The Nine vs Lefebvre (SSPX) - We Resist You to Your Face by Rev. Anthony Cekada (2008)
TWENTY-FIVE YEARS ago, together with eight other American priests of the Society of St. Pius X (SSPX), I became involved in a lengthy battle with Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre (1905–1991), the Society’s founder and the prelate who ordained us.
The conflict between the archbishop and the Americans, usually referred to collectively as “The Nine,” became public after a meeting between the two sides on April 27, 1983, at Oyster Bay Cove, New York.
The group of priests consisted of Fathers Clarence Kelly (SSPX Northeast District Superior), Donald J. Sanborn (SSPX Seminary Rector), Daniel L. Dolan (NE District Director of Missions), Anthony Cekada (NE District Bursar), William W. Jenkins (seminary professor), Joseph F. Collins (seminary professor), Eugene R. Berry, Thomas Zapp (newly ordained and teaching at St. Marys, Kansas), and Martin Skierka (newly ordained.)
What began as a theological dispute, however, soon became a protracted battle conducted in the U.S. civil court system. Abp. Lefebvre demanded that we turn over to him control of the churches and chapels where we offered Mass for our congregations. We refused. He sued, we sued back, and the two sides fought a four-year legal war that was finally settled only in 1987.
TWENTY-FIVE YEARS ago, together with eight other American priests of the Society of St. Pius X (SSPX), I became involved in a lengthy battle with Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre (1905–1991), the Society’s founder and the prelate who ordained us.
The conflict between the archbishop and the Americans, usually referred to collectively as “The Nine,” became public after a meeting between the two sides on April 27, 1983, at Oyster Bay Cove, New York.
The group of priests consisted of Fathers Clarence Kelly (SSPX Northeast District Superior), Donald J. Sanborn (SSPX Seminary Rector), Daniel L. Dolan (NE District Director of Missions), Anthony Cekada (NE District Bursar), William W. Jenkins (seminary professor), Joseph F. Collins (seminary professor), Eugene R. Berry, Thomas Zapp (newly ordained and teaching at St. Marys, Kansas), and Martin Skierka (newly ordained.)
What began as a theological dispute, however, soon became a protracted battle conducted in the U.S. civil court system. Abp. Lefebvre demanded that we turn over to him control of the churches and chapels where we offered Mass for our congregations. We refused. He sued, we sued back, and the two sides fought a four-year legal war that was finally settled only in 1987.
TWENTY-FIVE YEARS ago, together with eight other American priests of the Society of St. Pius X (SSPX), I became involved in a lengthy battle with Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre (1905–1991), the Society’s founder and the prelate who ordained us.
The conflict between the archbishop and the Americans, usually referred to collectively as “The Nine,” became public after a meeting between the two sides on April 27, 1983, at Oyster Bay Cove, New York.
The group of priests consisted of Fathers Clarence Kelly (SSPX Northeast District Superior), Donald J. Sanborn (SSPX Seminary Rector), Daniel L. Dolan (NE District Director of Missions), Anthony Cekada (NE District Bursar), William W. Jenkins (seminary professor), Joseph F. Collins (seminary professor), Eugene R. Berry, Thomas Zapp (newly ordained and teaching at St. Marys, Kansas), and Martin Skierka (newly ordained.)
What began as a theological dispute, however, soon became a protracted battle conducted in the U.S. civil court system. Abp. Lefebvre demanded that we turn over to him control of the churches and chapels where we offered Mass for our congregations. We refused. He sued, we sued back, and the two sides fought a four-year legal war that was finally settled only in 1987.