The Archdiocese of Oklahoma City is telling local Catholics to stop going to Mass and receiving sacraments at Saint Michael Chapel in Bethany, turning a long-simmering dispute with the traditionalist Society of Saint Pius X into a very public showdown. Church leaders say the move is meant to safeguard the pastoral care and sacramental life of Catholics in the metro area while major canonical questions get sorted out in Rome.
Archdiocese Issues Direct Warning On Chapel
In a formal notice, the archdiocese instructed Catholics not to attend Mass or receive sacraments at Saint Michael Chapel in Bethany and urged anyone who has “formally joined or consistently adopted SSPX teachings” to seek reconciliation with their parish priest or the archbishop’s office, according to KOCO. The statement singles out the Bethany chapel, which offers the traditional Latin Mass, as the local focal point of concern while the Vatican and bishops weigh the canonical fallout.
Rome Calls SSPX Consecrations A ‘Schismatic Act’
On July 2 the Vatican’s Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith issued a decree declaring that episcopal consecrations carried out by the Society of Saint Pius X on July 1 were a “schismatic act” and that the consecrating bishops, along with those who adhere to the schism, had incurred automatic excommunication, as reported by America. An accompanying explanatory note went further and warned that certain sacraments conferred by ministers formally attached to the SSPX, including confession and, in some situations, marriage, may be invalid, a development detailed by the National Catholic Reporter.
Archdiocese Points Latin Mass Fans To Other Parishes
For Catholics drawn to the traditional Latin Mass, archdiocesan officials stressed that there are diocesan options that do not involve the Bethany chapel. The archdiocese’s parish finder identifies St. Damien of Molokai in Edmond as the local Latin Mass community, according to the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City, which the statement highlighted as an alternative for the faithful.
SSPX Says Vatican Decree Is Under Appeal
The Society of Saint Pius X has pushed back by filing a preliminary appeal to the Vatican against the Dicastery’s decree and has posted a detailed timeline and statements defending its actions while the canonical process unfolds, per the society’s own account. The SSPX says the appeal suspends the immediate execution of parts of the decree while it pursues the next steps allowed in canon law, according to SSPX.
What Local Catholics Are Being Told To Do Now
Archdiocesan officials are framing their advisory as a pastoral safeguard meant to ensure that Catholics receive valid and licit sacraments during a period of intense canonical uncertainty. Anyone who is worried about sacraments received at the Bethany chapel or about their own standing in the church is being urged to contact a parish priest or the archdiocese for guidance, according to what the archdiocese has told local media. Guidance in America also outlines procedures for reconciliation and how bishops are expected to manage local cases while the canonical appeal works its way through Rome.
