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SSPX Masses an ‘abuse’ of Eucharist: U.S. bishops continue to urge Catholics not to attend #Catholic U.S. bishops continue to instruct Catholics to separate themselves from the schismatic Society of St. Pius X (SSPX) while urging the society’s members to return to full communion with the Catholic Church.The Vatican declared July 2 that six prelates involved in the SSPX’s unauthorized July 1 episcopal consecrations incurred automatic excommunication. Despite repeated warnings, SSPX bishops consecrated four new bishops without a pontifical mandate — an act of open disobedience to the authority of the pope that carries automatic excommunication for the six bishops involved.Lay faithful who formally adhere to SSPX are also considered schismatic and can incur excommunication by continuing to attend SSPX services after the Church’s formal pronouncement of a schism.Various Catholic bishops with SSPX locations in their dioceses are explicitly forbidding Catholics from attending SSPX Masses, instructing them to avoid the now-illicit sacraments and to withdraw their children from SSPX-affiliated schools while also urging frequent attendees and SSPX priests to seek spiritual guidance and return to the Catholic Church.Abuse of the EucharistBishop Michael Burbidge of Arlington, Virginia, instructed Catholics to “avoid participating in the activities of the SSPX.”Burbidge emphasized in a July 8 letter to his flock that “as a result of the SSPXʼs schismatic act, any celebrations of the sacraments of confession and matrimony by the SSPX are invalid, and the administration of other sacraments is illicit.”Bishop John Iffert of Covington, Kentucky, explained what it means for these sacraments to be “illicit.”“This means that the celebrations are not permitted by the law of the Church and the cleric offering the sacrament commits the canonical and moral fault of disobedience in each instance,” Iffert said.“The Masses these priests celebrate are an abuse of the Eucharist, insofar as they make the sacrament of unity into an occasion of division within the Church, and so they should be firmly rejected and avoided by all the Catholic faithful,” Iffert said.“Together with the priests of the diocese, I invite all Catholics who have been attending the SSPX liturgy to practice their faith in one of the parishes, missions, or chapels of the diocese,” Iffert said. “You will find the Catholic Mass and the sacramental life celebrated faithfully and respectfully throughout the Diocese of Covington.”Who is in schism?Burbidge clarified that not all attendees of SSPX are necessarily in schism but must simply return to sacraments and ministries in union with the Church.“I encourage any persons locally who have been attached to the SSPX and who desire the spiritual nourishment of the Church and the extraordinary form of the Mass to become active in any one of the eight locations in our diocese where this is currently possible,” Burbidge said.“Although lay faithful who formally adhere to the SSPX are considered schismatic and excommunicated, this does not apply to lay faithful ‘who do not reject the magisterium of the authority of the Roman pontiff’ and have engaged with the SSPX for solely liturgical or spiritual reasons,” Burbidge said. “Such persons must simply resolve not to continue to participate in future SSPX sacramental worship or pastoral ministries.”“The Holy See, in the spirit of conciliation, has outlined the procedure necessary for SSPX priests and lay faithful to return to Catholic communion,” Burbidge explained.Bishop Manuel de Jesús Rodríguez of Palm Beach, Florida, issued a decree reiterating the Holy See’s excommunication and instructing the faithful to separate from SSPX in any "ecclesiastical ministry” or “diocesan entity.”Rodríguez also provided instructions for any Catholics who wish to leave SSPX “and enter into full communion with the Catholic Church."How SSPX’s schism affects educationThe schismatic acts of SSPX have a trickle-down effect, even affecting the education of children.In Covington, Kentucky, two schools are affiliated with SSPX. Iffert has instructed Catholics to withdraw their children from the schools due to the schismatic nature of the group.“Because Assumption Academy and Our Lady of the Sacred Heart Academy are associated with the SSPX, Catholic parents should not enroll their children in these schools,” Iffert said in a letter. “To do so is to entrust the religious formation of children to those who participate in schism against the Roman Catholic Church.”He encouraged parents to reach out to the diocesan Catholic schools office for “appropriate placement in a local Catholic school.”Praying for returnThe bishops prayed for union and for society members to return to the Church.“I pledge to pray for the bishops and priests of the SSPX and for their faithful return to regular order in the Catholic Church,” Iffert said. “I also assure the lay faithful who have been attached to the SSPX of my prayer for their good and for the restoration of unity in the Church.”Burbidge prayed especially for SSPX priests.“To my brother priests in the SSPX, please know of my prayers for you and my heartfelt desire for your return to full communion with the Church,” Burbidge said. “I invite all the faithful to join me in prayer for the end of all division and schism and for the unity of the Church, so that she may better fulfill the divine commission to make disciples of all nations.”“I ask all faithful Catholics to pray for restored unity and order in the Church and in our diocese,” Iffert said. “Please beg the intercession of Pope St. Pius X, that his name may always give glory to God and never be a sign of division in the Eucharistic community that he cherished.”
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SSPX Masses an ‘abuse’ of Eucharist: U.S. bishops continue to urge Catholics not to attend #Catholic U.S. bishops continue to instruct Catholics to separate themselves from the schismatic Society of St. Pius X (SSPX) while urging the society’s members to return to full communion with the Catholic Church.The Vatican declared July 2 that six prelates involved in the SSPX’s unauthorized July 1 episcopal consecrations incurred automatic excommunication. Despite repeated warnings, SSPX bishops consecrated four new bishops without a pontifical mandate — an act of open disobedience to the authority of the pope that carries automatic excommunication for the six bishops involved.Lay faithful who formally adhere to SSPX are also considered schismatic and can incur excommunication by continuing to attend SSPX services after the Church’s formal pronouncement of a schism.Various Catholic bishops with SSPX locations in their dioceses are explicitly forbidding Catholics from attending SSPX Masses, instructing them to avoid the now-illicit sacraments and to withdraw their children from SSPX-affiliated schools while also urging frequent attendees and SSPX priests to seek spiritual guidance and return to the Catholic Church.Abuse of the EucharistBishop Michael Burbidge of Arlington, Virginia, instructed Catholics to “avoid participating in the activities of the SSPX.”Burbidge emphasized in a July 8 letter to his flock that “as a result of the SSPXʼs schismatic act, any celebrations of the sacraments of confession and matrimony by the SSPX are invalid, and the administration of other sacraments is illicit.”Bishop John Iffert of Covington, Kentucky, explained what it means for these sacraments to be “illicit.”“This means that the celebrations are not permitted by the law of the Church and the cleric offering the sacrament commits the canonical and moral fault of disobedience in each instance,” Iffert said.“The Masses these priests celebrate are an abuse of the Eucharist, insofar as they make the sacrament of unity into an occasion of division within the Church, and so they should be firmly rejected and avoided by all the Catholic faithful,” Iffert said.“Together with the priests of the diocese, I invite all Catholics who have been attending the SSPX liturgy to practice their faith in one of the parishes, missions, or chapels of the diocese,” Iffert said. “You will find the Catholic Mass and the sacramental life celebrated faithfully and respectfully throughout the Diocese of Covington.”Who is in schism?Burbidge clarified that not all attendees of SSPX are necessarily in schism but must simply return to sacraments and ministries in union with the Church.“I encourage any persons locally who have been attached to the SSPX and who desire the spiritual nourishment of the Church and the extraordinary form of the Mass to become active in any one of the eight locations in our diocese where this is currently possible,” Burbidge said.“Although lay faithful who formally adhere to the SSPX are considered schismatic and excommunicated, this does not apply to lay faithful ‘who do not reject the magisterium of the authority of the Roman pontiff’ and have engaged with the SSPX for solely liturgical or spiritual reasons,” Burbidge said. “Such persons must simply resolve not to continue to participate in future SSPX sacramental worship or pastoral ministries.”“The Holy See, in the spirit of conciliation, has outlined the procedure necessary for SSPX priests and lay faithful to return to Catholic communion,” Burbidge explained.Bishop Manuel de Jesús Rodríguez of Palm Beach, Florida, issued a decree reiterating the Holy See’s excommunication and instructing the faithful to separate from SSPX in any "ecclesiastical ministry” or “diocesan entity.”Rodríguez also provided instructions for any Catholics who wish to leave SSPX “and enter into full communion with the Catholic Church."How SSPX’s schism affects educationThe schismatic acts of SSPX have a trickle-down effect, even affecting the education of children.In Covington, Kentucky, two schools are affiliated with SSPX. Iffert has instructed Catholics to withdraw their children from the schools due to the schismatic nature of the group.“Because Assumption Academy and Our Lady of the Sacred Heart Academy are associated with the SSPX, Catholic parents should not enroll their children in these schools,” Iffert said in a letter. “To do so is to entrust the religious formation of children to those who participate in schism against the Roman Catholic Church.”He encouraged parents to reach out to the diocesan Catholic schools office for “appropriate placement in a local Catholic school.”Praying for returnThe bishops prayed for union and for society members to return to the Church.“I pledge to pray for the bishops and priests of the SSPX and for their faithful return to regular order in the Catholic Church,” Iffert said. “I also assure the lay faithful who have been attached to the SSPX of my prayer for their good and for the restoration of unity in the Church.”Burbidge prayed especially for SSPX priests.“To my brother priests in the SSPX, please know of my prayers for you and my heartfelt desire for your return to full communion with the Church,” Burbidge said. “I invite all the faithful to join me in prayer for the end of all division and schism and for the unity of the Church, so that she may better fulfill the divine commission to make disciples of all nations.”“I ask all faithful Catholics to pray for restored unity and order in the Church and in our diocese,” Iffert said. “Please beg the intercession of Pope St. Pius X, that his name may always give glory to God and never be a sign of division in the Eucharistic community that he cherished.”

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More U.S. bishops are instructing Catholics to avoid attending Society of St. Pius X (SSPX) events in light of the recent excommunications of SSPX leadership.

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Seton Hall president ‘not implicated’ in internal sex allegation report, Newark Archdiocese says #Catholic Seton Hall University President Monsignor Joseph Reilly was “not implicated” in an internal report examining the school’s response to sex abuse allegations, the Archdiocese of Newark said this week.The archdiocese on July 1 announced the release of its own report into whether an internal investigation commissioned by Seton Hall — the latter known as the “Latham report” — revealed that Reilly knew about abuse allegations at the university and yet failed to report them. Reilly was appointed president of the school in 2024. Archbishop Cardinal Joseph Tobin said in the July 1 announcement that the archdiocese’s report, which was launched in February 2025 and performed by the law firm Ropes & Gray LLP, revealed that Reilly “was not implicated in the Latham report.”The archdiocesan report reveals that Reilly “responded promptly to allegations of sexual harassment involving seminarians at [Seton Hall’s] Immaculate Conception Seminary in 2012,” though Reilly “did not follow the university’s Title IX reporting requirements” because he had not been trained on them, Tobin said. The Latham report, which has never been made public, was expected to examine whether Reilly, then-rector of Seton Hall’s Immaculate Conception Seminary, knew about sexual misconduct allegations against now-deceased former cardinal Theodore McCarrick and failed to report them.The Ropes & Gray inquiry, however, states that the Latham report “contains no findings or allegations that Monsignor Reilly … witnessed or received reports of any sexual misconduct by McCarrick (or any other individuals) at any time,” including during a stint as McCarrick’s secretary in the early 1990s. Among its findings, the Ropes & Gray report said Reilly in 2012 removed a seminarian from the school’s seminary after the younger man was found to have engaged in sexual harassment. Reilly was “not involved” in a separate 2014 dispute over inappropriate conduct involving two adults, meanwhile. In his announcement on July 1, Tobin said that “nothing in [the] thorough report changes my firm view that Monsignor Reilly is a good priest with formidable experience and a deep commitment to a Catholic institution serving the Church and the world.” “He is highly regarded across the Seton Hall community and has my full respect and confidence,” the archbishop said. The Latham report was commissioned by Seton Hall in 2019 and produced by the law firm Latham & Watkins; the school ordered it after bombshell allegations involving McCarrick, who died in 2025. A New Jersey appeals court ruled in June that Seton Hall would not have to fully disclose the report as part of ongoing clergy abuse lawsuits. The appeals court did rule that one section of the report regarding the university’s sexual harassment policies could be disclosed in court, though parts of that section could be subject to redactions depending on the contents.
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Seton Hall president ‘not implicated’ in internal sex allegation report, Newark Archdiocese says #Catholic Seton Hall University President Monsignor Joseph Reilly was “not implicated” in an internal report examining the school’s response to sex abuse allegations, the Archdiocese of Newark said this week.The archdiocese on July 1 announced the release of its own report into whether an internal investigation commissioned by Seton Hall — the latter known as the “Latham report” — revealed that Reilly knew about abuse allegations at the university and yet failed to report them. Reilly was appointed president of the school in 2024. Archbishop Cardinal Joseph Tobin said in the July 1 announcement that the archdiocese’s report, which was launched in February 2025 and performed by the law firm Ropes & Gray LLP, revealed that Reilly “was not implicated in the Latham report.”The archdiocesan report reveals that Reilly “responded promptly to allegations of sexual harassment involving seminarians at [Seton Hall’s] Immaculate Conception Seminary in 2012,” though Reilly “did not follow the university’s Title IX reporting requirements” because he had not been trained on them, Tobin said. The Latham report, which has never been made public, was expected to examine whether Reilly, then-rector of Seton Hall’s Immaculate Conception Seminary, knew about sexual misconduct allegations against now-deceased former cardinal Theodore McCarrick and failed to report them.The Ropes & Gray inquiry, however, states that the Latham report “contains no findings or allegations that Monsignor Reilly … witnessed or received reports of any sexual misconduct by McCarrick (or any other individuals) at any time,” including during a stint as McCarrick’s secretary in the early 1990s. Among its findings, the Ropes & Gray report said Reilly in 2012 removed a seminarian from the school’s seminary after the younger man was found to have engaged in sexual harassment. Reilly was “not involved” in a separate 2014 dispute over inappropriate conduct involving two adults, meanwhile. In his announcement on July 1, Tobin said that “nothing in [the] thorough report changes my firm view that Monsignor Reilly is a good priest with formidable experience and a deep commitment to a Catholic institution serving the Church and the world.” “He is highly regarded across the Seton Hall community and has my full respect and confidence,” the archbishop said. The Latham report was commissioned by Seton Hall in 2019 and produced by the law firm Latham & Watkins; the school ordered it after bombshell allegations involving McCarrick, who died in 2025. A New Jersey appeals court ruled in June that Seton Hall would not have to fully disclose the report as part of ongoing clergy abuse lawsuits. The appeals court did rule that one section of the report regarding the university’s sexual harassment policies could be disclosed in court, though parts of that section could be subject to redactions depending on the contents.

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Cardinal Joseph Tobin said Monsignor Joseph Reilly “responded promptly” to sexual harassment allegations, though he failed to follow Title IX requirements due to a lack of training.

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‘The Church needs her sons’: Catholic podcast hosts call men to embrace fatherhood and faith #Catholic Samuel Blair and Jason Angelette are two of the five hosts of “The Point Man Podcast,” a podcast for Catholic men. Together, alongside Chris Price, Clint Capdepon, and Drew Pearson, they are fathers and husbands who share their knowledge and experience about navigating life today as Catholic men and as leaders of their families.Blair, a father of four, and Angelette, a widowed father of five, explained that the podcast is aimed at fathers and focuses on how masculinity and the sacramental life can be integrated. Describing themselves as a “mic’d up men’s group,” they try to foster a community to help men realize they’re not alone and encourage one another in their walk with the Lord.Ahead of Father’s Day, EWTN News spoke to the two men about how masculinity is perceived in today’s culture, what authentic masculinity looks like, and why fatherhood is such an important vocation in the life of the Church.(Editorʼs note: This interview was edited for clarity and length.)EWTN News: “Toxic masculinity” is a term used a lot in todayʼs culture. How would you each define authentic Catholic masculinity?Angelette: Jesus Christ. Thatʼs authentic masculinity. Jesus Christ fully reveals man to himself in his most high calling … the more that we model, imitate, and walk in the footsteps of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, we will radiate a loving walk with our brothers and sisters in Christ in showing what real masculinity looks like.He tells the story of the prodigal son, which is the greatest short story ever told of what happens when, in the face of a father who is humiliated by his son, his son abandoned him, took the money, squandered the inheritance, and just left this complete stain on the family name, and how does he respond to it? Or when you see the compassion and the mercy that he shows the woman who is literally caught in the very act of adultery. Or you see when he embraces Peter after heʼs denied him three times and he gives him three chances to redeem himself and to show that mercy and that kindness and that humility and that gentleness.The heart of a man is a heart that has been set on fire by the Lord Jesus and he loves with gentleness and humility, not weakness in a sense of [being passive], but meekness in the sense of responding to the will of the Father.Blair: At the end of the day, when we die, the Lord doesnʼt ask us, “All right, well let me see your bank account, let me see the titles.” Itʼs “How well did you love?” And you cannot love if you donʼt receive love, which is to Jasonʼs point, he said it very succinctly, is Jesus Christ — he is the way, the truth, and life. So, modeling our lives after him and in that offering not only our wife, our children, our community, stability, offering our strength, warmth, validation because weʼve received that validation and love from the Father.Angelette: Toxic masculinity is men who are fighting the wrong fight. Men who have embraced the wrong identity, men who have abused the gifts and talents that theyʼve been given for themselves and not for others and for the kingdom. Samuel Blair, Jason Angelette, Chris Price, Clint Capdepon, and Drew Pearson film an episode of “The Point Man Podcast.” | Credit: Studio 7 at The Reminding Why is fatherhood such an important vocation in the life of the Church?Angelette: John Paul II, who wrote a play — he wrote five plays — and his last one was called “Radiation of Fatherhood.” And I feel like part of the gift of fatherhood is to radiate the fatherhood of God into the world and to our children.That is this beautiful gift that weʼve been given to participate in this way that God wants to reveal himself through us. Heʼs allowing us to participate — and not act like him, but to love like him, to love with a love like his.So as men, as husbands, as fathers, thereʼs this ability that through this masculine heart, this male heart, through this fatherhood, that we can love and reveal the love of God, the love of the father into the world.Satan hates that. I mean, the thing that destroys families is when fathers have abandoned their post and they leave. Look at the statistics of what happens when a father is not embracing his responsibility as the first herald of the faith, to lead their family in faith, and how hard it is for the faith to be passed on to the next generation.For Fatherʼs Day, what message would you like to share with fathers?Blair: Fathers, know that you’re unconditionally loved by God the Father and that the prodigal son points to that. And whether youʼre the younger son or the older son, he has this great inheritance for his boys, his sons.Not only should we enter into a relationship with Jesus for our own sake but for our wives, for our children, and ultimately the Church. The Church needs her sons fully engaged. Gone are the days you can just be on the sidelines.Angelette: You hear all the time that God loves you and unless youʼre drawing near to the Father, that just sounds like words. So, just avail yourself to really draw into prayer, to the sacraments, to connect with other men in Christ to not walk this road alone.If you want your heart on fire, draw near to the Sacred Heart and let his fire, let the heart of Christ, ignite your heart to the love that weʼre called to so we can truly love our families, truly love our children, and love our wives, and be the man that we know in our heart we want to be and that weʼre being called to be.
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‘The Church needs her sons’: Catholic podcast hosts call men to embrace fatherhood and faith #Catholic Samuel Blair and Jason Angelette are two of the five hosts of “The Point Man Podcast,” a podcast for Catholic men. Together, alongside Chris Price, Clint Capdepon, and Drew Pearson, they are fathers and husbands who share their knowledge and experience about navigating life today as Catholic men and as leaders of their families.Blair, a father of four, and Angelette, a widowed father of five, explained that the podcast is aimed at fathers and focuses on how masculinity and the sacramental life can be integrated. Describing themselves as a “mic’d up men’s group,” they try to foster a community to help men realize they’re not alone and encourage one another in their walk with the Lord.Ahead of Father’s Day, EWTN News spoke to the two men about how masculinity is perceived in today’s culture, what authentic masculinity looks like, and why fatherhood is such an important vocation in the life of the Church.(Editorʼs note: This interview was edited for clarity and length.)EWTN News: “Toxic masculinity” is a term used a lot in todayʼs culture. How would you each define authentic Catholic masculinity?Angelette: Jesus Christ. Thatʼs authentic masculinity. Jesus Christ fully reveals man to himself in his most high calling … the more that we model, imitate, and walk in the footsteps of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, we will radiate a loving walk with our brothers and sisters in Christ in showing what real masculinity looks like.He tells the story of the prodigal son, which is the greatest short story ever told of what happens when, in the face of a father who is humiliated by his son, his son abandoned him, took the money, squandered the inheritance, and just left this complete stain on the family name, and how does he respond to it? Or when you see the compassion and the mercy that he shows the woman who is literally caught in the very act of adultery. Or you see when he embraces Peter after heʼs denied him three times and he gives him three chances to redeem himself and to show that mercy and that kindness and that humility and that gentleness.The heart of a man is a heart that has been set on fire by the Lord Jesus and he loves with gentleness and humility, not weakness in a sense of [being passive], but meekness in the sense of responding to the will of the Father.Blair: At the end of the day, when we die, the Lord doesnʼt ask us, “All right, well let me see your bank account, let me see the titles.” Itʼs “How well did you love?” And you cannot love if you donʼt receive love, which is to Jasonʼs point, he said it very succinctly, is Jesus Christ — he is the way, the truth, and life. So, modeling our lives after him and in that offering not only our wife, our children, our community, stability, offering our strength, warmth, validation because weʼve received that validation and love from the Father.Angelette: Toxic masculinity is men who are fighting the wrong fight. Men who have embraced the wrong identity, men who have abused the gifts and talents that theyʼve been given for themselves and not for others and for the kingdom. Samuel Blair, Jason Angelette, Chris Price, Clint Capdepon, and Drew Pearson film an episode of “The Point Man Podcast.” | Credit: Studio 7 at The Reminding Why is fatherhood such an important vocation in the life of the Church?Angelette: John Paul II, who wrote a play — he wrote five plays — and his last one was called “Radiation of Fatherhood.” And I feel like part of the gift of fatherhood is to radiate the fatherhood of God into the world and to our children.That is this beautiful gift that weʼve been given to participate in this way that God wants to reveal himself through us. Heʼs allowing us to participate — and not act like him, but to love like him, to love with a love like his.So as men, as husbands, as fathers, thereʼs this ability that through this masculine heart, this male heart, through this fatherhood, that we can love and reveal the love of God, the love of the father into the world.Satan hates that. I mean, the thing that destroys families is when fathers have abandoned their post and they leave. Look at the statistics of what happens when a father is not embracing his responsibility as the first herald of the faith, to lead their family in faith, and how hard it is for the faith to be passed on to the next generation.For Fatherʼs Day, what message would you like to share with fathers?Blair: Fathers, know that you’re unconditionally loved by God the Father and that the prodigal son points to that. And whether youʼre the younger son or the older son, he has this great inheritance for his boys, his sons.Not only should we enter into a relationship with Jesus for our own sake but for our wives, for our children, and ultimately the Church. The Church needs her sons fully engaged. Gone are the days you can just be on the sidelines.Angelette: You hear all the time that God loves you and unless youʼre drawing near to the Father, that just sounds like words. So, just avail yourself to really draw into prayer, to the sacraments, to connect with other men in Christ to not walk this road alone.If you want your heart on fire, draw near to the Sacred Heart and let his fire, let the heart of Christ, ignite your heart to the love that weʼre called to so we can truly love our families, truly love our children, and love our wives, and be the man that we know in our heart we want to be and that weʼre being called to be.

unitedyam

Samuel Blair and Jason Angelette are fathers and husbands who share their knowledge and experiences on navigating life as Catholic men and leaders of their families on “The Point Man Podcast.”

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