of Peter, causing “a new wound in the Body of Christ.”
Drawing on the teaching of Vatican I, Vatican II, and the Code of Canon Law, the authors maintain that the treasures of Tradition “belong to the very heart of the Church” and should not be preserved apart from visible communion with the Successor of Peter. At the same time, they recognize that the Church is undergoing a profound crisis, yet they hold that no difficulty justifies a rupture of ecclesial unity.
Below we offer the full translation of the letter:
“Will you also go away?” (John 6:67)
Open Letter to the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Pius X (General House)
Dear Father Davide Pagliarani, Superior General:
Dear Members of the General Council:
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ!
We do not write to you as adversaries, but as Christian brothers and sisters who love the Church, built upon Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition, and who, like you, long for the salvation of souls.
Your love for the beauty of the traditional liturgy and your reverence in worship bear witness to your sincere desire to serve the Lord. We share that love and that desire.
With humility we ask you to reconsider the announced consecration of bishops, scheduled for July 1. This would consolidate and deepen the existing separation between the Fraternity and the See of Peter. Our Lord Jesus Christ prayed to the Father “that they may all be one” (Jn 17:21). Unity in the Church is not merely a practical matter; it belongs to the very will of Christ. The Church is one because Christ is one. We are convinced that every bishop, priest, and Catholic faithful is called to preserve and strengthen that visible unity.
Vatican Council I taught that “by divine disposition, the Roman Church possesses a pre-eminence of ordinary power over all other Churches, and that this jurisdictional power of the Roman Pontiff is truly episcopal and immediate. Both pastors and faithful, of whatever rite and dignity, individually and collectively, are bound to submit to it by the duty of hierarchical subordination and true obedience, not only in matters pertaining to faith and morals, but also in those that concern the discipline and government of the Church spread throughout the world” (Pastor Aeternus, 3).
Echoing that same Tradition, Vatican Council II taught that Christ entrusted the care of the universal Church to the college of bishops united to its head, the successor of Peter. The Council declared that the Roman Pontiff is “the perpetual and visible principle and foundation of unity, both of the bishops and of the multitude of the faithful” (Lumen Gentium, 23). Drawing on this tradition, the Church holds that “schism is the refusal of submission to the Supreme Pontiff or of communion with the members of the Church subject to him” (Code of Canon Law, can. 751).
The Church recognizes that, at certain moments in the past, “quite numerous communities separated from full communion with the Catholic Church, sometimes not without fault on the part of men on both sides” (Unitatis Redintegratio, 3). Yet, whatever legitimate issues or grievances may exist, they do not constitute a justification for causing a schism.
The Council also taught that the Holy Spirit continues to guide the Church throughout history. In every age the Church may pass through even grave crises. Saint Paul, Apostle of the Gentiles, is our model in such moments when he declares: “I appeal to you, brothers, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same judgment” (1 Cor 1:10). Paul spoke frankly and openly with Peter (Gal 2:11) and, ultimately, did not undertake a mission of his own design, but the one entrusted to him by the authority of the Church (Acts 15:25; Gal 2:9). Even in the face of the gravest crises, he exhorts us to “bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ” (Gal 6:2).
We live in a time when the Church faces numerous crises. Nevertheless, the promises of Christ remain: “I will not leave you orphans” (Jn 14:18) and “I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Mt 28:20). Fidelity to Christ means trusting that God has not abandoned and will never abandon His Church, even though the call to continual conversion and renewal affects all its members, at every level. The treasures of Catholic Tradition do not belong outside communion with Peter; they belong to the very heart of the Church. A new episcopal consecration outside the ecclesiastical hierarchy and without an apostolic mandate would open a new wound in the Body of Christ and would place outside the maternal embrace of the Church the gifts that God has entrusted to the Fraternity—gifts that belong to the Church and are ordered to unity with her (Lumen Gentium, 8). Please do not do this. Please do not inflict this wound! We beg you to resume dialogue with the Holy See and the path toward full communion with the Church.
And to the faithful we wish to ask: “Will you also go away?” (Jn 6:67). What are you seeking? Whom are you seeking? Christ is right here, in His Church, in His sacraments. He offered His body on the cross, and His Mystical Body, the Church, must not be divided.
We can only wish for you that “the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with all of you” (2 Cor 13:14).
May Our Lady, Mater Ecclesiae, pray for you and for all of us!
In Christ,
The undersigned, professors of Theology and academic leaders of Franciscan University of Steubenville
Dr. Donald Asci, Professor of Theology.
Dr. Mark Banga, Assistant Professor of Theology, Catechetics, and Evangelization.
Dr. Hannah Barrett, Associate Professor of Theology.
Dr. John Bergsma, Professor of Theology.
Dr. Ron Bolster, Associate Professor of Theology and Dean of the School of Theology and Philosophy.
Dr. Scott Hahn, Professor of Theology.
Dr. Stephen Hildebrand, Academic Provost and Professor of Theology.
Dr. Regis Martin, Professor of Theology.
Dr. Mark Miravalle, Professor of Theology.
Dr. Jeffrey L. Morrow, Professor of Theology.
Dr. William Newton, Professor of Theology and Chair of the Department of Theology.
Dr. Shane Owens, Assistant Professor of Theology and Director of the Master of Theological Studies.
Dr. James Pauley, Professor of Theology and Catechetics.
Fr. Dave Pivonka, TOR, President.
Deacon Bob Rice, PhD, Professor of Catechetics and Director of Graduate Studies in Evangelization and Catechetics.
Fr. Shawn Roberson, TOR, Chaplain.
Dr. Amy Roberts, Professor of Theology and Catechetics.
Dr. Deborah Savage, Professor of Theology and Director of the Institute for the Study of Man and Woman.
Dr. Alan Schreck, Professor Emeritus of Theology.
Dr. Scott Sollom, Professor of Theology.
Fr. Jonathan St. André, TOR, Vice President for Franciscan Life.
Dr. Michael Waldstein, Professor of Theology.
Dr. Katharina Westerhorstmann, Professor of Theology and Medical Ethics.
Fr. Patrick Whittle, TOR, Assistant Professor of Theology.
Dr. Petroc Willey, Professor of Theology and Catechetics.
Dr. Jacob Wood, Professor of Theology and Director of the Doctorate in Sacred Theology.