DIFFICULT MORAL QUESTIONS: The answer is No — but Catholics should carefully weigh questions of charity and Church unity before deciding whether to attend.
Q. I am a Catholic in good standing in a New England state. I recently was invited to a wedding at a chapel run by the Society of St. Pius X (SSPX). Given their ordination of four bishops in defiance of the Pope, would I be risking excommunication by my attendance?
A. No. Simply attending a wedding at an SSPX chapel does not place a Catholic in danger of excommunication.
The Vatican’s July 2 Decree of Excommunication, signed by Cardinal Víctor Fernández, prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, declares that six individuals had incurred latae sententiae (automatic) excommunication: the two SSPX bishops who illicitly consecrated four priests as bishops, and the four priests who received episcopal ordination in defiance of the Holy See’s express prohibition.
When addressing other SSPX clergy, as well as lay members of the society, the decree takes a different approach. Rather than declaring them excommunicated, it warns them not to join the schism of the society, lest they too incur the same penalty.
An accompanying Explanatory Note
