Welcome to the SSPX podcast. During this week, we are revisiting five lectures given by Father

Daniel Theeman, the rector of Holy Cross Seminary in Australia, about the history of the Society of

St. Pius the 10th. These were given on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the SSPX in November

2020. Today's lecture is the third in the series and covers the Episcopal Consecretions.

For more on this, you can see Crisis Series episode number 42 with Bishop Bernard

Philae. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost, amen.

Dear faithful, as we continue our story of the history of the society, we arrive today at a very critical moment in our story.

We arrive today at the 30th of June, 1988, to an event which has been called Operation Survival.

This was the date on which the Archbishop, together with Bishop de Castro Meyer,

consecrated four bishops to continue the work of the society to continue the ordination

of traditional priests and to continue the work of tradition which the society represents.

And it is a good name Operation Survival because had the Archbishop not done this, it is pretty

much certain that none of us would be here today attending this Mass. It really was that critical.

As we see the history of the society unfold after this event. It is true that

all of us are here today because of what the Archbishop did on the 30th of June 1988.

Now this step, which was so dramatic when it finally came, was something that the archbishop

had been considering for many years.

In fact, even from the earliest days of the society's history, the archbishop had to confront

this question of what would happen if the crisis in the church were prolonged,

if it continued to get worse, if there was no end in sight, what must he do, what should

he do, where did his duty lie in providing for a future for the tradition within the church and for the souls

who so badly needed it. So this was something in the back of his mind. If the crisis were to last

...