The Diocese of Cubao will offer pastoral assistance for adherents affected by the Society of St. Pius X (SSPX) schism and expand the availability of Traditional Latin Masses as it seeks to welcome devotees attached to the older form of the Roman Rite.
In a pastoral letter dated July 6, Cubao Bishop Elias Ayuban Jr. said the diocese would form a group of priests and lay volunteers to provide information, counseling and pastoral care to Catholics who had been attending Masses at SSPX chapels, while studying the possibility of offering more celebrations of the 1962 Roman Missal in accordance with Vatican norms under the apostolic letter of the late Pope Francis, Traditionis custodes.
“While the Mass of the 1962 Roman Missal (Traditional Latin Mass) will continue to be celebrated in the Diocese of Cubao, we shall explore the possibility of providing additional Traditional Latin Masses accessible to a greater number of devotees,” he said.
The Diocese of Cubao is home to Our Lady of Victories Church in New Manila, Quezon City, one of the Philippines’ best-known SSPX chapels and a major center of worship for Catholics attached to the traditional Latin liturgy.
Addressing Catholics who have attended SSPX liturgies, Ayuban assured them that they remain part of the Church and should be received with compassion rather than judgment.
“I am saddened that many of you… now find yourselves not only in a painful moment of discernment but also of being deprived of the sacraments,” he said.
“You are also God’s children… who have genuinely loved the sacred liturgy and seriously devoted yourselves to Catholic tradition… you will always have a place in the local Church of Cubao.”
The bishop urged diocesan clergy and faithful to welcome SSPX members “with charity, understanding, and patience,” emphasizing preaching and catechesis over condemnation as the Church seeks reconciliation.
Ayuban, a former Claretian superior who holds a doctorate in canon law from the Pontifical Lateran University, also reiterated the canonical consequences of the SSPX’s recent actions following the Vatican’s declaration that the society had entered into schism.
The Vatican announced the penalty after the SSPX proceeded with the episcopal consecration of four bishops in Écône, Switzerland, without papal approval, despite explicit opposition from Pope Leo XIV.
The Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith said the act constituted schism, resulting in the automatic excommunication of the bishops involved.
In his letter, Ayuban said the SSPX bishops and priests “have willfully and deliberately chosen to exclude themselves from the communion of the Catholic Church,” making their celebrations of the sacraments illicit. He added that confessions heard and marriages witnessed by SSPX clergy are invalid.
The bishop stressed that lay faithful do not automatically incur the same canonical penalties but warned that those who continue participating in SSPX liturgies risk separating themselves from the Church’s communion.
At the same time, he said SSPX bishops and priests may still be reconciled with the Catholic Church if they choose to leave the society.
