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Archbishop Gerhard Ludwig Muller, the prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, speaks with CNA during a July 20, 2012 interview. Rome, Italy, Jul 24, 2012 / 04:00 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Although the new head of the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith is optimistic about reconciliation with the Society of St. Pius X, he says that the teachings of the Church – including the dogmatic content of the Second Vatican Council – will never be up for re-negotiation. “The purpose of dialogue is to overcome difficulties in the interpretation of the Second Vatican...

From Our Store: Essays in Apologetics, Volume I (eBook) What is finally emerging as the sticking point between the Vatican and the Society of Saint Pius X is the question of the assent owed to the Second Vatican Council. This is now the subject of an important essay in L’Osservatore Romano by one of the key negotiators for the Vatican, the vicar general of Opus Dei, Msgr. Fernando Ocariz. Note that there is a link to the full text at the end of our news story, which itself includes substantial quotations.I hate to say I told you so, but Msgr. Ocariz...

Pilgrims at the World Youth Day closing Mass (Photo: CNS)A friend has forwarded to me an interesting blog, dated September 28, by Fr Stephen Wang of the Westminster diocese. Entitled “Liberal, conservative, progressive, traditionalist: where is the Church going?” it throws open a debate about an article written by John Allen of the National Catholic Reporter at the conclusion to World Youth Day.In his article, Allen thinks the Church is turning towards “Evangelical Catholicism”. He defines this as having three aspects: 1. A strong defence of traditional Catholic identity, meaning attachment to classic markers of Catholic thought (doctrinal orthodoxy) and...

  Last week, I chronicled something of the bafflement that ensued as I was confronted with the weirdly malleable term "neo-Catholic." Judging from the combox discussion that followed, many readers share the tremendous confusion surrounding the term. Did it denote converts or those who loathe converts? Was it code for "neocon" or for non-neocon? Was it meant to denote a political or theological group? Was it a floor cleaner or a dessert topping? So many questions!   In response to my bafflement over the meaning of the term, one of my readers finally replied:   In the past, when...

CMR is known for its parodies. But I promise you, this is not a parody. It comes from a book published by the Liturgical Conference in 1969 called Manual of Celebration by Robert Hovda (who is also widely known as one of the chief authors of the 1978 bishops' document on church architecture, Environment and Art in Catholic Worship.) If you think the choices in your parish are bad today, here's a real trip to 40 years ago..."A Scriptural Service for a Community Experience of the Sacrament of Penance"(The following is a more ambitious penance service than is usual....

I first met Sioux City, Iowa Bishop Walker Nickless a month ago at the Serra International gathering in Omaha, Neb. Little did I know then that he was working on his bold first pastoral letter since his installation as bishop four years ago. Ecclesia Semper Reformanda (The Church is Always in Need of Renewal), released yesterday, takes a look at the impact of the Second Vatican Council and sets forth a plan for the people of Sioux City and beyond. In many ways, it’s a pastoral letter unlike one we’ve yet seen. Forty-four years after the close of the...

The success of future talks with the Society of St. Pius X (SSPX) depends to a great extent on whether the parties can come to an understanding about Vatican II. The questions are not new: even after the Lefebvrite schism the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei has discussed the disputed points with traditionalist believers. But how are we to understand the requirement that someone should take up unreservedly a position based on the Council? Moreover the demand for complete acknowledgment of all the conciliar documents is made by people who for their part are far from complying with this demand. The...

Most Catholics in 1959 probably didn't even know what an ecumenical council was. And yet, here it was. Pope John XXIII announced that the goals of the Second Vatican Council would be "the renewal of the spirit of the Gospel in the hearts of people everywhere and the adjustment of Christian discipline to modern-day living" -- a proclamation that was on the face of it ambiguous. How was authentic renewal to be achieved? How should essential discipline be adjusted to modern culture?   John was a relentless optimist, inclined always to look for good in the world, disinclined to...

From the Italian news agency ANSA, this news (ht: National Catholic Register):The Society of Saint Pius X whose ultratraditionalist bishops were recently rehabilitated by Pope Benedict XVI will not accept the reforms introduced by the Second Vatican Council, the head of the order has told a Swiss paper. Monsignor Bernard Fellay told the daily Le Courier on Thursday that the Council has caused the Catholic Church ''only damages''. ''The aftermath of the Council has been to empty seminaries, nunneries and churches. Thousands of priests have left their orders and millions of faithful have stopped being practicing Catholics and have joined...

PARIS (Reuters) - An ultra-traditionalist bishop seeking rehabilitation from the Vatican said in an interview on Wednesday that his breakaway movement could not fully accept landmark 20th century church reforms, as his critics demand. Bishop Fellay, whose excommunication was lifted last month along with those of three other bishops, said his Society of Saint Pius X (SSPX) did not agree with a key document of the Second Vatican Council on respecting other religions. He also told the French weekly Famille Chretienne he did not reject the 1962-1965 Council completely but only "a dangerous spirit that runs through the whole Council"...

Washington DC, Feb 6, 2009 / 03:23 am (CNA).- Catholic commentator George Weigel has suggested that the Society of St. Pius X’s (SSPX) response to the lifting of the excommunications of its leaders may not bode well for the full reunion of the traditionalist breakaway group with Rome. Writing in a Jan. 26 issue of Newsweek, Weigel said SSPX leader Bishop Bernard Fellay’s Jan. 24 letter to society adherents may be seen by some as a “unilateral declaration of victory.”The bishop’s letter said that “Catholic Tradition is no longer excommunicated” and affirms “all the councils up to the Second Vatican...

In 1850, Cardinal Nicholas Wiseman wrote his fellow-Englishmen from Rome, announcing that Pius IX had restored the diocesan hierarchy in England and that he, Wiseman, would be cardinal archbishop of Westminster. “From Out the Flaminian Gate,” a pastoral letter longer on baroque rhetoric than ecumenical diplomacy, caused a perfect storm in Protestant England. Queen Victoria wondered whether she remained the sovereign. Lord John Russell, the prime minister, said he would rely on the good sense of the English people, who “looked with contempt on the mummeries of superstition.” The Anglican archbishop of York warned that Rome was plotting Anglicanism’s “captivity...

The last few days have been have been amazing for the Church in America. I spent the last few days watching events and reading speeches. With all the hoopla surrounding the papal visit, I wondered if there might be some stories that you and I have missed. After the mass at Yankee stadium, I have spent the last few hours trying catching up. With papal speeches still clinging to my brain, slowly completing the osmosis process, I saw a thread in some of this other news that I might have missed otherwise. Prior to the Pope's election three years ago,...

Rome, Oct 30, 2007 / 01:05 pm (CNA).- In an interview with Italian journalist Paolo Luigi Rodari, the author of the blog “Palazzo Apostolico,” Bernard Fellay, the superior general of the Priestly Fraternity of St. Pius X, said the schismatic movement demands not only a “correct interpretation” of Vatican II, but that the Council documents actually be changed. Fellay defended his fellow excommunicated bishop, Ricard Williamson, identified by some in the media as leader of the “intransigent wing” of the fraternity.  Fellay said, “Williamson and I are in agreement that it would be difficult to re-enter to the Church as it...

Justin Cardinal Rigali Rumors began to fly even before the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops met in Los Angeles, June 15 to 17. The media said changes were going to be made in the responses that parishioners make during the Mass. Before you knew it, columnists began to opine about whether they liked the old or the new responses, and whether the new responses made sense. To all of that, Cardinal Justin Rigali says: “We want people to know that, yes, the bishops have approved, by a large vote, the changes in the Ordinary of the Mass. But it’s...

May. 01 (CWNews.com) - A bishop of the Society of St. Pius X (SSPX) has harshly criticized Pope Benedict XVI (bio - news) and the teachings of Vatican II, raising new questions about the prospects for reconciliation between the Vatican and the schismatic traditionalist group. Bishop Bernard Tissier de Mallerais said that the Pontiff "has professed heresies in the past." While stopping short of calling the Pope a heretic, he added that "he has never retracted the errors." The blistering charges by the SSPX bishop are likely to cool expectations of any immediate move to retore ties between the traditionalist...

Three significant movements have swept through the Church since the Second Vatican Council, all of which have been sources of great blessing and sometimes confusion, with, on occasion, some devotees mistakenly making themselves a Magisterium unto themselves. Most of them outgrow this error. I am speaking of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal, the Marian movement — particularly involving reported apparitions, especially those occurring in Medjugorje, in the former Yugoslavia — and the Traditionalist/ Tridentine Mass movement. I most closely associate myself with the charismatic renewal which I credit with perhaps saving my life while Jesus was working on saving my soul.Of...

The Catholic Church in the United States is in a state of profound transition. A priest or layman transported through time from 1965 to 2005 would be astonished and most likely disconcerted by the dramatic changes that have taken place in the 40 years following the close of Vatican II. Of course, the hierarchical and sacramental nature of the Church remains unchanged. What, however, has clearly changed are the numbers and status of laity, religious, and clergy in the mystical Body of Christ. Related to this is the altered understanding of their roles in the Church. I am writing this...

Explains Roots of Crisis That Hit Church in Wake of Council VATICAN CITY, DEC. 22, 2005 (Zenit.org).- The crisis that arose in the Church after the Second Vatican Council wasn't due to the conciliar documents, but rather in their interpretation, says Benedict XVI. The Pope made a long analysis of the legacy left by the 1962-1965 gathering of the world's bishops, when he met today with his aides in the Roman Curia to express his Christmas greetings. The Holy Father asked rhetorically: "What has been good and what has been insufficient or mistaken?" in the implementation of the Council. According...

Tracey Rowland on the Pope's Interpretation of the Council MELBOURNE, Australia, JULY 24, 2005 (Zenit.org).- Many believe that "Gaudium et Spes" was the key document that shaped the life of the Church in the years immediately following the Second Vatican Council. However, according to theologian Tracey Rowland, 40 years of post-conciliar history and reflection on the 1965 pastoral constitution have led many to conclude that the document had an inadequate understanding of culture, particularly that of the culture of liberal modernity. The result, Rowland reckons, was the unleashing of currents within the Church that gravely harmed the liturgy and offered...