Letter of Pope Benedict to Bishops of the Church Concerning Remission of Lefebvre Group

(March 12, 2009) Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, director of the Vatican press office, and Director General, Vatican Radio and Vatican television, presented the "Letter of His Holiness Benedict XVI to Bishops of the Catholic Church on the Remission of the Excommunication of the Four Bishops Consecrated by Archbishop Lefebvre," on Thursday 12th of March, weeks after the excommunication on the Lefebvre group was lifted. The letter was released in Italian, German, French, English, Spanish and Portuguese languages. While some groups have favoured the step taken by the Pope, many have openly accused the Pope of wanting to turn back the clock before the council. Hence the Pope said that a word of clarification would help to contribute to peace in the church. The Pope said that “A gesture of reconciliation with an ecclesial group engaged in a process of separation thus turned into its very antithesis: an apparent step backwards with regard to all the steps of reconciliation between Christians and Jews taken since the Council.” Considering that the material was on internet the Pope said that “in the future in the Holy See we will have to pay greater attention to that source of news.” Pope also clarified that “The excommunication affects individuals, not institutions.” An Episcopal ordination lacking a pontifical mandate raises the danger of a schism, since it jeopardizes the unity of the College of Bishops with the Pope. He also clarified that the Society has no canonical status in the Church, and its ministers – even though they have been freed of the ecclesiastical penalty – do not legitimately exercise any ministry in the Church. At the same time doctrinally, the concern primarily is the acceptance of the Second Vatican Council and the post-conciliar magisterium of the Popes. If the arduous task of working for faith, hope and love in the world is presently and always the Church’s real priority, then part of this is also made up of acts of reconciliation, small and not so small, said the Holy Father.