(LifeSiteNews) — The Diocese of Arlington, Virginia, under Bishop Michael Burbidge announced last week that it plans to establish a chaplaincy under the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter (FSSP) at the beginning of July to provide Old Rite sacraments to the faithful devoted to the Traditional Latin Mass (TLM).
In a June 19 statement, the diocese announced that, effective July 1, the Chaplaincy of Our Lady of Victory will be officially established by the FSSP. The chaplaincy, which will be ministered by Father Jonathan Romanoski and Father John Audino, FSSP, will serve the needs of the faithful who attend the TLM and desire to receive other sacraments such as baptism, confirmation, and marriage in the “extraordinary form,” but will not establish a parish within the diocese per the requirements of Traditionis Custodes.
The chaplaincy will not affect the three parishes and five non-parish locations within the diocese where the Latin Mass is currently celebrated.
“As a Chaplaincy, rather than a parish, this agreement allows for Fr. Romanoski and Fr. Audino to live the fraternity that is part of the FSSP charism and to serve primarily in Front Royal while periodically assisting elsewhere in the diocese,” the diocese said in its statement. “Since the priests of the FSSP have the faculty, granted them by a decree of Pope Francis on February 11, 2022, to celebrate the Mass and the sacraments in the Extraordinary Form with the consent of the Ordinary of the place, this arrangement enables the faithful, in keeping with Traditionis Custodes, to be able to participate in the celebration of the Mass in the Extraordinary Form.”
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“Diocesan policy about such celebrations remains in effect. The celebration of Baptism, Confirmation, and Matrimony in the Extraordinary Form is for those individuals/families who have a particular pastoral connection to the community and who participate regularly in this form of the liturgy with the consent of the local pastor and the local ordinary,” the statement continued.
The diocese noted that the Chaplaincy of Our Lady of Victory formalizes a previous arrangement with the Fraternity that had been in place for several years, allowing the order to assist diocesan priests in caring for the faithful devoted to the Tridentine Mass.
The fact that the chaplaincy will officially form on July 1 is particularly interesting, as this is the same day the Society of Saint Pius X (SSPX) plans to consecrate four new bishops without a papal mandate. Additionally, the diocese’s statement noted that the chaplaincy will mainly operate in Front Royal, where the Immaculate Heart of Mary Chapel, run by the SSPX, is located.
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Indeed, in its statement, the diocese seemed to stress that the FSSP is “in full communion with the Church, in contrast to the Society of Saint Pius X (SSPX), which remains in a state of irregular communion.”
In May, the Vatican issued a statement warning the SSPX that consecrating bishops without papal mandate would be a “schismatic act” and would result in excommunication.
The Society has defended its consecration plans, saying it is not proceeding from any desire to claim a power of jurisdiction or to establish a parallel authority within the Church, and will have no other purpose than to ensure the continued administration of the sacraments of Holy Orders and Confirmation, together with those sacramentals reserved to bishops, according to the traditional rite of the Holy Roman Church.
