Posted on 10/13/2009 4:42:53 PM PDT by NYer
With the much-anticipated "doctrinal dialogue" between the Holy See and the Society of St Pius X soon to get underway in Rome, the recently de-excommunicated head of the traditionalist group has taken to showing his cards:
“The solution to the crisis is a return to the past,” [Bishop Bernard Fellay] has told a magazine published by the SSPX in South Africa.Intended that the Swiss-based Society might "resume the path of full communion with the church," the SSPX's "full recognition" of the Council's teachings on ecumenism, other faiths and religious liberty has already been identified as a "not negotiable" condition for its reconciliation with Rome.
Fellay said Pope Benedict agrees with the SSPX on the need to maintain the church’s links to the past, but still wants to keep some reforms of the Second Vatican Council. “This is one of the most sensitive problems,” he said. “We hope the discussions will allow us to dispel the grave ambiguities that have spread through the Catholic Church since (the Council), as John Paul II himself recognised.”...
In the same interview with the magazine Tradition, he also indicated the SSPX was ready to add several new issues to the agenda of the talks that could drag on the sessions for years. The talks are due to start later this month.
Fellay said the church was in such a crisis that it would take more than one generation of “constant efforts in the right direction” and possibly as long as a century to overcome it....
Fellay then indicated the SSPX could also contribute to dragging out these talks as much as possible. “The issues are vast,” he told the magazine. “Our principle objections to the Council, such as religious liberty, ecumenism and collegiality are well known. But other objections could be posed, such as the influence of modern philosophy, the liturgical novelties, the spirit of the world and its influence on the modern thought that holds sway in the church.”
Prayers for the Holy Father and the hierarchs of the SPPX. May their talks bear fruit.
No one objects to bringing in new teachings as long as they don't conflict with old teachings (and are CORRECT!).
Some of these people still believe in Transubstantiation.
***************
Amen.
Can somebody boil this down for us non-catholics?
The SSPX is a group that is in an irregular situation with Rome. They have continued to offer Mass only in the traditional form, which stayed largely the same for over 1,000 years. In addition to objecting to the new form of the Mass, introduced in 1970, they object to what they see as new, inconsistent teachings introduced at or after the Council, especially those in the above documents.
In 1988, the founder of this group, in response to what he said was an effort to destroy the group, consecrated four bishops without the approval of the Pope. For this, he and the newly consecrated bishops were excommunicated. The excommunications against the four living bishops were recently lifted by the Pope. Now, there are discussions ongoing to try to regularize the situation of the SSPX.
Some of the particular issues under examination have to do with religious liberty, which Dignitatis Humanae said was a human right, but which is close to a previously condemned opinion, and ecumenism.
All Catholics must accept the dogma of transubstantiation. It is spelled out in conciliar documents of Trent and one of the Lateran councils.
Yep.
But the problem is that a lot of Catholics don’t accept this teaching.
The doctrine unfortunately is often given short shrift in our modernist parishes. The emphasis is placed on Eucharist as a shared meal.
Trent and the Lateran councils are so pre-Vatican II (code for irrelevant) to these folks.
Their ignorance or lack of acceptance does not alter the teaching. Transubstantiation is a dogma of faith. In similar manner, repositioning the Tabernacle to a side altar or even a back room does not change or remove the fact that Jesus remains truly present in the Eucharist. This is also true of the priest, who is a sinner. Recall the words of our Lord to St. Faustina. Speaking on the topic of Confession, He said:
My daughter, just as you prepare in My presence, so also you make your confession before Me. The person of the priest is, for Me, only a screen. Never analyse what sort of a priest it is that I am making use of; open your soul in confession as you would to Me, and I will fill it with My light. (1725)
Never analyse what sort of a priest it is that I am making use of ... these words are key to understanding how our Lord works through even the most sinful priest to impart His graces on us. On the topic of Holy Communion, He said:
I desire to unite Myself to human souls, Know, My daughter, that when I come to a human heart in Holy Communion, My hands are full of all kinds of graces which I want to give to the soul. But souls do not even pay any attention to Me; they leave Me to Myself and busy themselves with other things...They treat Me as a dead object. (1385)
It is your responsibility to approach our Lord in faith and not be concerned with your neighbors or analyze the priest.
This does not strike me as the action of one who wishes to discuss matters in good faith. As an engineer, it reminds me of customers who throw up an unending stream of new requirements in an attempt to get something for nothing.
Never underestimate the power of prayer, which can soften even the most hardened of hearts. The longer they remain separated, the more difficult becomes the hope of reunion.
They're quite solid on transubstantiation.
Where they're less solid is the dogma of the indefectibility of the church, and the virtue of holy obedience.
No they're not. They relate to specific phrases in a limited number of Vatican II documents, which as the Pope has repeatedly emphasized, are to be understood in the light of Catholic tradition.
“Our principle objections to the Council, such as religious liberty, ecumenism and collegiality are well known. But other objections could be posed, such as the influence of modern philosophy, the liturgical novelties, the spirit of the world and its influence on the modern thought that holds sway in the church.”
I don't have a real good feeling about this.
Fellay is comparing apples and oranges. It's one thing to ask for clarification of the meaning of specific official Church documents such as those that came out of Vatican II and to discuss their meaning in the light of Catholic tradition. However, it's quite another to start an unfocused, open ended "Free Republic Religion Forum" type argument about all the abuses which are being practiced in violation of Catholic tradition. In the first place, the Pope knows better than anyone the "influence of modern philosophy, the liturgical novelties, the spirit of the world and its influence on the modern thought that holds sway in the church" and is trying to counter it. He'd likely be in agreement. Furthermore, if history teaches us anything, this will always be an issue in the Church, to some extent.
This seems to me to be the first gambit in a goalpost moving exercise. Reading between the lines, what he's saying is this; "we won't be back until some of the mess is cleaned up." Naturally, how much of the mess needs to be cleaned up will not be well defined and will be left to the SSPX to decide. They'll wait a long time. The Church's history is essentially a series of crises.
Fellay is essentially paraphrasing what we've heard many times on FR over the years by individuals who attend SSPX chapels; "I left because I was sick of all the hanky panky". This leads to the obvious question "well do you want to help us clean it up?". The answer is usually "no, I won't be back until it's straightened out."
Cardinal George was right. They've isolated themselves.
“The solution to the crisis is a return to the past,”
The leaders of the SSPX are foolish.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.