Vatican City, 16 March 2012 (VIS) - Given below is the text of a communique relating to the Society of St. Pius X, released this morning by the Holy See Press Office.
"During the meeting of 14 September 2011 between Cardinal William Levada, prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and president of the Pontifical Commission 'Ecclesia Dei', and Bishop Bernard Fellay, superior general of the Society of St. Pius X, the latter was presented with a Doctrinal Preamble, accompanied by a Preliminary Note, as a fundamental basis for achieving full reconciliation with the Apostolic See. This defined certain doctrinal principles and criteria for the interpretation Catholic doctrine, which are necessary to ensure faithfulness to the Church Magisterium and 'sentire cum Ecclesia' [means: thinking with the Church].
"The response of the Society of St. Pius X to the aforesaid Doctrinal Preamble, which arrived in January 2012, was examined by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith before being submitted to the Holy Father for his judgement. Pursuant to the decision made by Pope Benedict XVI, Bishop Fellay was, in a letter delivered today, informed of the evaluation of his response. The letter states that the position he expressed is not sufficient to overcome the doctrinal problems which lie at the foundation of the rift between the Holy See and the Society of St. Pius X.
"At the end of today's meeting, moved by concern to avoid an ecclesial rupture of painful and incalculable consequences, the superior general of the Society of St. Pius X was invited to clarify his position in order to be able to heal the existing rift, as is the desire of Pope Benedict XVI".
From the Website of the Holy See
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Update:
(Radio Vaticana):
"Bp. Fellay is invited to clarify his position, in order to be able to heal the existing rift, as is the desire of Pope Benedict XVI, from now until April 15."
[UPDATE - 1500 GMT]
In an article on today's events, Salvatore Izzo reports the following for Italian news agency AGI:
The Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Cardinal William Joseph Levada, delivered [the content of the communiqué] to the Superior General of the Society, Bishop Bernard Fellay, in a conversation that lasted for over two hours ... . During today's meeting in the Palace of the Holy Office - in which the Secretary of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Abp. Luis Francisco Ladaria, and the Secretary of the Ecclesia Dei Commission, Mgr. Guido Pozzo, also took part, while Bp. Fellay was joined by his assistant Fr. Nelly - a complete rupture was avoided by the Holy See, making it clear that Benedict XVI still expects a recomposition.
From the blog: Rorate Caeli
Prayers of course are needed for both the SSPX and Holy See at this time.
ReplyDeleteWhat I don't understand is why an excellent website such as this would link to a website such as Rorate Caeli, which allows such animosity toward the Holy See (and sometimes the Pope) in the comments section. This is typical of RC, and yet it seems to be held up as a beacon for traditionist news, especially that regarding the SSPX.
LOL...
ReplyDelete@ chaimbeul
ReplyDeleteIsn't it normal to give your sources?
There is plenty of "animosity", if that's what you want to call it (a better word would be "criticism"), directed toward the SSPX that is "allowed" in the comments over at RC as well!
ReplyDeleteThe operative word here is, indeed, "allow". Thankfully, New Catholic and those at RC ALLOW a wide variety of opinions to be posted in their comments because they aren't afraid of open and honest discussion, unlike, apparently, a few on either side of the fence in this debate who would rather not see criticisms of which ever their golden calf might be beholden to.
At any rate, New Catholic has often disallowed comments that are insulting toward the Holy Father or below the dignity of a Catholic. He always to my knowledge upheld a filial devotion to the Chair of St. Peter, while at the same time pointing out the obvious inconsistencies and contradictions that plague the modern Church under the governance of the recent popes.
In all, we traditionalists ARE thankful for the beacon that RC has been over the years, and New Catholic certainly doesn't deserve to be attacked for providing, most of the time, excellent translations of Italian texts that would be otherwise unavailable to English speaking traditional Catholics. No one else is doing it!
So please, cut him and RC some slack, especially in regards to the comments left by people who do not otherwise contribute to the blog in any other way.
New Catholic wrote:
ReplyDelete"LOL..."
Just the sort of reaction I'd expect from someone who is undermining (or trying to) the reconciliation of the SSPX to Rome.
I will pray for you, New Catholic.
I'm not too sure what the previous comments have to do with us here.
ReplyDeleteNew Catholic well knows what I think of his positive contribution to the traditional world and that I have held the Rorate Caeli blog to be as the old style BBC on traditional matters (usually neutral, well verified information from which we can draw our own conclusions). I have told him this more than once. Also, from my correspondence with New Catholic I believe in his integrity and dedication to Our Lord and the Church.
New Catholic also knows that I do not put the Rorate Caeli comments-box on the same level of positive contribution to tradition. I seldom look at the Comments now, but I was pleased to hear that they have been tightened up recently; that was necessary and I applaud the measures taken!
But, the matter of the moment is prayer for a successful reconciliation of the SSPX with the Chair of Peter.
Fr. Michael Mary, F.SS.R.
May God's will be done! I am hopeful; but whatever the outcome, let it all be done in God's time and for His glory.
ReplyDeleteRE: Rorate Caeli. I think it's always been the case, in all media (newspaper, radio, news blog) to give all sides a say - for balance. It's editorial policy that is employed usually for good discussion and dissemination of information - and perhaps in this case, in the spirit of fraternal charity, we may be corrected. I'm guilty of trying my hand at it without much success; comment boxes tend to bring out my inner armchair-theologian.
If they let the unsavory comments through it makes it look like they agree with some of the extreme positions (and as far as I know, Rorate distances themselves from some comments and quite regularly rebuke/block members) . If they block such comments and only let through the softer, more hopeful, sympathetic ones, they get accused of being modernists and traitors! It seems Rorate can't win. Having said that, in the past I have criticized them for letting some things through which were quite awful to read.
I for one am appreciative of their news blog - along with Fr. Z they offer the latest breaking news. Invaluable, I think! I try not to throw the baby out with the bath water - look at the news, try to resist the urge to click on the 'comments' tab. Looking at the contributers of the blog (which includes an FSSP Priest and the chairman of the LMS of England and Wales) I'd say their all for reconciliation!
Just the ramblings of a silly layman! Happy St. Patricks day Fathers and Brothers; and to all commentators!
Thanks, Fr. Michael Mary and Messrs. Werling and Esteban.
ReplyDeleteRegarding the comment section, Father, you should read it again, it has improved considerably in the past few months - which explains why there are considerably fewer comments in most posts these days, while the number of visitors has risen by one quarter in the same time period. But, as Mr. Werling aptly explains, leaving comments open allows for a mostly healthy debate, which otherwise would take place exclusively in much less healthy web forums.
The other commentator here is obviously clueless. It was uncivil of him to bring this discussion up in another blog, but I had to at least acknowledge the complaint giving it the response it deserved.
NC