Society of St. Pius X to be offered a Personal Prelature?

[Amppax]

I've seen on Facebook, and several other places, that regularization is coming soon for the SSPX. Here's an article from La Stampa about it: http://www.lastampa.it/2016/07/28/vaticaninsider/eng/inquiries-and-interviews/society-of-st-pius-x-sspx-what-is-and-what-is-not-negotiable-for-reconciliation-with-the-catholic-church-6tOUfZuU1Bu4pjePd4KhWI/pagina.html. It seems at least that talks are picking back up again. Some sites seem to be saying that it's all but a done deal. 

Details: The original interview that is being discussed is the the German, from "Christ und Welt." It was given by Archbishop Guido Pozzo, the Secretary for Ecclesia Dei.

 

Edited July 30, 2016 by Amppax

[truthfinder]

That article seems to repeat oft-heard thing we've had over the last several years. However, the last part with +Pozzo saying that Mgr Fellay has accepted a personal prelature is certainly interesting. That's something very concrete sounding for once.  It will certainly be interesting to see how this plays out. 

[Amppax]

15 minutes ago, truthfinder said:

That article seems to repeat oft-heard thing we've had over the last several years. However, the last part with +Pozzo saying that Mgr Fellay has accepted a personal prelature is certainly interesting. That's something very concrete sounding for once.  It will certainly be interesting to see how this plays out. 

Yes, that's the part people are really keying in on. I'm interested to see what they have to say in response. 

 

[truthfinder]

3 minutes ago, Amppax said:

Yes, that's the part people are really keying in on. I'm interested to see what they have to say in response. 

 

I mean, the personal prelature idea has been bandied about since at last 2012. I'm really hoping this isn't some odd mispeaking or a way to 'neuter' the sspx. They've got their problems, but a regularization good bring about a lot of good. Although a personal prelature could also be used to keep them at arms length from 'regular' churches; meaning they wouldn't be integrated into the diocese where they might be able to make real changes. And the FSSP still doesn't have its own bishop. 

I just really want good news. 

[Gabriela]

@Amppax: Could you keep us up to date on this? I've followed this thread, so it'd be great if we could post all updates and news on this here. I'm not checking into Phatmass as regularly these days because of work and travel, and I don't want to miss anything on this topic!

[Nihil Obstat]

Deus vult.

[Amppax]

33 minutes ago, Gabriela said:

@Amppax: Could you keep us up to date on this? I've followed this thread, so it'd be great if we could post all updates and news on this here. I'm not checking into Phatmass as regularly these days because of work and travel, and I don't want to miss anything on this topic!

Certainly. I am surprised that there hasn't been much said today or yesterday about this. Not much that I'm seeing from reputable sources, so I'm wondering if truthfinder was right, and the Archbishop is just stirring up old news. 

[Amppax]

Well, I haven't found anything new, but poking around the SSPX site (which, out of respect for dUSt's wishes, I won't link) it seems Archbishop Pozzo has said similar things before, which the SSPX has basically denied. So perhaps this is less of a story than I thought. 

[LittleWaySoul]

24 minutes ago, Amppax said:

Well, I haven't found anything new, but poking around the SSPX site (which, out of respect for dUSt's wishes, I won't link) it seems Archbishop Pozzo has said similar things before, which the SSPX has basically denied. So perhaps this is less of a story than I thought. 

Out of curiosity, where/when was this expressed? I saw that other thread get shut down for posting a sedevacantist link, but I wasn't sure where that rule came from as I didn't see it in the Phorum guidelines. 

[Basilisa Marie]

I just don't see how any kind of real regularization is possible unless they offer concessions on things that they've refused for years. Have they made any changes? 

[KnightofChrist]

That Archbishop Guido Pozzo keeps repeating that the SSPX may be given a personal prelature is a good sign they likely will be one some day. But the Church moves slowly, so we shouldn't think with microwave mentality.

I see from the op that it really doesn't have the full unfiltered interview with the Archbishop so here it is (at least more of it) conducted by Christundwelt translated I believe by Sunesis Press.

CW: Why is a reunion with the SSPX to the Catholic Church so important?
Guido Pozzo: The Church suffers from any lack of unity. The Society of St. Pius X consists of 600 priests, 200 seminarians, and other members and is represented in 70 countries. Given such a significant reality you can not just turn a blind eye to the situation.

C & W: Recently there was an acceleration of relationships, why?

Pozzo: I would not speak of an acceleration, but by a patient process of rapprochement.  The Vatican is not demanding, insisting on ultimatums, instead we jointly planned some steps to reach full reconciliation. Since the stages were agreed upon, the way is easier to tread. We are still interested in clarifying some doctrinal and canonical questions. It is very important to promote a climate of mutual knowledge and understanding. In this respect, much progress has been made.

C & W: What has changed in the attitude of the Vatican since the beginning of the pontificate?

Pozzo: Several new perspectives were integrated. 2009 to 2012 was primarily a theological debate in the foreground.  There were doctrinal difficulties which hindered the canonical recognition of the Fraternity. We know, however, that life is more than doctrine. For through the theological discussion in the past three years we have come to know the desire and understand the reality of the Fraternity.

C & W: How is this managed?

Pozzo:  If you like, instead of discussions in a lecture hall, now we have a cozy fraternal atmosphere, even though the purpose is the same. On behalf of the Vatican, a cardinal and four bishops attended the seminaries and priories of the Fraternity, and saw for themselves the truth. Nothing like this has happened previously, and of course it helped us to understand one another.

C & W: The Brotherhood has long had extremist members in its ranks, such as Bishop Richard Williamson, who denied the Holocaust.  Did this harm the negotiations?

Pozzo: Monsignor Richard Williamson and other extremists and anti-Roman elements were excluded from the fraternity or separated from her. This of course has aided the discussions.

C & W: What instructions has Pope Francis given to you for the negotiations?

Pozzo: Since August 2013 the Pope has entrusted me as Secretary of the Commission Ecclesia Dei, and he directed me to dialogue with patience, decisiveness and without any rush. He laid particular emphasis on the cultivation of personal relationships in order to create a climate of trust.

C & W: Bergoglio knew the Fraternity from Argentina.How crucial is this personal contact for the Pope?

Pozzo: This is certainly an important element. When he was still Archbishop of Buenos Aires, Pope Francis had contacts with the Fraternity. He saw how much effort they put in evangelization and in charitable work. The Fraternity does not, as is often claimed, only value the traditional liturgy, but also has substantive work.

C & W: Francis always stressed the pastoral aspect. Is this also the key to an understanding with the SSPX?

Pozzo: Pastoral and dogmatic theology are inseparable. The style and concrete willingness of Pope Francis to help the unity between the people not only to think but also to learn. Of course, some gestures are important. He has allowed the Priests of the SSPX to hear confessions of  the faithful, he has received the Superior General of the Fraternity, Monsignor Bernard Fellay in private audience. The rapprochement and resumption of talks was all made possible by the excommunication by Benedict XVI.

C & W: Why is a Personal Prelature appropriate for the SSPX?

Pozzo: That seems to be the appropriate canonical form. Monsignor Fellay has accepted the proposal, even if in the coming months details remain to be clarified. Only Opus Dei currently enjoys this canonical structure, which is a big vote of confidence for the SSPX. It is clear that the solution of the canonical form requires the solution of the doctrinal questions.

[Amppax]

3 hours ago, LittleWaySoul said:

Out of curiosity, where/when was this expressed? I saw that other thread get shut down for posting a sedevacantist link, but I wasn't sure where that rule came from as I didn't see it in the Phorum guidelines. 

Well, I'm not sure. But I'm fairly certain it's a longstanding rule to avoid linking to sites that are at odds with the Vatican. 

2 hours ago, Basilisa Marie said:

I just don't see how any kind of real regularization is possible unless they offer concessions on things that they've refused for years. Have they made any changes? 

No, none of which I'm aware. It's interesting, however, that in this case it seems that Rome is more willing to make concessions, namely in the dogmatic area. What I'm seeing however, is that the SSPX doesn't want to be affiliated with "Modernist" Rome, which I think, at this point, is the main thing that is keeping them away from reconciliation. I think Rome has done all the compromising that it will on the dogmatic issues, such as now referring to Nostra Aetate as "pastoral guidelines" (as the article states). It seems to me that the SSPX won't accept anything short of a total repudiation of these documents, which I doubt will ever happen. 

However, that analysis may not be fair to the Society, I don't know, I'm not entirely up to speed on their position. 

[KnightofChrist]

SSPX could be reconciled with Rome without accepting all of Vatican II

August 10, 2016 (LifeSiteNews) — The Vatican has offered the Society of St. Pius X (SSPX) a personal prelature and confirmed that certain documents from the Second Vatican Council are not doctrinal in nature, according to an Italian archbishop tasked with overseeing the canonically irregular group’s return to full Communion with Rome.

Archbishop Guido Pozzo, the Secretary of the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei, told a German newspaper that Pope Francis has offered the SSPX a return to full Communion via a personal prelature within the Church. A personal prelature is a hierarchically-structured group of Catholic faithful not bound by a geographic location — essentially, a diocese without a territory that complements the work of local dioceses “to which the faithful who form part of a personal prelature continue to belong.”

Opus Dei is the Catholic Church’s most well-known — and indeed, only — personal prelature.  

Pozzo’s remarks, which Dr. Maike Hickson translated at OnePeterFive, indicate that the SSPX could be fully reunited with Rome despite the society’s rejection of certain Vatican II documents because the documents it rejects “are not about doctrines or definitive statements, but, rather, about instructions and orienting guides for pastoral practice.” The Second Vatican Council’s documents themselves indicate that only the Council’s teachings explicitly related to faith and morals are binding to Catholics, Pozzo explained.

“It was already clear at the time of the Council” that different Council documents carried different dogmatic weights, Pozzo said. “The General Secretary of the Council, Cardinal Pericle Felici, declared on November 16, 1964: ‘This holy synod defines only that as being binding for the Church what it declares explicitly to be such with regard to Faith and Morals.’ Only those texts assessed by the Council Fathers as being binding are to be accepted as such.”

The SSPX was founded by French Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre. The group supports traditional liturgy and seeks to share the truth of the Catholic faith in the modern world, a task they view as “especially necessary considering the spread of atheism, agnosticism, and religious indifference.”

Lefebvre was eventually excommunicated for validly but illicitly ordaining other bishops. In other words, the men he ordained did become bishops, but Lefebvre was acting against the Church’s rules by ordaining them without proper permission.

However, the SSPX is not currently “in schism,” or “excommunicated,” as is sometimes reported. Their canonical status is irregular; certain Vatican II documents are points of contention between the Vatican and the SSPX .  

In recent years, the SSPX has inched closer to canonical regularization. Pope Francis has continued negotiations with the Society that began during Pope Benedict XVI’s pontificate. Pope Francis granted SSPX priests faculties to hear Confessions during the Year of Mercy — a faculty that will reportedly continue after the year.

One particular Council document with which the SSPX takes issue is Nostra Aetate (“In Our Time”), a declaration on the Church’s relationship with other religions. Some interpret it as inconsistent with or at the very least muddying the Catholic Church’s teaching that it alone is the one true religion.

Pozzo said Nostra Aetate is not dogmatic and therefore no Catholic is bound to accept it as such.

“Nostra Aetate does not have any dogmatic authority, and thus one cannot demand from anyone to recognize this declaration as being dogmatic,” Pozzo said. “This declaration can only be understood in the light of tradition and of the continuous Magisterium. For example, there exists today, unfortunately, the view — contrary to the Catholic Faith — that there is a salvific path independent of Christ and His Church. That has also been officially confirmed last of all by the Congregation for the Faith itself in its declaration, Dominus Iesus. Therefore, any interpretation of Nostra Aetate which goes into this [erroneous] direction is fully unfounded and has to be rejected.”

The leader of the SSPX has not been shy in his criticisms of Pope Francis, but he has also expressed hope and deep gratitude toward the pontiff for his welcoming attitude toward Rome’s reunification with the Society.

After the release of Amoris Laetitia, SSPX Superior General Bishop Bernard Fellay decried the “great and painful confusion that currently reigns in the Church” and the promotion of doctrinal errors “by a large number of pastors, including the Pope himself.”  

“A deep division [over Holy Communion for the divorced and remarried] is forming within the episcopate and the Sacred College of Cardinals,” Fellay said. “The faithful are bewildered; the whole Church is suffering from this rift. … It is enough to make one weep.”

[Amppax]

Hm, that doesn't seem to be much of an update. Much of that was in the La Stampa article: http://www.lastampa.it/2016/07/28/vaticaninsider/eng/inquiries-and-interviews/society-of-st-pius-x-sspx-what-is-and-what-is-not-negotiable-for-reconciliation-with-the-catholic-church-6tOUfZuU1Bu4pjePd4KhWI/pagina.html

[Gabriela]

That they were actually offered the personal prelature is news to me.