It’s a complicated situation. I don’t think that the SSPX will reconcile until the ambiguous parts of the second Vatican Council are clarified. They addressed this in their negotiations with Rome, but to no avail. It might be good to remember that Archbishop Lefebvre was a Council Father, and if memory serves, he was appointed, with others, the task of putting together the initial guidelines or format for what would be addressed at the Council. But these guidelines were chucked, and a new direction was taken. The Archbishop was intimately involved with the Council proceedings. He was no stranger to them.
My hope is that the problematic parts of the Council documents will one day be addressed. Bishop Athanasius Schneider has stated also that these parts of the Council documents need to be clarified, in that they are ambiguous. In any case, I don’t think that the SSPX should consider reconciliation until after the synod in October.
Vatican II has been getting “clarified” for 50 years. That will continue, for years to come. There have been many synods in recent years, some of which addressed issues the SSPX has prioritized. Those synods have brought about some conclusions, but those synods still are being “clarified”. There is no evidence the synod in October will be more informative than earlier synods as to what path the SSPX should take. It, too, will be clarified over coming years.
After the October synod, I’m sure the SSPX leaders will point to some other process going on in 2016, “some negotiations that show some progress, but not enough; in 2016 they will be pointing to some milestone in 2017, some decision point, that will definitively show which direction they should go; so hold the line until then…and then a new pope on the horizon, let’s not make any hasty moves…and so on…We may see things clearer in just 12 months”, (which means 2021), etc etc. beyond 2025. But they don’t tell people now it may take well beyond 2025, just one year at a time.
What’s happening is that years are going by, people are living outside the fullness of the Church. Children are being raised, outside the fullness of the Church. Priests are ministering without any real bishop-ordinary or support of diocesan ministries and very, very few other priests in their area. The real St Pius X strongly urged unified, regional Catholic Action at the diocesan and national level, all of which SSPX is apart from (thinking of prolife and religious liberty). What would the real St. Pius X, proponent of Catholic Action, say about that? Years are passing in the lives of families and communities.
It is uncharitable to keep people on edge, with one-more-year, one-more-year. I think the SSPX leaders would lose most of their support if they ever announced the Catholic Church will never change enough to satisfy them; they would also lose their positions if they simply told clergy and people to join the regular Catholic Church. So they keep setting new goals “in just a year or two” or “things are getting clearer, just a little more time” and especially, “
Let’s not be hasty!”.
