2011-09-14 14:57:58

CDF Prefect meets SSPX Superior


The Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Cardinal William Levada held a meeting on Wednesday with the Superior General of the Priestly Fraternity of St Pius X (SSPX) at the offices of the CDF in the Vatican, during the course of which the Cardinal Prefect presented the Superior General with a statement of principles they are calling a “Doctrinal Preamble” as part of the regularization of the canonical status of the SSPX, as well as some proposals regarding the concrete form a fully reconciled SSPX might take under canon law. The Vatican did not give the society a deadline, though the Director of the Holy See’s Press Office told reporters that SSPX leaders are expected to study and sign the preamble “within a few months.” Regarding the elements of a canonical solution for the society, it was suggested that a plausible solution could be a personal prelature - a church jurisdiction without geographical boundaries designed to carry out particular pastoral initiatives.

A communique issued by the Vatican on Wednesday retraces the recent history of relations between the SSPX and the Holy See:

Following the supplication addressed by the SSPX Superior General to Pope Benedict XVI on December 15th, 2008, the Holy Father decided to lift the excommunications against the four bishops consecrated by SSPX founder, Archbishop Marcel LeFebvre, and at the same time to open discussions with the SSPX, for the purpose of clarifying outstanding doctrinal questions and overcoming the existing division. Obedient to the will of the Holy Father, a mixed commission of experts was formed to study the questions, drawing members from both the SSPX and the CDF. The commission met eight times in Rome between October 2009 and April 2011. These discussions, which had the purpose of expounding and exploring in depth the essential doctrinal difficulties with controverted themes, have achieved the goal clarifying the positions of each party, as well as the reasons for those positions.

The communique goes on to say:

Also taking into account the concerns and the issues presented by the SSPX regarding the integrity of the Catholic faith considering the hermeneutic of rupture of the Second Vatican Council with respect to Tradition – mentioned by Pope Benedict XVI in his Address to the Roman Curia of December 22, 2005 – the CDF maintains that a fundamental basis of full reconciliation with the Apostolic See is the acceptance of the Doctrinal Preamble which was delivered during the course of today’s (Wed., September 14th, 2011) meeting. This preamble enunciates some of the doctrinal principles and criteria for the interpretation of Catholic doctrine necessary to guarantee fidelity to the Magisterium of the Church and sentire cum Ecclesia (thinking with [the mind of] the Church), while at the same time leaving the theological study and explanation of particular expressions and formulations present in the texts of the Second Vatican Council and of the Magisterium that followed it open to legitimate discussion.

In the course of the same meeting, some elements were proposed regarding a canonical solution for the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Pius X, which would follow the eventual and hoped-for reconciliation.









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