Who is Cardinal Fernandez to Judge?

David Martin | The Daily Knight

The Catholic world is presently aghast after DDF prefect Cardinal Victor Fernandez on July 2 issued a two-page document in which he declared the excommunication of the Society of Saint Pius X and its priests because its bishops made four priests bishops without Vatican approval. This is bewildering when we consider that Fernandez is a manifest heretic who is known the world over for his sex-oriented writings in which he tries to make a religion out of sex.

However, in his document Fernandez commits a theological blunder, which hopefully the SSPX will capitalize on. Therein he claims that if SSPX priests celebrate the sacraments of marriage or confession they are now invalid because of the so-called excommunications, but this is heresy. Even if a priest is truly excommunicated for grave faults committed, all seven sacraments that he performs remain fully valid. For the validity of the sacraments does not depend on the power and authority of the pope as Fernandez falsely claims but stems solely from the power of the priesthood, which an excommunicated priest retains. As they say, once a priest, always a priest. No one can take his sacramental powers away from him.

What the Church teaches is that if one receives the sacraments from a truly excommunicated priest it is highly illicit and can cause spiritual damage to his soul, but the sacrament remains valid, nonetheless. St. Thomas Aquinas, St. Augustine, and other true theologians make this clear, though they warn that the illicit reception of these sacraments could be detrimental to the soul on account of having participated with a schismatic. But this could hardly apply in the case of the SSPX priests. What have they done wrong? They simply keep the Faith, which Rome today refuses to do.

The Consecration of Bishops Was Only an Excuse

This was the real reason for the attempted excommunication – that and the Society’s rejection of Vatican II. The consecration of bishops was only an excuse to try to boot the Society from the Church. This was an abuse of the Roman keys, which rendered their use sinful. And as we well know, God never blesses sin.

For while God is just and legal, being the Author of all legality, he is not legalistic. Meaning, he doesn’t allow the wicked stroke of a pen to move his heart to ratify something that is wicked and unjust. Fernandez deliberately intended to rob over a half million Catholics of their salvation, which he tried to do with the stroke of a pen. This was most arrogant on his part, and foolish too.

How Can Fernandez Judge?

How can Fernandez pull the splinter out of the SSPX’s eye when he has a telephone beam in his own eye? (Mt. 7:3-5) How can he declare the excommunication of other priests when he has excommunicated himself Latae sententiae by his own crimes against the Faith? How can he declare that a group of people is on the road to perdition when he himself is on the road to perdition?

And when in the history of the Catholic Church has a bishop used his position to bless homosexuality and to teach that it is morally acceptable for men and women of the same sex to be shameful with each other? This in itself excommunicates a prelate. This is more serious than professing formal heresy, which likewise excommunicates a prelate.

Leo Needs to Apologize

On that note, Pope Leo needs to look to himself since he blesses homosexuality and those who practice it. Let us not forget that he invited 1200 LGBTQ activists to stampede the Vatican in September 2025 for the purpose of advancing their cause of sodomy.

Has Leo ever apologized for this? Has it ever been reported that he tried to correct a homosexual? Nay. Instead, he appoints notorious pro-LGBTQ prelates to the highest positions of the Church. Cardinal Victor Fernandez is one such prelate.

Why hasn’t Leo declared his excommunication?