MOUNT HOLLY, N.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS) — Bishop Michael Martin of the Diocese of Charlotte is urging Catholics affiliated with the Society of St. Pius X (SSPX) to return to full communion with the Roman Catholic Church, telling the faithful in a pastoral letter that “the door of the Church is open” following the Vatican’s declaration that the traditionalist group is in schism.
“As your bishop, I welcome every effort toward reconciliation and assure you of my prayers, my affection, and my pastoral support,” wrote Martin in his letter.
The July 17 letter came days after Pope Leo XIV and the Vatican formally declared the Society of St. Pius X, commonly known as SSPX, to be in schism after the society consecrated a group of bishops without papal approval earlier this month. The Vatican determined that the society’s bishops had incurred automatic excommunication and that SSPX clergy are considered schismatics.
Martin specifically warned Catholics in the Diocese of Charlotte to avoid attending liturgies at SSPX chapels, including St. Anthony of Padua Catholic Church in Mount Holly, one of three SSPX chapels operating in North Carolina.
“I invite all who have been attending Society chapels to prayerfully examine their relationship with the Catholic Church and to consider returning fully and visibly to communion with the Successor of Peter and the Church throughout the world,” wrote Martin…