Bishop Paprocki Claims SSPX ‘Basically Another Protestant Sect’ Now

Bishop Paprocki Claims SSPX ‘Basically Another Protestant Sect’ Now
Bishop Thomas Paprocki of Springfield called the Society of Saint Pius X (SSPX) “another Protestant sect” in a video addressed to his diocese last week, responding to the order’s consecration of four new bishops without a papal mandate earlier this month.
In the video, published July 13 and entitled “The Main Problem with the SSPX,” Paprocki noted that just before the consecrations, the SSPX issued a 154-point profession of faith to Pope Leo XIV and the world’s cardinals that included sharp criticisms of the Second Vatican Council and the post-conciliar reforms. The bishop argued that because the Society rejects certain teachings of the Council and disobeyed the sovereign pontiff by performing the consecrations, it is “basically another Protestant sect.”
By disobeying the pope and rejecting the teachings of the Second Vatican Council, the Society of Saint Pius X is now basically another Protestant sect that thinks that …
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jaykam843 months ago

Calling the SSPX a “Protestant sect” isn’t logical or accurate, especially if we’re using the definitions laid out by St. Thomas Aquinas in the Summa Theologiae.
Aquinas distinguishes very carefully between heresy and schism:
• Heresy (ST II–II q.11) is the denial or obstinate doubt of a dogma revealed by God and taught by the Church.
• Schism (ST II–II q.39) is refusal of submission to the Roman Pontiff or refusal of communion with those subject to him.
Protestant bodies fall under both categories: they break from Church authority and reject defined Catholic doctrine.
Now compare that to the SSPX:
• They accept every Catholic dogma — the Trinity, the Real Presence, the papacy, Marian dogmas, all of it. No Thomist could call that heresy.
• They recognize the legitimacy of the Pope and bishops — something Protestants explicitly reject.
• Their issues concern discipline and prudential decisions, not dogmatic teaching.
• Even the Vatican itself has repeatedly stated that the SSPX is not in formal schism.
You may disagree with their stance or find their posture disobedient, but per Aquinas’s own categories, disagreement over non-dogmatic matters is not heresy, and incomplete obedience does not automatically make a group a “sect.”
And since Protestantism involves dogmatic rejection, applying that label to a group that fully professes Catholic dogma is simply a category mistake.
So if we’re going to use Thomistic terms, let’s use them correctly:
The SSPX may be canonically irregular, but calling them a “Protestant sect” is neither logical nor accurate according to St. Thomas Aquinas or the Summa.