Episode 527: Is Pope Francis playing divide and conquer with Traditional Orders

The Fraternity of St. Peter (FSSP) is a spin-off of the Society of St. Pius X (SSPX). When Abp. Marcel Lefebvre decided to act contrary to the Vatican’s explicit canonical warning not to consecrate bishops without papal mandate, preferring instead to incur automatic excommunication under Novus Ordo church law, “Pope” John Paul II issued a motu proprio letter two days after the forbidden episcopal consecrations. That “Apostolic Letter” was entitled Ecclesia Dei and was issued on July 2, 1988. It states in part:
The Fraternity of St. Peter was founded on July 18, 1988, as a kind of collecting basin for those clergy and seminarians who wanted to continue with the “Traditional Latin Mass only” project of Abp. Lefebvre but were not willing to follow him into schism. The FSSP’s current Superior General is “Fr.” Andrzej Komorowski.
Ever since Francis issued his two-pronged crackdown on the Traditional Latin Mass (the Roman Missal of 1962, to be precise) with Traditionis Custodes and the Responsa ad Dubia last year, the FSSP and other Ecclesia Dei-based groups have been anxious about what this might mean for their future.