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.