The Dialogue Continues: Vatican Acknowledges Communication from SSPX

By Deacon Keith Fournier
7/19/2012
Catholic Online (www.catholic.org)

Hopefully this will quell the growing speculation in the blogosphere

The recently concluded General Chapter of the Priestly Society of St. Pius X has addressed a declaration regarding the possibility of a canonical normalisation in the relationship of the Society and the Holy See. While it has been made public, the declaration remains primarily an internal document for study and discussion among the members of the Society.

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VATICAN CITY (Catholic online) - With its customary short - yet completely accurate - Press Releases in such delicate matters, the Holy See released the following Press Release on Thursday, July 19, 2012:

"Early this afternoon, the Holy See Press Office released the following English-language communique concerning the declaration which emerged from the General Chapter of the Priestly Society of St. Pius X.

"The recently concluded General Chapter of the Priestly Society of St. Pius X has addressed a declaration regarding the possibility of a canonical normalisation in the relationship of the Society and the Holy See. While it has been made public, the declaration remains primarily an internal document for study and discussion among the members of the Society.

"The Holy See has taken note of this declaration, but awaits the forthcoming official communication of the Priestly Society as their dialogue with the Pontifical Commission 'Ecclesia Dei' continues".

Hopefully this will quell the growing speculation in the blogosphere. So much of the energy spent in this speculation could be better utilized in focused and fervent prayer for healing of this wound in the Body of Christ.

Pope Benedict's tireless effort to heal a rift within the Church which began 24 years ago - and finally end the division between the SSPX and Rome - is one more sign that his paternal heart beats with the desire for unity revealed in the Sacred Heart of Jesus. It is not the Lord's desire that there be divisions in the His Body. Pope Benedict XVI is the Pope of Christian Unity.

"Father, may they be one. so that the world may believe." (John 17:21) This pope hears these words of the Master and responds accordinagly. We add a hearty "Amen" to his efforts. We invite our readers around the globe to join with us in focused prayer for a fruitful result.

There is plenty of room in the Catholic Church for a full expression of legitimate diversity within orthodoxy (right doctrine) and orthopraxy (right practice). In a world increasingly besieged, we need a truly restored Church to engage in a new missionary age.

- - -

Pope Benedict XVI's Prayer Intentions for January 2013
General Intention: The Faith of Christians. That in this Year of Faith Christians may deepen their knowledge of the mystery of Christ and witness joyfully to the gift of faith in him.
Missionary Intention: Middle Eastern Christians. That the Christian communities of the Middle East, often discriminated against, may receive from the Holy Spirit the strength of fidelity and perseverance.

Keywords: SSPX, FSSPX, Cardinal Burke, Bishop Fellay, Pope Benedict XVI, healing

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1 - 2 of 2 Comments

Lionel Andrades
10 months ago
Thursday, July 19, 2012
THE SOCIETY OF ST.PIUS X HAS ACCEPTED VATICAN COUNCIL II IN ACCORD WITH TRADITION AND HAS REJECTED THE LIBERAL VERSION
The Society of St.Pius X (SSPX) has accepted Vatican Council II in accord with the literal interpretation of the dogma extra ecclesiam nulla salus (1) in harmony with Ad Gentes 7, Vatican Council II. They have endorsed Vatican Council II according to Sacred Tradition. They can also cite reference texts from Vatican Council II to support their doctrinal position.

They have rejected, as in the past, the liberal version of Vatican Council (2) whose adherents cannot cite any texts to support their interpretation which is a break, a rupture with tradition and magisterial documents.

The SSPX is finally in a position to point out to their adversaries that there can be only one interpretation of the Council which can be supported by tradition.In this one interpretation AG 7 supports the dogma on exclusive salvation and LG 16 and LG 8 etc are not known exceptions to the dogma.

The SSPX has stated clearly that they have ‘ faith in the Roman Catholic Church, the only Church founded by Our Lord Jesus Christ, outside of which there is no salvation and no possibility of finding the means that lead to it’.

There is no salvation outside the Church (Cantate Domino, Council of Florence 1441, Vatican Council II (AG 7) etc) and that outside the Church there is even ‘no possibility of finding the means that lead to it’ i.e those saved in invincible ignorance , a good conscience etc are accepted as possibilities known only to God and not possibilities which contradict the dogma on salvation,since these possibilities are not explicit for us. They are unknown to us humans.

As for the liberal interpretation of Vatican Council II which is a rupture from the past the SSPX rejects ‘all the novelties of the Second Vatican Council that remain tainted with errors’ e.g theology of religions etc which are opposed by Vatican Council II (AG 7).

They accept the Council and ‘the Society can only continue to abide by the statements and teachings of the constant Magisterium of the Church;’ which is in agreement with the Council and in accord with Tradition. It carries the hermeneutic of continuity. The SSPX ‘ finds its guide in this uninterrupted Magisterium which, by its act of teaching, transmits the revealed deposit in perfect harmony with all that the whole Church has always believed, in every place’ and which is in agreement with Vatican Council II.--Lionel Andrades
__________________________________________

1.

This is why its seems to us opportune to reaffirm our faith in the Roman Catholic Church, the only Church founded by Our Lord Jesus Christ, outside of which there is no salvation and no possibility of finding the means that lead to it; in its monarchical constitution, willed by Our Lord, which means that the supreme power of governance over the whole Church belongs to the pope alone, the Vicar of Christ on earth; in the universal kingship of Our Lord Jesus Christ, the creator of the natural and supernatural order, to whom every human being and all society must submit.

2.
As for all the novelties of the Second Vatican Council that remain tainted with errors, and as for the reforms that have resulted from them, the Society can only continue to abide by the statements and teachings of the constant Magisterium of the Church; it finds its guide in this uninterrupted Magisterium which, by its act of teaching, transmits the revealed deposit in perfect harmony with all that the whole Church has always believed, in every place.
-Rome-SSPX: Declaration of the General Chapter of the Society of Saint Pius X sent to the Holy See
As announced in the press communiqué of the Society of St. Pius X’s General House on July 14, 2012, the members of the General Chapter sent a common statement to Rome. It has been published today.
http://rorate-caeli.blogspot.com/
michael
10 months ago
Nice reporting, good deacon, and I am grateful for your openness to the reconciliation. The longer the SSPX remains unreconciled, the more distant and more bitter they will become. Bishop Fellay is a good man...a man who longs to be in perfect union with Rome and docile to the Holy Father. But the membership of Holy Church, even in the highest positions of the hierarchy, is in a state of utter confusion. The SSPX does have doctrinal problems with the modern orientations taken by the Magisterium, as well as the ambiguities in many of the modern documents if not outright errors. Prayer is the answer and also the courage and maturity of our Holy Father. The SSPX accepts 95% of Vatican II and all the other councils of Holy Church. For many other bishops, priests, and lay folk, they accept little of Vatican II and reject nearly all the other preceding councils. If Bishop Matthew Clarke of Rochester, NY, was considered in good standing with Holy Church, despite his homosexual and women's ordination agenda, then I think that Bp. Fellay and the SSPX should be allowed to be fully reconciled. The SSPX priests are faithful to Tradition and the laity have lots and lots of babies. The traditional movement is growing...the modernists like Clarke are retiring and dying.

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