Faithful remnant, or fanatic schismatics?
It can be difficult to distinguish defenders from defectors. Many traditionalist schisms that have sprung up since the Second Vatican Council are filled with devotion to the Blessed Mother; they remain extremely conservative with regard to most moral issues afflicting the western world today; and they practice a strict reverence before the Blessed Sacrament during their traditional Latin liturgies.
It can be easy to sympathize with such seemingly devout but truly disaffected Catholics.
Now More Catholic Than The Pope examines one such group--the Society of St. Pius X--and explains how its prime architect and figurehead, Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, and his followers chose to cut themselves off from the Church.
Here is the history of the Society, from its beginning in France, to its rise and fall within the Catholic Church, to Pope John Paul II's fraternal but ultimately fruitless efforts at reconciliation.
Here, too, carefully laid out, are the clear, concise, canonical answers to the issues the Society's members continue to raise and the arguments they still offer.
Patrick Madrid is a noted apologist, EWTN television host, and the author of Answer Me This!.
Pete Vere, JCL, is a canon lawyer, an author, and a former adherent to the SSPX schism.
