Pope Francis ‘helps SSPX in its plans for new headquarters in Rome’

[_Abyssinia]

Il Foglio newspaper says the Pope helped to speed up the purchase of a church and complex

Pope Francis has helped the Society of St Pius X in its efforts to buy a beautiful church and complex in the centre of Rome, according to the Italian newspaper Il Foglio.

Vatican commentator Matthew Matzuzzi said the Pope played a “decisive role” in speeding up the purchase of Santa Maria Immacolata all’Esquilino.

catholicherald.co.uk/news/2017/02/27/pope-francis-helps-sspx-in-its-plans-for-new-headquarters-in-rome/

 

[RCinMT]

catholicherald.co.uk/news/2017/02/27/pope-francis-helps-sspx-in-its-plans-for-new-headquarters-in-rome/

I would be very, very, very weary if I were the folks running SSPX: this pope has no truck with dissent and they certainly dissent with him.

 

[tseleehw]

I would be very, very, very weary if I were the folks running SSPX: this pope has no truck with dissent and they certainly dissent with him.

I would tend to agree, though the current rumors have it that the SSPX will have some safeguards built into whatever deal they will reach, such as full rights to own and manage their own property, so if things again turn sour between them and Rome, they can revert to their prior (now current) situation. It sounds like they will possibly be allowed to reject certain Vatican II documents and likely other documents as well (I could never see them accepting parts of AL, for example).

Honestly, if their true intentions are indeed to reconcile with Rome, now is probably the time to do it. They would not have gotten nearly as good of a deal under Pope Benedict compared to whatever agreement they may currently reach, and who knows how much time Pope Francis has as the Pope and who will come after him. Pope Francis for some reason seems to want to desperately bring them back into the fold, so they would be wise to take advantage of his desire and push for as many concessions as they are able, while they still can.

 

[RCinMT]

I would tend to agree, though the current rumors have it that the SSPX will have some safeguards built into whatever deal they will reach, such as full rights to own and manage their own property, so if things again turn sour between them and Rome, they can revert to their prior (now current) situation. It sounds like they will possibly be allowed to reject certain Vatican II documents and likely other documents as well (I could never see them accepting parts of AL, for example).

Honestly, if their true intentions are indeed to reconcile with Rome, now is probably the time to do it. They would not have gotten nearly as good of a deal under Pope Benedict compared to whatever agreement they may currently reach, and who knows how much time Pope Francis has as the Pope and who will come after him. Pope Francis for some reason seems to want to desperately bring them back into the fold, so they would be wise to take advantage of his desire and push for as many concessions as they are able, while they still can.

I disagree–remain outside and be the salt and light. Frankly, the Knights of Malta operated under an assumption of sovereignty–they were wrong.

 

[commenter]

People may be reading too much into this. The Vatican had a church on its hands. It does not sound like it has a congregation. They likely have more churches in the older part of Rome than they need. Having the SSPX purchase it takes it off the Vatican’s expense sheet, while keeping it from winding up in some non-religious use.

For several years there has been talk of an imminent breakthrough, certainly long before Pope Francis. How long can a breakthrough be “imminent”?

Most of the comments I have read, from non-CAF websites, warn about the need for extreme wariness on the part of the SSPX. They caution of the need for ironclad guarantees of total independence, total SSPX control of internal operations and beliefs; even safeguarding the ability not only to doubt, but to fight the errors of Vatican II. This is sort of like a bride coming to you saying she wants to marry this guy. But since that guy is so violent, distrustworthy, so on, she wants a permanent bodyguard and Order of Protection to protect her from the domestic violence certain in such an arrangement.
A prenup goes without saying is required. They won’t live together, nothing is really changed except the bride’s last name.

You probably would tell the bride “skip the wedding”. It’s not real. Find some other boyfriend you don’t need an Order of protection against.

 

[Peter_J]

I disagree–remain outside and be the salt and light.

I’ve never really understood how remaining outside jives with their traditional views.