Cardinal Gerhard Müller has said that marriages and Confessions administered by the SSPX following its excommunication are valid but illicit, appearing to contradict the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith's (DDF) recent explanatory note.
In a July 6 German-language interview with the platform K-TV, Cardinal Müller said the authority to forgive or retain sins is conferred through the sacrament of Holy Orders, and in canon law, can only be restricted by the bishop or the Pope.
Though he stated that Catholics should avoid having their marriages witnessed within the SSPX, his stance appears to differ from the recent Vatican explanatory note published by the DDF, headed by Cardinal Fernández.
