Lincoln County Catholic church is buying land for growth despite excommunication
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- St. Anthony’s completed purchase of 26 acres in Iron Station, Lincoln County.
- The Vatican declared the SSPX schismatic and issued an excommunication order.
- St. Anthony’s now fills two masses on weekends with about 500 worshippers.
Less than a week after the Vatican declared the Society of St. Pius X in schism, a church outside Charlotte finalized the purchase of 26 acres where they hope to build the largest project in the community’s history.
Closing on the property days after the Vatican’s declaration wasn’t an act of defiance, they said. It was an expression of confidence. As the society began formally challenging its excommunication, members of St. Anthony’s in Mount Holly say the initial disappointment quickly gave way to optimism. They’re focused on preserving what they believe will be a thriving Catholic community for future generations.
“We absolutely went through with the purchase of this property,” longtime parishioner Jim De Piante said. “That’s just as big a statement of hope as you could possibly make.”
The optimism comes despite one of the most consequential moments in the Society of St. Pius X’s history. The Vatican declared the group of hundreds of thousands of people worldwide in schism after the SSPX consecrated four bishops in Switzerland without Pope Leo XIV’s approval this month. The Vatican declared the newly consecrated bishops, SSPX priests and any person who “formally adheres” to the society excommunicated. Days later, the society started a formal process asking the Vatican to reconsider the decree.
Brian Mershon, a Charlotte-area traditional Catholic who has closely followed the proceedings, said the filing marks the society’s first formal step in challenging the decree. Several members of St. Anthony’s said they remain hopeful the Vatican’s declaration will ultimately be reconsidered. Mershon and some Canon lawyers believe that while recourse is happening the excommunication is suspended.
While that dispute continues in Rome, members of the North Carolina’s largest SSPX congregation say they’re pressing ahead with the most ambitious expansion in the community’s history, welcoming what they describe as continued interest from young families and expressing confidence the community will continue growing.
“We’re just Catholics trying to do what Catholics have always done,” said Giancarlo Cruz, who drives roughly 90 miles from Spartanburg County, South Carolina, each weekend with his wife and five children to attend mass at St. Anthony’s.
For Cruz, the Vatican’s declaration was disappointing but not unexpected.
“I was at peace with the decision,” he said. “I believe we’re going to weather this storm.”
Cruz, who traveled to Switzerland to witness the consecrations, said the first Sunday after returning to the Mount Holly church looked much like any other.
“The overall sentiment is hope,” Cruz said. “We’re going to keep having these traditional sacraments. ... This is for us a long-term game. It’s not something for this weekend or next weekend. It’s for 100 years from now. It’s for the kids.”
That view is reflected in the community’s newly purchased property.
Where is SSPX church expanding?
After a three-year search spanning roughly 3,000 square miles and more than 1,300 properties, St. Anthony’s completed the purchase of 26 acres in Iron Station, about 10 minutes north of its current Mount Holly chapel in Lincoln County. Leaders envision a campus that will eventually include a larger church, classrooms, residences for priests and teaching sisters, a cemetery and a school.
The congregation also plans to launch what it calls “Welcome to Saint Anthony’s,” a relocation program intended to help families moving to the Carolinas connect with the community.
“This is an enormously important first step for us, certainly one of the biggest steps ever taken at Saint Anthony’s,” De Piante wrote in a message to congregants announcing the purchase.
The expansion comes as St. Anthony’s says attendance has climbed steadily in recent years.
De Piante said growth accelerated during the COVID-19 pandemic, when SSPX chapels continued offering the sacraments while many Catholic parishes suspended public masses, and again after restrictions on the Traditional Latin Mass prompted some Catholics to seek alternatives. A chapel that once drew about 150 worshippers to a single Sunday mass now regularly fills two overflowing masses each weekend, he said, around 500 people.
Reaction to Vatican excommunication
De Piante said a handful of families skipped the first Sunday mass after the Vatican’s declaration because they were troubled by the news. But he described the atmosphere as optimistic, saying the community has largely resumed normal life while following developments in Rome.
Jennifer Jaeger began attending St. Anthony’s with her late husband during the pandemic and now drives nearly an hour from Burke County each week. Jaeger said she sees the expansion as another sign the community is preparing for future generations.
“We have the new bishops, we have the land and the prospect of a new church,” she said. “It’s very hopeful.”
Still, others said the Vatican’s declaration initially rattled some members.
Dino Graziano, whose son is an SSPX priest, said he felt “saddened” and “a little bit shocked” after the decree, even though he expected it.
“It’s taken us days… to recover, but we understand the motives behind the excommunications, and we believe in why we’re standing with the society,” Granziano said. “There was some initial shock, but there’s recovery, thank God.”
He said reactions within the congregation varied, with some members asking difficult questions while others remained more resolute. Still, Granziano said the new property reflects where the community sees itself heading.
“I think that the fact that we’re still able to proceed, still have people coming to St. Anthony’s, and still hopeful that we’ll continue to grow implies that the majority of Catholics can see that the (SSPX) is just adhering to the truth and the faith as it has been throughout the millennia,” he said.
Like many members of St. Anthony’s, Cruz said he’s focused less on the immediate controversy than on what he believes history will say about the society’s actions.
“I’m convinced that 50 years, 100 years, 150 years from now,” he said, “the Church will look back and will be grateful of how this small group of people around the world did everything in their means to protect and to keep the traditional Latin right available for all humankind.”
