
The Gravity Of Schism
The planned July episcopal consecrations by the Society of St. Pius X (SSPX) once again expose deep divisions among faithful Catholics. For decades, Catholics committed to preserving the faith and traditions of the Church have disagreed not only about the crisis within the Church, but about how Catholics should respond to it. For The Wanderer, this issue has long marked a major divide with The Remnant, the newspaper founded by a family member who formerly worked with his brother at The Wanderer. Much of that division traces back to differing responses to Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre and his resistance to post–Vatican II reforms. The disagreement became so significant that it contributed to a split between two brothers at The Wanderer: This writer’s grandfather, Alphonse Matt, Sr., who remained with The Wanderer, and Walter Matt, his brother, who aligned more closely with Archbishop Lefebvre and later founded The Remnant some 60 years ago. At the time, The Remnant was so closely identified with support for the SSPX