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Fr. Z has posted an amusing interview wherein our favorite ecumenist, Walter Cardinal Kasper, shares his thoughts about the ongoing dialogue between the Holy See and the traditionalist Society of St. Pius X. Had I the time or the inclination, I would, no doubt, have a field day with most everything that His Eminence had to say about the Holy Father’s pastoral, charitable, and indeed courageous outreach to the estranged SSPX, but the last little bit of the interview especially struck me. “They’ve attacked me as a heretic,” he said with a smile. Asked why the ultra-traditionalists opposed ecumenical dialogue...

The news is just coming in about a ridiculous though widely anticipated judgment from the German court against an outspoken leader in the SSPX movement. I know that denying the Holocaust is illegal in that country, but it shouldn't be. Of course I believe the Holocaust happened, but for the state to outlaw personal opinions, however odd we might think they are, is simply stupid. True, Bishop Williamson has caused plenty of headaches for his fellow members of the SSPX, not to mention for the Holy Father, but even though he may have been highly impolitic in some of his...

The secretary general of the Saint Pius X Society has ordered Bishop Richard Williamson to shut up for real this time. A year or so ago when Bishop Williamson made embarrasing worldwide headlines questioning the holocaust, the SSPX prohibited him from speaking on the subject anymore. Now in advance of his trial in Germany for holocaust denial, the SSPX is telling to stop talking and writing, period. BERLIN - A breakaway ultra-conservative Catholic group ordered British bishop Richard Williamson not to speak in public or testify at his trial for denying the Holocaust, German media reported Thursday.The secretary general of...

New York City, N.Y., Feb 16, 2010 / 06:56 am (CNA).- Fr. Gerald Murray, a canon lawyer and pastor of St. Vincent de Paul Church in New York City explained to CNA this week that the current discussions between the Holy See and the Society of St. Pius X (SSPX) “hold great promise for progress.”In the latest submission to CNA’s video commentary project, Fr. Murray addressed the origins of the traditionalist society, which was founded in 1970 by Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre in opposition to the teachings of the Second Vatican Council.  Then, in 1988, the archbishop ordained four bishops without...

Bishop Richard Williamson, the ultra-traditionalist prelate whose denial of the extent of the Holocaust created an uproar in the Catholic Church and with Jews early last year, has said the discussions at the Vatican to rehabilitate his Society of Saint Pius X (SSPX) are a “dialogue of the deaf.” Williamson, one of the four SSPX bishops whose bans of excommunication were lifted by Pope Benedict only days after his controversial views were aired on Swedish television, said the two sides had “absolutely irreconcilable” positions. In a 15-minute interview posted on the French video-sharing website Dailymotion, Williamson discussed a number of...

Pope Benedict XVI Vatican City, Jan 15, 2010 / 11:41 am (CNA).- In an address to members Plenary Assembly of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith at noon on Friday Pope Benedict XVI spoke of the unity he wishes to see in the Catholic Church.  He  expressed his hope for "full communion" with the Society of St. Pius X and the adherence of Anglicans "to the truth received from Christ.""Unity is first and foremost the unity of faith, upheld by the sacred tradition of which Peter's Successor is the primary custodian and defender," said the Pope to...

The year now ending has been a momentous one for Pope Benedict XVI and probably his busiest to date. It began with his highly controversial decision to lift the excommunications on four break-away bishops of the Society of St. Pius X, and more or less ended with his historic decision to facilitate the reception of large groups of Anglicans into the Catholic Church. But in between were many other significant events. The Pope made an eagerly anticipated pilgrimage to the Holy Land, published his first social encyclical, Caritas in Veritate (Charity in Truth), held a Synod of Bishops on Africa,...

It was truly a black Friday in Calgary, as Bishop Frederick Bernard Henry suspended the Extraordinary Form of the Mass in at least two of the locations staffed by the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Peter (FSSP). The Bishop, as published on the diocesan website, made drastic and forceful measures in the face of the Swine Flu outbreak. Mandatory as of November 9th, the bishop suspended communion on the tongue and from the chalice, stopped shaking hands at the sign of peace, removed the holy water from the fonts, as well as some minor non liturgical changes. When FSSP told the...

Prior to the opening of formal conversations between officials of the Holy See and leaders of the Lefebvrist Society of St. Pius X (SSPX), which began on Oct. 26, the mainstream media frequently misrepresented these discussions as a negotiation aimed at achieving a compromise that both sides can live with. That was to be expected from reporters and commentators for whom everything is politics and everything is thus negotiable. Alas, similar misrepresentations came from “Vatican insiders” who suggested that the teaching of the Second Vatican Council was under joint review by the Holy See and the SSPX, which only made...

A Vatican/SSPX Discussion Can Vatican II's Teaching on Religious Liberty Be Reconciled with Tradition? John Salza, J.D. REMNANT GUEST COLUMNIST   Pope Benedict, Cardinal Hoyos, Bishop Fellay (Aug. 2005)(POSTED 11/17/09 www.RemnantNewspaper.com) As the long-awaited dialogue between the Vatican and the Society of Saint Pius X gets underway, one of the more contentious issues that will be on the table is the Second Vatican Council's teaching on religious liberty found in Dignatius Humane (DH).  Following is a brief critique of DH in light of the traditional teachings of the Church. The fact that volumes have been written evaluating whether DH is compatible with tradition demonstrates that...

According to media reports, Pope Benedict XVI is continuing his efforts to return some disaffected Catholic traditionalists to the “fold.” In the wake of the Second Vatican Council, Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre and the Society of St. Pius X (SSPX) were at odds with the papacy on several issues resulting from the council, which both sides viewed as fundamental.  Lefebvre and five others were automatically excommunicated in 1988, when he consecrated four bishops. However, the excommunication of the four surviving bishops was lifted earlier this year as part of the present pope’s outreach to the Traditionalist Catholics. According to the Associated...

York's Planned Parenthood protests a protestor Center cites priest's behavior and criminal past. Father Gabriel: 'I'm not backing down' By MELISSA NANN BURKE Daily Record/Sunday News It didn't take long for staff and volunteers at the York office of Planned Parenthood of Central Pennsylvania Inc. to take note of the Rev. Virgil Bradley Tetherow . Tetherow, known as Father Gabriel, first appeared on the sidewalks outside the clinic in the summer of 2008, often dressed in his vestments as if prepared to celebrate Mass. His behavior toward staff, volunteers and visitors set him apart from other clergy who came to...

Following their exchange in July, author Moyra Doorly and Aidan Nichols discuss the merits of post-Vatican II liturgical reform Dear Fr Aidan, In your kind reply to my first letter you made the point that I was drawing "unnecessarily sharp" contrasts between a theology of "propitiation and supplication" on one hand, and teachings on the "fruits of Communion" on the other. But what I was trying to demonstrate is that the pre-Conciliar sources give ample teaching on both, whereas the documents of Vatican II ignore the theology of propitiation and supplication. Now, to me this represents a doctrinal discontinuity of...

ROME (CNS) -- Dissident theologian Father Hans Kung criticized Pope Benedict XVI for his recent opening to discontented Anglicans, charging the pope was "fishing" for the most conservative Christians to the detriment of the larger church. Father Kung said the invitation to traditionalist Anglicans to join the Roman Catholic Church went against years of ecumenical work on the part of both churches, calling it instead "a nonecumenical piracy of priests." The pope's basic message is: "Traditionalists of all churches, unite under the dome of St. Peter's!" Father Kung wrote in an editorial Oct. 28 in the Rome daily La Repubblica....

A British bishop has been fined €12,000 after a German court found him guilty of denying the Holocaust.Richard Williamson received a letter today from the court in the Bavarian city of Regensburg informing him that he was being fined for incitement over his claim on Swedish television that fewer than 300,000 Jews died in Nazi death camps.In the interview, Williamson alleged that Nazi gas chambers had never existed and "only 200,000 to 300,000 Jews" had been killed by the Nazis.Holocaust denial is classed as a hate crime in Germany and because the interview took place in Regensburg, German prosecutors were...

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- In an atmosphere described as "cordial, respectful and constructive," Vatican officials opened a dialogue with representatives of the traditionalist Society of St. Pius X and scheduled twice-a-month meetings over the coming months. In a statement issued after the first meeting at the Vatican Oct. 26, the Pontifical Commission "Ecclesia Dei" said the process would focus on key doctrinal issues arising from the teachings of the Second Vatican Council. "The questions due to be examined concern the concept of tradition, the Missal of Paul VI (the post-Vatican II Roman Missal), the interpretation of Vatican Council II in...

The Vatican has now released a statement concerning the meeting this morning between Church officials and the SSPX. It reads: “On Monday, Oct. 26, 2009, in the Palazzo del Sant’Uffizio, headquarters of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and of the Pontifical Commission ‘Ecclesia Dei,’ the study commission made up of experts from ‘Ecclesia Dei’ and from the Society of St. Pius X held its first meeting, with the aim of examining the doctrinal differences still outstanding between the society and the Apostolic See.“In a cordial, respectful and constructive climate, the main doctrinal questions were identified. These will...

Santiago, Chile, Oct 22, 2009 / 01:03 pm (CNA).- In an interview with the Chilean daily, “El Mercurio,” the Superior General of the Society of St. Pius X, Bernard Fellay, acknowledged that the Vatican is considering the possibility of converting the Lefebvrist group into a personal prelature as part of the discussions aimed at bringing about reconciliation. Fellay, who visited members of the SSPX movement in Chile, is one of four bishops whose excommunication was lifted by Pope Benedict XVI last January. Asked about the speculation that the Society of Pius X could be made into a personal prelature similar...

Fr. Federico Lombardi Vatican City, Oct 15, 2009 / 12:40 pm (CNA).- Several months after Pope Benedict lifted the excommunications of four Society of St. Pius X bishops, the Director of the Holy See's press office, Father Federico Lombardi, announced today that the first meeting with representatives of the society will take place in Rome on Monday, October 26. The meeting will be attended by a number of individuals, including Archbishop Guido Pozzo, secretary of the Ecclesia Dei Pontifical Commission; Archbishop Luis Ladaria Ferrer, secretary of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF); Dominican Father Charles Morerod, secretary...

A full restoration of the traditionalist Society of St. Pius X to union with Rome does not appear imminent, if a recent interview given by the societyÂ’s superior general is any guide. The Reuters FaithWorld blog has posted excerpts from the interview Bishop Bernard Fellay conducted with the Tradition magazine published by the SSPX in South Africa. His comments are significant, as the Vatican and the society will soon begin direct discussions about the doctrinal differences that separate the society from the Church. Bishop Fellay gives no hint that the SSPX is prepared to give ground in these talks with...