Fr. Niklaus Pfluger
Posted on 10/04/2011 1:28:42 PM PDT by NYer
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A senior figure in the breakaway traditionalist group, the Society of St. Pius X, says it could “very, very difficult” for the Vatican and the Society to agree terms for reconciliation.
“Assisi III and even more the unfortunate beatification of John Paul II but also many other examples make it clear that the leadership of the Church now as before is not ready to give up the false principles of Vatican II and their consequences,” said the Society’s First Assistant, Father Niklaus Pfluger, in an interview posted on the Society’s website Oct. 2.
“Therefore,” Fr. Pfluger said, “any ‘offer’ made to Tradition must guarantee us the freedom to be able to continue our work and our critique of ‘modernist Rome.’ And to be honest, this seems to be very, very difficult. Again, any false or dangerous compromise must be ruled out.”
“Assisi III” refers to a planned meeting between Pope Benedict XVI and other religious leaders in the Italian town later this month.
Fr. Pfluger’s comments come only weeks after the Vatican presented the Society with a “doctrinal preamble” which outlines points of doctrine that Rome needs clarified before the decades-long rift between the two sides can be healed. If they agree, it is thought the Society could be offered a personal prelature status within the Church - a jurisdiction without geographical boundaries designed to carry out particular pastoral initiatives
Fr. Pfluger revealed that the superiors of the Society of St. Pius X will meet next week in the Albano Laziale suburb of Rome to discuss the offer. He stressed that they will not compromise on their criticism of the Second Vatican Council “and other ways of doing things for the sake of ‘pluralism.’”
“For how can we avoid giving the impression that this amounts after all to a tacit acceptance, so to speak, that would in fact lead to this parallel diversity and relativize the one truth,” he asked, adding, “that is indeed precisely the basis of Modernism.”
The Society of St. Pius X has had a strained relationship with the Vatican since its founder, Archbishop Marcel Lefebrve, consecrated four bishops against the orders of Pope John Paul II in 1988. Archbishop Lefebrve founded the Society in 1970 as a response to what he described as errors that had crept into the Catholic Church following the Second Vatican Council.
Fr. Pfluger also suggested that the Society of St. Pius X is in a stronger bargaining position in relation to the Vatican than in 1988.
“We have four bishops and meanwhile 550 priests worldwide. And the structures of the official Church are breaking down faster and faster. Rome can no longer confront the Society as it did more than twenty years ago,” he said.
“For forty-one years the Society has grown steadily, even in spite of being beaten with the ‘excommunication’ stick.”
Ping!
Of course, they don’t want to come back.
(1) The only repository of tradition is the Magisterium.
The SSPX proves here that it is deluded into believing that it possesses the Magisterium.
(2) There is nothing the Holy See "must" do for the SSPX - this is not the language of those who pursue the obedience of faith.
(3) Is Pfluger now the head of the SSPX and able to make authoritative statements on their behalf?
Where is Fellay?
At this point, I say good riddance to these Latinate Protestants.
This has happened before. “Traditionalist” groups split with the Church over some pretext. They enjoy the novelty of freedom from the Church’s teaching authority. Over time, they inevitably become more and more liberal and more and more divergent.
Folks, may I draw your attention to some related items?
The first is a 47 minute talk by Father Rostand about the Rome Conference:
http://en.gloria.tv/?media=201021
A very good, and telling, interview.
Then this, an interview (with english subtitles) with the Secretary of Ecclesia Dei, about this: http://wdtprs.com/blog/2011/10/video-interview-with-the-secretary-of-the-pont-comm-ecclesia-dei/#comments
And finally, this, purloined from the wonderful Rorate Caeli:
“We happily join this prayer request put forward by the United States District of the Society of Saint Pius X (FSSPX / SSPX):
10-4-2011
As announced by DICI, the Superior General, Bishop Fellay, has called all of the SSPX’s superiors to a special meeting at the Society’s house in Albano, near Rome.
This meeting is important for the future of the entire Church, and because its main session will take place on October 7th (the Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary), the United States District Superior, Fr. Rostand, is requesting special prayers to the Blessed Virgin Mary on this day through recitation of all 15 decades of the Rosary.
As this day will also happen to be the First Friday for October, Fr. Rostand encourages all who can to spiritually assist the SSPX by fulfilling that day’s devotions to the Sacred Heart—attendance at the votive Mass and adoration of the Blessed Sacrament.”
Honestly, whether one favors this or not, we should all be praying for the Church, and the SSPX. Not that I am trying to be bossy, just that I truly think that prayer is the answer for us, and to leave the rest in His hands. (I’ll get off the soapbox now. ;) )
You prefer the modern mass? If not, you should be thankful that God inspired the SSPX to successfully defend the Latin Mass and Catholic Tradition from modernist quislings who overran most other parts of the Church in the West.
Good question. I have a feeling that regardless, there will be a real schism (the more proper term, instead of "Protestant," which carries a specific connotation. They will be more like the "Old" Catholics or the Orthodox). It is just a matter of how big it will be, even with the overtures that the Pope gave with his removal of the excommunications. I don't think this priest is doing any good for this process. Silence would have been better, which is, interestingly enough, Bishop Fellay's M.O. during most of this process.
In more felicitous news, I hope the matter with the traditionalist religious who follow the Redemptorist rule in Scotland (and who ended their affiliation with the SSPX after the motu proprio) is finally resolved.
But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach a gospel to you besides that which we have preached to you, let him be anathema. Gal 1:8,9
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