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In a seven-page memorandum dated 22 October, the Bishop of Knoxville set out the canonical concerns surrounding the mission, identified as Saint Francis of Assisi Traditional Latin Mass Mission, and called on those involved to return to full communion with the Catholic Church.
The document follows an earlier diocesan notification withdrawing all faculties, permissions and authorisations from Father David Mary Engo after he informed Bishop Beckman of his decision to associate with the SSPX as a “Priest Friend”. Father Engo also entered into an arrangement to provide pastoral care for the newly established mission.
The memorandum states that Father Engo is not authorised to exercise public priestly ministry anywhere within the Diocese of Knoxville. He is incardinated in the Diocese of Fort Wayne–South Bend, whose bishop has also suspended him from the exercise of Holy Orders. The suspension does not remove his priestly ordination, but prohibits him from exercising his ministry according to the terms of the applicable decree.
Bishop Beckman has also rescinded Father Engo’s previous permission to reside in the diocese as a hermit and directed him to make prompt arrangements to leave its territory.
The memorandum states that Father Engo’s declared association with the SSPX and his ministry at the affiliated mission raise “the grave question of formal adherence to schism”.
However, it distinguishes between the question of his individual canonical status and the restrictions already imposed upon his ministry. “A determination concerning his individual penal status belongs to competent ecclesiastical authority applying the relevant facts and law,” the document states. It adds that, irrespective of that determination, Father Engo is not authorised to exercise public priestly ministry in the diocese and is liable to the penalty despite his protestation to the contrary.
The Bishop’s instruction refers to a 2 July declaration by the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, which stated that sacred ministers belonging to the SSPX are in schism and subject to the excommunication prescribed by canon 1364 §1. It also reaffirmed that lay Catholics who formally adhere to the schism incur the same penalty under the conditions established by the Holy See.
The memorandum cautions, however, that attendance at the mission does not automatically establish that an individual has incurred excommunication.
“Formal adherence involves a free and conscious choice to place allegiance to the schismatic movement above obedience to the Pope, together with an outward manifestation of that choice,” the document states. Each person’s intentions, actions, knowledge and circumstances must be assessed individually under canon law.
Nevertheless, Bishop Beckman urges the faithful not to attend the mission’s Masses, sacramental celebrations, retreats, conferences or other religious activities. He also instructs them not to provide financial, material or organisational support for the ministry or for the establishment of an SSPX apostolate in the diocese.
The memorandum states that Saint Francis of Assisi Traditional Latin Mass Mission has not been erected or approved by Bishop Beckman and is not an authorised apostolate of the Diocese of Knoxville or any other legitimate ecclesiastical authority. The use of Catholic terminology or the celebration of an older form of the liturgy does not confer ecclesiastical authorisation.