Resurrexi Posted January 24, 2009 Share Posted January 24, 2009 CONGREGATIO PRO EPISCOPIS By way of a letter of December 15, 2008 addressed to His Eminence Cardinal Dario Castrillón Hoyos, President of the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei, Mons. Bernard Fellay, also in the name of the other three Bishops consecrated on June 30, 1988, requested anew the removal of the latae sententiae excommunication formally declared with the Decree of the Prefect of this Congregation on July 1, 1988. In the aforementioned letter, Mons. Fellay affirms, among other things: "We are always firmly determined in our will to remain Catholic and to place all our efforts at the service of the Church of Our Lord Jesus Christ, which is the Roman Catholic Church. We accept its teachings with filial disposition. We believe firmly in the Primacy of Peter and in its prerogatives, and for this the current situation makes us suffer so much." His Holiness Benedict XVI - paternally sensitive to the spiritual unease manifested by the interested party due to the sanction of excommunication and trusting in the effort expressed by them in the aforementioned letter of not sparing any effort to deepen the necessary discussions with the Authority of the Holy See in the still open matters, so as to achieve shortly a full and satisfactory solution of the problem posed in the origin - decided to reconsider the canonical situation of Bishops Bernard Fellay, Bernard Tissier de Mallerais, Richard Williamson, and Alfonso de Galarreta, arisen with their episcopal consecration. With this act, it is desired to consolidate the reciprocal relations of confidence and to intensify and grant stability to the relationship of the Fraternity of Saint Pius X with this Apostolic See. This gift of peace, at the end of the Christmas celebrations, is also intended to be a sign to promote unity in the charity of the universal Church and to try to vanquish the scandal of division. It is hoped that this step be followed by the prompt accomplishment of full communion with the Church of the entire Fraternity of Saint Pius X, thus testifying true fidelity and true recognition of the Magisterium and of the authority of the Pope with the proof of visible unity. Based on the faculty expressly granted to me by the Holy Father Benedict XVI, in virtue of the present Decree, I remit of Bishops Bernard Fellay, Bernard Tissier de Mallerais, Richard Williamson, and Alfonso de Galarreta the censure of latae sententiae excommunication declared by this Congregation on July 1, 1988, while I declare deprived of any juridical effect, from the present date, the Decree emanated at that time. Rome, from the Congregation for Bishops, January 21, 2009. Card. Giovanni Battista Re Prefect of the Congregation for Bishops [url="http://rorate-caeli.blogspot.com/2009/01/document-repealing-excommunications_24.html"]http://rorate-caeli.blogspot.com/2009/01/d...cations_24.html[/url] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MithLuin Posted January 24, 2009 Share Posted January 24, 2009 The Vatican press release (in Italian): [url="http://212.77.1.245/news_services/bulletin/news/23251.php?index=23251&po_date=24.01.2009&lang=en"]HERE[/url] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thomist-in-Training Posted January 24, 2009 Share Posted January 24, 2009 Yes!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brother Adam Posted January 24, 2009 Share Posted January 24, 2009 The overall success of this reversal will now depend on the attitudes (humility) of both the SSPX and Catholics in good standing. I will pray for a swift full reconciliation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ilovechrist Posted January 24, 2009 Share Posted January 24, 2009 well done, Papa Benedict. well done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CatherineM Posted January 24, 2009 Share Posted January 24, 2009 I read in the paper this morning that this is affecting our Jewish relations. One of the four bishops is a Holocaust denier. The ADL, the Jewish/Vatican relations guys are all really mad. I didn't realize that any Catholic bishops were deniers. Maybe if they are willing to come back under the Pope's authority, Benedict can straighten him out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brother Adam Posted January 24, 2009 Share Posted January 24, 2009 I think it is important for these people to remember that the bishops are not in full communion yet. They did not lift the excommunication because one is a holocaust denier. I'm sure it was lifted in spite of that for the right reasons. Hopefully dropping this denial will be one requirement for the bishop to come back into full communion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
puellapaschalis Posted January 24, 2009 Share Posted January 24, 2009 [quote name='Brother Adam' post='1760171' date='Jan 24 2009, 07:14 PM']I think it is important for these people to remember that the bishops are not in full communion yet. They did not lift the excommunication because one is a holocaust denier. I'm sure it was lifted in spite of that for the right reasons. Hopefully dropping this denial will be one requirement for the bishop to come back into full communion.[/quote] YES. Someone on LJ (a Catholic) completely trashed this move of the Holy Father's, because of Bp. Williams' recent actions, saying that nothing good will come of it. Later in a comment he said that the SSPX originated from Fascism (which...might be true, I don't know much about this) and that [i]they have done nothing to deserve being inside the Church[/i]. I wanted to gag. What was the Pope going to do? Postpone this because of Bp Williams? That's not being a Pope, that's being a coward. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KnightofChrist Posted January 24, 2009 Share Posted January 24, 2009 [quote name='Brother Adam' post='1760171' date='Jan 24 2009, 01:14 PM']I think it is important for these people to remember that the bishops are not in full communion yet. They did not lift the excommunication because one is a holocaust denier. I'm sure it was lifted in spite of that for the right reasons. Hopefully dropping this denial will be one requirement for the bishop to come back into full communion.[/quote] That seems to have already begun. [url="http://wdtprs.com/blog/2009/01/bp-fellay-responds-to-the-swedish-tv-re-bp-williamsons-interview/"]Bp. Fellay responds to the Swedish TV re: Bp. Williamson’s interview[/url] I also like Father Z points in '[url="http://wdtprs.com/blog/2009/01/some-thoughts-about-the-sspx-rome-and-unity/"]Some thoughts about the SSPX, Rome, and unity[/url]' Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KnightofChrist Posted January 24, 2009 Share Posted January 24, 2009 Lord our God, we thank you for the wisdom we gain from your scriptures. Grant us the courage to open our hearts and our minds to neighbours of other Christian confessions and of other faiths; the grace to overcome barriers of indifference, prejudice or hate; and a vision of the last days, when Christians might walk together towards that final feast, when tears and dissension will be overcome through love. Amen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CatholicCid Posted January 24, 2009 Share Posted January 24, 2009 I'm somewhat confused by this. The Bishops were excommunicated for their participation in their consecration, correct? Shouldn't this irregularity have been resolved before lifting the excommunications? And what does this statement mean: "while I declare deprived of any juridical effect, from the present date, the Decree emanated at that time"? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MithLuin Posted January 24, 2009 Share Posted January 24, 2009 That statement means that any 'penalties' resulting from the original excommunication are lifted. In other words, he isn't saying that they never should have been excommunicated, but rather, starting today, they are no longer excommunicated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CatholicCid Posted January 24, 2009 Share Posted January 24, 2009 (edited) Ah, ok, thanks! I assumed it was one of the two (no longer excommunicated or that the excommunications shouldn't have happened), but the latter didn't make sense. Big words scare me. Edited January 24, 2009 by CatholicCid Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Resurrexi Posted January 24, 2009 Author Share Posted January 24, 2009 [quote name='Brother Adam' post='1760171' date='Jan 24 2009, 12:14 PM']I think it is important for these people to remember that the bishops are not in full communion yet. They did not lift the excommunication because one is a holocaust denier. I'm sure it was lifted in spite of that for the right reasons. Hopefully dropping this denial will be one requirement for the bishop to come back into full communion.[/quote] I do not in any way support the comments Bishop Williamson made, but I really don't think the Pope will make him renounce his opinions about the Holocaust simply because they are no impediment to full communion. Now if Williamson were denying that Benedict was elected Pope validly, he would have to recant his error, because, as he explained when he was head of the CDF: "With regard to those truths connected to revelation by historical necessity and which are to be held definitively, but are not able to be declared as divinely revealed, the following examples can be given: the legitimacy of the election of the Supreme Pontiff or of the celebration of an ecumenical council, the canonizations of saints (dogmatic facts), the declaration of Pope Leo XIII in the Apostolic Letter Apostolicae Curae on the invalidity of Anglican ordinations." (Doctrinal Commentary on the Concluding Formula of the "Professio Fidei") However, as the history of the Holocaust (except, perhaps, in what it regards SS. Maximilian Kolbe and Teresa Benedicta of the Cross and any other Saints killed by the Nazis, though I'm not sure if one must actually believe anything more than that they are Saints), is not connected by historical necessity to divine revelation, it would seem that Bishop Williamson is free to disagree with all reputable historians today about the Holocaust, even if it does make him look like a nut. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Noel's angel Posted January 24, 2009 Share Posted January 24, 2009 This should make me hopeful, but it just makes me feel a bit uneasy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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