SSPX Statement on Situation With Rome

Pozzo's actions speak louder than words!


[SSPX District USA] We publish here a Le Seignadou editorial by Fr. Michel Simoulin, SSPX chaplain of the Dominicans of Fanjeaux. Fr. Simoulin comments on the behind the scenes denial of the celebration of Mass during the pilgrimage the sisters and their students made last February in Rome, which contradicts the recently assertions made by Archbishop Pozzo of the Ecclesia Dei Commission.

There is Rome…and then there is the Vatican and the Vatican officials, the guardians of the law and of the Temple! Alas, it is not always the same thing! The Vatican of our times very often manifests a spirit that is not the spirit of Rome, that Rome sung by Dante, Dom Gueranger, Louis Veuillot, Fr. Berto, Archbishop Lefebvre…and long before them by the Fathers of the Church: St. Clement of Rome, St. Ignatius of Antioch, St. Irenaeus of Lyon, Tertullian, Origen, St. Cyprian of Carthage…

Good old Corneille proclaimed in his time that “Rome is no longer in Rome; she is wherever I am” (Sertorius, III, I), and we are, alas, obliged to make a distinction between Rome and the Vatican, between what comes from Rome and what comes from the Vatican! And it was to Rome that our sisters led their schools, in thanksgiving and out of fidelity to Rome, under the astonished eyes of the Vatican officials.

Oddly enough, a small noisy group criticized this pilgrimage: it would seem that the children were forced, obliged against their will, forcefully dragged to the feet of the pope…outrageous fees were “extorted” from the parents…in short, meanness vies with stupidity, and those who say these things should take a look at, read and meditate on the accounts given by and about those who participated! When they threw their berets in the air at St. Peter’s Square, it seemed spontaneous and rather joyful to me!

Cont...

http://sspx.org/en/news-events/news/actions-speak-than-louder-words

DICI: The State of Argentina Recognizes the Society of St. Pius X Administratively

Edit: copied from DICI for the record.


Argentina: The State of Argentina Recognizes the Society of St. Pius X Administratively
13-04-2015
Filed under From Tradition, News

Queen Mary House, headquarter of the District of South America (Buenos Aires, Argentina).

On April 12, 2015, the Argentinian newspaper Clarin announced the decision of the Secretary of Religion, Guillermo R. Oliveri, published in the official bulletin of the Argentine Republic on April 9, 2015; according to this decision the Society of St. Pius X is recognized in Argentina as a juridical person and has been added to the Register of the Institutes of Consecrated Life in which are listed the Catholic orders and religious congregations present in Argentina.
This decision was made possible, among other formalities, by a letter from the archbishop of Buenos Aires, Cardinal Mario Aurelio Poli, addressed to the Secretary of Religion as a part of the procedures undertaken by the Society’s authorities in 2011. This letter, in which the archbishop of Buenos Aires “asked that ‘the Society of the Apostles of Jesus and Mary’ (Society of St. Pius X) be considered as an association with diocesan rights, until a definitive juridical framework is granted to it in the universal Church,” is a necessary condition for all religious congregations in Argentina.
Cardinal Poli’s document has no canonical authority, for he cannot substitute himself for the Roman authority that alone can settle the Society’s canonical status. It is simply a procedure that allows the State of Argentina to make an administrative decision until “a definitive juridical framework is granted (to the Society) in the universal Church.”

It is important to know that in Argentina, Catholic religious congregations can only exercise their apostolate within an administrative and juridical framework conditioned by their inscription in the register of the Institutes of Consecrated Life, on the ecclesiastical authority’s recommendation.

The fact that Cardinal Poli is Cardinal Bergoglio’s successor to the archiepiscopal see of Buenos Aires is a legitimate reason to believe that this decision was not taken without consulting Pope Francis. Nonetheless, it is nothing more than a strictly administrative procedure in the restricted context of the Republic of Argentina.
(Sources: FSSPX-MG/Clarin/BO Rep. Arg. DICI, 4-13-2015)
Argentina: El Estado Argentino reconoce administrativamente la Fraternidad San Pío X

Pope's Argentine Successor Urges State to Recognize Catholicity of SSPX

Edit: this will make some people at Vatican Insider very unhappy.

Note from CFN: Bishop Fellay and SSPX Leadership have to yet to publicly comment on this development, but will probably do so soon.

Argentina formally recognizes SSPX as part of the Catholic Church - at the request of the Archbishop of Buenos Aires (and Pope Francis?)
Our partners at Adelante de la Fe have broken the news that the Argentinian government has recognized the SSPX as part of the Roman Catholic Church: La FSSPX reconocida en Argentina como parte de la Iglesia Católica Romana.In the words of the official state Resolution granting this recognition:

http://www.cfnews.org/page88/files/0829beea0af2b1811ba5fb8777ba136f-366.html

Society of St. Pius X Six Years After the Letter of Benedict XVI Between Vocations and Schism

(Menzingen) The Catholic monthly magazine Il Timone has published the following article about the traditional Society of St. Pius X (SSPX)  not presently   in unity with Rome.

"Six years ago, on 10 March 2009, Pope Benedict XVI wrote the "Letter to the Bishops of the Catholic Church Concerning the  lifting of the excommunication of the four bishops consecrated by Archbishop Lefebvre."  It was one of the most moving and vibrant documents of his magisterium and at the same time also one of the most dramatic. It was created to respond to a wild campaign, which was sparked by the media and parts of the Church against him, to give in to the  "biting and devouring" as St. Paul complains in his letter to the Galatians, and what Benedict XVI. then pointed to describe the climate of those days.

In his letter, which is worth reading in its entirety because of its clarity and depth,  Benedict XVI wrote. amongst other things:

'Can we be totally indifferent about a community which has 491 priests, 215 seminarians, 6 seminaries, 88 schools, 2 university-level institutes, 117 religious brothers, 164 religious sisters and thousands of lay faithful? Should we casually let them drift farther from the Church? I think for example of the 491 priests. We cannot know how mixed their motives may be. All the same, I do not think that they would have chosen the priesthood if, alongside various distorted and unhealthy elements, they did not have a love for Christ and a desire to proclaim him and, with him, the living God. Can we simply exclude them, as representatives of a radical fringe, from our pursuit of reconciliation and unity? What would then become of them?'

The letter  has new relevance these days because of two events. The first  is that Bernard Fellay, Superior General of the Society of St. Pius X has announced that the Society has a count, this year in its history, of more than 600 priests for the first time. More than 100 priests in just  six years. Today, the Society maintains permanent establishments in 35 countries. However, their Apostolate extends to 70 countries. Its spread is particularly strong in the US, where it is building a new seminary, which will become its largest seminary. 'Shall we let them drift farther from the Church?' asked Benedict XVI. in his letter.

The second message is extremely fatal, published   yesterday by Rorate Caeli. One of the four bishops consecrated by Lefebvre, Richard Williamson,who was expelled in 2012 from the SSPX,  wants to at least consecrate one new bishop: Father Jean-Michel Faure, former superior of the Latin American District of the SSPX and former rector of the seminary La Reja, Argentina. He also belongs with Williamson, to those who have left the Society. The ordinations are to take place in the monastery formerly associated with the SSPX  of Santa Cruz in Nova Friburgo, a city in the state of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. With the episcopal ordination  Williamson would again incur excommunication , as well as for the new illegitimate bishop, and it would form one of those runaway lines of apostolic succession that Rome has tried to avoid in all circumstances, because they are able to produce schismatic groups, because it is a sacramental Potestas  they can claim for themselves.

Translation: Giuseppe Nardi
Image: Il Timone

Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotail.com

Link to Katholisches...

AMDG

SSPX Teaching Sisters Reported on EWTN

Edit: on February 13th, we picked up a report on the SSPX Dominican Sisters of Fanjeau on a pilgrimage in Rome.  EWTN has picked it up now.

A group of girls and accompanying nuns made a unique pilgrimage to St. Peter’s in February.  

The nuns are the “teaching sisters” - Dominicans - and they were celebrating a special occasion with children from their schools in the US, France and Germany.  

There’s a unique twist to this story. The Society of St. Pius the Tenth priests and the “teaching sisters” accompanying the pilgrimage are not in full communion with the Church in Rome. 

They have maintained opposition to some teachings and implementations of reforms from the Second Vatican Council.

Bishop Athanasius Schneider Visits SSPX Seminary in USA

Edit: Interesting news. More talk about an impending resolution.

Link to DICI...

Link to Rorate...

On February 11, 2015, Bishop Athanasius Schneider, auxiliary bishop of Astana in Kazakhstan, met with Bishop Bernard Fellay, SSPX Superior General, and also with several priests of the Society, at St. Thomas Aquinas Seminary in Winona (United States). 

This was the second visit by Bishop Schneider to one of our seminaries. On January 16, 2015, he had visited the St. Cure d’Ars Seminary in Flavigny (France). Both meetings pertained to the question of the liturgical reform of Paul VI and the doctrinal presuppositions of the Novus Ordo Missae. 

On December 5, 2014, Cardinal Walter Brandmuller, President Emeritus of the Pontifical Committee for Historical Sciences, had visited Sacred Heart Seminary in Zaitzkofen (Germany), where the discussion focused on the magisterial authority of Vatican Council II. 

These meetings are a way of continuing the doctrinal discussions between the Society of St. Pius X and the Roman authorities « in a larger and less formal context than that of the preceding meetings », according to the decision made during the meeting of Bishop Fellay with Cardinal Gerhard Muller, Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith on September 23, 2014.

Old Ritual Dominicans in Rome -- Procession Into Saint Peter's Under the Eyes of the Cardinals

Pilgrimage of Old Ritual Dominicans With Graduates in
the Archbasilica in Rome

(Rome) On the 40th anniversary of their order, the  Dominican Sisters of Fanjeaux are making a pilgrimage to Rome at the mother of all churches and the grave of Peter. The School Sisters of the Mother House in France in the Languedoc Fanjeaux (Aude) serves eight girls' schools. Six schools are located in France, one in the US and since 2012, one in the Federal Republic of Germany, near Freiburg im Breisgau.

The pilgrims included more than 1,500 people, including over 200 nuns, teachers and graduates of their schools, who  were distinguished by their blue Basque berets. The first stage of the pilgrimage was last Tuesday at the Archbasilica San Giovanni in Laterano omnium urbis et orbis mater et caput ecclesiarum (mother and head of all churches of Rome and of the earth). The Lateran Basilica is the highest ranking among the four patriarchal churches and the cathedral of  the pope. There, the pilgrims sang the Creed, and prayed the Way of the Cross for the pope. In the morning they had participated a Mass  celebrated by Father Niklaus Pfluger. Father Pfluger is the first assistant to the Society of St. Pius X.

Ceremonial Entry in the Vatican Basilica Under the Eyes of Cardinals

The School Sisters Visiting the Patriarchal Basilica

On Thursday, the traditional pilgrims, sisters, girls and women moved in solemn order into St. Peter's Basilica to visit the grave of the Apostle Peter. An "impressive event under the eyes of the Cardinals just gathering for the Consistory, an improvement standing out from the otherwise hectic crowd of pilgrims and tourists stood out" as Chiesa e postconcilio reported.

According to Forum Catholique, despite repeated requests to the Pontifical Commission of Ecclesia Dei  by the pilgrims,  ​​no church was made available to celebrate the Holy Mass in the traditional rite in the city of Rome. It's a de facto ban that has allegedly, according to the French side, to do with the fact that the Holy Masses by priests of the SSPX had to be  celebrated to ensure the pastoral care of the Dominican Sisters for 40 years. Father Pfluger had to celebrate the Holy Mass in the church reach Rome in a rented hall.

No Church of Rome for the Sacrifice of the Mass and a Small Episode

Prayer in the Lateran Basilica, the "head and the mother of all churches"

In the Holy Year, the SSPX had made ​​a pilgrimage to Rome with fellow religious and faithful. The pilgrimage drew "a solemn calm, and majestic dignity" in St. Peter's Basilica, Paolo Pasqualucci, who was then among the faithful at St. Peter's Square, as postconcilio Chiesa e reported. "Three young men of the uniformed police of the Vatican security service stood by. The latter were visibly upset at the sight of the procession of the SSPX, who moved toward St. Peter's Basilica. Probably they had been forewarned, since these  very bad heretics and enemies of the Pope were coming. The policeman watched a passing priest earnestly.  Then he turned and said to the young men from the security service in Roman dialect, 'This is the true Church and not that there'  and made ​​pointed with  his head in a movement toward the Vatican palaces. Twice he repeated it still,  while the priests, religious and faithful moved into St. Peter's."

Text: Giuseppe Nardi
image: Ciesa e postconcilio

Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com

Link to Katholisches...

AMDG

Cardinal Brandmüller Meets With SSPX at HQ

[SSPX USA] On December 5, 2014, Cardinal Walter Brandmuller, president emeritus of the Pontifical Committee for Historical Sciences, met with Bishop Bernard Fellay, superior general of the Priestly Society of St. Pius X, accompanied by several priests. The meeting was held at the Herz Jesu Seminary of Zaitzkofen, in Bavaria.

This meeting was a follow-up of the September 23, 2014 meeting in Rome, during which all had agreed to pursue the doctrinal discussions “in a broader, less formal framework than in the previous discussions.” (see DICI #302, Oct. 10, 2014). The theme was the Council and its magisterial authority.

The goal of these meetings is to make the Church’s authorities more aware of the Society and the works of Tradition, and at the same time to expose to them the serious objections and points of divergence that remain concerning the Second Vatican Council and its reforms. In this perspective, two more meetings are scheduled in the coming months, one at the St. Cure de Ars Seminary in Flavigny (France), and the other at St. Thomas Aquinas Seminary in Winona (USA).

(Source: fsspx/MG–DICI #307, Dec. 19, 2014)

Bishop Fellay Blesses Crib in European Parliament

(Brussels) At the invitation of the Italian MEP Mario Borghezio (Lega Nord) and the initiative of the Civitas Institute, the Superior General of the Society of St. Pius X,  visited the European Parliament in Brussels, and blessed a nativity scene there.

The large crib is located in one of the central, public halls of the parliamentary representation of the European Union in Brussels.  MEPs  from France, Great Britain, Greece, Portugal and Italy, parliamentary staff and EU officials gathered to be blessed. In his speech  Alain Escada, president of the French Civitas Institute suggested that the baby Jesus in the manger should rule over all nations, since all power comes from God. For this purpose, he quoted the Pope St. Pius X,  as the 100th  anniversary of his death was commemorated in 2014: "The civilization must not be contrived, for it was, it is and it has been a Christian civilization, it is the Catholic society.  To restore it merely requires the unceasing renewal of its  natural and divine principles. "

Bishop Bernard Fellay said in his speech: "There in the mange is where it all started. So it is quite normal that Europe's guides, God the helmsman give Him glory, who came among man to save him, He, the King of Kings. Let us remember what Cardinal Pie said, 'When the moment for the lordship of Jesus Christ did not come, then the time has not come for governments to continue'. By the blessing of this crib, the Church is a connection between this place and the grace of God's love. This little place is a Sacramental for the benefit of all who come here to gather inside."

Bishop Fellay was accompanied by the District Superior of  Society of St. Pius X for Belgium and the Netherlands, Father Thierry Legrand is in the seat of the European Parliament. He stressed the importance of the initiative,   because of the increasing attempt to prevent the establishment of nativity scenes in France in public spaces and Advent and attempts to replace and reinterpret  Christmas Traditions with "Winter events" and "Year End initiatives."

Text: pius.info/Giuseppe Nardi
image: pius.info

Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com

Link to Katholisches...

AMDG

Faithful Catholics and Theological Positions -- A Difference Which Must be Overlooked

Katholisches.info strives to present those things necessary for internal church discussions which don't officially take place and are in part also not desired. These include the guest comments by Clement Victor Oldendorf, some of which met with strong opposition, while the author felt misunderstood. Most recently, he set out in an essay about  the Extraordinary Synod of Bishops, "The letter concluded" (Pope Francis) - attempt to overcome barriers of understanding, in  the search for ways  to counter the modernist innovation by theological reflection. The present article does not have the modernists in its sights, but the Society of St. Pius X.   Ultimately, it is Odendorf by his own admission to engage in reasonable debate in all of his contributions to tradition and its orientation in the debate within the Church.

,

Guest commentary by Victor Clemens Oldendorf

Last Sunday of the Church year, at our view of the world and the end of the eschatological return of Christ. This eschatological orientation is prepared in Advent, in which we relive the expectation of the first coming of the Messiah and celebrate Christmas is in the liturgical calendar of the Novus Ordo, which is also characterized by the displacement of the feast of Christ the King on this Sunday. But the liturgy of the 24th and last Sunday after Pentecost in the traditional Roman Rite clearly shows this character - especially in the Scripture readings.

There is talk of false Christs, which one should not chase into the desert and not in the chambers and of the signs of the times, in which they are recognized. With that   the Antichrist becomes the topic and also the question of whether and in what sense he is condensed in a person and if it is not already present and atmospheric - has his precursor - in all trends, and movements. The great exegete Erik Peterson (1890-1960) spoke for that reason of the "eschatological proviso" under which the whole story is already complete and remains with the first coming of Christ.

I heard Holy Mass in a Priory of last Sunday Society of St. Pius X recently. There, too, the preacher dealt, inter alia with these issues.

In addition to what I report below, I'm emphatically not engaging in a criticism of this Father. That's why I won't deliberately reveal his identity and the place where I've heard the sermon. Also, there is general finding that not every preacher a good preacher, yes certainly every preacher can not be a good theologian, is not restricted to the SSPX, and vice versa you meet there, even often,   equally successful rhetorical and theological preaching. 

FSSP a Forerunner of the Antichrist?

After introductory remarks about the Antichrist and his predecessor suddenly remembered the sudden remark that "the FSSP is unacceptable for the Catholics" because they had accepted the "errors of Vatican II" or at least remain silent. The consequence of that, in the words of the priest, that  the Masses of FSSP and those other priests who celebrate it under the provisions of Summorum Pontificum, are  "unacceptable for Catholics"  remained unspoken to the best of my memory yet was unmistakable.

My basic point  is not aimed to even challenge that position. I think you can argue it and  justify it.   But not so, as in this case. While it is true that there is a theological problem of consciousness in relation to the Second Vatican Council in circles around Summorum Pontificum, for they often only pronounce privately or not at all, and there is no full understanding  given as to why   the "Old Mass" is favored and what's more, should practically avoid the "New". Nevertheless, the SSPX does not have binding magisterial authority about statements of the Second Vatican Council, which it sees problematic as "errors", which means that it identifies the theological positions of the SSPX with the Catholic faith, ultimately, I am deliberately formulating a provocative alternative identification  of the "Lefebvre-follower" and "Catholic." This was never done in this way or supported by  Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre. It is  not only to participation in the "New Mass"  that is  to be rejected, but also at every Mass in the traditional Roman Rite, not celebrated by a priest of the Society of St. Pius X.

Why do I run with this rigamarole? Because  there is an actual mistake  that I notice in parts of the SSPX.  Namely, to see the difference that stands between fidelity to the disclosed and traditional Catholic faith and judgment with which it evaluated by this criterion, for example, controversial statements of the Second Vatican Council, or the new liturgy.

Despite Differences of Opinion Equally Faithful

What I want to say for sure is very easily illustrated  in 1988 with a flashback. The situation at that time was undoubtedly as complicated and confused as it was unmanageable. Thus  it was come to a conclusion without a doubt that one was  entitled or even obliged to consecrate bishops, but just as convinced this is not to be allowed, without the consent of John Paul II. Both convictions included in my opinion, does not exclude that both supporters of the consecrations, as well as those who believed they had to distance himself from it, in spite of the disagreement, were equally Catholic and remained faithful.

Similarly, it is my concern with the  appreciation of religious freedom by the SSPX and its connection with a certain political theories or political ends, that are not presupposed theologically to  underlie this position, which I believe it is by no means incompatible with the Catholic faith to take this position, but the SSPX can not also claim or demand (especially not necessarily prove) that one must share this vision, to be considered a faithful traditional Catholic.There have always been different positions in the Church on details and in particular with practical assessments of theological and pastoral problems on the basis of common unity in orthodoxy. If one does not see or bears with this, he succumbs to an illusion or fiction.

"Not even the Son", "but in the last 80 years"

When I come back to the sermon, which has pushed me to these considerations, it is fairly harmless when compared with this fundamental error, because the preacher,  although related to Matt 25:13, where it is noted that we have neither the day nor the hour of the Second Coming know Christ, but three times he emphatically said, "in the last eighty years." What you have to grin admit is that it speaks for someone to announce the date of the Last Judgment, for a certain shrewdness to choose such a time: With the exception of infants who did not follow the sermon with understanding, virtually none of the listeners can verify the accuracy of this statement, nor refute it.

The view of the preacher on the Advent let him weave the proper admonition to commit this period as a time of collection and seclusion. He exhorted them  to give up television and recommended obviously seriously, best to "rip out that plug". Whoever does not own pliers, can ask the preacher.

Not Autonomous, but Responsible

The very negative attitude of Society to television seems to me to be such a practical example where catholicity is not decided. It's also not that the believer, so to speak, is entirely self-determined, without distinction to consume all, or may, without asking for measures of value, but in this particular case, the values must be taken into account and  act  responsibly. The  principle position  which expects a traditional Catholic to refrain entirely from television, is followed by a bit of convincing logic, which would insist that one can not read anything, because there are bad books.

Text: Victor Clemens Oldendorf
image: laportelatin.org
Trans: vekron99@hotmail.com
Link to Katholisches...
AMDG

Church and SSPX: Friend of the Pope Threatens Faithful Catholics With Excommunication

(Rome) There is a campaign in progress in Italy against the Society of St. Pius X.  The reason is there is a bishop's threat  that believers who receive the sacraments at the SSPX may be excommunicated. The initiative is in direct contradiction to the recent opening of Rome toward the SSPX led by Archbishop Guido Pozzo, Secretary of the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei.  Rorate Caeli speaks of "double standards" and  "selective compassion."

The media campaign was triggered by a letter from the Bishop of Alban  from last October 14th to all pastors of his diocese. Bishop Marcello Semeraro informs his diocese about the SSPX and issued instructions. Albano is one of the suburbicarian bishoprics of Rome, whose nominal owners are the cardinal bishops of the Catholic Church, that is the highest ranking members of the Sacred College. The Cardinal Bishop of Albano is the former Cardinal Secretary of State Angelo Cardinal Sodano.

Bishop Semeraro justified the "notification" because of queries  about the validity of sacraments by the SSPX, which were addressed to the Diocesan Curia. The seat of the Italian District of the Society is located in Albano.

"No canonical status", "no lawful exercise" of the priestly office

Bishop Marcello Semeraro

The bishop refers to the "benevolent lifting of the excommunication" of the bishops of the Fraternity by Pope Benedict XVI. on January 21, 2009. And to the letter to all the bishops of the Church from Benedict on 10 March 2009. Msgr. Semeraro places emphasis on the statement that the bishops of the Fraternity exerts no "legitimate" ministry in the Church (AAS CI, 2009, No. 4, p. 272) and the Society "has no canonical status" in the Church, which is why their priests can not exercise any office "lawfully" (AAS CI, 2009, No. 4, p. 710f).

Furthermore, the bishop refers to a pastoral letter by his predecessor, Monsignor Dante Bernini (1982-1999), which states:. "The Catholic faithful may not participate in the Masses or receive the sacraments provided by the Society.  Otherwise, this action would mean to break communion with the Catholic Church."

Faithful of the SSPX Are Not in Communion with the Church?

Bishop Semeraro draws the conclusion: "Therefore, each Catholic,  who solicits or receives the sacraments from the Society of St. Pius X, is  not in communion with the Catholic Church. A re-admission into the Catholic Church must be preceded by   an adequate personal  path of  reconciliation according to the competent episcopal ordinary".

Finally, the bishop regrets that some "options", presumably  relating particularly to children and young people, are "contrary to the pastoral orientation of the Italian Church and the Diocese of Albano."

The pastor should inform the faithful about this episcopal statement.

L'Espresso : "Pope forbids Lefebvrians to celebrate Mass"

The media, especially the weekly magazine L'Espresso, attacked the bishop writing with large headlines: "Pope Francis prohibits Lefebvrians from celebrating Mass". The subtitle: "The followers of an excommunicated, ultra-traditionalist  French bishop are now in the sights of Pope Bergoglio: one of his most faithful friends has forbidden the celebratiion of Mass and administeration of the sacraments. Whoever follows them, risks excommunication." The article whirls the truth, canon law and fictional conclusions into chaos.

The Career of the Bishop

Espresso credits a report that Bishop Semeraro is one of the closest confidants of Pope Francis. The bishop was appointed by Pope John Paul II. In 2004, He underwent a major upgrade under Pope Francis. In April of 2013 he was appointed secretary of the new Cardinal Council, to advise the Pope on the reform of the curia and the Church leadership (see Bishop Semeraro, C8-secretary . This C8-Council has been expanded by Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin to a C9 Council.  Bishop Semeraro handles the coordination of the Council. In the Italian Bishops Conference , Msgr. Semeraro performs the function of the media bishop and thus has the oversight of the bishops' conference part of daily Avvenire , the published first the "notification" to the priest.

The relationship between Bishop Semeraro the the SSPX has never relaxed. Last year the SSPX elicited an opinion against the Pope's travel to Lampedusa (see  Lampedusa was "Inclined to Progressive Simplification" of a Complex Question ). Similarly, the willingness of the SSPX to hold a funeral Mass for Erich Priebke, because Priebke was for reasons of political correctness, and annoyance for the Diocese of Rome that brought them great embarrassment (see Diocese of Rome Refused Erich Priebke Public Funeral - Political Correctness About Death? out and Priebke Coffin Spat Upon - The Hatred Must Know Boundaries, but  Catholic Subservience Also  ).

Text: Giuseppe Nardi
image: Wikicommons / NBQ

SSPX With Bishop Fellay and Bishops Celebrate Immemorial Mass at Lourdes Shrine

Edit: the Society of Saint Pius X has celebrated Mass at the modernist St. Pius X, at the Lourdes Shrine in France. It's a crowning even in the pilgrimage whose motto is, "To Our Lady in the Footsteps of St. Pius X."  Despite the large size of the church meant to accommodate throngs of pilgrims, it looks practically full. The building can accomodate 25,000 worshipers.  The celebrant for this Christ the King Mass was Bishop Fellay with Bishops de Galaretta and Tisser de Mallerais in attendance, is part of a celebration for the centenary of St. Pius X.
Amazingly, they got permission to do this from the authority in charge of the site which must have been high level indeed. This is a signal event.

Messe du Christ-Roi en la Basilique Saint-Pie X (26 octobre 2014) from DICI on Vimeo.

Vatican Does Not Expect a Capitulation from the SSPX

Commission "Ecclesia Dei" -Secretary Pozzo: There is "no doubt" that the teachings of Vatican II have a different binding, depending on the nature of the document. SSPX could expect to return with personal prelature

Vatican (kath.net/RV/red) Guido Pozzo, Secretary of the Pontifical Commission 'Ecclesia Dei' has said in an interview with the French magazine 'Famille Chrétienne' that the Vatican will require no capitulation from the controversial SSPX Pius X. This was reported by "Vatican Radio". "The Holy See invites the SSPX to take its side into the framework of doctrinal issues, insofar as they are essential for a permanent attachment to the faith and to Catholic teaching and tradition," said Pozzo. Currently, there are obviously continuing talks with the SSPX. The Secretary of the Pontifical Commission then stressed: "The reservations of the SSPX over some aspects and formulations of the Second Vatican Council and to some of the reforms carried out that do not concern non-negotiable dogmatic and doctrinal issues may be simultaneously further studied and developed."

With that Pozzo signaled that the SSPX could retain some peculiarities when they have been inserted back into the large frame of the Catholic Church. There is "no doubt" that the teachings of Vatican II have different bindingness, depending on the nature of the document. "The Constitutions of the Church on Revelation, Lumen Gentium and Dei Verbum, have the character of doctrinal pronouncements; the explanations of religious freedom and non-Christian religions as well as the ecumenical decree, on the other hand, have less authority and less bindingness."

The CDF has presented the SSPX in 2011, with a "Doctrinal Statement."; this they should sign if they want a full return to the Catholic Church. Pozzo let them know in case of a reconciliation with Rome the SSPX could expect the status of a personal prelature. He also confirmed that the Vatican - as during the pontificate of Benedict XVI. - insists on unchanged clarity on the part of the SSPX. The conversation between the Prefect of the CDF, Cardinal Gerhard Ludwig Müller, Bishop Bernard Fellay went well according to Pozzo.

Link to Kath.net.. AMGD

"We Will Always Reply to Those Who Question Us About the Reasons For Our Fidelity to Tradition"

 

October 3, 2014 16:02 |  

Cardinal and Bishop Fellay Müller

(Menzingen)  Bishop Bernard Fellay, Superior General of the Priestly Fraternity of St. Pius X (SSPX) has today addressed the press service of the SSPX  about the meeting on 23 September 2014, the Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Gerhard Ludwig Cardinal Müller. In some ways there is nothing new to report, "the doctrinal differences" would continue, says  Fellay. This had already emerged in the context of formal talks between the SSPX theologians and a delegation of the CDF in the years 2009-2011, which led to the rejection on the part of the SSPX of   the signing of the doctrinal preamble.

At the same time the situation had also changed. So there is a new pope and a new Prefect of the Congregation. The conclusion of the talk  two and a half weeks ago makes it clear "that neither they nor we want a break in relations". Both sides also insisted  "on the fact that the doctrinal issues must be resolved before a canonical recognition". Because of the ambiguities in the doctrinal preamble it is impossible for the SSPX, however, to sign.

Fellay also pointed to the "intensification of the Church Crisis"t, which was initiated by Walter Cardinal Kasper. To the concerns expressed by a number of cardinals in criticism of Kasper Fellay said: "Since the criticism of the two Cardinals Ottaviani and Bacci in the Short Critical Examination of the New Ordo Missæ in 1969, Rome has never seen the like. But what has not changed is that the Roman authorities take no account of our criticisms of the Council, because they seem to them secondary or even to be illusory in view of the acute problems that arise in the Church today. These leaders recognize the crisis, which has rocked the Church up to the highest level  - even among the cardinals. But they do not see that the Council could be the disproportionate or even the main cause of this crisis. "

Cardinal Kasper had proposed in his speech on the occasion of the consistory in February, "to do again what has already been done at the Council, namely to reaffirm Catholic doctrine, but at the same time,  offer an opening for the care of souls." This idea confirmed by the Cardinal is more widespread, such as in interviews: "He recalled that the doctrine could not change in the theory, but he also introduces the idea that there would be situations in concrete reality, where the doctrine can not be applied." For the SSPX Kasper is not the cause of this evil: "For our part we accuse  the council of making this artificial distinction between doctrine and pastoral care before, because the care of souls must necessarily flow from  doctrine. Due to various openings in the pastoral area, major changes were introduced in the Church and  her teaching was affected thereby.  This took place during and after the Council, and we denounce the same strategy, which today is applied to marriage morality. "Nevertheless, it was in the Conciliar texts," where there were major changes" in terms of doctrine, such as religious freedom, ecumenism and collegiality .

As to the question whether the recent discussions were good,   the dialogue from 2009 to 2011 have brought nothing, Fellay said, but that they wanted to follow the example of the founder of the Society, Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, "who has never refused the invitations the Roman authorities. We always reply to those who question us about the reasons of our faith. We can not escape this obligation, and we do it in the spirit and with the commitments that have been defined by the last General Chapter. "Tradition is the answer to the current crisis," said the Superior General.

Text: Benedict M. Buerger
Image: forum Lefebvristes.fr

Talks Between Rome and the SSPX Resume

Bishop Fellay in Rome

(Rome) In the late morning of the day the meeting between  the Prefect of the Congregation for Doctrine and the Faith,  Cardinal Gerhard Müller and the Superior General of the SSPX, Bishop Fellay, was held in Rome. For the first time Cardinal Müller and Bishop Fellay had personally met since the former Bishop of Regensburg had been appointed early summer 2012 to be Prefect of the CDF. 

Since the election of Pope Francis there have been no lack of voices that take a hard line in Rome  and say  they  want the bishops and priests of the SSPX  to be excommunicated. Pope Francis did not follow this "advice". The talks between the SSPX and Rome were resumed today instead.

The statement published by the Vatican press office did not appear  in different languages, but in German. The following translation leans closely as possible to the relevant Italian text.

"On the morning of Tuesday 23 September from 11 am to 1 pm, a cordial meeting took place at the premises of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, between Cardinal Gerhard Ludwig Muller, prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and Bishop Bernard Fellay, superior general of the Society of St. Pius X. The meeting was also attended by Archbishops Luis Francisco Ladaria Ferrer, S.I., secretary of the same Congregation, Joseph Augustine Di Noia, O.P., adjunct secretary and Guido Pozzo, secretary of the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei, along with two assistants from the Society of St. Pius X, Rev. Niklaus Pfluger and Rev. Alain-Marc Nély.

During the meeting, various problems of a doctrinal and canonical nature were examined, and it was decided to proceed gradually and over a reasonable period of time in order to overcome difficulties and with a view to the envisioned full reconciliation.

Two aspects of the Declaration catches your eye. First, the emphasis that the encounter in a "warm climate" was held. A formulation that sounds very strong in German translation, in the flowery Italian language however, still would allow some increase of opportunities, but overall indicated a positive indication. Secondly, the content of the last sentence is most important, which shows that the direct communication between Rome and Econe are open again. That did not seem self-evident recently. 

The official statement of the General House of the SSPX in Menzingen largely corresponds to the wording of the Vatican. In addition, next to the "doctrinal and canonical problems" it said that the "current situation of the Church" was addressed. The explanation of the SSPX is reluctant to state a desired objective and speaks of "continuing to clarify the remaining controversial points."

A Brief Review

In spring 2012, the impression was generally accepted in the months previous on the part of the SSPX,  the impression that Rome accepted the arguments put forward in requests for changes to the "Doctrinal Preamble", whose adoption should form the basis for the canonical recognition. Then in May the General Assembly of the Congregation came together and annulled the results obtained. On June 13, 2012, Bishop Fellay thought to travel to Rome and return with the canonical recognition of the SSPX. Instead, it was Cardinal William Levada,  then Prefect of the CDF who didn't present the agreed text of the Doctrinal Preamble, but  the original version again, before the talks began. An unacceptable situation, which ended with an inconclusive departure of the Superior General of the SSPX. Because the turnaround came so unexpectedly, Bishop Fellay asked a few days later, expressly and in writing with Benedict XVI. according to whether it really is also the desire of the Pope. As this was confirmed on June 30, there was a hiatus. 

Some circles in Rome wanted to pass the buck to  the SSPX  for the failure of the talks and wanted from Bishop Fellay a written negative answer to the "preamble". When the SSPX, who felt betrayed in their view, was not to fall into this trap,  yet in the meantime there came into office, and thus not concerned with the new faith discussions, Müller, Prefect of the CDF who issued the Society  an ultimatum early in early 2013.

In one of his last decisions  Pope Benedict XVI. lifted the ultimatum, however, shortly before his resignation. The whole question therefore remained unanswered. The unification efforts of 2005, initiated by the German Pope, which should have resulted in a canonical recognition of the Society were placed on ice.

With the election of Pope Francis, the conditions seemed even less certain than ever of being able for the failed talks to productively resume. After one and a half years of official hiatus, the talks were resumed in a surprisingly benevolent climate today.

It is clear that there were voices in the Vatican, after the successful prevention of an agreement by the Plenary Assembly of the Congregation, the resignation of Benedict XVI. and the election of Pope Francis, to take the opportunity to draw a sharp line and say to adopt a Decree of Excommunication for the bishops and all the priests of the SSPX. An option that has been suggested to Pope Francis that the Argentine Pope, despite his barely manageable aversion to tradition and the traditional rite, did not own.

Text: Giuseppe Nardi
image: Vatican Insider
Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com
Link to Katholisches...
AMGD

Pope Receives Ecclesia Dei Secretary Pozzo Shortly Before the Meeting With Cardinal Müller and Bishop Fellay

(Vatican) Pope Francis has received Curia Archbishop Guido Pozzo, secretary of the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei in audience on 18 September.

There is nothing at present of the content of the meeting between the Pope and the Titular Archbishop of Bagnoregio on Lake Bolsena, north of Rome. The audience took place a few days before the meeting announced for September 21  between Cardinal Gerhard Müller, Prefect of the Congregation, and Bishop Bernard Fellay, Superior General of the Priestly Society of St. Pius X. Both the Holy See and the SSPX confirmed the upcoming meeting,  but didn't give an exact date. Officially there was talk of a date in "near future".

The Commission Ecclesia Dei is part of the CDF. Its President is Cardinal Müller. He is one of the nine outstanding Cardinals, including some heads of departments of the Roman Curia, who came in these days with two international publications in defense of Catholic teaching on marriage against the theses of Cardinal Walter Kasper to the public.

Cardinal Kasper responded, insulted and is hiding behind Pope Francis. Everything he did, "is agreed to by the Pope."

Bishop Fellay had said last April to Kasper's theses: "We can not to wait until the Synod meets in the autumn in its  devastated spirit, which Cardinal Kasper wants to give it, without raising our voices. (...) A Pastoral, which suggests the express teaching of Christ about the indissolubility of marriage is not merciful, but insults God  Who imparts His grace sufficiently to everyone; moreover they are cruel towards   souls, who are in difficult situations and receive that Grace which they need to live a Christian life and to grow in virtue, even to heroism "

Text: Giuseppe Nardi
image: SSPX / Wikicommons

Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com

Link ...

AMDG

[Update] Lombardi Confirms Meeting Between Bishop Fellay and Cardinal Müller

Edit: As reported by Rorate, and the "Resistance" among other, there will be a meeting between Bishop Fellay and Cardinal Muller. Since then we found this update by Katholisches:

[Update 17:00] The meeting between Cardinal and Bishop Fellay Müller has now been confirmed by Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi.   It has already been reported by Vatican Radio. Curiously, the message category was assigned "ecumenism" on the website of the Vatican radio station.

National Pilgrimage of the German District of the Society of St. Pius X to Fulda to Renew the Consecration of Germany to the Immaculate Heart of Mary

For the 11th  year, the German District of the  Society of St. Pius X. has organized its a pilgrimage to Fulda for the 6 and 7 September. It was introduced in 2004 for the annual renewal and the consecration of Germany to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, which was completed in 1954 for the first time in Fulda by the bishops of Germany.

This year's pilgrimage takes as  its subject the life of the Sacrament of Holy Eucharist, against the background of the  100. anniversary of the death of the great Eucharistic Pope Pius X.

The pilgrimage begins on September 6 at noon at 12.30 in the center of Fulda in front  of the castle with a Marian procession through the city and surrounding area.

The venue of the two-day prayer meeting is the ballroom of the old Orangerie, in the castle garden (Maritim Hotel). There, a first solemn High Mass in the traditional Latin Rite will be celebrated on Sat evening at  6:30. At night the members of the Catholic youth movement  will hold a prayer vigil before the altar, which is built in the Orangerie.

On Sunday morning at 8:00  the day's program begins with a talk on the pilgrimage theme, which is followed by a solemn Pontifical High Mass at 9:30, which will be said by the Superior General of the Priestly Fraternity of St. Pius X, Bishop Bernard Fellay. 

The grand finale is the prayer of Consecration to Mary, as the   pilgrims who come from all parts of Germany will again commend their fatherland to  Maria.

It is an open event for all Christians who want to endorse the concerns of pilgrimage. There are about 800 people expected for the Mary procession, for the High Mass on Sunday morning, there will be up to 1000 participants from all over Germany.

For more information: www.deutschlandweihe.de

Text: PM / LS
Image: Pilgrimage Office

Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com

Link to Katholisches...

AMDG

The Society of St. Pius X Nears 600 Priests

Edit: from the Society's US Site featuring the ordination of 7 new priests and 5 deacons.  There were over 1,000 laity in attendance for this glorious event.  The harvest is plentiful and the laborers are few, and in a Church which has become a vocational desert in the years following the New Springtime, there are oases.

As of Friday, June 13th, the Society of St. Pius X has 12 reasons for rejoicing. For on that day, in continuance of the SSPX's mission to form priests, Bishop Bernard Fellay ordained 7 new alter Christi and 5 deacons at St. Thomas Aquinas Seminary in Winona, Minnesota.

The seminary has published on its website not only a gallery of images of the ordinations, but also a list of the First Masses that the newly-ordained priests will be offering. Also available via DICI is an audio recording of Bishop Fellay's ordination sermon.

For our part, we offer a photo gallery of Bishop Fellay while at Winona, which can be viewed below.
Please keep these new priests and deacons of the Roman Catholic Church in your prayers, that they may faithfully serve their Divine Master in His vineyard for the salvation of souls.

 Edit: also, in Zaitzkofen/Oberpfalz. On Saturday, the 28th of June, Bishop Tissier de Mallerais will ordain five priests and three deacons.  The ceremony will begin in the castle garden at 9 in the morning. In addition to those named above, Bishop de Galarreta will ordain eight seminarians and a religious to the grace of the priesthood and seven others to the rank of deacons of Holy Mother the Church in Ecône. This will bring the society in the near future to more than 600 priests.

Katholisches...

Pope Has Read Archbishop Lefebvre’s Biography, And Liked It

From Rorate Caeli:

With the current pope, as he is a practical man, he looks at people. What a person thinks, what he believes, is at the end a matter of indifference to him. What matters is that this person be sympathetic in his view, that he seems correct to him, one may say it like this.

And therefore he read twice Bp. Tissier de Mallerais' book on Abp. Lefebvre, and this book pleased him; he is against all that we represent, but, as a life, it pleased him. When, as a Cardinal, he was in South America, the District Superior [Fr. Christian Bouchacourt] came to ask him for an administrative favor with no relation to the Church; a visa problem, of permanent residency. The Argentine government, which is very leftwing, makes use of the concordat that was established to protect the Church to bother us quite seriously, and tells us, "you say you are Catholic, it is thus necessary for you to have the signature of the bishop in order to reside in the country." The District Superior therefore went to him to present the problem: there was an easy solution, and that would be to declare ourselves an independent church [before Civil Law], but we did not want to do it because we are Catholic. And the Cardinal told us, "no, no, you are Catholic, that is evident; I will help you;" he wrote a letter in our favor to the government, that is so leftwing that they managed to find a opposing letter by the nuncio. Therefore, a 0-0 tie. Now he is the pope, and our lawyer had the opportunity of having a meeting with the Pope. He told him that the problem was still going on with the Society, and asked him to please designate a bishop in Argentina with whom we could sort out this problem. The Pope told him, "Yes, and this bishop is myself, I promised to help, and I will do it."

I am still waiting for it, but anyway he said it, just as he said that, "those people there, they think I will excommunicate them, but they are mistaken;" he said something else that was very interesting: "I will not condemn them, and I will not stop anyone from visiting them [lit. 'd'aller chez eux'.]" Once again, I will wait to see. 

[Source: French District of the SSPX]